Banana Chocolate Cupcakes!

Is there anything better than baking on a rainy day? I am going to a pool house party with some friends tomorrow and wanted to bring something baked ... the verdict ended up being these banana chocolate cupcakes I had seen on Pinterest last week. I topped the cupcakes with a banana chip for garnish. I like these because they are not too sweet and the banana flavor really comes through. The chocolate frosting is light and fluffy and only lightly sweetened.

Recipe courtesy of Feast on the Cheap.

Pink Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes!

I made these cute pink velvet cheesecake cupcakes for a lovely co-worker birthday last week. Unfortunately the cheesecake part came out more red then pink velvet, but I compensated by making a hot pink vanilla buttercream topped with white sugar pearls for an elegant finish. I used confetti oreos for the crust!

Recipe courtesy of Cares Bakery.

Red Gold Cupcakes!

I made these simply flavoured vanilla cupcakes with a red-tinted, golden sparkly vanilla buttercream for an FSU-loving coworker's birthday a few weeks ago. I am clearly enjoying the wilton 1M tip to make the rose design, it is both easy to use and lovely to look at. Recipe from Annie's Eats!

Happy Easter!

For Easter this year, I wanted to get a bit more creative then last year, where I used pre-made cupcake toppers. I saw the idea for this year's cupcakes on Pinterest, but I can't find it anywhere now, and very uncharacteristic of me, I didn't pin it to my cupcake board.

The idea is for green buttercream frosting to look like grass, then toasted coconut nests, holding jellybean eggs. Cute right? This kind of arts & crafts moment makes me wish I had kids already! (Note the sneaky kitty in the background.)

I used a new vanilla cupcake recipe, from Glorious Treats and it came out very tasty, and the cake itself a bit spongy. I winged it with the buttercream; butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, coconut oil, confectioner's sugar.

Blackberry Lemon Cupcakes!

I first saw these cupcakes on Pinterest, courtesy of the lovely blog Tide and Thyme. I loved the idea of a cupcake with fresh lemon and blackberries, perfect for springtime, and pretty pastels too!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of all things Irish, this year I made Guiness chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's cream cheese frosting. Recipe courtesy of Annie's Eats. Any dark stout complements chocolate so perfectly in a cupcake, and I was just as happy with the flavor of these as I was back on Halloween, when I made Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes. Yum!

Chai Spice Latte Cupcakes!

Another fabulous recipe from Gimme Some Oven, these Chai Latte cupcakes had been on my radar from some time, also thanks to Pinterest. I was intrigued about making chai cupcakes without using chai teabags; instead the recipe calls for the baker to mix her own chai spice mix. I loved this extra element! I did not have cardamom on hand, so I substituted (a little less) allspice. I also added some Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur to the chai spiced buttercream for a little kick. I garnished with half a cinnamon stick for style. Fab!

Potato Quiche!

This is probably the 10th quiche posting on my blog, as quiche is one of my favorite things to make. You can customize your recipe to include whatever is on hand, both in pantry and fridge. It is fun to make, and interesting, as you probably will not have the same exact quiche each time.

This particular past Sunday, I had some extra red potatoes on hand, so I peeled, sliced, and roasted them. I mixed up a variety of cheeses to make the quiche filling, including diced slices of Munster, ricotta, shredded cheddar, heavy cream, cream cheese, and Parmesan. I was lazy and did not want to make a crust, so I just filled my tartlet pans with the cheesy mixture, and then topped with the roasted potato rounds. Yum!

Honey Beer Bread!

When I saw a recipe for golden, soft honey beer bread on Pinterest, my curiosity was instantly piqued. When I realized the recipe was coming from Gimme Some Oven, I bookmarked it to make, like ASAP. The ingredient list is short and sweet, and probably means you do not need to make a trip to the grocery store. The only beer my boyfriend had in our fridge was Guinness, so I went with it. Amazingly, the dark beer and light honey combined to make a very flavorful, fluffy loaf. I was blown away by the simplicity - 5 ingredients, no kneading, total time from start to finish was less than an hour. I highly recommend this for any carb lover out there! I would like to experiment with a lighter beer next time, maybe a pale ale, as the dark Guinness resulted in a slightly bitter aftertaste (which my family still seemed to enjoy).

Lobster Tails!

As seen in my previous Valentine's Day Dinner post, my house is home to a rather large box of delicious lobster tails, thanks to my boyfriend and his fabulous work-vendor connections. It was a lovely surprise to have them for dinner on V-Day and again for our date night dinner this past Thursday. We served them with spinach, mashed sweet and yukon potatoes, and breadcrumb-crusted steaks. A superb full-bodied red accompanied our surf and turf meal!

Red Velvet Cookies!

This recipe was another Pinterest find, courtesy of Inside BruCrew Life blog. The secret ingredient to these soft, cakey cookies? Boxed cake mix! An addition of dark chocolate chips and white chocolate chips made these cookies a total knockout and my new favorite cookie. A huge tupperware full of them was gone by lunchtime in my office's break room!

Macaron Mania!

A new, adorable macaron pastry shop opened up recently in nearby Delray Beach. Naturally, I've already gone twice and spent an embrassing amount of money on flavors that include basil white chocolate, passionfruit, and Colombian coffee. Yum! Check them out over at Le Macaron.

Chocolate Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting!

One of my girls at work recently left, and I wanted to go all out for her 'goodbye cupcakes'. I bought some new frosting tips and finally, finally made a rose design with frosting! I was so happy and it was ridiculously easy - I just never had the right tip! (It's Wilton 1M by the way). The recipe for the cupcake and frosting are both courtesy of Barefoot Contessa over at Food Network.

I was very interested in making a peanut butter frosting after one of my girlfriends mentioned it to me in passing, and I was so pleased with the result. This is definitely in my top 3 of frostings! The peanut butter whips up beautifully with butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla. It pipes wonderfully, and together with the moist chocolate cake - delicious! I garnished the cupcakes with some cute little pink heart picks (thanks Michael's post-Valentine's Day sale) and drizzled melted dark chocolate on a few.

Valentine's Day Dinner!

This year's holiday was very special. It is the first in my relationship for us as living together, and the day itself fell on my boyfriend's day off. I came home to a beautifully set table, a delicious dinner, and beautiful roses. My man cooked lobster tails in melted butter, and roasted yellow and red cherry tomatoes in olive oil and basil. The flavor of the tomatoes were incredible - they were roasted almost to bursting out of their skins, and so sweet thanks to the basil. They went great with the buttery lobster meat! I love you sweetheart <3 I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Red velvet is one of my favorite flavors to bake with. Everybody loves red velvet, the color is fabulous, and few people know that it is really just a fancypants chocolate dessert. Shh! I've made red velvet cupcakes before, but for these I tested out a different recipe, from Paula Deen over at Food Network. I was intrigued by this cupcake recipe - no butter or eggs! (The lack of pounds of butter being uncharacteristic of Paula Deen, for sure.) The cupcakes came out fluffy and lovely. I used a basic cream cheese frosting, and added some cocoa powder to make it more chocolatey.

This is how I packaged them for the girls at work. I saw the idea on Pinterest and it is so fabulous! A cupcake fits into a small 10 oz plastic cup, wrap in cellophane, tie with a colorful ribbon and cute tag! They are easy to transport, they won't move around or get messy, and they look cute!