They Taste Like Thanksgiving: Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

I’m not going to lie.  I didn’t try these. At all. 

I am unimpressed with the spices that I added, even if I added them correctly.   

I am unimpressed with everything but the applesauce.  I found an unsweeted, organic apple sauce from Vermont in my grocery store.   

I trust my loved ones enough to tell you that they seemed fine.  They ate the whole thing willingly and my sister didn’t complain that they were too dry. 

I trust the honesty of acquaintances that eat three in one sitting.  Another co-worker ate two.   My boss ate the entirety of one and said she doesn’t normally. 

I have faith in the statement that these were tasty enough to eat, not just because you’re hungry.

If I don’t like something, I don’t need to do it or eat it to see for myself if I have this much evidence.  I was there.  I smelled them.  I tasted the frosting.  I took their pictures.  I knew them, even if only a little. 

The frosting was a huge hit.  I don’t like cream cheese.  I particularly didn’t like this frosting because I couldn’t make it pretty.  Maybe it wasn’t totally the frosting’s fault, and it was the fault of the heat wave, but I still was mad. 

I will end this update with, “They taste like Thanksgiving.” My brother-in-laws only real comment while stuffing his face. 

Also, I ran out of cupcake wrappers.... 

Belated Birthday Cuppiecakes: Raspberry Swirled Cheesecake Cupcakes

I have an amazing friend. She and I have the same belief about keeping in touch: once a friend, always a friend.  (Mas o menos)  If we don’t talk for two, four, six weeks, but we want to talk randomly one day, a text, email, or even dreaded phone call will be written or made and we will catch up as though we did not miss a significant chunk of a year.

She is an amazing person.  She decided one day to take her health into her own hands.  She decided to start running.  She finished two marathons, half marathons, 5K’s, and a Warrior Dash.  She doesn’t give a crap about what anyone thinks about her.  She is nearly impossible to embarrass.  She observes more than I do, which I am always amazed to notice.  She can listen to me talk for 3 days straight.  She knows her limits and can honestly tell you her strengths.  She supports her friends when they want to do things.  She gave up chocolate (probably her worst vice) because her friend gave up alcohol (for 30 days).  She is simply an amazing person. 

I missed her birthday.  I was in the capital area while she was down on the longest island.  (I doubt it is actually the longest, but it is where she currently is located.)

So because of her awesomeness, and her giving up chocolate, I made her some cupcakes without chocolate.  I took a Megabus and the LIRR with six of these beauties.  I don’t like cheesecake still, but I think she might have enjoyed them.  I also brought a few into work, and they ate them up.  I think they looked pretty.

As You Wish: Strawberry Cupcakes

I went back to the beginning.  Vizzini told me to go back to the beginning.  So I have.  This is where I am, and this is where I will stay.  

Inigo was such a smart man. 

But I may not stay here. 

It was someone’s birthday this Saturday, so I decided to make cupcakes.  Brings me back to October, when I tricked Alayna into being my friend.  I had a few thoughts about making cupcakes and cookies and running and sleeping, but cupcakes pretty much won.  I mean, it’s tradition, right? (BUT WHYYYY?)

I had some problems. I lost count of my cups when I was doing the flour.  Made an extra six cupcakes. I don’t really know what I did. Whatever.

I had intentions of listening to Martha, but I decided against it.  I did not want to “finely chop” strawberries, so I used my Ninja (skillz). I got to use my Ninja (skillz) again when I need to puree the strawberries for the Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting.  NOMNOMNOMNOM. 

My frosting wouldn’t set. Maybe because the heat wave that’s hitting the Northeast is wrecking EVERYTHING and my hair (I am very tired), but it was in the fridge for some time while I prayed it congealed.  I wanted to use a disgusting sounding word for my frosting, and I don’t want to fix it. It did not work, and I didn’t not bring the cupcakes in until the day after.  

I think they came out beautifully.  I went through 8.5 sticks of butter and three packs of strawberries.  (I threw out 3.5 sticks, though, so don’t worry about me!)

Add Chocolate and We Have a Turtle: Cashew Caramel Cookies

(Technically the title is wrong.  You need pecans for a turtle.  The Melting Poop has invaded my brain!)

There has been a lot of change in my life.  I went from cupcakes to cookies.
I quit the job that I felt crazy comfortable in.
I took a new job that will have me working at two restaurants in a new city.
I still work at the job that I've been complaining about since I got it, but I now feel more comfortable being at.
I have been too lazy to not end my sentences with prepositions.

