RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH RASPEBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

It's very awkward for me to say "strongly dislike" about anything with sugar in it. It goes against my nature or some kind of major fuck up in my verbal skills, but it's also very true. And the reason is because every time I've ever had red velvet, all I can taste is the food coloring. There was always some strange artificial flavor that left a thin waxy film in my mouth. So naturally, I avoid red velvet.

That is, a co-worker of Ryan's requested red velvets. And since I'm not one to never say never, especially to a friend (who asks politely), red velvets were the goal of this week.

I found a recipe on MarthaStewart.com that I was going to try because you really can't go wrong with Martha Stewart, but I was thumbing through a magazine the day before baking and decided to switch at the last minute. What could have me stray from Stewart?.. liqueur. The recipe I found in the magazine had raspberry liqueur in the cake and frosting with raspberries for garnish. I just naturally gravitated toward the raspberries (even though I garnished with a SnoCap).

The frosting recipe called for eight flippin' cups of confectioner's sugar. EIGHT! I thought that was a bit ridiculous and intimidating so I actually halved the confectioner's sugar. The frosting came out quite soft, but still pipe-able. It looked like soft-serve ice cream, really. I wanted to avoid the sugar shock of the frosting and even with just four cups of sugar, the frosting was still a bit on the super sweet side. I'm slowly coming to the realization that even though I have the worst sweet tooth among everyone I know, too much really can be too much.

All in all, Ryan's place of employment enjoyed the cupcakes. And I'll even admit that I enjoyed them as well and this is coming from someone who "strongly dislikes" red velvet. The cake was super moist, the raspberry liqueur added a new flavor to the cake and I couldn't taste a single drop of food coloring.

HAZELNUT CAPPUCCINO CUPCAKES WITH CAPPUCCINO SMBC

I decided to make these for a particular coffee addict I know. I imagine she has a kitchen cabinet dedicated to all the coffee mugs her friends & family give her as gifts. It seems like every time I see her, there's a different mug in her hand.

I love me some coffee as well. An older brother got me started on it when I was real young. I remember him having probably about 10 different flavors and roasts that he'd rotate and let me drink a few sips to try. Me, being 6 years old, couldn't really tell the difference but I had an idea of what he was talking about. Now that I drink about one cup every weekday, I can only tell what fresh coffee tastes like. Flavors and roasts still don't make much of a difference to me, but I so do enjoy my cup in the wee hours of the morn.

This cupcake asked for ground hazelnuts and finding hazelnuts in April wasn't the easiest thing in world to do. I wandered around the coffee and nut aisles of the grocery stores, thinking they would be cracked, bagged and ready to go. When there was no such thing, I wandered around the produce aisle to find a bin of assorted shelled nuts. The next step was to figure out what the hell shelled hazelnuts look like. So, after googling hazelnuts, I had to sift through the bin and pick em out, one by one. Then, grind them in a food processor.

So anyway, the extra love that went into these cupcakes by handpicking, roasting and grinding the hazelnuts were well received. Extra love makes everything extra tasty. And the frosting is a swiss meringue buttercream, which also require extra care than your standard American buttercreams. But all the work and attention for a swiss meringue buttercream is soooo worth it. SMBCs are now, my most absolutely favorite type of frosting. They're so light & fluffy and perfectly sweet enough.

So, from a mathematical stand point, these cupcakes should be AH-MAY-ZING. And in my coffee-fiend buddy's opinion, they were, but to me, I'm as indifferent to them as I was since I was a kid with coffee flavors. Don't get me wrong! They were delicious, but coffee fanatics will probably appreciate them more than those who can't tell the difference from cappuccino from a foamy Dunkin Donuts coffee.

CHOCOLATE MUDSLIDE CUPCAKES WITH BAILEYS AND KAHLUA SMBC

I decided to try and make mudslide cupcakes again because the first recipe I tried didn't live up to my expectations, probably because I ultimately screwed up somewhere since I was relatively new with the chemistry required in baking and also since my oven is effin' jacked up. When I found this recipe, the frosting in the picture were two different colors and ultimately, that is what made me want to try it again. I thought that it'd be a cool effect to say that I've done even thought it's not a difficult achievement. And the fact that I had all the ingredients helped a lot too. 

When Ry's coworkers ate these, they (of course) loved them. A boss of his said that these were her favorite. I, on the other hand, thought that the chocolate cake was on the dry side. In my opinion, the frosting is what really made these cupcakes awesome and I would actually replace the chocolate cake with another recipe that I adore, which I haven't quite found yet. 

The extra work in making the frosting is well worth it. It looks really cool and like I said before, makes the cake. 

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP CUPCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

So. R's two favorite cookies are peanut butter and oatmeal. If I had to narrow mine down to two (which is terribly difficult), I ultimately chose sugar and shortbread. And with that, I decided to makes these oatmeal chocolate chip cupcakes for Ry and because I had all the ingredients on hand.

