Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Yeah, I just did a different "mini" version of these. My friend Candace just had a beautiful baby girl, though and she's pretty into the chocolate and peanut butter combination. So....
















Nothing says "Congratulations" like 12 cupcakes!

Derek isn't here to rate these, but I'm sure he would think they're really rich. But, he would like that they are not overly sweet. In fact, I'm wondering if I should have added more conf sugar to the frosting...? It's also a little soft. But, they all turned out really pretty if I do say so myself.



















I couldn't leave out my only other friend on base!

The good thing about these 2 friends is that they're honest. If the cupcakes suck, they'll tell me. I don't think that's gonna be the case, though :)

Probably My Favorite Cake Ever!

...and ridiculously easy!























Bake a box white cake mix & punch a bunch of holes in it with a straw.























Pour a mixture of one can of eagle brand milk (you can use fat free if it makes you feel better) and one can of cream of coconut (I used Coco Lopez) on top.























Top with whipped heavy cream. The recipe calls for shredded coconut on top. It would make it prettier, but I'm not a fan of shredded coconut, so I left it off. And that's that! And that is WONDERFUL!

Sweet Potato Bread with (or without) Pecans

I found this recipe on Food Network's website and made it at Christmas (without nuts). It was DELICIOUS! I am planning on making another batch tomorrow. I'm going to try to use Splenda for Baking instead of sugar and reduce the oil by using part applesauce. I'm sure it won't be as yummy as the original recipe :) It's such a dense, moist bread, though, I'm sure it will be great. There's a reason it has a 5 star rating!



Ingredients

2 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cups water
2/3 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine sugar, water, oil, eggs, and sweet potatoes and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add pecans and mix well. Divide between 2 greased loaf pans and bake for 50 minutes. Cool in pans to room temperature.

Thank you Chalene!

For making Turbo Jam such a fun workout!




Day 45 & going strong!

A Thorn in My Side

a.k.a. Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Whew! Well, at least it's over with!

I found this recipe some time ago from a fabulous blogspot. I was dying to try it. So, when my friend invited me to a Scentsy party, my first thought was "YES, but only if I can bring some cupcakes!"

Round 1: The recipe only made 12 cupcakes, so I doubled it to make 24 cupcakes that eventually turned into wells. They had a big sink hole in the middle of them. I googled reason why this happens and none of them applied to me. Then I realized I hadn't doubled the eggs. Dummy.

Round 2: I doubled the recipe again doubling the eggs this time. The end result blew my mind. About half of the cupcakes were okay and the other half were just like the first batch- SUNK.

I have no idea what the issue was. Maybe I should have doubled some ingredients but not others. I'm not that scientific yet.

But...... on to buttercream. It turned out passable. The homemade caramel I made to mix in it tasted a little burnt. My bad. I frosted them anyway and added the final ingredient, sea salt. Here's what I got:


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I thought the salt made them taste like pretzels. I'm not a big fan of pretzels. Derek's first reaction was something along the lines of "HOW GREASY! HOW MUCH BUTTER ARE IN THESE?" Well... you don't want to know!

I didn't think they were horrible, but I'm not going to be proud to hand these out tomorrow. I'm just too lazy to bake something else!

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

I'm quick to talk about the bad companies, but let me tell you about a pleasant experience I've recently had.

To make a long story short I ordered some dishes on www.macys.com. When they arrived, one of the dishes was broken. There was a sticker on the box that said "Damaged on Arrival". I had planned on taking them back this weekend and exchanging them.

Today the Fed Ex guy brought me a package from Macy's and it was the same dishes-- undamaged. I hadn't even told them they were broken. I guess they got word from USPS. ?? I dunno, but I thought it was really upstanding that they replaced them without me even asking. It was a super bonus because only 1 out of a 5 piece setting was damaged, so I got to keep the other 4! I will be purchasing more from them in the future! You should too!

It's lunchtime, do you know where your squirrel is?

This is my new little friend. He comes and sits on my back wall everyday at lunch time. I've started throwing pecans out in the yard for him. Him and one of his friends eat them and have a little party. They sound like birds. I think they'd hang around a little longer each day if it wasn't for Dixon. He stares at them through the glass door and growls. I enjoy their company. I'll try to take more pictures later :)