But I made a new cookie.  My sister said, "THEY WERE TOO SWEET."  My brother-in-law ate four.  They were gone quite quickly on my last "Baked Goods Saturday" at Melting Poop.

I do hope that people in Saratoga enjoy sweets as much as they did at Melting Poop!

A Reasonable and Scary Fear Evasion: Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

To whom it may concern;

I’m afraid that if I do something too much I will dislike it.  I don’t believe that I’ll ever stop loving pizza.  I don’t think that I’ll ever hate French fries.  But cupcakes?! I don’t want to lose my love for them.  So I took a break.  And I believe I will continue to take a break for a while from cupcakes.  So this week? COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES!

I’m so very picky about cookies.  I don’t like nuts in my sweets.  I don’t like having to drink something with my dessert.  I don’t like too much.  And I certainly need a good texture for it.  These cookies were wonderful for me.  AND! I tend to burn chocolate creations (because you can’t tell if they’re burnt or not… they’re ALREADY brown!), BUT I DIDN’T BURN THEM!

I did get a little bit antsy to eat them, so I ate some strawberries with the cream filling.  Don’t hate.  Delish. 

A few problems arose: I made the cookies too big and I made them too close together.  They were supposed to yield about 30, but I only made 22?  Whatevs.  The ugly ones got eaten by my co-workers and they didn’t seem to mind.  My beautiful picture is perfect cookies made without smooshing. 

They stack nicely. 

Sincerely,
I won’t ever get tired of sweets

(But these are terribly filling.)

A Summer Spent Smug: Tres Leches Cupcakes

Cinco de Mayo may be one of my favorite holidays.  It included quesadillas, nachos, tequila, Alayna, and Hannah.  I spent the “weekend” in New Hampshire with one of my best friends.  Therefore, I missed my Latin American cupcakes by a week.  I made tres leches cupcakes this weekend, reminding me of the summer I spent doing nothing by a pool.  Oh, how I miss the times of doing nothing. 

Tres leches means three milks.  The three milks involved are evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and “milk” (which in this case was heavy  cream).  I made the cakes veeeewey cawrefullwy.  Then I poked holes in them real quick like.  And then poured the mixture of milks on them.  I made a really boring whipped cream to put on top and sprinkled them with cinnamon.  They turned out delicious and reminiscent of lazy days spent reading Roald Dahl. 

These tastes and scents and memories make me think of when I thought I had the whole world figured out.  Who knows who they want to be with when they grow up?  I still don’t know what I want to do.  I don’t know who I want to be, or be with, or what I want to spend the rest of my life doing.  I am very lost now and the cupcakes make me laugh thinking about how I thought I knew everything just a year ago. 

Minions Assemble!: Goodbye Cupcakes for Kayla

Sometimes, it’s not about what it’s made with except if it’s made with love. 

A good friend of everyone at my restaurant left recently.  I wanted to tell her how much everyone loved her.  I wanted her to know she is beautiful, inside and out.  She deserves love that is wholesome and overwhelming and all-encompassing.  She deserves someone who is attractive and funny and nice.  She deserves a prince charming.  She doesn’t know she deserves all this.  She barely realizes how wonderful she makes the world by being in it. 

For Easter, she got Despicable Me.  She frequently said, “WHAAAAAAAAAAAT???” at work.  She made me laugh with it.  So, I figured a way to show her how much we all loved her was to make some minions tell her…

MINIONS! ASSEMBLE!

It was a process.  It took some Twinkies, some extras, lots of patience, chocolate sprinkles, black frosting, white frosting, and cupcakes.  It also took some twisting of arms to get people to write down what they enthusiastically took.  But it all got done on time.  It was finished and she cried and I think she understands a fraction of the way people felt about her.  Because we all love her and her silliness more than she’ll ever know.  I’ll miss the friendship we weren’t allowed to have because of strange factors and moving to a different state. 

On the back of each speech bubble, people wrote special messages to her.  Our kitchen manager taped a brownie to it because she used to eat them all the time.  The restaurant hasn’t been the same since she left and it keeps changing.  Her move kind of got me thinking that I need to make a change, too.  The minions in my own head are growing restless and bored.  We’ll see where my minions take me.