• Versatile Chocolate Cake

    Just a quick update to add pictures of the Birthday/St. Patrick’s Day cake I made for my Mother-In-Law’s belated birthday party.  She loves this chocolate cake, but my 5 year old wanted a green cake.  So – we compromised.  A four-layer chocolate cake with milk chocolate ganache filling, frosted with green vanilla buttercream and decorated with green M&M’s. I definitely prefer the chocolate frosting over the vanilla frosting, but this was still yummy. Recipe and more details to follow.

  • Apple Pie Cupcakes

    One of my favorite things to make in the summertime is my skillet apple pie – the apple pie filling is made on the stove top in a skillet, then covered with pie crust and baked in the oven.  I had some frozen pie crust in the freezer that I needed to use, so a little brainstorming brought me to this recipe – and voila!  Apple Pie Cupcakes!  Perfect portion sizes for everyone without the hassle of cutting into and trying to serve a pie…and…

  • Mushroom Marsala

    I’ve talked about my obsession with pasta before…I don’t think I’ve ever met a pasta I didn’t like.  When I make it at home though, we usually stick to the Mac & Cheese or Spaghetti variety so I thought it was time to branch out.  Giada made this Mushroom Marsala with Artichokes on one of her cooking shows last week and for some reason, it called out to me.  Strange, because I usually don’t care for mushrooms at all. Nonetheless, I bought all of the…

  • Wedding Cupcakes

    I made two versions of this cupcake – the plain, unfilled cupcake with buttercream, and the same cake with a whipped lemon filling.  The plain cakes are for my mom, who LOVES wedding cake.  The filled cakes are for me, because I like to fill cupcakes.  =) This cake actually uses a box mix as the base for the ingredient list – I wasn’t a big fan of that idea and I could really taste the “boxed cake taste” when they first came out of the…

  • Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

      I’ve never really had a real Boston Cream Pie.  I’ve had the grocery store version, you know – the kind that come with a plastic casing to keep the pudding from oozing out?  They always seem like they should be wonderful, but I’ve never been impressed.   I have to admit that I didn’t make the pastry-cream filling for these, I just used a boxed pudding mix.  I have big plans for the first time I make pastry-cream – those will be special occasion…

  • Black Tie Cupcakes

    This cupcake was a creation of mine that was born out of the need to clean out my pantry.  I had several almost-empty boxes, bags and bottles of pantry items, and their replacements were crowding things.  So, what to do but make some goodies?  I didn’t really have an excuse for these except that Mom made Sunday dinner and my brother and his girlfriend were going to be there – which means more people to eat and fewer leftovers!    I knew I needed to…

  • Chocolate Lava Cupcakes

    These cupcakes were the result of a little color coordination.  My little sister is expecting a baby boy so I needed a favor for her baby shower.  Our color scheme was brown and blue, so of course I needed brown and blue cupcakes!  These were good cupcakes, but next time I might switch the cake out to a firmer, taller cake so it will stand up to the filling a little better.  These were actually better after they sat overnight in the refrigerator, so if…

  • Cookie Dough Cupcakes

    Yes, that’s right.  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about these cupcakes so I jumped on the opportunity to make these for my sister’s baby shower.  These and my Chocolate Ganache Filled Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream will go into the favor boxes and holy cow, I hope our guests are ready for a sugar high! These cupcakes are a little time consuming – you’ll need a couple of hours to make them.  The base is a chocolate-chip, brown-sugar based batter, with…

  • Strawberry Fudge Cupcakes

    Happy Valentines Day!  This is just a quick update to post one of the goodies I sent with my husband to work today.  I made the Fauxstess Cupcakes again, and some Red Velvet Whoopee Pies (which I’ll post next time I make them, I didn’t get any pictures) but these were a creation of mine that I felt deserving of a blog post.  So, here we go! These are a fudgy chocolate cake, filled with a silky strawberry filling and topped with a basic cream…

  • Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

    Today is my sister Megan’s 32nd birthday.  Since I’m using birthdays and special occasions as an outlet for my recently stifled baking habit, I asked her what kind of cupcakes she wanted…and after a week’s worth of deliberation (seriously) we narrowed it down to two things.  The first one is Key Lime Pie Cupcakes.  The second will be posted as soon as I can get to it! I couldn’t find a recipe that matched exactly what I wanted, so I did a lot of research…

  • Buffalo Chicken Bites

    My husband is obsessed with Buffalo Chicken.  Wings, dip, tenders, pasta, even the Subway sandwich.  Since I don’t eat meat off the bone, (I know, I’m strange) until recently I’d never really tried anything flavored with hot sauce.  In the past year or so, since the influx of Buffalo chicken recipes and entrees at various restaurants, I’ve discovered that I do really like the flavor! A good friend of mine makes an amazing Buffalo Chicken dip, and I’m sure that will make an appearance on…

  • Fauxstess Cupcakes

    Since I’m in the midst of the lovely Weight Watchers lifestyle, I haven’t been baking as much as I would like lately.  Even though I have a pretty strong willpower when it comes to avoiding and ignoring the sweets and treats in my house, I find it better to not even tempt myself.  I’m going to save my baking for special occasions, and especially those that I can bring treats and leave them at someone else’s house. Today I am baking for my brother’s 27th…