Hey! Remember that one time when I had a blog?

Me too!  It seems that the last time I updated this blog was many, many weeks ago.  I fail at life (well, not life...but blogging!). 

 

I haven't been baking much lately, but I do have a long list of baking related blog posts that are in the making...but you're not getting one of those today.  Today, you are getting a birthday story (because it is shorter and easier to write...and fresher in my memory).

 

My birthday was a little over a week ago (happy birthday to me!).  I did most of my birthday celebrating in Iowa over thanksgiving because...well...that is where most of the people who wanted to celebrate with me are located.  On my birthday, however, a wonderful group of friends took me out to eat. 

 

It was...and experience. 

 

The restaurant we went to was nice.  Very nice, in fact.  And the food was delicious.  But the absolute best part of the night, hands down, was our waitress. 

 

The waitress started the evening by casually flirting with the one guy at our table, Matt.  She was a little older than Matt, and wearing those old lady tennis shoes, but he was really liking the attention. 

 

And then someone told her it was my birthday.  She got really excited because, you see, it was her birthday too!  She turned 60 that day.  She had been a wee-bit loopy all night long...but man, when she realized that we shared a birthday, she went into full on awesome mode. 

 

Waitress:  "Man!  I just knew!  I knew as soon as you sat down that we have a connection, you know?!  You know, our sign is Sagittarius.  We've got one foot in this world, and one in the next!What time of day were you born?"

 

Me:  "Um...I don't really know..."

 

Waitress:  "Oh, I bet it was in the morning.  I was born in the morning [side note - she actually told me the time...but I forget].  Oh, this is so exciting!"  Awkwardly watching me with anticipation in her face.

 

Waitress:  "So, what's your name?"

 

Me:  "Rachel"

 

Waitress:  "Oh!  My name is [don't remember] Ray!  That is so interesting, RAY-chel and me with RAY for a middle name!"

 

More awkward staring...then she left.

 

When she returned: 

 

Waitress:  "So, are you like a metaphysical person?"

 

Me:  "Um...I don't really know..."

 

Waitress:  "Oh, if you were a metaphysical person, you would know.  Never mind."  Awkward watching...then she left again.

 

She came back:

 

Waitress:  "So, what are your parents names?"

 

Me:  "Robin and Dave"

 

Waitress:  "OH!  MY DAD'S NAME IS DAVID TOO!"

 

And away she goes...

 

And when she came back, she was carrying a Tupperware container with homemade cookies inside.  She put four cookies in the middle of our table...and with that, we left.  We took the cookies with us...but we were all fairly certain that our metaphysical waitress was probably high...potentially from the cookies, so we didn't eat them. 

 

And that was my birthday dinner.  It was fantastic.

 

Warrior Dash Iowa - 2012

Last weekend I finally participated in a Warrior Dash and it was AWESOME!  Really, the whole weekend was awesome...so now I will give you a play-by-play so you can be jealous of my awesomeness.  You're welcome.



Pre-Warrior Dash Photo!  Look how cute we are!

I slept fitfully on Friday night because I was very nervous/excited about the Warrior Dash.  I have some travel anxiety issues, so I had already read through the Warrior Dash website a few times, I shared the website with bulleted important information for my friends (like what to bring, when to arrive, etc.), and I carefully prepared my weekend packet (which included hotel reservation confirmation, directions to the hotel just in case my GPS stopped working, Warrior Dash waivers for everyone in our group in case they forgot theirs, directions to the dash from the hotel, etc.).  Seriously, I have issues.  But...I was still fairly certain that I was forgetting something...so I didn't sleep well.

Morning came and we were actually ON TIME!  If you know Ian and me (or any of our friends), you should know that we are almost never on time.  I should clarify...I'm on time to things that matter to me (think anything that involves the courthouse or when I was in school, class, or really anything where someone tells me that I need to be somewhere at a designated time and that someone is not my mom, my sister, or my grandma...and by "on time" in those situations I mean 10-15 minutes early or I'm freaking out and a mess).  But for other events, I'm generally late. 

 

Ian has a more fluid definition of "on time" for everything.  For instance, if I'm going to be two minutes early to class, I'm not going to class because that's "late" and that is embarrassing...if Ian is going to be two minutes early to class he finds something else to do that will take him 10-20 minutes and then he will go to class.  This little difference sometimes causes a wee bit of strife...you see, my travel anxiety combined with Ian's fluid relationship with time...combined with the fact that me nagging him makes him move slower = a really stressful situation for everyone involved.

So...I slept fitfully because I just KNEW we were going to be LATE to the Warrior Dash...and we all know the world ends when you are late to the Warrior Dash.  Right?!

