TIRAMISU CUPCAKES

I've always enjoyed baking. Always. As a kid, I would rather bake my own cookies than have store bought. My dad also went on business trip a lot while I was growing up and I would always have something baked for him for his arrival back at home. Since he had many sweet teeth, I felt it was like a duty to show my gratitude for passing that trait down to me by baking him these welcome home treats. While I was in high school, I wanted to try my hand at baking tiramisu. None of us has every tried it and by reading the recipes online, I thought it sounded ah-may-zing. I got my mother to buy Kahlua for me to try and bake it, but because I couldn't find any mascarpone, I never made it. Mascarpone is freakin' hard to find!

Fast-forward many years later: my dad has a taste of tiramisu for the first time at Olive Garden and falls in love. He then becomes a self-proclaimed tiramisu expert. He finds that you can buy frozen tiramisu at CostCo that tastes exactly like Olive Garden's, which is exactly how he likes it. My sister-in-law makes her tiramisu for him to try, which he didn't like. And being a natural-born Bostonian, he was quite blunt in giving her his critique (which was "too strong on the Kahlua"). She actually took small offense to it, but she got over it and says she'll never make him her tiramisu ever again. Whoops. 

Since I too, am a tiramisu lover, I was cah-razy excited to find a cupcake recipe that sounded perfect. I couldn't wait to try it. Finding mascarpone was still the most difficult part of this recipe. I looked in several different grocery stores with no luck. I figured PUBLIX would definately have it, but to be honest - I had no idea where to look, really. I figured by the cream cheese, but I looked everywhere beyond that. I looked in dairy. I looked in milk. I looked in cheese. I looked in butter. I looked everywhere. I don't know how I came across the damn deli cheese and saw mascarpone sitting there. I imagine the cupcake gods were smiling down on me when I happened through there because I never would have imagined mascarpone next to feta or gouda.

EVERYBODY LOVED THESE! And who wouldn't?! Tiramisu really is the shit. Really. 

A woman from Ry's work, who is a huge fan of my cupcakes, actually ordered two dozen from me to be ready two days after she tasted one. She had a party to go to and wanted to bring some for the party. She said they were a huge hit at the party. One man from my work wanted me to make him one dozen ready three days after he tried one. People I work with were eating them like chips. 

But the real test, is my dad. Even though, I wasn't worried because after I tried one - I knew he'd love them. He had me make one dozen extra for him to take to his work. 

So I made 5 dozen of these tiramisu cupcakes in 3 days. If that doesn't tell you how awesome these were, I don't know what the fuck to tell you. 

We went to CostCo a few days afterwards and I turned my nose up at the coveted frozen stuff. Since I now know how to make my own.. I don't need to buy anymore. Whoop!

COCONUT CUPCAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

I figured out that most households are divided when it comes to coconut. Between my parents, mom loves coconut (go figure that an islander loves coconut) and my dad hates it. Between Ry's parents, his mom hates coconut and his dad loves it. Between my bosses who are married, Mary loves coconut while Earl hates it. Between Ry & myself, Ryan loves it while, in the words of Woody Harrelson in the movie ZOMBIELAND, "I hate coconut. Not the taste! It's the consistency." 

I used to eat the shit out of Snowballs when I was a kid. I think that may be the reason why I don't care for the consistency of coconut now, I just got burnt out on it. I'm still known to cook with coconut oil and coconut milk, but when it comes to shredded coconut, I'll turn my nose up at it 90% of the time. 

Now, not only have I noticed that households divide on their favor of coconut, I also noticed that the one who enjoys coconut makes the sacrifice of not keeping it around the house in sake of their significant half. My mother doesn't keep it around. Nor does Ry's father. Nor does Mary. Nor do I, really.. shredded coconut, that is. 

So Ry's dad's birthday was coming up and the man is incredibly difficult to shop for. You would think it'd be easy to shop for someone who loves movies, history & reading, but he insists that he doesn't want any movies or books as a gift. I think that's more of a ploy for us to not spend any money on his behalf, but we try to be clever and think of gifts that can work around his stipulations. I figured that my gift to him would be.. coconut cupcakes! 

