birthday baker

we never got a chance to celebrate ryan's mom's birthday back in march, but we did get an opportunity to have a little impromptu celebration on friday.

noah helped me make cupcakes to take to grandma's house and he really enjoyed making them, decorating them, and then eating them too!

love, laurie

2 cute!

noah's actual birthday fell on a wednesday this year.  we kept it pretty low key at home because ryan had some meetings at work and we had noah's big party planned for the weekend.

we had been saying that we really wanted to get lunch from henry's on clay because that's where we went to eat the day before noah was born, but we didn't have a chance to go, so ryan brought home take-out for lunch between meetings.  we had our favorite sandwiches from there and then stuck a 2 candle in a cupcake for the birthday boy.  (it was a blueberry waffle cupcake and he really enjoyed it.)

love, laurie

birthday celebrations

on friday we got together after work to celebrate ryan's mom's birthday at our house.  originally we were supposed to have an event at the theatre on friday night, but it was canceled last minute, so we moved the party to our house.  we had pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert.  it was nice to get together for a little birthday party!

love, laurie

red, white, and blue confetti cupcakes

we had a great time celebrating the fourth of july with a family cookout at my parents' house over the long holiday weekend.  for dessert, ryan and i made patriotic confetti cupcakes.

confetti cake is always so festive and fun.  we've made rainbow confetti cake and cupcakes in the past for other occasions, so when i realized that we had a container of red, white, and blue sprinkles at home i thought they would be perfect for our fourth of july dessert.

paired with these cute red, white, and blue polka dot cupcake liners and our red, white, and blue swirled frosting, they were extra patriotic!

these cupcakes have a great subtle almond flavor.  even if you don't want to make these cupcakes red, white, and blue, this recipe is a great basic almond cupcake recipe for any occasion which can be decorated to fit your theme.

ps: i can't believe that i haven't shared a recipe on the blog since march.  (that has to be a record!)

red, white, and blue confetti cupcakes
prep time: 10 minutes
baking time: 15-18 minutes
yields: 12 cupcakes

cupcake ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup almond milk
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup sprinkles

frosting ingredients:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

directions:
to make the cupcakes, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan with 12 paper cupcake liners.  in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until soft (about 2 minutes).  add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.  add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  beat in the almond and vanilla extracts.

in a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together.  add the dry ingredients to the mixer alternating with the milk until combined.  in a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed until foamy.  add the cream of tartar and whisk until stiff peaks form.  gently fold the stiff  egg whites into the cake batter with a spatula, being careful not to over mix and deflate the egg whites.  once combined, fold in the sprinkles.  evenly divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners.  bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.  remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

to make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until soft (1-2 minutes).  add half of the powdered sugar along with the milk and vanilla.  whisk until combined.  add the remaining powdered sugar to reach desired frosting consistency.

enjoy!

love, laurie

pocono cupcake challenge

ryan and i absolutely love to bake and we really enjoy decorating our baked goods.  so on sunday, we headed down to the poconos to check out the 5th annual pocono cupcake challenge at the historic shawnee inn.

professional bakers, home bakers, and youth bakers from around the area volunteered to bake and donate cupcakes which were judged and awarded in different categories.  it was fun to check out all of the creations and it was for a good cause too since the event benefited the united way.

admission was free, but a $10 donation to the united way got you 4 cupcakes of your choice.  we walked around to view all of the displays and picked 4 cupcakes to bring home with us.  out of all of the displays, our favorite was the willy wonka display.  (i thought that those oompa loompa suspenders and hairdos on the cupcakes were so cute!)

on our way home, we stopped by my parents' house to share our cupcakes with them.  the 4 cupcakes we tried were: spumoni, pumpkin chai spice, vanilla filled with raspberry chipotle topped with white chocolate, and banana walnut topped with peanut butter and chocolate.  after our taste test, we all agreed that our favorite was the pumpkin chai spice cupcake.

love, laurie

a fun sunday date together!

the past few weeks have been crazy, busy, and stressful.  even though ryan and i see each other all the time (work, home, commuting, etc.) we haven't had any free time to actually spend quality time together, and there certainly hasn't been any time available to go on a date of any kind.

this weekend, we woke up on sunday morning with nothing to do and nowhere to go.  it was like the planets aligned for our schedules to actually be free!  the weather was iffy (overcast all day with on-and-off showers) but we didn't care.  we decided to make the most of our free time and enjoy the day together, just the two of us.