Ok, rant over.  So, we weren't late.  Everyone was actually very prompt and we got out the door and to the middle of nowhere (where the event was staged) in plenty of time!

The first shocking thing about the Warrior Dash was the fact that there were like a thousand people out there at 9:00 AM.  I just assumed that people want to sleep in on Saturday...I assumed wrong.


So, we got ourselves all registered and checked our stuff in to the appropriate places, and then we stood around and waited for the race to begin.  When it was time to line up, we purposely got toward the back of the pack...saving the serious athletes from the added obstacle of passing us.  Two things happened at this point: (1) I was very, very thirsty, so I wandered up to where the table with the water and grabbed a cup and then came back...but everyone had started moving forward and I had a frantic moment where I couldn't find my group.  I felt like a child lost in a clothing store.  It was embarrassing.  (2)  I had a moment where I was like, "You really don't want to do this...GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN THERE IS STILL TIME!"  I didn't listen to the voice freaking out in my head.  That voice lies.

The race started and we were off!  Kinda.  Really, the people at the front of the line started jogging and we walked forward until it was our turn.  Then WE WERE OFF.  Kinda.  You see, we ran for about 20 feet and immediately started walking...because everyone was walking.  The first approximately half mile was straight up a hill...and I wish I was exaggerating but I'm not.  I swear!



So...how to describe the course...I was unprepared for the course.  I knew we would be running around in the semi-wilderness, but I really hadn't contemplated what that means.  We were running through a partially patted down path.  There were tree limbs in the way, tall weeds, steps carved out of the dirt, big toe-stubbing rocks, etc.  There were portions of the path where you had to run single file...there was poison ivy in the path...it was definitely the wilderness.  Also...there were A LOT of hills.  I don't care how much I train to run, as long as my training takes place in Kansas, I will never be prepared to run on hills (PS: I'm not saying I actually trained properly for this race...because that would be a lie!). 

The obstacles were awesome and I'm proud to say that both Ian and I completed every obstacle!  Words of wisdom: if you are planning to do a Warrior Dash...part of your training should include crawling around in the woods.  Seriously.  That's not pleasant...and there is definitely more crawling than you would expect! 



Finished!

In other news, I didn't fall off of anything!  Some of those obstacles required you to climb something really high...and there is no safety "you're dumb and you fell off that really high wall" mat to catch you.  If you fall, you land on the ground.  So yay!  There is a rumor that someone in the 10:30 wave compound fractured his arm (with bone sticking out and all that gross stuff).  I have no idea if this is true, but I also wouldn't be surprised.

 

Our group ended up walking a large portion of the Warrior Dash for a variety of reasons...but I'm proud to say that we all finished and we all had a good time!  I think the very best portion of the event is when you get close to the finish line and you can hear everyone cheering...you run around the bend and out of the woods to jump over fire and then into the mud pit for the finish line!  So awesome! 

I'm definitely planning to do this (and other runs like this) again!  (I've started trying to convince Ian that we need to do one in October!).



The rest of the day was really awesome as well!  We drank our free beer, listened to some music, and ate giant turkey legs! 



I know, it's a wienie bite!

 

Cheers?

He is actually dancing with the turkey leg...

Drinking double...

I'll spare you the pics of us going at the turkey leg lady and the tramp style...

Then we went to the hotel and sat in the hot tub/went swimming all afternoon!  It was great! 

We continued to celebrate our awesomeness into the evening when we went out on the town.  Did you know that Des Moines is actually a somewhat happening place?  Or that a German restaurant with a live polka band would be the place where all of the youngsters want to booze the evening away?  Me either!



We went out with our fuzzy warrior helmets on...because really, why wouldn't we?!  All night long people would yell "WARRIORS!" at us...which was strange.  A stranger asked to take a picture of us...and we obliged...



WARRIORS!

We finished up the weekend with Sunday lunch at a place called Zombie Burger.  It was awesome (in a "my heart wants to die just thinking about what I ate) kind of way! 





I made it look strange...but this is their sign!

Front of the Menu!

Description of what I ate...

What I ate...

Description of what Ian ate...

All in all, I call this weekend a success (and I'm thoroughly impressed with Des Moines!).

40th Surprise Party

So...remember that post I had almost a month ago where I talked about Red Velvet cupcakes and told you to check back later in the week for a post about my first order...well...this is that post you've been waiting for.  I know.  I suck.  You love me anyway.

