You Want S'more??

Excuse the brief lapse in blogging. Sara and I went on an amazing all-girl camping/white water rafting trip! What better excuse to make one of my all-time favs....SMORES! It's amazing how just by putting the right three ingredients together, you make a masterpiece. So simple, but so amazing. Hmm.. any ideas as to how to put a twist on the classic smore? I was thinking maybe a different kind of chocolate - like Hershey's Cookies & Cream chocolate! Yum. We need to do this camping thing more often.

P.S. Sara did awesome in the wilderness. They became one.

Happy Face

So I was daydreaming in a presentation this morning...mostly about cake. Somehow I got to thinking about the Happy Face pancake I used to get off of the kids menu at IHOP like all the time. I loved how the chocolate chips on top would melt and then I'd swirl it around with the whipped cream. It was so good you didn't even need syrup. And then it hit me. Put it in a cupcake M-Dizzle! A vanilla chocolate chip cupcake topped with more chocolate chips and whipped cream topped off with a cherry. Just like the pancake! Did anyone else used to eat this little piece of breakfast heaven?

-M

A Sweet Birthday!

Sara's birthday cupcake with strawberry mascarpone filling!

Let's talk Truffles!

What better way to ease into a Monday than with a mid-day treat? I picked up 2 chocolate cupcakes for Maggie and I from Truffles Pastry Shop on Clifton Blvd. Truffles boasts a wide range of baked treats, including, cookies, brownies, and slices of cake, all which looked like they were chocolate.

The cupcakes had a very delicious and fudgey frosting. So delicious, in fact, that it upstaged the cake. The cake seemed a little dry, and we even wondered if maybe these treats were a day old. Despite the dryness, I still enjoyed it, and Truffles glowing reputation would make me give them a second chance.

Rating (1-10 point scale):
Frosting: 7
Cake: 4

Anyone have a truffles bakery review to share?

Sara's Birthday Surprise

So it was Sara's birthday on Saturday and I love me an excuse to make some cupcakes and some cupcakes did I make! We got some people together in my office on Friday and I had my boss call her down like she was in troubles. But she didn't find a dunce cap, oh no, she found strawberry mascarpone filled cupcakes and co-workers crammed into a tiny office singing happy birthday. The recipe was courtesy of Giada from the FN (link below). They were delish. I have pictures that I will post. FYI - the filling fills way more than 12 cupcakes. Don't double the recipe unless you double the cake recipe. I could of fed a small country with the amount I had left over.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/strawberry-and-mascarpone-filled-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

-M

Project!

I love everyone for commenting. See...aren't sweets exciting! All your ideas are great. It looks like Sara and I are moving onward with the dessert pierogi. We have to figure out the logistics, but it looks promising. We will keep you updated and of course provide visuals.

On a side note - I am a huge Food Network junkie and I've been so happy to see Bobby Flay do dessert themed episodes of Throwdown. He's done two episodes about ice cream and I've become completely fascinated with homemade ice cream. It looks hard to make. Any experiences out there?

-M

Cleveland In a Cupcake

So I was having a chat with someone today at lunch. Let's call him Tim - because that's his name. We came across the topic of how to put Cleveland in a cupcake. I mean New York could have a Big Apple cupcake and Maine could have ummm... a lobster cupcake? But what would you put in a Cleveland cupcake. The answer.. Great Lakes beer! So I am going to try it. I have a chocolate Guinness cupcake recipe that I am going to substitute with a bottle of Great Lake's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. As with a stout, the chocolate and coffee undertones lend it well to a cupcake. What would you put in a Cleveland cupcake? And don't say homeless people or polluted lake water.
- M