Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Welcome Back!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything.
I've been piled high with school work this semester and I haven't had much free time.
On top of it all, I got sick this weekend after my Birthday (at least it wasn't on my birthday) most likely from the lack of sleep, eating, and copious amounts of self induced stress.
But, as a sort of welcome back I've decided to post a few pictures of cupcakes I've made!


Strawberry, Chocolate Mint, and Red Velvet Cupcakes

The cupcake adventures started off with Valentine's Day. I decided to bake a ton of cupcakes in attempts to find the best recipe to ship off to my boyfriend's ship. I had also bought a really cute dress that day and I wanted to show it off, so I invited some friends over and we had sweet wine, chocolate stout, and cupcakes for Valentine's day!


Green Gin & Tonic

Of course St. Patrick's Day was along the way so I made my friend and I green drinks, as well as green cupcakes (sadly, I do not have any photos of the green cupcakes, but the color was unbelievably vibrant!)


Cinnamon Sugar Cupcakes

For my parent's church's Fish Fry I made these soft and fluffy Cinnamon Sugar Cupcakes. I also put them in little bags with labels in an attempt to get my name out and about the town. I believe everything counts!

And for the grand finale...

Amaretto and Chocolate Spice Cupcakes

As a Birthday Gift, my parents bought me a cupcake stand!!! Which I put out on display for my "Birthday Table". I had made pink butterflies out of chocolate and adorned almost every other cupcake with them, as a sort of 'flowering' & 'blooming' effect coming out from the stand. Quite frankly, all my baking from the last few months came down to these, and they were WONDERFUL!

Now, my father has recently bought a book all about Pasta and it has many different recipes, so I hope to bring more variety to my entries (other than just cupcakes and sweets... as much as i love them!) and maybe share a bit of my Food Science knowledge to the table as well.

One thing I would like to put out that I learned, which has greatly changed what I pick to eat when I go out, and how I bake at home, is that the Double Acting Baking Powder bought at the grocery stores almost all the time contains Aluminum Sulfate. Aluminum is directly correlated with Alzheimer's, so I've decided to start making my own baking powder.

Homemade Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda

Measure out the ingredients and then mix in a bowl. If the recipe calls for 1 Tbsp of Baking Powder then you can directly measure them out and put them in to your dry ingredients. If the recipe calls for less than 1 Tbsp, in a separate bowl, sift the Cream of Tartar and Baking Soda together and then measure out the amount you need for the recipe.
I've used this in all my baked recipes and I haven't noticed a difference in taste or texture, and they have come out looking wonderfully and Aluminum free!

Happy Baking! <3


My Flower's from Nathan, and I

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Welcome Back!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything.
I've been piled high with school work this semester and I haven't had much free time.
On top of it all, I got sick this weekend after my Birthday (at least it wasn't on my birthday) most likely from the lack of sleep, eating, and copious amounts of self induced stress.
But, as a sort of welcome back I've decided to post a few pictures of cupcakes I've made!


Strawberry, Chocolate Mint, and Red Velvet Cupcakes

The cupcake adventures started off with Valentine's Day. I decided to bake a ton of cupcakes in attempts to find the best recipe to ship off to my boyfriend's ship. I had also bought a really cute dress that day and I wanted to show it off, so I invited some friends over and we had sweet wine, chocolate stout, and cupcakes for Valentine's day!


Green Gin & Tonic

Of course St. Patrick's Day was along the way so I made my friend and I green drinks, as well as green cupcakes (sadly, I do not have any photos of the green cupcakes, but the color was unbelievably vibrant!)


Cinnamon Sugar Cupcakes

For my parent's church's Fish Fry I made these soft and fluffy Cinnamon Sugar Cupcakes. I also put them in little bags with labels in an attempt to get my name out and about the town. I believe everything counts!

And for the grand finale...

Amaretto and Chocolate Spice Cupcakes

As a Birthday Gift, my parents bought me a cupcake stand!!! Which I put out on display for my "Birthday Table". I had made pink butterflies out of chocolate and adorned almost every other cupcake with them, as a sort of 'flowering' & 'blooming' effect coming out from the stand. Quite frankly, all my baking from the last few months came down to these, and they were WONDERFUL!

Now, my father has recently bought a book all about Pasta and it has many different recipes, so I hope to bring more variety to my entries (other than just cupcakes and sweets... as much as i love them!) and maybe share a bit of my Food Science knowledge to the table as well.

One thing I would like to put out that I learned, which has greatly changed what I pick to eat when I go out, and how I bake at home, is that the Double Acting Baking Powder bought at the grocery stores almost all the time contains Aluminum Sulfate. Aluminum is directly correlated with Alzheimer's, so I've decided to start making my own baking powder.

Homemade Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda

Measure out the ingredients and then mix in a bowl. If the recipe calls for 1 Tbsp of Baking Powder then you can directly measure them out and put them in to your dry ingredients. If the recipe calls for less than 1 Tbsp, in a separate bowl, sift the Cream of Tartar and Baking Soda together and then measure out the amount you need for the recipe.
I've used this in all my baked recipes and I haven't noticed a difference in taste or texture, and they have come out looking wonderfully and Aluminum free!

Happy Baking! <3


My Flower's from Nathan, and I
 

Blog Template by YummyLolly.com - Header made with PS brushes by gvalkyrie.deviantart.com