Anyway, my first ever order was for 1 dozen Pina Colada Cupcakes, 1 dozen S'mores Cupcakes, and 2 dozen red velvet cupcakes.  This also happened to be the very first time baking in my new kitchen.  Oh, and it was the first week of the summer associate program where my law firm has activities that involve drinking booze literally every night of the week.  It was an interesting baking experience...or, and interesting experience in time management, to say the least.

First, I love my new kitchen:

I especially like the lovely island in the middle.  The one problem is that once you pull out your ingredients and your "cookbook" (aka, my iPad)...and my computer for watching TV, there really isn't a whole lot of room on the counter.  So, it took some work to figure out where my cooling racks would work best, where my ingredients should sit waiting patiently for me to use them, etc.  I did figure it out, though.

Baking for actual events makes me nervous...but happy.  It definitely makes me feel good that someone liked my baking so much they wanted to order it!  But...it makes me nervous because WHAT IF I MESS UP?! 

To accommodate all of the drinking and working I had to do that week, I baked the order over the course of a couple of days (which my customer knew was likely to happen since she ordered some complex cupcakes).  It actually went a lot more smoothly than I anticipated.  I didn't mess up the recipes at all...I had an order for baking...the S'mores turned out even better than the usually do...I made colorful Pina Colada Cupcakes (it was a 40th birthday party for a man...so I figured all pink was a no no):

I even got to use my new mini fridge for its intended purpose for the very first time:

Please see the beautiful cupcakes...and ignore the beer).

I was a little nervous that the Red Velvet Cupcakes were messed up.  You see, usually before I let anyone else eat a cupcake, I taste-test the batch first.  But, the customer ordered 2 dozen Red Velvet Cupcakes, and the recipe makes exactly that...so there weren't any extras to taste.  I was petrified that I had left out an important ingredient (like...idk...sugar!) and just didn't know it.  If they were messed up, you know, no big deal...just the birthday boy's FAVORITE FREAKING CAKE.  So yeah, that part made me nervous (they weren't messed up, in case you were concerned).

The most nerve-racking portion of the whole experience, however, was the transportation.  All I needed to do was get 5 dozen cupcakes to the customer without messing any up, and I would be good to go...but I was so nervous I was going to drop them!  I mean, I had to get them from my basement, to my car, to the fridge at work, back to my car, and then to the drop-off location.  It was a lot of travel...

I managed...but then that night I got a text message from my friend that said, "My worst nightmare just happened.  The bottom of one of the tupperwares just fell out!!!!!  Thank God the cupcakes were salvageable.  F*ck my life."  And my heart dropped...

Luckily, no cupcakes were harmed in the drop...

Anyway, the experience was good, the customer passed out some of my business cards, and maybe someone else will order in the future!  Until then, I'll just keep baking for the fun of it! 

(P.S. - the customer was going to take a picture of the cupcakes sitting out, but was too busy having fun...so no finished product pics for you this time!  Sorry folks!).

Rootbeer Float

Around November of 2011, I got an email from my sister, Dani, with the subject line "Challenge."  She issued me a challenge to create a cupcake that used at least one flavor of Pinnacle Vodka, preferably more.  Specifically, she wanted me to use a the Pinnacle Whipped.  She may have even strongly suggested that the cupcake be a Rootbeer Float flavor.  I promised to do so...

I intended to make these cupcakes shortly after she issued her challenge.  I purchased the Pinnacle Whipped vodka and intended to purchase the Rootbeer flavor as well.  However, the liquor store I went to didn't have it, so I just purchased Rootbeer and made a mental note to go to another liquor store.

I drank the first bottle of vodka.  It's really good.  Mixed with Rootbeer, it's like the perfect adult Rootbeer float.  No joke!

Blue Moon & Corona Cupcakes

I was recently tricked into making these cupcakes:

(can you figure out what is wrong with this picture?)

I Made Soup!

In Wichita, we have a fantastic soup and sandwich place called Tanya's Soup Kitchen.  The woman who owns it may be crazy, but that's ok because she works in the restaurant industry!  Anyway, she creates all of these wonderful soups, all made from scratch, using mostly local ingredients, and it is definitely one of my favorite places in town.  She also sells her recipes.

Prior to Christmas, I was in Tanya's for lunch and noticed that her recipe books were on sale (like, buy all six and save $15 or something like that).  I decided I would buy them and give them away for Christmas presents (they are currently sitting in the back of Ian's car...so the second part of this plan backfired).  I figured I would also want to keep a couple...you know, cause I like cooking so much and how hard could it possibly be to make SOUP?

Turns out, making soup is an interesting experience.

Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes

After I successfully made homemade limoncello, I decided I needed to bake with it!  I found this delicious looking recipe on the Brown Eyed Baker and decided to try it out.  These cupcakes are lemon-limoncello cupcakes, lemon curd filling, and limoncello frosting.  The flavor is a little out of season, but I was too impatient to wait for summer, so deal with it!

Homemade Limoncello

I officially fail at blogging...it has been almost a month since my last post.  Good news is, I have a TON to post about, so be prepared for multiple new posts in a (hopefully) short time span (provided my life cooperates). 

Anyway, on one of my many, MANY trips home to Iowa last summer (yes, this is a very old topic), I went to a party at my bother and sister-in-law's house.  At this party, my sister-in-law, Amanda, served delicious limoncello that SHE MADE HERSELF!  Hers turned out so well, I asked for instructions and made my own! 

 (note - this is my finished limoncello, not a giant jar of pee)

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes and a Bachelorette Party

Ok, first things first - if you are 1 of the 5 people who looks at this blog occasionally, you will notice that I have changed the name and the URL.  I'm sorry if this caused any confusion/if you attempted to find my blog and were prevented due to the change.  However, it was a necessary evil.  Some of you may be aware that there is a cookbook entitled The Boozy Baker, which is all over the place right now.  Considering the book was published long before I started my blog (and the fact that it is now a well recognized cookbook), I assume that someday in the near future, the author (or her attorneys) is going to being the process of doing random Internet searches for people who are infringing on her intellectual property...at which time she would find me and I would receive a cease and desist letter.  So, to avoid that, I changed the blog name (and have already had one complaint...)

NOW ON TO THE FUN STUFF!

It has been a while since my last post, and for that I apologize!  I've been spending a lot of quality time in my office lately and haven't been baking as much as I would like to.  However, I did break away from the office a couple of weeks ago to attend an awesome bachelorette party of my hair stylist turned workout buddy and all around friend, Evy.  She and her beau eloped in Vegas...but before that, we had a crazy night filled with mullets, alcohol, dancing, and a party bus! 

I offered to bake Evy cupcakes for the party, and asked her what kind sounded good to her.  She, like most people when asked that question, said she didn't really care...but then she mentioned strawberry margarita cupcakes about 10 times in the course of a week.  So, it was decided.

I've already made margarita cupcakes and decided to just use that same recipe, but find a way to make it much more alcoholic and strawberry flavored.  I also fell in love with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting...so I decided to find a way to make that alcoholic.

Both of these changes were really simple...or would have been for someone who wasn't me. 

To make the cupcakes strawberry margarita flavored, I decided to try this filling I found at The Baker Chick.  The Baker Chick's blog post on strawberry margarita cupcakes is great, and she even tells you how to get the filling into the cupcakes.  I thought I knew better.  I was wrong.

So...I recently found this while shopping:

This is supposed to help you remove the center of your cupcake to add filling...for me, all it did was mash the center of my cupcake, making it ugly and malformed.  I only used this "handy" tool on one cupcake, and then I gave up.  I'm sure that it is very useful...and someday I may even find a way to use it...but I assumed I had a better idea.

I WAS WRONG.

Remember my Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling?  For those, I just put the filling in a pastry bag, put the tip of the pastry bag into the cupcake, and squeezed gently.  It was super simple...so I figured I would try that again here.

The filling in this cupcake is essentially tequila and strawberry puree.  Mistake number 1 was thinking that I could keep LIQUID in my pastry bag without spilling it everywhere.  I could not.  I ended up with puddles of strawberry tequila all over my kitchen floor.  Mistake number 2 was thinking that strawberry puree would come easily out of the tip...it did not.  The seeds got stuck in the tip...I ended up squeezing the bag a little too hard...when the LIQUID finally came out of the bag, it didn't come out nicely.  It squirted.  Everywhere. 

I did finally get my cupcakes filled...by following the directions provided by The Baker Chick.  So...take a small paring knife and cut out the center of your cupcake:

Using a spoon, fill the hole with your filling (no judging my messy baking skills):

Then replace the centerpiece.  Some people say you should cut off the tip so it fits more easily back on the cupcake after you have added filling.  My take on these cupcakes was that I was going to be frosting them with the cupcake swirl, so a little extra volume in the middle of the cupcake wouldn't hurt anyone!

For the frosting, I remade the Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting...but this time, instead of adding strawberry puree to flavor it, I made a strawberry margarita and dumped it in.  I thought it worked well! 

These cupcakes were AMAZING...and they were definitely the most alcoholic cupcakes I've made to date.  Seriously, when I opened up the box at the dinner, you could smell the tequila!  It. Was. Fantastic!

