1st Place Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Last year, I won 3rd place in the Decadent Dreams Chocolate Festival's Cupcake Wars with a Raspberry and Chocolate cupcake, and this year, I won 1st place! I entered a Strawberry Chocolate cupcake made with local winter strawberries from the Bush N Vine. They were FANTASTIC!! One of the judges came up to me afterwards, and he was like, "How did you get it so moist??!" I have no idea how it ended up so moist, I guess the recipe was just perfect!

These strawberries were so perfect. If I had been unable to get local strawberries, I would've made a completely different cupcake because the supermarket strawberries just don't compare.

Kara's Baking Tips and Tricks

I've been baking my entire life, and I have built up some tips to help me out with recipes over the years. I will add to this list as I think of them, but here are some tips and tricks for the kitchen!

• Don't ever buy buttermilk. Seriously. You can make your own and avoid the whole "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THIS EXTRA GALLON OF BUTTERMILK I WAS FORCED TO BUY!!!!?!?!?" meltdown that I used to get at least monthly. Just add 1 or 2 tablespoons of something acidic, like lime or lemon juice or vinegar (I have used all three of those, depending on what I have on hand at the time) to one cup of milk and let sit until it gets thick, about 5-10 minutes. I usually add 1 1/2 T or 2 T because I like the buttermilk mixture to look extra thick, but I guess that is preference since most places call for 1 T. There, no more buttermilk meltdowns!
• More to come later!

Coastal Kids Magazine Food Columnist

I am so excited!!! Several months ago, my cousin, Krista, contacted me about writing for a magazine called Coastal Kids Magazine. I instantly accepted and started testing recipes for the holiday issue. Well, the first issue came out several days ago, and the magazine looks FANTASTIC! I made a green bean casserole from scratch, pralines, and apple cinnamon cupcakes. Check out the holiday issue here, and be sure to like them on Facebook! I can't wait to start working on the next issue! My column is on pages 33-36, and my ad is on page 40! Here are some sample pages!