Grief Cupcakes 101

So recently my roommates rabbit, to whom I had grown quite attached, passed away and coming home to a bunny-less house was definitely a little more than upsetting.  Our living room felt empty and all I could think about was Nugget's little face and all the funny things she used to do.  However because feelings are the worst I tried to shove these ones down as far as they could possibly go.  I didn't hang out in the living room the first night instead I spent most of it in the kitchen furiously baking cupcakes: grief cupcakes.  Because for me baking and pink wine are crucial stages of mourning. 

 

I made a simple recipe, just a classic vanilla cupcake with a (rather delicious if I do say so myself) cream cheese frosting.  To spice things up my roommate kindly donated some green food coloring- that way I could tell everyone that the frosting was made of boogers :) 

 

While I'm still sad about losing an important member of my family, Nugget had a great life and she is probably hopping around and loving bunny heaven.  I'll love you forever Nugget, you were the absolute best bunny anyone could have and I'll always carry you in my heart.  These cupcakes were for you- I'm sure you'd love to munch :)  Much love little bun :)

 

 

 

(shout out to my roomie Sparoh for making sure to point out all the cupcakes)

 

 

 

 

 

I love you Nugget, miss ya face lil bun

 

Maple Sugar Cookies

Hey, been awhile :)

Anyhoo so school has begun again and that means that my free time has been greatly diminished, we will be having a memorial service if anyone would like to join, nonetheless I'm still trying to bake as much as possible.

A few days ago I made some very drunk, but very delicious brownies.  They really weren't all that special pretty much followed the directions on the box and then added some crushed up oreos on top- but to me and my drunk roommates they were delicious!!!

More recently I made some maple sugar cookies, adding on a simple cream cheese frosting (because it's official I am in LOVE with cream cheese frosting- and it will probably be the death of me via heart attack).  It all started due to some very stressful academic situations- I then decided that baking was the only real solution to such anxiety.  I went and picked up the most basic ingredients for sugar cookies- so pretty much some eggs, butter, and a betty crocker mix.  Sad but true.  Desperate times come for desperate measures (did I mention that like every other college student I'm borderline broke at all times-- I hope that acts as some sort of explanation).

 

But like always I didn't stick to the box rules.  I threw in some good ol' fashioned VT Maple syrup and some extra vanilla extract (because in my opinion they never have enough and the cookies don't really taste like anything often).  Also just a PINCH of salt- if you put in too much you may as well throw out the cookies now because salt is so overpowering that you only really need a tiny tiny bit to make a difference.  Also it's really not that good for you and you're already making cookies, so calm down.

 

From there I followed the regular cookie making format.  Roll up the dough, plop it on the already greased up pan, and then indent each cookie dough sphere with a fork to flatten it out a bit.

 

Throw each batch in the oven for 7-10 minutes and you've got the maple sugar cookies down.

 

For my cream cheese frosting I honestly just winged it.  I threw together about 14oz of plain cream cheese, purchased at the small market conveniently located a block away from my house, about two cups of sugar, a teaspoon and some of vanilla extract, a dash of milk, and just a hint of melted butter (but not too much).  Then I mixed them all together until smooth and delicious.

We weren't even drunk and they were pretty tasty!!!  Super easy, if I can do it anyone can!!!

 

The CupCake Trials: Expedition One

So this Summer I have decided to embark on a baking mission: to bake as many damn cupcakes as f**king possible.  Also just to bake more in general, but that's a side note.  Anyhoo- today is my first day in this baking adventure and I'm trying to take it a little slow and ease my way into baking.  So instead of going crazy and baking 5 different cupcakes on my first try I'm going to focus in on one aspect of the cupcake: the frosting. 

I'm going to attempt to make the dankest frosting I can: a sweet cream cheese frosting.  It's my absolute favorite kind and I'm so excited to try to actually make some on my own- from scratch- with absolutely no help from any chemical packaging. 

For the actual cake I will be using a Funfetti mix- so I'm cheating a little yes.  My goal is to make the Funfetti cakes and then add on the cream cheese frosting- which I've never actually done before so this should be interesting.  I decided to go for a  simple frosting recipe with only the very basic of ingredients (I'm a broke college student at the moment so the simpler the better).  I found a good one on allrecipes.com- click here for the link. 

Step One:

Pre- heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and then pour the Funfetti mix into the bowl.  Add in one egg, half a cup of oil, and a bit of milk to the mix and stir until smooth. 

Step Two:

When the batter is smooth pour a scoopful of the batter into each cupcake holder.  Most people will tell you to only fill it halfway up but I personally like my cupcakes extra big- so I fill them pretty much 75% of the way up.  When this is done put them in the oven for 18-20 minutes. 

Step Three:

While the cupcakes are in the oven, start work on the cream cheese frosting.  The recipe calls for 6oz of cream cheese, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, half a cup of butter, and 2 cups of sugar.  All in all, pretty simple.  Simple mix it all together and whip it 'til smooth.  If you're like me and are too broke to have a mixer this can be a bit of a process and your arm will be sore by the end (definitely counts towards my "workout"). 

Step Four:

Take cupcakes out of the oven (turn off the stove!!!).  Then take a freezer bag and pour the frosting into the bag.  When this is complete cut one of the corners of the bag, creating a DIY cupcake decorating device.  AKA you will be able to make your cupcakes look pretty good. 

Step Five:

giphy.com

Eat your cupcakes- you deserve it :)

10 Easy Steps to Delicious Red Velvet Cupcakes

chaosinthekitchen.com

Red Velvet Cupcakes are sweet, delicious, and super easy to make.  The name comes from the fact that the actual cake is traditionally a deep red color.  The cake itself is mostly traditional yellow cake, but has a hint of chocolate in it giving it it's unique taste.  The color can be achieved by using beats or strawberries, however I usually just use the traditional red food dye.  It's easier and I don't love the idea of beats in cupcakes, just seems wrong. 

Despite it's wide spread adoration, the Red Velvet recipe is thought of as very Southern.  In fact it was a Texas company, Adams Extract, that spread the recipe throughout the rest of the country during the Great Depression.

lifesimplyfabulous.com

Luckily Red Velvet Cupcakes aren't actually that hard to make.  If you're feeling particularly lazy you can always run to the store and pick up a simple mix, but if you're feeling slightly more ambitious try these simple steps for some crazy good cupcakes. 

1. Pre Heat the oven to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit- make sure you do this because when you don't it's a major pain in the ass to wait later on

2. Mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 stick of butter until "frothy" - if you wanna be super fancy than you can use an official beater, I usually just use a fork

3. Once the sugar and butter looks good mix in 2 eggs and beat until also light and fluffy

4. For this next step you will need 2 bowls.  In one bowl mix: 2 and 1/3 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and a half teaspoon of salt.  In the other bowl mix: 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. 

5. When both look ready mix the wet and dry ingredients together

6. Then add cupcake papers and fill each one about halfway- if you're like me and forgot to buy cupcake papers simply butter the shit out of each holder and you should be fine. 

7. Set timer for 15 minutes, and then check in after that. 

8. Now moving on to the frosting.  Mix one stick of butter and 8oz of Philly Cream Cheese until creamy and delicious looking.  Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl for ideal mixture.

9. Throw in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and mix.  When that's all set mix in 2-3 cups of sugar (I used 3 for good measure).

10.  After that just wait for the cakes to cool and then add the frosting.  If you're like me and new to decorating, that's ok, my cupcakes were far from beautiful but still pretty delicious. 

Maybe next time I'll strive for something a little more beautiful like:

cupcakesgarden.com