Obviously, these cupcakes being for a bachelorette party means there had to be a penis straw for the bride:

In case you were wondering, the bachelorette party was an AMAZING time...and I was NOT KIDDING ABOUT THE MULLETS! 



(Ok, the second one was a wig...but the first guy...hardcore mullet).

Margarita Cupcakes -

I'm not re-writing the recipe for you...just follow the link! 

Strawberry Margarita Filling -

1 8oz container of strawberries

Juice and zest of 1 lime

1/2 cup tequila

2 tablespoons sugar

In a bowl of a food processor (I used a magic bullet), add the strawberries, lime juice, lime zest, tequila, and sugar.  Puree until there are no chunks of strawberry.

Strawberry Margarita Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting -

Follow the frosting recipe until the point where you add the strawberries.

Make a strawberry margarita (I mixed 6 ounce of tequila, 4-6 ounces of tripple sec, 4 ounces of strawberry puree, and 2 ounces of fresh squeezed lime juice).  Dump the strawberry margarita into the frosting and mix until combined!

Fill your cooled cupcakes with the filling (using the method above, trust me), then frost...I like the cupcake swirl for these ones (mostly because I now know how to do the cupcake swirl). 

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes & Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (aka - the orgasmic cupcake!)

I have officially been baking cupcakes and bringing them to work long enough that people have started making requests.  Well, maybe not people...maybe just Amelia...

Amelia is one of our newbies and we originally met when we interned together at the Firm.  At the time of our internship, I was in between my second and third year of law school, and she was a year behind me.  Amelia and I became very good friends over the summer, and I am VERY happy she is finally working with me!

Amelia LOVES pumpkin spice lattes.  Apparently this isn't that rare...although I personally am not a fan (I don't like anything coffee flavored).  One day at work a couple of weeks ago, Amelia walked into my office and handed me this recipe and said, "Please make these for me!"  So I told her it would go on the list (and I seriously have a list of cupcakes that I want to make!  Actually, I have multiple lists but I keep losing them)!  

Well, I finally got around to making these cupcakes, and let me tell you, they are a crowd pleaser! 

So, I didn't follow the recipe completely on this one...and I think that may be a first!  The first change I made was driven my desire to (1) not include coffee in the cupcake (although I couldn't get rid of the espresso powder) and (2) to include BOOZE!  So...instead of brushing the still warm cupcakes with coffee, I brushed them with Kahlua!  Yummy!

The second change I made was to the frosting.  The whipped cream frosting just seemed...so...BORING.  So instead, I made Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, which is probably one of the best things ever!  The cinnamon frosting was an excellent addition to these cupcakes (also, delicious all on its own...)!

So, here's the bad news - I didn't like these cupcakes.  All I could taste was the coffee...

Now, for the good news - EVERYONE ELSE LOVED THEM!  I had TONS of people stopping by my office and emailing me all day to tell me that these were wonderful.  I had two separate people tell me that these were the best cupcakes they had had in their entire life...and, now for my favorite compliment...one coworker said the cupcakes were almost orgasmic...and then added "it was good for me!"

So...if you are looking for a seasonal crowd pleasing treat, these are an excellent option!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons espresso powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs
Kahlua for brushing (you can also use coffee or espresso)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.  Stir together and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
4. With the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated.
5. Fill the cupcake liners about three-quarters full. 
6. Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.  Let cool in pan for five to ten minutes.
7. Remove cupcakes from pan to a wire rack.
8. While the cupcakes are still warm, brush them two or three times with the Kahlua (you can use coffee or espresso for a non-alcoholic version), allowing the first coat to soak in before repeating.  Let cupcakes cool completely.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (half stick) butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (add more to taste)
2-3 cups powdered sugar (add more or less to make it a stiffness that you like).
Caramel

1. Mix cream cheese and butter well.
2. Add vanilla and cinnamon.
3. Add powdered sugar to stiffness you want.
4. Pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. 
5. Drizzle caramel on top.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

I was going to say something here about how I was on a roll, posting twice in a period of two days...that was when I started to write this blog just a day after my last post.  Obviously, that is no longer true...no roll here!  But, a new post today so YAY! 

Ok, so Pina Colada cupcakes came from, you guessed it, the Cupcake Project! 

I LOVE these cupcakes!  They were really moist and delicious!  I did, however, run into many, many, MANY issues in the baking process (aka - I learned a lot of important baking lessons!).

First, I learned that it is easier to put a lid ON a can of vanilla than it is to take a lid OFF...or I was apparently stronger when I made the margarita cupcakes than when I made the Pina Colada cupcakes...because I couldn't get the lid off the vanilla.  No worries though!  I used vanilla bean paste instead and everything worked out fine.  I'm not really sure what lesson I learned from this experience.  Grow bigger muscles?  Don't put the lid on the vanilla all the way (once I finally get the lid back off, that is)?  Who knows...

