The Next Million Dollar Idea

Somebody needs to invent a website that lets you pre-design your cake (or cupcakes) online before you make it at home. I'm envisioning it to be like "Paint" but with standard cake shapes, decorating tips, different fonts and lots of colors to experiment with. It could be called "Cake Blueprint" or something like that. I am getting ready to make my daughter's 2nd birthday cake (yes cake, not cupcakes) and want to see what different options would look before I commit to one. I'm the furthest thing from an artist, so the ole' pen & paper aren't going to do me any good. Plus, how do you draw a scalloped edge? Way beyond my talent. So, can somebody please come to my rescue and construct one? Thanks in advance. Oh, and I need it up & running by Friday!

Too Healthy

Moist Zucchini Bran Muffins

This is what I call too healthy. That two-word statement describes the ingredients and the way it tastes. Aubree likes them and they contain a vegetable and a fruit. With just under 150 calories a piece, they could be ok-- if your desperate! I found the recipe on Food Network if you want to check them out for yourself :)

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:


.................................................................................

















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!