I had some left over to give as freebies for the other coconut lovers I love. My boss and mother were eternally grateful. If you saw the look on their face, you would think they literally struck gold when they saw coconut under their noses. And all my loved coconut lovers thought the cupcakes were delectable. Ry's mother (who hates coconut) even rolled her eyes in the back of her head when she tried one. I mostly think it was because she was simply enjoying homemade cupcakes more than coconut cupcakes. Even though I enjoyed the cupcakes too, I just wish there was more of a lime flavor in the frosting. I thought I was clever when I had "you put the lime in the coconut" song stuck in my head while making them, but the lime just wasn't prominent enough for me to say it out loud. Next time I believe I'll use actual lime juice instead of the bottled stuff. 

SPICED CHAI LATTE CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

I had a buddy, Erin, back when I lived in TX. Under grave circumstances, she had to move away to WA where she wasn't able to communicate with anyone (rehab). While she gone, I moved away to AL and I was afraid that we'd never hear or see each other again. One day, many years later, I get a phone call. I picked up the phone and heard, "Hey woman!!". I immediately jumped up and down because I recognized her voice easily. I couldn't believe she found me because our mutual friends had also moved away since she left. 

We planned a trip for her and our best mutual buddy, Trista, to fly to AL and visit me immediately. The three muskateers were soon to be reunited. The day they were going to drive from TX to my house, I received an early phone call from them, letting me know that they were on their way and should be arriving in twelve long hours. When I hung up the phone, I sat up on my bed, in pajamas and thought to myself, "Well, I'm too excited to fall back asleep now.."

The next thing I know, I heard a knock on my door. When I opened it, I had arms around my neck instantaneously and laughter surrounded my ears. It was like we were 13 again, jumping up & down, hootin' & hollerin' and giggling uncontrollably. They explained that they couldn't wait until the morning and decided to drive all night instead. Being reunited with my two best friends that I haven't seen in five years in that particular way, is one of my most fondest memories. Definitely. Hands down.

When I invited them in, Erin made me some chai tea that she brought from WA with her. It was the first time I've ever tried the stuff and now, I associate that flavor with that memory of us three in my kitchen - in each other's presence for the first time in too long and picking things up like we've never left each other's side. Thank the gods for best girlfriends, you know? I've never been a girl's girl, but those two are my sisters. No matter how many years go by and how differently we mold ourselves - I can always depend on us picking things up like yesterday was just middle school. (Of course, now, they have husbands & children and I'm the weird one who doesn't believe in marriage and hates children BUT whatever.)

Okay. Enough with the nostalgia. These cupcakes were simply delicious. It brought up the memory I just mentioned, but maybe that's why I was quick to make them(?). The only thing is that these cupcakes turned out to be more on the chewy side than the fluffy side. They seemed more like muffins with frosting on them. Regardless, everyone loved them and loved the frosting even more, but when I sat down to myself to think of why they turned out chewy.. I thought that it may be because I used 1% milk instead of whole milk. I'm thinking there's just not enough fat to keep them moist. And if that's true, I fancy myself to be more culinary-chemistry literate than I give myself credit for (which is absolute zero). 

BLACK PEARL CUPCAKES WITH GINGER BUTTERCREAM

When I told R that I found a recipe that called for wasabi, he shuttered in fear. His face puckered and he shook his head in disbelief. I thought to myself, "challenge accepted". 

He was pleasantly surprised at the taste of these. I watched his face as he chewed on one. He began to smack his mouth, tasting the wasabi, and his eyebrows started to rise and then he nodded his head with a slight approval. It was a little funny to watch the transgression from dread to confusion to discovery and then acceptance all within the few seconds of one bite of a cupcake. I thought they were a bit odd myself, but they were essentially good. What I thought even more odd is that the next day, the wasabi flavor was totally absent. They were just plain ol' chocolate cakes with ginger buttercream. And those were good too. 

When I told my dad what they were he said, "wasabi?.. like horseradish?" He had the same sour face as my boo. I told him to don't knock em until you try em. As he was eating one, I watched the same transgression in his face from confusion to discovery but instead of acceptance, I saw indifference. He wasn't a fan of the wasabi cupcakes. Oh well. Ya can't win them all, huh dad?

Everyone else seemed to like them enough, but everyone else ate them the day after they were baked so the wasabi flavor had already disappeared. What they enjoyed was a simple (and lovely) chocolate cake with delicious ginger buttercream.