The second issue I had was with my silicups...you see, with my first 12 cupcakes, about 5 came out of their cups just fine.  The other 7, however, were stuck.  One of two things happened here.  Either I (1) did not spray the silicups with Pam, or (2) these cupcakes were just stickier than other cupcakes I have made.  I'm guessing that it was my failure to spray them.  Either way, I switched to paper liners with the remainder of the cupcakes.

The third lesson I learned was to pay attention when purchasing ingredients.  This recipe calls for pineapple juice.  So, I went to the store, found pineapple juice, purchased it, and then used it to make my cupcakes.  After the cupcakes were done, I decided to make myself a drink.  Since I had purchased both Malibu rum and pineapple juice just for this baking experience, that's what I made myself.  It was at that moment that I first actually looked at the tiny cans of pineapple juice I bought and realized that they were really pineapple orange juice.  Oh well!  No one noticed!

The fourth, and probably most important lesson, I learned with these cupcakes is THERE IS A REASON RECIPES SAY TO USE ROOM TEMPERATURE BUTTER AND CREAM CHEESE IN THE FROSTING.  I just assumed that my Kitchen Aid was good enough at its job that I could pull the cream cheese and butter out of the refrigerator and use them chilled, and, for the most part, my frostings have always been fine (even if a little lumpy).  This time, however, I actually used room temperature butter and cream cheese and THE FROSTING WAS ACTUALLY SMOOTH.  It was amazing!  So...use room temperature ingredients if the recipe calls for it!  Seriously!  It makes a difference!

Finally, I learned that sometimes you just don't need to double the recipe!  This recipe should make 18 cupcakes...I doubled it thinking I would have 36...I actually had 40.  When you are baking for no one in particular and no special occasion, 40 cupcakes is definitely too many.  Luckily, I work with PLENTY of people who are ready, willing, and able to assist me by eating them!

These cupcakes turned out very well, but I believe the Margarita Cupcakes remain the crowd favorite!

Pina Colada Cupcakes
1/3 Cup Malibu Rum (or any other rum you want to use)
3/4 Cup coconut milk
1/4 Cup pineapple juice (or, you know, pineapple orange juice works too)
1 teaspoon vanilla (or vanilla bean paste)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs
1 Cup shredded baker's coconut
1 Cup crushed pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a small bowl, combine rum, coconut milk, pineapple juice, and vanilla.  Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs to the sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Alternatively add the flour mixture and the rum mixture, beating well after each addition.
7. Fold in the coconut and pineapple (I'm not sure what fold means...so I just mixed in the coconut and pineapple, and all turned out well).
8. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched or a toothpick comes out clean.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, ROOM TEMPERATURE
1/4 Cup unsalted butter, ROOM TEMPERATURE
2 Cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons coconut cream

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in powdered sugar a little bit at a time.
3. Mix in coconut cream.
4. Pipe onto cupcakes.
5. Mix shredded baker's coconut with your favorite color food coloring (I used pink) and then top your cupcakes! 

Margarita Cupcakes and My First Solo Jury Trial (kinda)

Hello to you, the people who read this blog!  So, it has been FOREVER since my last blog post.  As you would expect, I have a perfectly good excuse for my lack of blogging - I was simply too busy!

In the last two months, my work life has exploded!  I have been staying late and working weekends all to prepare for my FIRST SOLO JURY TRIAL.  Preparing for a trial is A LOT of work.  My case was a car accident/personal injury case.  The defense (aka - my argument) was that the injuries the plaintiff was complaining about were not caused by the accident.  I spent countless hours pouring over medical records and deposition testimony, creating a timeline of injuries as she explained them and comparing them to the injuries as they were documented in her medical records. 

At some point, the plaintiff's attorney must have started to do the same thing...because less than a week before the trial was set to begin he called and said that he was preparing a settlement offer for our client.  Up to this point, we had offered $7,000 to settle, and they said they would not take less than $100,000.  Well, just three business days before the trial, we received their offer - $18,500.  We countered with $8,000 and they accepted.  So...I did all of my prep work for my first jury trial...and then settled.  It was very anticlimactic, but a very good learning experience.

After the case settled, I have continued to work crazy hours in an attempt to catch up on the rest of my cases!

NOW, on to the cupcakes!

During my busy time at work, I have had very little time to bake (and even less time to blog, duh!).  However, I did find time to make some margarita cupcakes! 

