Hello my fellow reader(s). I'm trying really hard to keep up with this blog now that I'm actually kind of baking and plan on baking a little more. I seriously need to get to Michael's or somewhere and get some cool little baking tools...maybe some real pastry bags so I don't have to use my mom's ziploc bags. I'm sure she'd appreciate that too. "Ziplocs don't grow on trees, ya know!" Ok, so she didn't actually say that, but she's the kind of person that would.
My parentals are out of town this weekend so I might try and bake something. I haven't quite decided yet. I may want to use that alone time to revel in my alone-ness and get in some quality "me" time. Plus I've been blessed with a nasty little cold and I'm not sure people will want to eat my goodies. I don't know if I'd want to eat goodies baked by a sick person. My goodies, my goodies, my goodies, not my goodies. I also believe cold medicine makes you weird and messes with your mind. Forget heavy machinery, I shouldn't use mixers or ovens while on cold medicine.
Anyway, I saw the Lion King 3D this weekend. I love the Lion King but don't see the point in making movies 3D. Didn't really see a difference and it cost 3 dollars more than just a 2D movie. 3D is stupid.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
What a Shock!
I have news. I actually baked cupcakes! After I realized that this blog was failing, I decided I'd better start baking. I didn't make tropical cupcakes as my previous post implied...I made chocolate cupcakes instead! Let me tell you...these cupcakes were a hit! Everybody at work (plus the Boy) seemed to really like them! Not to brag but one of my managers said they should be illegal. I'm thinking she was exaggerating a bit but I'm still going to feel good about myself. Haha.
The cupcakes that went over sooo well were a chocolate cupcake with an orange cream cheese frosting, topped with a piece of of Lindt Dark Chocolate Intense Orange chocolate. I made the cake part of the cupcakes from scratch (the chocolate part!) and I found a super easy recipe online. Not only was it super easy, it was super delicious! I'm thinking anytime I make chocolate cupcakes, it will be my go-to recipe. I'll never make chocolate cupcakes from a box mix again! Not that I made many cupcakes before but you catch my drift.
The great part about the recipe I found is that there is no eggs or butter. I know it sounds weird to not have butter or eggs but the recipe is so delicious you don't even notice.
The chocolate cupcake recipe:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder)
3/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cups water (I substituted one cup of chocolate milk for one cup of water...so it was 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup chocolate milk)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar (sounds weird but you can't even taste it) plus when it touched the baking soda, it fizzed in the bowl! :)
Mix all the ingredients together until moist and well-blended. Put cupcake liners in a cupcake tin and fill 1/2 - 3/4 full of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Ta-da! all done with that! Now it's just time to let the cupcakes cool.
The frosting was cream cheese frosting from a can. I used Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Cream Cheese frosting and added orange extract to make it..well, orange-flavored. I spooned out all the frosting from the can and put it in a bowl and then added the orange extract and mixed it all together. I just put in 1/2 teaspoon at a time and kept tasting it until it got to an orange-factor that I deemed delicious. I then tried to be a little fancy and scooped the frosting in a make-shift pastry bag (ziploc bag with the corner cut out..lol) and frosted the cupcakes that way. Learning experience: Frosting the cupcakes fancy-like uses a ton of frosting. I ran out of frosting and had to frost the last few normally. Now I know. I was in a little bit of a rush (it being a work night and all), and so I put some of the cupcakes in the fridge so they'd cool faster and it worked very well, I must say. I knew better than to try and frost cupcakes while they were still warm.
Last, I broke the Lindt chocolate bars into the pre-determined squares and just squished the pieces into the cupcakes (one square per cupcake) so they would stay put. I put the bars in the fridge so they would break easier and wouldn't melt. It was 80-90 degrees outside, after all.
The yield for this cupcake recipe was supposed to be 24...however I only got 22 out it. Not a big deal to me because it wasn't for any event in particular. Just felt like baking.
Well, there it is. My second baking attempt, first successful one. Now that I know I'm not a complete baking failure, I have a feeling I'll be doing more baking :) Until next time...
Fire away!
Pictures for you! FINALLY.