a local fire house was holding a breakfast fundraiser event so we kicked off our sunday morning bright and early by heading over to the fire house for breakfast.  it was so nice and we really enjoyed it, especially since it was for a good cause and since we haven't been able to go out to breakfast together in months.

after fueling up with a big breakfast, we hit the road and drove 90 minutes to the woodbury common outlets in new york.  we really don't consider ourselves shoppers and we hate outlet mall crowds, but ryan was desperately in need of a new pair of dress shoes for work and i was desperately in need of a new pair of sneakers.  we also had been wanting to visit a few of the stores that are there which we can't find anywhere else.  we've visited woodbury commons twice before, but it was over a year ago since we were there last.  it has been on our list of places to go back to for a while, but it really requires a whole day free, so sunday was perfect.

our trip was a success.  we both found new shoes (with really great sales and coupons too)!  while we were walking around (that place really is humongous) ryan noticed that they added a shake shack since the last time we were there.  we were starving, so we popped in for a bite to eat.  i loved shake shack before i was a vegetarian, but haven't been back to a shake shack for several years because they never used to have any meatless options, other than fries.  so, i was thrilled to see that they now have a portobello mushroom burger on their menu.  thanks, shake shake, for making me one very happy vegetarian yesterday!  

as we were getting ready to leave, we noticed a lot of folks walking around with magnolia bakery bags.  we had no idea that woodbury commons added a magnolia bakery too since the last time we were there, so we popped in and picked up a pumpkin spice cupcake to take home with us as a treat.  we had to laugh because people kept walking in while we were waiting in line wondering why it was so crowded, why the line was so long, and what all the fuss was about.  ryan looked over at me and said, "clearly these people have never been to any of the magolias in nyc before!"  it's true, this was the largest magnolia we have seen by far and the most organized (and we've been to many locations)!

we were also pleasantly surprised to find that they added a le pain quotidien at the outlets.  ryan and i each had coupons on our le pain apps for free coffees and we were assuming that they were going to go to waste since they were expiring in 2 days and we knew we wouldn't be in nyc, so we were really excited to see that we could use them!  we picked up our free coffees for the ride home.

overall, we had a great sunday.  our little day trip to upstate new york turned out to feel like a mini trip to nyc because we found 3 of our favorite nyc spots right there at woodbury commons!  it was such a nice surprise.  we got a lot of exercise too because we ended up walking around the outlets for 6.5 hours!!!  we actually had no intention of being there that long, but that place really is huge, you kind of get lost.  believe it or not, even after all that time we only went in a small percentage of the stores that are there.  mainly, sunday was so great because we were able to spend time together and to be able to enjoy each other's company (especially 3 hours round trip in the car).  we get so busy that it's so important to remember to take a little time together to unplug from everything else and recharge together.

love, laurie

celebrating mother's day

on saturday we got together with our families for a belated mother's day celebration (since we were away on our cruise over mother's day weekend).  we went out for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and then had orange cupcakes for dessert.  it was so nice to be able to sit and visit with everyone without having to run anywhere.  it was very relaxing and the whole day was so nice.  we had a great time celebrating mother's day with our parents this weekend!

love, laurie

mini cherry cupcakes with chocolate cherry frosting

i wanted to make a dessert to take into work for valentine's day last week, so i decided to make mini cupcakes.  mini cupcakes are perfect for the office since they are practically bite sized.  plus, everything is just so much cuter in miniature format!

since it was valentine's day, i opted for a cupcake with a pink hue.  after debating what to make, i decided on mini cherry cupcakes with chocolate cherry frosting.

these cupcakes were a huge hit at the office.  one of my co-workers said: "wow, these little cupcakes sure pack a big punch of flavor!"  she was right.  the cupcake itself has a wonderful flavor thanks to chopped maraschino cherries and the juice from the maraschino cherries.  (the cherries not only give these cupcakes a great flavor, but a great pink color too!)  dark chocolate is a great compliment to cherries, so i topped these cupcakes with chocolate frosting that had a splash of maraschino cherry juice in it.  talk about a great combination!

for decoration, i added a few white nonpareils on top of the frosting.  the bright white nonpareils were so pretty against the dark color of the chocolate frosting.

