Might As Well Bake

 Sometimes when you sew

 

 it all goes perfectly.

 O Happy Day!

The next day,

it can be totally different.

What's going on?!#*

What do you do?

On days like that I just walk away

 

and bake.

 O Happy Day!

My daughter, the teacher, needed

treats for the teacher's lounge this week.

Who doesn't like cupcakes? 

So I knew it was time to bake.

I had seen the recipe over

at Your Cup of Cake.

and knew I wanted to try it.

I love Lizzy's ideas because she generally 

starts with a cake mix and doctors it up

by adding good things like 

buttermilk and sour cream.

I started by taking Oreo cookies apart 

and decorating the half without the filling with

white chocolate lettering and edible glitter.

The other half of the cookie
 got placed at the bottom of
the cupcake liner and
the cake batter poured on top.
There's some extra goodness!

I made the cream cheese frosting light green.
I didn't want the teachers walking
around all day with their mouths tinted green.

Then the tombstones were added
to make a fun Halloween treat.

I heard they were a super hit.

A chocolate cupcake

with butter cream frosting,
and a hidden Oreo cookie,

what's not to love.

Happy Halloween.

  Until Next Time-

Last Week

The calendar last week said
it was time for me to celebrate
another birthday.

Look who came to my party.

Deenie, (Everdeen) Baby Odder, (Oliver), San the Man (Sanford)

It can't get much better than this.

Of course, to extend

my special day,

my daughter and baking partner,

did some baking to share.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

They were the perfect combo

for the beginning of summer.

The zesty lemon flavor

in both the cake and the frosting

created a delicious treat.

  Both for us

and the co-workers.

The only traces that Elizabeth could

find after a couple of minutes

was one lone blueberry

that had been accidentally dropped on the floor.

****
Now for the update on my
garden art.
Running Man took it back
home and worked his magic.

It went from this....

to this....

Big difference.
 It really has added a focal point in the garden.

I'm hoping this week
I can stay focused as well.
It's my last full week to be the caregiver
to the littlest grandson.

There's going to be lots of cuddling
going on, of course,
with a little sewing sprinkled in.
Loved those nap times.

Until Next Time-

A Cinco de Mayo Treat for the Co-Workers

The Cupcakery

is always looking for a reason

to start baking.

 made us think of 

all the wonderful flavors you might find
at a fiesta.

We decided on cupcakes 

full of lime and tequila flavor

 to represent

 the classic margarita cocktail.
 We knew the co-workers, as well as the bakers,

would certainly enjoy this one.

We began with our basic classic

vanilla cupcake, but

added plenty of our two special ingredients,

the lime and tequila.

We even brushed a bit more 

of tequila on the top of each cupcake
when they were still warm from the oven.

One trick to keeping your cupcakes
moist and yummy is to not

over bake them.
Cupcakes are not that big and can
 be easily left in the oven too long.
A few moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick
will insure that the cupcakes will be perfect.

The cake should be springy,
not wet looking or jiggly.

The vanilla butter cream frosting 

needed to include

the lime and tequila as well

 

to combine that sweet and tart flavors
of a margarita.

With lime zest and
a sprinkle of salt
the cupcakes were ready for
our mature audience.

These cupcakes ended up being
muy bueno for
the staff's Cinco de Mayo fiesta.
It made us happy

to share our cupcake for dessert
and, of course,
the co-workers were happy too!

Until Next Time-

The Cupcakery Is Back

Since I've been back in Denver

 

taking care of this sweet little guy,

my daughter's co-workers have been

inquiring....any cupcakes?

How can we turn down such a devoted following?

So last week, 

we put on our aprons and started baking.

We baked our vanilla cupcakes

with butter cream frosting.

They're always yummy, but
the star of the cupcakes were going to be

 the sweet baby birds of spring.

We made a ring of frosting to form the

 shape of the nest,

sprinkled on toasted coconut to create

the perfect bird's nest.

The baby birds were the most fun to make.

Using the mini Cadbury shelled chocolate eggs

 we piped a tiny bit of yellow frosting for beaks and

then added two black dots for eyes.

Don't they look like hungry birds?

My daughter sent an email out to

inform the gang in the lab
that there were cupcakes!

In 10 minutes those cupcake deprived coworkers

had emptied the tray.

 Wish I had a picture of that.

