cupcakes

i've been toying with the idea of having homemade cupcakes for my son's 1st birthday party instead of purchasing them through a local bakery. homemade, as in, i make them myself. you all know i love to bake and am pretty good at it if i say so myself, it's just baking cupcakes for 40 + people and their kids seems, well, overwhelming. i haven't made up my mind yet, and who knows what i'll do, but i've had a blast experimenting with different cupcake recipes. (P.S. my son's actual birthday and party fall on labor day this year, so i'm trying to go with a red, white, and blue theme.) here are a few of my takes on some delicious recipes i've found.

"coco loco tequila cupcakes"
recipe from joanne weir
cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour (i used 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
large pinch of salt (i used sea salt)
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (i used 1/2 cup sweetened & 1/2 cup unsweetened)
2 T. fresh grated ginger (just eyeball it. don't go crazy grating!)
1 t. coconut extract
1/4 cup 100% agave tequila (use what you have, don't waste the good stuff!)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

coconut cream frosting
if you want to be fancy, and have the time, see the link above for joanne's homemade frosting recipe or use 1 container vanilla frosting, splash of coconut milk, splash of tequila, 2 t. coconut extract

preheat the oven to 350 degrees f. line cupcake tin with paper liners.
whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into bowl. set aside.
in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each egg. add coconut milk, ginger and coconut extract and beat on high speed until well blended. in a measuring glass, stir together buttermilk and tequila. add the dry ingredients in 3 batches to the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture in 2 batches, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. be sure to mix well after each addition. stir in shredded coconut.

fill each cupcake about 3/4ths full. bake approximately 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
let the cupcakes cool.
meanwhile, mix frosting ingredients in a small bowl.
liberally frost each cupcake and sprinkle with additional coconut.

*to go along with the party theme, i tinted the coconut with red and blue food coloring and sprinkled the tops with the colored coconut.

i hear some of you gasping at the tequila in the cupcakes and rest assured if i make these, there will be a "virgin" batch for the kiddoes.

another cupcake test i did was taking a recipe for "my my's strawberry layer cake", recipe from Sweets by Patty Pinner and adapting it to make my kind of cupcakes.

1 18.5 ounce box white cake mix
1 package strawberry jell-o (i bought the sugar free kind)
4 t. sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
5 oz frozen strawberries, thawed and well-drained
preheat oven to 350 degrees f. line cupcake tin with paper liners.
combine the cake mix, jell-o and sugar in large bowl. mix well. add oil. add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. add the water and strawberries. mix well.
fill cupcakes 3/4ths of the way full. bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes clean. let cool. frost each cupcake with your favorite white icing. i then topped each one with blueberries and strawberries to continue with my red, white and blue theme. delicious!

i have a little more than 4 weeks to continue testing cupcake recipes, and more importantly try them. i'll let you know what i decide to do.

farmer's market virgin

i recently visited my local farmer's market. i have lived in the same area for about 5 years now and have said for the past 5 years how i want to go to this farmer's market. and for some reason, something more pressing (or not so pressing) would interfere with my trip and i wouldn't make it. however, this past saturday i made it there, and oh how it was everything i wanted it to be.

not only was this my first visit to this farmer's market, but my first visit EVER to a farmer's market. i didn't know how they worked. was i supposed to bring my own bags? did i need cash or did they accept credit cards? which way did the line move? where should i park? once i arrived, my fears and nerves subsided. i loaded my 10 month old in his stroller (he, by the way, enjoyed it almost as much as i did), and we went a walking into the "market".

the bronxville farmer's market, is not a large market by any means, but it was perfect for a virgin like myself. it was obvious that each stand had their specialties. if you wanted berries and fruit you went to one stand, if you wanted veggies you went to another stand, if you wanted bread you went to another, and so on. i think i made at least 3 laps scoping out each stand and sizing up what i wanted to purchase. i had a list of items i wanted to buy so i found those first. i bought strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, corn, and sugar snap peas. i know, could it be anymore obvious this trip was my first farmer's market trip? but give me a break! i didn't know there would be so many other options! the next stand i came upon had the most delicious looking tarts. there was a variety of flavors, peach, apple, blueberry, strawberry, chocolate and mixed berry. i had plans to go to my in-laws the following night for dinner and what a great excuse to purchase the tart to bring as a dessert! i opted for the mixed berry one and it did not disappoint (especially topped with some vanilla ice cream).

this was the extent of my purchases, but i could have bought the entire market. today is friday and i'm counting the hours until i go back tomorrow. this time i have my sights on fresh bread, pure maple syrup, crab cakes, beets, potatoes, and of course the berry, tomato, and corn staples. i'll keep you posted on my second time around.