Winter Baking

Any Excuse to Bake...

Here are some things I baked this winter:

Mini Christmas Tree cupcakes 

for the McCann's bowling league party.  

I can't believe I actually found that teeny tiny star cookie cutter, but it was essential!  Initially I made the stars out of sugar cookies, but when I didn't have enough I resorted to punching them out of Andes mints.

Bacon Cupcakes 

for the Giants Superbowl  

Bacon inside...

And out.

Mmmmm... bacon.

Mean Sweethearts Cookies

for Valentine's Day

I made these for my dates... like a boss.  

Here's a tip: if you're planning to buy a heart-shaped cookie cutter, don't wait until Feb. 14th.  You will be stuck with whatever size is left... Hence dinner-plate-sized cookies. 

My First Recipe

Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes

I made Pumpkin Ale cupcakes for Halloween last year using a recipe I found online.  It was weird, and even though the cupcakes tasted fine (they were still cupcakes after all) they weren't the best.  So I reinvented the recipe and voila!  My First Cupcake Recipe.

 
1 cup Pumpkin Ale (any brand)
1 stick + 2 Tbsp butter

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups sugar

2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream






Preheat the oven to 350. Melt the beer and butter together in a saucepan on medium heat until simmering.  Remove from heat and whisk in the sugars.  In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and sour cream then add to the butterbeer (haha) mixture.  Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices and blend everything until totally combined. 

Bake until done (18-20 min) I found these take a little longer because they are so liquidy.  Just keep an eye on them. 

I frosted these with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and sprinkled them with brown sugar. 

 

I'm the worst blogger ever...

Mike's 30th Birthday

So here are some cupcakes from December... 2010.
I made yellow cake.  It wasn't very good, neither was the chocolate frosting.  It was also my first attempt at filling a cupcake!  Oooooh... at least the pictures came out good - sort of.