I found this recipe at the Cupcake Project, which is fast becoming my favorite baking blog.  The changes I made (which might not be changes because she doesn't really specify in her recipe) are basically just quality changes (I also didn't follow the vegan recipe...cause I am not vegan).  I am a tequila/margarita snob, so I used fresh squeezed lime juice.  I also used Milagro tequila (shown here on another night when Ian made homemade pizza and I made homemade mango margaritas!  YUM!).

Edit:  Picture of tequila on baking night -

I also used cute little candy lime/lemon/orange slices for my decorations, which I thought fit better with the margarita theme.

The biggest issue I had with this recipe was the frosting.  First, it refused to thicken.  On the first cupcake I frosted and tried to add the colorful rim to, the frosting dripped down the side of the cupcake, the rim completely came off, and the cupcake didn't even look frosted anymore.  I added more powdered sugar to the frosting and whisked it more...and then I stuck it in the fridge for a while, and eventually it was thick enough to stay on the cupcakes while I decorated them.  Then I quickly put the cupcakes in the fridge, where the frosting hardened.  It was a process, but it ended up working well! 

The second issue with the frosting is that I made WAY TOO MUCH.  I never intended to make a double batch of frosting.  But apparently doubling the cupcake recipe confused my brain, because I just automatically started doubling my ingredients for the frosting.  It wasn't until I started adding the powdered sugar that I even realized I was doing it! 

In the end, I thought these cupcakes were fine.  They weren't my favorite, but they were tasty. 

Other people, on the other hand, LOVED these cupcakes.  I had more people request the recipe/stop by my office to tell me how much they loved these cupcakes than I have ever had before...so they are definitely an office favorite!

Margarita Cupcakes - (makes 12, so I doubled this recipe)

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 tsp lime zest (about 1 lime)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp tequila
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, milk, oil, tequila, vanilla, and sugar.
2. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the lime mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Divide evenly among 12 cupcake liners.
5. Bake at 350 F for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean and the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed.

Margarita Frosting Recipe - the Cupcake Project recommends cutting this recipe in half if you only make 12 cupcakes...I made 24 cupcakes and doubled the recipe...obviously I ended up with too much frosting.
1/4 Cup butter, melted
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp tequila
2+ cups confectioners/powdered sugar
course colored sugar (and a little salt) for the "rims"
Candy lime wedges for decorations

1. Cream together butter, heavy whipping cream, lime juice, tequila, and confectioners' sugar.
2. Add in more sugar as needed to make the frosting smooth and spreadable.
3. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes.
4. Combine the colored sugar and salt in a small bowl.
5. Roll the edge of each cupcake in the sugar/salt mixture.
6. Top with the candy lime wedges.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes and Irish Cream Frosting

If you have actually been reading all of my blog posts, chances are good that by now you are thinking to yourself that this blog may be misnamed.  Maybe you think that I have lead you astray.  Well fear not, I finally bring you a cupcake filled with booze!

Over the summer my law firm brings in summer associates to work for ten weeks, and at the end of ten weeks we decide whether we want to hire them to work here full time after they graduate from law school.  Because I am the newest associate at the firm (until Monday!) and because I tend to enjoy the social events throughout the summer (I really like places where there is free food and alcohol), I spent a lot of time with the summer associates this summer.  I also spent a lot of time with their significant others.  During one of the many social events, my cupcake baking came up and of the significant others said, "Oh, you must love Cupcake Wars."  I had no idea what she was talking about.  It turns out that there is a show on the food network that is all about baking cupcakes...who knew?! 

Personally, I prefer to watch crime dramas and the occasional reality TV show featuring trashy women (hello The Bachelor, I'm lookin' at you!).  But, I figured I should at least check out the Cupcake Wars website to see what it had to offer.  It was AWESOME and I immediately printed off three recipes that I knew I wanted to make.  I let Ian make the ultimate decision about which cupcake to try first, and he chose the Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting.

These cupcakes were a little more complicated to make.  For instance, you make the batter in a saucepan, which meant no using my/Ian's Kitchen Aid.  However, they were still rather simple if you follow the directions. 

I did make one modification to the recipe.  The recipe recommends that you use Guiness as your Irish stout.  However, you are using it to make chocolate cupcakes, and I KNOW there are more chocolaty Irish stouts available.  So, I went to my local liquor store and requested to be pointed in the direction of the stout with the best chocolaty flavor.  The very helpful gentleman told me that the best and most chocolaty stout that they carry is Rogue Chocolate Stout, which is what I used.  Now, the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of Irish stout...but the Rogue Chocolate Stout comes in 16 ounce bottles...so I had to drink the leftovers.  Personally, I am not a huge fan of stout on its own, but a good chocolate stout mixed with and equal amount of Lambic's (I prefer raspberry, but you could also use cherry, peach, or any of the other flavors) makes a delightful chocolaty/fruity drink!

