Mocha Cupcakes

And so begins the Valentine's Day desserts. 

I absolutely LOVE Valentine's Day. It's a win-win. I get presents, flowers, chocolates, AND dinner! Sorry to all guys out there, although I am low-maintenance most days of the year, Valentine's Day is definitely not one of them. Luckily, I have a wonderful boyfriend that coooompletely understands ;) These cupcakes are perfect: the icing is fluffy and light and mimics the coffee undertones in the cupcake. Plus, sprinkles make everything more amazing.

Oh, by the way, about a week ago, I applied for a research assistant position offered by the one and only Tucker Max. He's a comedy writer who has written titles such as I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell and Assholes Finish First. He is absolutely HYSTERICAL, and I jumped at this wonderful opportunity to work for him. I made it to the second cut, and I will hear back (or not) by January 30th. I'll be sure to keep y'all updated!

I didn't have espresso powder or a small sieve, so I used a larger sieve and filtered the coffee-infused milk through 5 times before adding to the sugar mixture. As you can see, there were still coffee granules in the batter, but it didn't make a difference in the end product. This recipe makes 12 perfectly sized cupcakes, but if I made it again, I would definitely double it. 

Champagne Cupcakes

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! I took a little bit of time off to recoup from the stress of finals and my first semester as a nutrition major. Thankfully, I made all As this semester, and I had my first day of classes today. If you have champagne left over from your New Year celebrations, then I have two perfect recipes to use that up for you: champagne cupcakes and champagne marshmallows (which will be up tomorrow)! For Christmas, I received a Bamboo graphic arts tablet so I can begin work on designs for recipe cards and other baking-themed projects! What cooking-related items did y'all get for Christmas?

We brought in the New Year quietly at my house. I was asleep by 12:30! Also, Jeremy and I's 3 year anniversary also landed at midnight, so we went out to eat at a fantastic place in Charlotte called The Cowfish. As their name suggests, they serve both sushi and burgers, and they are AMAZING. We got The Motherload as an appetizer, which features a slice of every fish available on their menu! ! I ate several things I knew (octopus, clam, yellowtail, tuna, salmon, shrimp) and tons of things I didn't. I had no trouble downing everything on the plate except the raw shrimp and the tempura battered prawn-big shrimp-crawfish thing. I took a bite of it, and the legs came off in the mouth and all I could think about what that it looked like I was eating a spider, and I freaked out a little. Before you go though, be aware that they have an extremely large menu. It wouldn't be a bad idea to browse the menu online before you went.

Hot Pink Pound Cake

This week, I decided to make another pound cake since the one I made last week went over so well. I have an absurd amount of food coloring gel, so I figured I'd also dye it hot pink! Sadly, I don't have one of those super cute bundt pans, so I had to bake it in a beat-up, dented, aluminum-looking pan, but it still tastes amazing! I also plan to make this for Breast Cancer awareness events in the future, such as Relay for Life.


Obviously, I first gathered all of my ingredients together and took a cute picture! Pound cakes are really easy to make because they all mix together in one bowl, and they don't require expensive or extravagant ingredients. The only thing about pound cakes is that you have to be really quiet when making them because they will fall in a heartbeat.

I then thoroughly greased and floured my super sketchy dented tube pan!

I creamed the shortening, butter, and Wilton Icing Color together. I wasn't sure when to add the coloring, but I figured I'd just add it at the beginning so I wouldn't have to worry about it later.

Then I added the sugar! The recipe calls for three cups of sugar, so I had to add it in stages.

Finally, the batter is complete!

Then, I used a rubber spatula to scrape the batter into my prepared cake pan; the color is so pretty!

It took about 1 hour and 20 minutes for the pound cake to finish, and I am SOOO glad that the intense thunder didn't cause it to fall. It looks kind of ugly on the outside, but then again, I am going to flip it over so no one will see this side :)

Base recipe via Paula Deen
Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter, plus more for pan
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ~3/4 teaspoon of hot pink coloring gel!

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

With a mixer, cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, a little at a time. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to mixer alternately with milk, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. Mix in vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.