these cupcakes were so good, and they didn't last long.  at one point throughout the day, i saw one of my co-workers break off the bottom of one of the cupcakes and place it on top of the frosting to make a cupcake sandwich.  i couldn't help but laugh.

no matter how you eat your cupcakes (regular or sandwich style), these cupcakes are delicioius!

mini cherry cupcakes with chocolate cherry frosting
prep time: 10 minutes
baking time: 20 minutes
yields: 24 mini cupcakes and 2 regular cupcakes

cupcake ingredients:
10 maraschino cherries
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup maraschino cherry liquid
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg white

frosting ingredients:
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3-4 tablespoons maraschino cherry liquid

directions:
to make the cupcakes, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line two mini muffin pans with 24 mini cupcake liners.  set aside.  finely chop approximately 10 maraschino cherries.  place the chopped cherries on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.  in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until creamed together.  in a glass measuring cup, stir together the cherry liquid, milk, and almond extract.  in a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.

beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the batter.  beat well after each addition.  in a separate bowl, beat the egg white with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form.  gently fold the beaten egg white into the batter.  fold in the chopped and drained cherries.  evenly divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.  (note: this recipe makes enough batter for 24 mini cupcakes and 2 regular cupcakes.)  bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.    allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

to make the frosting, beat the softened butter with an electric hand mixer until smooth.  add 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar along with the cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of the maraschino cherry liquid.  beat well to combine.  continue to add additional powdered sugar and maraschino cherry liquid as needed to reach desired frosting consistency.

enjoy!

love, laurie

cherry limeade cupcakes

for father's day, ryan and i made cupcakes for dessert.  we wanted to make something different than regular chocolate or vanilla cupcakes, so we decided to make cherry limeade cupcakes.

i love flavored lemonade and limeade.  cherry limeade is such a refreshing treat in the summer, and it translates perfectly into cupcake format!

these cupcakes are full of fresh lime flavor.  the vanilla cake has fresh lime juice and lime zest in it.  after the cupcakes baked, we brushed fresh lime simple syrup over the tops of them too.

we topped the cupcakes off with cherry frosting.  the color of the frosting is so vibrant and cheery, and the cherry flavor is wonderful.

the flavors of the lime and the cherry blend together perfectly.  such a good combination!  yum!

these cupcakes scream summer.  they are so light and refreshing, and they're not too sweet.

to make them look like little cups of cherry limeade, we topped them off with a fresh lime wedge, a maraschino cherry, and a little paper straw.

they were so cute!

cherry limeade cupcakes
prep time: 15-20 minutes
baking time: 18-20 minutes
yields: 16-17 cupcakes
adapted from cooking classy

cupcake ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime zest
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons lime juice

simple syrup ingredients:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

frosting ingredients:
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

directions:
preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  line cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners.  to make the cupcakes, in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes.  in a food processor, pulse together the granulated sugar and the lime zest until finely ground.  add the lime sugar to the butter and whip until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).  beat in the egg, then beat in the egg whites, one at a time.  add the vanilla and mix well.  sift the flour, cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl.  in a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk with the lime juice.  add one third of the sifted dry ingredients to the batter and beat until just combined.  mix in half of the buttermilk and lime juice mixture.  repeat with another third of the dry ingredients and the second half of the wet ingredients.  then add the remaining third of the dry ingredients.  beat until combined.  pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pans, filling each about two-thirds of the way full.  bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.  allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

to make the simple syrup, whisk together the sugar and lime juice in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved.  brush the mixture over the cupcakes.  (use all of it.  i brushed on two light coats over each cupcake.)

to make the frosting, combine the butter, cherry juice, and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.  whisk together until combined.  gradually add the remaining powdered sugar.  add red food coloring if desired.  use a piping bag to pipe the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes.

enjoy!

love, laurie

mini cupcakes and happy friday!

yesterday after work, we picked up take out from a new cafe/cupcakery that opened up in our area and met up with my mom for dinner.  we shared sandwiches and a few mini cupcakes.  (peanut butter, salted caramel, chocolate marshmallow, cookies and cream, chocolate with vanilla, and cookie dough.)  there's nothing quite like watching three bakers assess baked goods from a new place.  you would have thought we were judges on cupcake wars or something.  you know, we're pretty serious when it comes to dessert.  ;-)

the weather has been rainy, dreary, and overcast all week long.  i'm hoping it brightens up this weekend because i'm in need of some sunshine!  this weekend we are looking forward to checking a few things off our to-do list, celebrating father's day with our families, and maybe renting a movie too.

