Apple Pie Cupcakes


Last week I tried to venture on my own and create my own cupcake. I took a basic vanilla batter base and added cinnamon and diced Granny Smith apples. It was supposed to be topped with freshly made whipped cream. But to my surprise the heavy cream I had was outdated by more than a week, wasn't going to take a chance in making my family ill. So we went with canned whipped cream.

Every body had one cupcake and that was it. They said they were good but I just threw away the left over ones. I made 12 jumbo cupcakes and threw out 4, and I also made 12 regular cupcakes and threw out 9. This is after I cut the batter in half and they sat for almost a week.

It is a bit frustrating, going through the trouble to make something and no one eating them. I have been trying to get myself in the mood to make another cupcake but I don't seem to be in a hurry.

Til next baking time.

Peanut-butter Cookie Cupcake

Today we were all just sitting around watching movies from Netflix
and I decided to try and see what cupcake I cold create.
Not wanting to drive in to town for any necessities,
I looked through the frig and cupboards and decided on peanut butter.
Being addicted to the show Cupcake Wars
I decided to time myself from start to finish.
It only took me 37 minutes to make the batter, bake the cupcakes
and make the frosting.
Not bad, but that didn't include the cooling time or frosting them.
Oh and lets not forget I didn't have an assistant either.

Life has been a bit stressful these past couple of weeks,
and I have been feeling over tired.
I am hoping for a nice vacation soon.
Sometimes I just feel like I am hanging by a thread before crazy sets in.
Anyone else ever had that feeling?
Its very hard to explain, but for the few moments I am baking and
have a quite moment I feel almost whole again.
But like everything, that peace and sanity come to and abrupt end.
With allot of my days off from the hospital
being spent on getting the restaurant open
I haven't been able to do my cupcakes twice a week,
well that and I think my family can only eat so many of them.

Till next baking time.

Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Curd

Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Curd.



Ok life has been a bit busy this past couple of weeks, with the family working on getting our restaurant off the ground. We are hoping for a mid September open date, so cross your fingers. We have had meetings with allot of people including the bankers, payroll, sysco for supplies and Sam's club for other stuff. We have picked the color theme and I think we may have to take a second look at carpet for the front of the restaurant before we finalize our decision. Things are coming together but we are still far from being ready. It will come together. This I know.

Oh and lets not forget that this week I also had a date to keep with Robert and i did. Went to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter. It was so awesome. I think Robert would have truly liked this one.

Now today's cupcake is a refreshing change. It is lite and fresh and tangy. The cake has a light lemony taste combined with the tangy lemon flavor in the lemon curd. A nice refreshing change.

A flash of childhood

This was a creation of my own. Thought I would try something that would remind me of when I was a child. I made a coffee and cinnamon cupcake with a Mexican chocolate frosting. I have had a busy week and I have not been able to upload my post, since this cupcake was made a week ago.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting


The other day I made strawberry cupcakes and they were pretty dog gone good, but the Frosting although good didn't come out right. There were fresh strawberries in the batter and frosting. The frosting was to be a meringue butter cream. Not quite what I ended up with. I am not sure where I went wrong, it could have been when warming the egg whites and sugar. I was afraid if I warmed it too long I wold cook the egg whites, but it was the consistency the recipe called for. It was to be warm and smooth once the sugar dissolved. Or it could be that I didn't whip it stiff enough, so that when I added the fruit it became runny.

No matter, because it was still delicious and they were all eaten up.

This is a difficult time of year for me because I had to pass through the days that marked a year since my oldest son Robert passed away. I turned to baking because when I am baking I can feel my son with me and it keeps him close. And the bonus is that my two other boys are happy when they get to taste my goodies created with love. Robert always asked me to bake him a cake, sometimes I would and sometimes, well I wouldn't. But that wouldn't stop him he would bake it himself. I miss him very much. Trevor and Kevin are lights in my life that keep me sane and grounded. I thank my God for them everyday. My husband is my rock but me baking is hard on him because he is diabetic. So I think I will substitute splenda for some of the sugar in my cupcakes from time to time. That way he can enjoy them without the guilt.

Well everyone, Till next baking time.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting



Ok, Ok I know I have already done this one, but I was not happy with it.
It wasn't red, it cooked up a brownish red color.
So I went out and found the red gel paste food color.
As I was preparing the batter,
all I could hear was Florian from cupcake wars saying he couldn't taste the chocolate,
so I made sure the chocolate was present.

It cooked up beautifully. I definitely had RED velvet.

The cream cheese frosting was also better than last time.
It was smooth and creamy and lite.

I will tell you that eating to many red velvet cupcakes does strange things to the body.
It colors your poop to be frank.
At one point my seven year old came to me and said
"Mom I have blood in my poop".
I had to explain to him that we had eaten too many cupcakes and it would go away.
Kids are so cute and do say some of the darnedest things.

Till next baking time.

Streusel Cupcakes


On Father's Day I decided to make a streusel cupcake. I love these. The cake itself isn't sweet but it's complemented by the crumbly streusel topping and little bit of sugar glaze that is drizzled over them. I could have eaten a dozen all by myself.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to make another cupcake, because the dog ate the last batch and that is just frustrating as all get out. But I did. I enjoy the baking because it makes me feel closer to my son who has gone on to Heaven before me. He always loved cakes and guilting me into baking them, but now I enjoy it because I know he would love the homemade flavor instead of the box version.

Well anyway this was a good cupcake and I just happen to love coffee cakes. Right now I feel at a bit of a loss as to what to say. I just can't stop thinking of my son Robert, It is a week away from the one year anniversary of his death and I can't stop thinking about him. I want to keep these posts on a happy note but it can be hard sometimes.

Not sure what the next cupcake will be because I have started jumping around in my cookbook. So until next baking time.