Unfortunately, after the filled cupcake and the upside down cupcake, this cupcake had big shoes to fill, and it came up short.  Don't get me wrong, the cupcake itself tasted fine...but it was just fine.  It was a chocolate cupcake that took more effort to make than my other chocolate cupcakes but tasted just like a regular old chocolate cupcake. 

The frosting was the best part about this cupcake.  I always take all but two of my cupcakes to my office on the Monday morning after I bake because the people in my office will eat anything in about an hour at the most.  Sometimes after I leave the cupcakes in the cafeteria, I will stop by to see if anyone is actually eating them (they always are, but I have this illogical fear that no one is going to take them).  This time when I came back to check on the cupcake eating progress, I noticed that someone had taken the frosting off of one of the cupcakes, but left the cupcake in the container.  My guess is that they had already eaten one and just wanted more frosting...but I am really not sure what happened there!

In the end, these cupcakes were good, but the first two I made were better.  These ones were definitely better after I chilled them in the refrigerator overnight.

Oh, this was also the first time I ever attempted to decorate a cupcake with frosting out of a pastry bag.  I originally did this...

Ian promptly made fun of my inability to frost my cupcake and tried to teach me proper form...but all I ended up with was this:

Which I tend to think looks like a mound of dog poo.  So...obviously my frosting technique needs some work. 

Lesson learned about frosting made mostly from butter = it melts.  Especially if you frost your cupcakes, remove it from the cupcakes, frost them again, remove it again, etc.  Beware! 

The recipe is here,

but I will also write it below to make it easier! 

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups Irish stout (I recommend Rogue Chocolate Stout)

4 ounces unsalted butter

3/4 cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 cups dark brown sugar

3/4 cups sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a cupcake pan with 24 regular-size cupcake liners.
2. Place the stout and butter in a medium-size saucepan and whisk together on medium heat until the butter is melted.  Remove from the heat.
3. Sift the cocoa powder into a medium-size bowl and add the sugar.  Slowly whisk into the stout mixture. 
4. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and lightly whisk until smooth.  Add this mixture to the saucepan and whisk thoroughly (it may appear lumpy). 
5. Sift the flour and baking soda together in another small bowl and then add it to the saucepan, mixing a final time until the color is even.
6. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full with the batter and bake until the cake spring back after touching, about 27 minutes.  Cool the cupcakes in their pan for five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Irish Liquor Frosting

1 pound unsalted butter

4 tablespoons Irish cream liquor (Baileys)

4 cups confectioners' sugar (if you are like me and don't know...this is powdered sugar).

1. Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer until pale.  Turn the mixer on low speed and add the Baileys in a steady stream.  Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and continue beating until a creamy consistency is achieved.
2. Pipe the frosting onto cooled cupcakes using a large plain tip.  Dust with cocoa powder if preferred (I didn't do this).

Epic Burrito

At the end of June, Ian and I took a much needed vacation...back to Iowa (I know, it is rather exotic).  We were in Iowa to visit two of our best friends, Pete and Olivia, who moved to Washington about a year and a half earlier, and this was to be the first time we had seen them since their move.  It was also the first time we met their adorable baby.

Over the course of the week we visited our favorite watering holes from our previous lives as young and irresponsible adults.  It was a fantastic week full of shopping, games, and martinis...and flower headbands...

I did zero baking on this trip.  In fact, no one did any baking on this trip (that I am aware of).  What we did do was participate in an epic mealtime.  I don't really understand epic mealtime.  I think its a guy thing.  What I do know is that prior to heading to Iowa, Ian informed me that at some point during this trip we were going to eat possibly the most fattening and bacon filled meal that has ever existed.

We were making an Epic Burrito.  I use the word "we" loosely, because I did zero cooking of the Epic Burrito.  

Ian and Pete came up with an Epic Burrito plan of action.  I can't really tell you what it was.  I can tell you that they made a burrito shell out of a bacon weave.  The burrito was filled with more bacon (seriously), chorizo, green pork, hamburger, beans, and rice.  Then we smothered it.  In homemade cheese dip.  The cheese dip also contained all of our leftover meat.  This was the type of meal you are almost certain is going to kill you as you eat it.  Amazingly, we all survived!  Here is a picture of the burrito pre-cheese dip smothering!  I know it looks really scary, but it was AMAZING (for one time only...seriously, you could NOT eat this on a regular basis)!