have a great weekend!

love, laurie  

national cupcake day! (and confetti cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting)

i'm not one to follow all of the "national _____ days" but i was pretty excited when i found out that today is national cupcake day.  what a great excuse to eat a cupcake, and a great way to start off the week!

cupcakes are sweet all the time, but they are extra sweet when they support a good cause.  today our neighbors in canada are celebrating national cupcake day today by holding cupcake parties and bake sales in order to help raise money for animals in need.  all of the profits from the cupcake fundraisers go to SPCAs and humane societies around canada.

what a great idea!  we love cupcakes and we love animals.  talk about a match made in heaven.  you don't have to be in canada to participate.  if you want to get involved, you can find out more information here.  (i bet leko is going to want a tuna flavored cupcake to celebrate today!)

if you want to make some festive cupcakes of your own to celebrate today, here's a great recipe for confetti cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.  i just recently made these cupcakes last week for a co-worker's birthday, and they were a huge hit.  you can't go wrong with a classic!

. . .

confetti cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting

prep time: 10-15 minutes

baking time: 18-20 minutes

yields: 24 cupcakes

adapted from annie's eats

cupcake ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

6 large egg whites

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup salted butter, softened

1/2 cup multi-colored sprinkles

frosting ingredients:

1 cup salted butter, softened

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

3-4 cups powdered sugar

directions:

preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  line two cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners.  to make the cupcakes, in a measuring cup whisk together the milk, egg, whites, and vanilla.  set aside.  in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and sugar.  add the butter and mix at low speed until the mixer resembles wet sand (about 30 seconds).  gradually add in the wet ingredients.  beat until combined, but do not over beat.  gently fold in the sprinkles. pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pans, filling each about two-thirds of the way full.  bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.  allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.    

to make the frosting, combine the butter, vanilla, milk, and half of the powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and whisk together until combined.  gradually add more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.  use a piping bag to pipe the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes.  decorate with additional sprinkles.

enjoy!
love, laurie  

celebrating ryan's birthday . . .

yesterday, we spent the day celebrating ryan's birthday.  leko woke ryan up and gave him some sweet kitten loving to start his day off right.  we had bagels for breakfast, then leko and i gave ryan his birthday cards before work.  i made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting for ryan to take into work.  later on after work, we went out for dinner and ice cream, and when we came home ryan opened his present.  it was a good day.  we plan on continuing the birthday celebrations this weekend with our parents with a birthday party at our house.  birthdays should be celebrated for at least a week, don't you think? :-)

^i made 24 cupcakes, and by the end of the day there were only 2 left.  chocolate and peanut butter is always a popular combination!^

^we went to dinner at ragnacci's and we both ordered the special which was the parm trio (eggplant parm, chicken parm, and veal parm).  oh my goodness, there was so much food!  our dinners came with the salad bar, a cup of soup, a ton of bread, and a huge side dish of pasta.  needless to say, we brought a bunch of leftovers home with us.^

^after dinner, we got ice cream at bitty bill's (just like last year).  believe it or not, ryan's ice cream is considered to be the "kiddie" size which is supposed to be 2 scoops, and my ice cream is considered to be the "baby" size which is supposed to be 1 scoop.  good grief, they are generous with their ice cream portions, and their prices are really reasonable too.^

. . . 

happy birthday, my love!
love, laurie

behind the scenes of our baking marathon

we spent two days making the cake and the cupcakes for our friends' baseball themed baby shower this weekend.  we did all of the baking on thursday, and then we did all of the decorating on friday.  in total, we made 3 1/2 batches of vanilla cake batter, 1 batch of chocolate frosting (for the cake filling), and 3 batches of vanilla frosting.  i felt like we were part of a baking marathon.  somewhere along the line i lost count of how many sticks of butter we went through.

it took many hours to complete, but we're crazy proud about the way the cake and the cupcakes turned out.  (you can see the finished cake and cupcakes here.)

here are just a few snapshots we took along the way while we were baking and assembling the desserts for the baby shower . . .

love, laurie