The cupcakes that went over sooo well were a chocolate cupcake with an orange cream cheese frosting, topped with a piece of of Lindt Dark Chocolate Intense Orange chocolate. I made the cake part of the cupcakes from scratch (the chocolate part!) and I found a super easy recipe online. Not only was it super easy, it was super delicious! I'm thinking anytime I make chocolate cupcakes, it will be my go-to recipe. I'll never make chocolate cupcakes from a box mix again! Not that I made many cupcakes before but you catch my drift.
The great part about the recipe I found is that there is no eggs or butter. I know it sounds weird to not have butter or eggs but the recipe is so delicious you don't even notice.
The chocolate cupcake recipe:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder)
3/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cups water (I substituted one cup of chocolate milk for one cup of water...so it was 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup chocolate milk)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar (sounds weird but you can't even taste it) plus when it touched the baking soda, it fizzed in the bowl! :)
Mix all the ingredients together until moist and well-blended. Put cupcake liners in a cupcake tin and fill 1/2 - 3/4 full of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Ta-da! all done with that! Now it's just time to let the cupcakes cool.
The frosting was cream cheese frosting from a can. I used Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Cream Cheese frosting and added orange extract to make it..well, orange-flavored. I spooned out all the frosting from the can and put it in a bowl and then added the orange extract and mixed it all together. I just put in 1/2 teaspoon at a time and kept tasting it until it got to an orange-factor that I deemed delicious. I then tried to be a little fancy and scooped the frosting in a make-shift pastry bag (ziploc bag with the corner cut out..lol) and frosted the cupcakes that way. Learning experience: Frosting the cupcakes fancy-like uses a ton of frosting. I ran out of frosting and had to frost the last few normally. Now I know. I was in a little bit of a rush (it being a work night and all), and so I put some of the cupcakes in the fridge so they'd cool faster and it worked very well, I must say. I knew better than to try and frost cupcakes while they were still warm.
Last, I broke the Lindt chocolate bars into the pre-determined squares and just squished the pieces into the cupcakes (one square per cupcake) so they would stay put. I put the bars in the fridge so they would break easier and wouldn't melt. It was 80-90 degrees outside, after all.
The yield for this cupcake recipe was supposed to be 24...however I only got 22 out it. Not a big deal to me because it wasn't for any event in particular. Just felt like baking.
Well, there it is. My second baking attempt, first successful one. Now that I know I'm not a complete baking failure, I have a feeling I'll be doing more baking :) Until next time...
Fire away!
Pictures for you! FINALLY.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
I need to hop to it!
Wow, this blog has been a large failure. I'm really hoping that I'll get back on track and that this blog won't just sit and take up space.
Imagine my surprise when I signed on for the first time in over a month and saw that I had TWO whole followers! :) I'm not even being sarcastic! Now I have two people that I can't let down. The pressure is mounting.
I think the reason I haven't done any baking is that I couldn't figure out what I wanted to bake. The cake balls were disheartening, to say the least. And seeing that it's already September, the holidays will be upon us sooner than we know it and the holiday season is the perfect time to bake and I'd like to come up with some holiday treats. BUT FIRST! I need trial runs for my baked goods (apparently).
I think I might try something simple now like...cupcakes. Maybe some kind of tropical cupcake? I think I'm on to something there...my brain is starting to envision it...
On a side note, I'm pretty sure Bloody Mary's are going to turn me into an alcoholic. I'm going to start trying to create the best Bloody Mary and if I do, I will most definitely share the recipe. :)
Fire away!
Imagine my surprise when I signed on for the first time in over a month and saw that I had TWO whole followers! :) I'm not even being sarcastic! Now I have two people that I can't let down. The pressure is mounting.
I think the reason I haven't done any baking is that I couldn't figure out what I wanted to bake. The cake balls were disheartening, to say the least. And seeing that it's already September, the holidays will be upon us sooner than we know it and the holiday season is the perfect time to bake and I'd like to come up with some holiday treats. BUT FIRST! I need trial runs for my baked goods (apparently).
I think I might try something simple now like...cupcakes. Maybe some kind of tropical cupcake? I think I'm on to something there...my brain is starting to envision it...
On a side note, I'm pretty sure Bloody Mary's are going to turn me into an alcoholic. I'm going to start trying to create the best Bloody Mary and if I do, I will most definitely share the recipe. :)
Fire away!
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