Super Bowl Sunday: Beercakes and fun with frosting

In honor of the Super Bowl and not having orders for this weekend, I wanted to try out something different.  I came across recipes for beer cupcakes and thought I should give it a shot.  I love thick chocolate stouts, and cocoa would be perfect with the nice richness of Guinness (one of my faves!). Continue reading “Super Bowl Sunday: Beercakes and fun with frosting”

Midnight macaron madness

**Pictures to follow later.  I didn’t have time to make macarons last night as intended, so I was determined to stay up and bake them tonight.  This time, I made three different kinds of cookies (vanilla, chocolate, and coffee) and TONS of fillings: caramel icing, Nutella, strawberry spread, coconut frosting, candied bacon, Bailey’s mint icing,Continue reading “Midnight macaron madness”

Domo-kun: "Otanjoubi omedetou!" *

*”Happy birthday” in Japanese I had a fantastic birthday weekend… more like birthday WEEK.  Vin took me on a long-awaited, much needed vacation to Riviera Maya and we ate/drank/got crazy tan lines while everyone else was dealing with a snowstorm in the Northeast.  Then we come back to NY and had a whole smoked pigContinue reading “Domo-kun: "Otanjoubi omedetou!" *”

Holiday leftover bake-a-thon

Thank goodness Christmas is done and over with!  I was on a baking binge for the past week.  I just couldn’t stop making SOMETHING and I made almost one item a day.  Insane!  I feel like confectioner’s sugar, flour, and butter are seeping out of my pores.  I think I need to detox now.  Continue reading “Holiday leftover bake-a-thon”

Eggnog crème brûlée

I had planned to make crème brûlée @ some point this week but wasn’t sure when I would have the time.  Of course inspiration randomly bit me in the @ss as I was staring out the window on the LIRR, on my way home from a late evening out with a girl friend.  By “late”Continue reading “Eggnog crème brûlée”

Chocolate cupcakes, as far as the eye can see…

  I had overly ambitious plans for myself this weekend: chocolate cupcakes for an order for a Christmas party and to bring in to work, macarons, crème brûlée, and I really wanted to make an edible Christmas tree out of frosting.  Not a big one, maybe 5-6″ or so.  I know, pretty modest dreams, right?  Continue reading “Chocolate cupcakes, as far as the eye can see…”

Tiramisu test run

I stayed up late last night to make tiramisu.  I felt like it was a half-assed effort and that I did not do right by my favorite dessert because… I didn’t use legit ladyfingers.  I resorted to using these gluten-free ladyfingers because the regular kind just did NOT exist at the supermarket.  Which is kind ofContinue reading “Tiramisu test run”

Bread and brownies for Thanksgiving

I was having trouble deciding what to bring for Thanksgiving @ my in-laws’; there were just too many tasty things I wanted to make and it was tough to narrow it down to one item.  I couldn’t choose between making an appetizer/side dish or a dessert so on Wednesday morning (just before Vin’s nephew #3Continue reading “Bread and brownies for Thanksgiving”

PCP and macarons

This past weekend we went upstate to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with my extended family and Katie and her cute babies (traveling next weekend would have been hellish so the off-holiday party was a brilliant idea).  My little brother (I made a Pikachu cake for his graduation) is obsessed with pie for some reason, soContinue reading “PCP and macarons”

Carrot cake cupcakes

A repeat customer requested carrot cake cupcakes for this weekend.  I used to not like eating carrot cake at all, but I guess that’s because most of the carrot cakes I’ve had from stores or restaurants were too dry or too sweet or too SOMETHING.  Since I started baking things from scratch, I’ve made carrotContinue reading “Carrot cake cupcakes”