Happy St. Patty's Day!: Brown Sugar Poundcake Cupcakes

My mother is about three-quarters Irish.  What we inherited in the Irish is a propensity for heavy drinking, being loud, and getting rosy.  I have very little Irish pride.  Sometimes I’m told I look Irish, but I think that’s just the dark hair and freckles.  I don’t even have the light eyes that look Irish.  But on St. Patrick’s Day, what good is no pride?  So, I made some delicious cupcakes for the day. 

They were brown sugar pound cake cupcakes.  Pretty delectable.  It was a Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting.  It was SCRUMPTIOUS.  (I ate some at work with Girl Scout Shortbread Cookies and graham crackers.)  All in all, I created a cupcake that I enjoyed whole-heartedly. 

I made a stencil.  Then Matt made a better one.  So I stenciled four cupcakes and dusted the rest with the sugar because I was much too lazy to try to do them on every cupcake.  ALSO, work.  It sneaks up on you sometimes (every Saturday) and I had to wash my hair (because I rarely do). 

My sister said that these were number two best cupcakes (with my sense of taste).  She likes the birthday Streusel cupcakes a little bit better.  Success!

(Do I employ the use of parentheses too much? It’s the way I think, I swear.)

Where'd you go to school?: Boston (Cream Pie Cupcakes)

I went to school in Worcester.  It’s what people from not Massachusetts calls Boston.  It’s not true.  Worcester is wonderful in its own way.  Worcester has Corner Grille, Evo, Park Ave, Main South, Clark University, Baba Sushi, wonderful people, and four years of my life (and lots of my money). 

Boston is also beautiful.  It’s where I wanted to go to school, but somehow, I didn’t want to apply to any of the schools there.  So when I visit, I enjoy it.  I like the T and the stores and the beers and the food and the people and the sights.  One thing that Boston also has is Boston Cream Pies.  So I made some into cupcakes because Martha said I could.

Do I like pastry cream?  No.  Do I love semi-sweet chocolate? Not really.  Was the batter delicious? OF COURSE. (Did I eat one? Nope.)

What's up, Doc?: Carrot (Cake) Cupcakes

I have a funny thing about carrot cake.  My best friend likes them a whole lot.  She loves them with cream cheese frosting. She thinks it’s hard to find a good one. It was the first “sweet” thing she ever ate, at the age of one.  She and I lived different lives. 

I like carrots.  They’re good for your eyes (beta-carotene for the win!). They are crunchy and sweet. If you eat a whole bag of baby carrots on a car ride, you want to vomit when you reach your destination. They can fill you up and make you less hungry. You can eat them with some sugar as a kid (for no reason at all).

If you cook carrots, I’m not a big fan.  If you make carrots into a cake, I am less inclined (READ: NOT INCLINED AT ALL) to eat the cake.  Add cream cheese… you’ve lost me entirely.  But alas, I am running out of cupcakes that I truly want to eat in the book, so I made these.

I think the coolest part is that Martha told me to “finely grate” and I was too lazy, so you can see the carrot inside! But maybe I’m just weird and don’t eat carrot cake and know that’s how it comes.  Anyway, these were the first week of March.  I’m behind.  

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! (to me!): Streusel Cupcakes

I turned twenty-three a few weeks ago.  I decided to open the restaurant in order to get out and drink a large margarita.  Why in the world would this ever be a good idea, you ask? It wasn’t.  I had forgotten my birthday was the weekend after a Tuesday Valentine's Day.  I had forgotten that it was February break in the Capital area. I had forgotten I WOULD NEVER GET OUT. But I made myself some breakfast cupcakes so that I could enjoy the cupcakes on my birthday.

Although I’m not German, these were delicious! The base was soft and moist, the top was crunchy and sweet and crumbly.  And if I had waited for the glaze to dry to take the picture, it would have been white and beautiful.  

They were messy in the pan because I didn’t give a butt at all.  My dad had come to visit for his and my birthday, so I had very little time. No one seemed to mind that they were messy.

 I was also given a donut to start the day from Lisa. With a candle. What a lovely human being.

And then some people from work made me a beautiful old-lady cake. It’s the thought that counts and I love them all.

And then Bomber’s gave me a free margarita! YUM! My sister even came out to celebrate with me.  She’s a champ because she woke up six hours later to save lives.

Also, I missed the week after my birthday for a party in MA.  These week’s cupcakes will be posted eventually.  J