I'm not sure who was hungrier,
the co-workers or baby birds.

Until Next Time-

The Sweet Cupcakery Duo

 Elizabeth and I,

The Sweet Cupcakery Duo,

wanted to make our final cupcake treat,

molto bueno

fantastico

superbo

*****

In other words,

we wanted to end our baking relationship

 with a cupcake

that would cause the co-workers

begging for more.

We decided that the rich

flavors of both chocolate and salted caramel

would be the ideal combo.
It's like a marriage made in heaven.

We used the basic chocolate cake recipe

from Your Cup of Cake

Enhancing a basic cake mix is a 

perfectly acceptable alternative to scratch baking

especially with our busy days.

Being a mile high in elevation,

the high altitude adjustments just become part of

the baking experience so

the cupcakes turned out perfect.

Once the chocolate cupcakes were slightly cooled,

we poked numerous holes in the tops

and poured about a tablespoon 

of caramel sauce over each one.

We let that caramel goodness soak into the cake.

Instead of making our own caramel

we took the easy route and used a jar

of caramel sundae sauce.

The frosting was a Salted Caramel Buttercream.

Using a basic American Buttercream recipe

we added some caramel  sauce and 

a generous pinch of sea salt.

The frosting was sweet, creamy and buttery

with just a hint of salt.

With an extra drizzle of caramel,

a few sprinkles of Fleur de Sel

and a Dove Milk Chocolate Caramel 

perched on top, it was

Perfecto

Too Much?

We don't think so!

And neither did the co- workers.
The cupcakes were gone in minutes.

Until Next Time-

I Think I'll Put My Winter Boots Away

We needed to celebrate!

Jump for joy!

Clap our hands!

And stomp our feet!

It was Monday and we didn't have

SNOW!

Sanford said, "Nana, we need to make

cupcakes!

And he was right.

Chris of Cafe Surce' Farine

posted a wonderful recipe for 

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes.

These seemed perfect for our

"winter must be over...please"

celebration.

The cupcakes tasted like a scrumptious

 vanilla pound cake, but

were still light and were able to hold up
all that wonderful frosting.

The frosting is, well...

perfect, tart and sweet.

Along with some cream cheese
this recipe also included
pink lemonade concentrate.
It made the perfect pink color and
 just the right flavor combination.

My little helper and I
decided we would also do a
photo shoot outside just to
prove there wasn't any snow.

Watch out, cupcakes on the ground!

Someone needed a closer look.

Just a taste.

These were perfection on a plate.
What better way to celebrate.

Until Next Time-

April Fool's Cupcakes?

 It was time to get back in the 

kitchen and make a special treat for

Elizabeth's co workers.

We've been on a cupcake hiatus,

and haven't baked since December.

What better time to do

something clever than for April Fools.

 Last year we made our delizioso 

 Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs.

 This year we didn't want to go

with a  main dish, but instead

everyone's favorite snack food,

popcorn.

We used the Lemon Carrot cupcake recipe from

Your Cup of Cake.

 Lizzie's recipes on her blog

are all cake mix enhanced.

It starts with a white cake mix and then you

add pineapple, carrots and cinnamon.

What could be easier?

The buttercream frosting is just the basic

with some lemon zest, a splash of lemoncello, 

for both the recipe and the bakers,

and we tried a dash of lemon gelatin powder for 

extra tang.  I love how that worked.

We made popcorn.

Have you figured out what it really is?

The popcorn was made from
mini marshmallows cut in half
and then 3 pieces stuck together.

The mini yellow ones are from the
bag of spring flavors you can find now.

The co-workers had a good laugh

enjoying their

April Fool's sweet popcorn treat.

Until Next Time-

Holiday Cupcakes

 With Christmas less than a week away,

the co-workers were like little kids

waiting for Santa and his sleigh.

"When are you making cupcakes?" they all asked

with a lot of chatter.

So we  sprang from our beds,

and whipped up some batter.

 A chocolate cupcake 

with a peppermint buttercream

is what we had planned.

With a peppermint cream cheese filling,

so it was not going to be bland.

The finishing touch:

 a sprinkle of crushed peppermint and

 a small bit of  bark

It was just what was needed to 

give it a spark.

Then the  co-works all exclaimed

as the treats were arranged,

"What a perfect way to end this year

 your holiday cupcakes

have given us good cheer."

Until Next Time-