I read a warning that these cupcakes were super dense, which kind of made me leery. After making them, however, they were so super delicious, I didn't mind them being as dense as they were. They were still moist and the chocolate chip gooey-ness was just what I needed. When I brought them to Ry's coworkers (who look forward to me bringing them cupcakes every Wednesday/Thursday), they were all sitting at the door. I don't know if they were waiting on the cupcakes or just happened to be all standing there, but when they saw my tins.. they all smiled and whooped in unison.

There was a new girl there that hadn't had tried any of my previous cupcakes. She thought they looked too good to eat, which I stored the compliment in my brain. Presentation is everything, you know? Well, I warned them that they were dense and when they took their first bite (Ry included) they groaned and rolled their eyes in their head in unison. Christy said, "You outdid yourself yet again".

The cute re-usable tins that I bring the cupcakes into Ry's work have been coming home sooner and sooner. A dozen cupcakes used to last almost a week there, but recently, they've only been lasting before the weekend. I can't help but feel that the cupcakes I've been making have gotten better and better and everyone loves loves LOVES the swiss meringue buttercreams as much as I do.

I'm telling you, swiss meringue buttercreams are now my favorite type of frosting, beyond cream cheese frostings, which I love me my cream cheese.

Ry loved these cupcakes, which is good because I made them for him. He graded these babies an A+, which is a coveted grade that he doesn't give out lightly. Although they are dense, the dense-ness works for these. I couldn't imagine them tasting any better. There's just nothing I can think of to really improve these.

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.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY PEPSI CUPCAKES WITH GLAZE AND COKE ICING

Because the root beer cupcakes were popular last week, I thought I'd try another soda cupcake recipe: Cherry Pepsi. I also wanted to do a cupcake that I thought R would favor and he does loooove his Cherry Pepsis. 

It was a lot more work than I thought. I was scrambling like hell to finish them on time. I didn't even have time to taste them fresh. I'm usually the first to taste the finish product, to make sure they're worthy of sharing with friends and family, but I was in such a rush - I was unable to. When I finally tasted them, I wasn't all too pleased, but it's probably because I'm not a fan of cherries. I enjoy myself a Cherry Pepsi, but I have to be in a certain mood for them. I won't grab one at the gas station as idly as a regular Pepsi, Mountain Dew or water. 

R, on the other hand, loved the cherry filling, but couldn't taste a drop of Pepsi. This kind of shocked me because there seemed to be a lot of Pepsi in the recipe. Now, if I'm ever going to make some Coke- or Pepsi-flavored cupcakes, I need to find me some Coke or Pepsi flavoring to add to the recipe. Using sodas alone just doesn't seem like it's going to cut it. 

I found a new baking supply website that I find to be awesome called SWEET!. They have a ton of flavorings that I'm wanting to purchase soon (like Cola, of course). I also have a recipe for mimosa cupcakes that I'm going to make for a friend on her birthday that needs champagne flavoring for the frosting. It sounds delicious and I'm anxious to try them myself, let alone my mimosa-obsessed buddy. What sucks is that her birthday is in May.. so no need to start dreaming about the champagne flavoring now. 

ROOT BEER FLOAT CUPCAKES

Because I was so disappointed with the taste of my absinthe cupcakes, I decided to make a new cupcake a few days later. My sweet tooth wasn't satisfied for the week. I decided to try and make a cupcake that R was appealed to, which was a root beer float cupcake.

I looove root beer floats. I also looove coke floats. When in middle school, I was one of those kids that had their parents drop them off at the skating rink on Friday & Saturday nights. I was also one of those kids that didn't rent any skates - I just walked around in my shoes (proudly), talked with my friends when they weren't skating & falling on their asses, played the arcade games & drank coke/root beer floats in the concession court area. I also ended up going out with a guy that everyone in the skating rink had the hots for. He was a grade below me, but cute as hell, and the relationship ended up being the most retarded thing I've ever done. Because of that guy, I date no one younger than me.

Okay, enough with the awkward nostalgia...

These cupcakes turned out great. Everyone loved them. A few co-workers of R's believed them to be the best I've made yet. The recipe called for root beer extract, but because I couldn't find any around, I used the only thing I could find - root beer concentrate. Even with the concentrate, the cupcakes turned out fine, but I still want to try to make them again whenever I decide to order some extract from AMAZON. At first, I thought the frosting was too sweet, but that may have been because I licked the frosting off the beaters before trying a cupcake. There was another frosting recipe that went with the root beer float cupcakes that I rather had made, but lacked cream soda extract and could find nothing to substitute it with.

Regardless, the recipe made four dozen mini cupcakes and they were gone in a day. I ended up making another batch of a dozen standard cupcakes to share with R's family because his father is a root beer fanatic. Both of his parents loved them and had requested more samples whenever I bake new batches of different cupcakes.

R grading (A-): He loved them. I was pleased to see it because I made the cupcakes pretty much just for him and his father. I told him about the cream soda frosting and after he thought about it for a second, said that he like the frosting just the way it was.

B grading: B+