Cupcake Wars

This weekend I went into battle against some veteran cooks in a Cupcake War. It is true. You see, every year all of the ladies on the Hubs' side of the family get together, usually in the winter. In the past we have had matching pajamas and hang out in a hotel. In the morning we go and paint pottery. It's normally a fun time. This year instead of painting pottery we had a Cupcake War. You know, like the show on the Food Network.

Personally, I love cupcakes. I love baking. I love the Food Network. And I love watching Cupcake Wars. I was pretty excited when I heard that our Girls Night Out was going to be a Cupcake War. Instead of fixing the cakes while we were together (that would be a little tricky considering there wasn't really a kitchen where we were staying) we had to prepare them in advance and take them with us.

For months I thought about which kind of cake I would make. As time got closer I tried a few different batches out on our small group friends. Thanks for indulging me Small Group Friends :) I tried raspberry, banana, and pumpkin. I really wanted to try a bunch of others, but I didn't. With the help of my dear sweet and helpful friends, I went with the raspberry cupcakes. I saw the recipe while I was flipping through a cookbook I borrowed from the library and had to try it. Super simple. Super easy. Super delicious.

I was pretty nervous going into the Cupcake Wars. I mean, Hubs' mom, grandma, aunts, cousins, and sisters were all bring cupcakes. These ladies can cook. Let me tell you. I liked my cake. Hubs liked my cake. Friends liked my cake. But I just didn't know how they would hold up in the War.

I went with the raspberry cakes. Vanilla raspberry swirl cupcake with raspberry buttercream frosting and a raspberry to garnish.

my cakes.

which... I am quite pleased and proud to announce won Tastiest Cupcake award!

yay! : )  

...this award, if you ask me, is the most important one. 

I mean, if you want to enjoy a cupcake, you want it to taste good. Right? 

Right. 

Thus, Tastiest Cupcake = most important title :D

plus, I think they look pretty darn pretty too. just saying. 

Anyhow, I digress. The Competition. 

the anticipation builds!

the competition. 

the judges. 

the winners (which happened to be me and my sisters-in-law : )

SIL #1 won for decoration and SIL #2 won best over all. 

Me and the SIL after the competition! : ) 

fun. fun. fun. 

because I won? because I beat all of the aunts and moms and grandma? maybe. 

or maybe not. 

but fun. 

we were at the hubs' parents house and the pup had been running 

around all day long. He was plain tuckered out. 

Good weekend. Crazy week ahead. yikes. 

I hope you guys had a good weekend too! 

Cake Balls!

Remember the other day when I mentioned that I made Cake Balls? Well, I did. I've made them a few times before and since they are sooo yummy I just had to make them again. So I did. And this time, I think I figured it out. 

They turned out just like I wanted them to. 

scrumptious.

Now, you should go and make some for yourself. It's very simple really. 

Get a boxed cake at the store (any kind you want) and get an icing you want to eat with it. Chocolate, strawberry, lemon, confetti. Any at all. Really, it's impossible to go wrong. Cake is good. Icing is better. Any combination of the two has got to be divine! 

Then you:

Bake the cake as the directions say to on the box. Let it cool. 

Break the cake into chucks and in a big bowl mix in the icing.

(don't use the whole thing of the icing though, just most of it : )

Stick the cake in the fridge for a few hours. 

Remove from the fridge and start rolling the cake into little balls. 

After (or while) the cake is rolled up ... 

Melt some candy melts or chocolate chips (white or butterscotch).

One whole bag works pretty well, but I have a second one on hand just in case.

Dip the cake balls into the icing. 

(I have found that the dipping is more successful when you pour the melted 

candy/chocolate into a mug or something). 

Then you get to eat the yumminess you just made!

See?! Simple! Easy peasy! 

oh, they are so good! Now, go make some and then invite me over so I don't have to make more and then eat them all by myself! : ) 

cheers! 

I heart baking

Baking = therapy : ) -which in my experience is waaaay cheaper than actually going to the doctor.

No matter what I've got going on in my little life baking is my therapy. It's true. If I'm stressed or worried about something, I bake. It's amazing how wonderfully relaxing it is to me. I love it. Today I had a bunch of stuff going on (well, kind of, I made myself have stuff to do) but then after the dishes were put away and everything else was in it's home, I pulled out my brown bananas and mushed em up, added some flour and sugar . . . and a few other things, and popped two little loaves into the oven. Then for an hour I had the sheer pleasure and delight of inhaling the sweet and comforting aroma of baking banana bread. There is nothing better. It smells like home when something is baking. Maybe that's why I bake so much, cause I love my house to smell like a home.

Some people like running, or exercising, or talking, or eating, or cleaning when they are worried or stressed. I bake. Not that I was really stressed today, but my heart rate was up and I was running around the house like a chicken with it's head cut off. Actually, that's not true, I've seen a chicken get it's little head chopped off and the running around that it does while headless. It is a frightening sight. And there is also quite a lot of blood and feathers involved. Thankfully there was none of that going on here today :)

I just wanted to share my love today. I like the tried and true too. You know, the simple stuff. The good hearty homey stuff. Nothing too fancy smancy.

Too bad you aren't here to enjoy the yummy smell of my bread . . . and maybe even eat a little piece of it. If you want some you should come over. I will share with you : )

ok.

dirt is good

My small group takes turns bringing snacks to nibble on on Sunday nights. This past Sunday it was our turn to fix a treat. Since the hubs and I had been out doing lots of yard work over the weekend I decided to make some dirt cake. 

It turned out a little like this

and it tasted delish.

sadly, I love this a little bit too much and so it is all I have been eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I am tempted to make some more just because it is that tasty. 

Baking Home

Baking is glorious and relaxing. I could bake anything on any day. Send a recipe my way and I will bake it up and show the results or test it out for you. Sadly though, I haven't had much time for baking lately. School, homework, and even laundry take priority over baking. However, today we had a few spotty bananas and the hubs has been asking for a little while if I would please be able to make some banana bread soon. So I did. This baking bread time was wonderful and glorious, and I was soaking in every minute of it, especially because I was well aware of the fact that it would mean I would be staying up a little bit later than I would like because I was doing something for pleasure.

So I pulled out the fork and mashed up some bananas, added some sugar and flour and popped two loaf pans into the oven. Oh, the warm and welcoming aroma that filled house... That might be one reason I love baking so much. It makes a house feel like a home. Especially on a rainy afternoon. After 50 minutes of waiting I was happy to enjoy some banana bread. Come over and I will share some with you!