Tag Archives: cupcakes

Tiramisu Cupcakes and New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Julie • 7 Comments

tiramisu1

It’s been a month! A month since I’ve updated my now 13-month-old blog (does that mean my blog is a toddler now? And I didn’t even get it a smash cake). Work has been crazy, the holidays are always insane…excuses, excuses. If I made New Year’s resolutions, I’d make one to be the same perpetually prolific Jill of all trades in real life that I am in my head.

I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions, though. Can’t stand them, in fact. I think you set yourself up for failure as soon as the intentions leave the safe confines of your mind and reach other human ears. Plus, they virtually ensure that the gym will be utterly, miserably packed for the first six weeks of the year, until everyone remembers that they hate working out. I mean, come on – we all have our faults. Pretending that we’re going to change for two weeks in January is fun, but it never really sticks. Case in point: every year, I decide that this is the year I’m going to become an Organized Person, so I buy a day planner with the intention of keeping it (and a roller ball pen) always on my person, so that I may take notes throughout the day of things I should remember or stuff I have to do. In my most successful year, I lasted a week and a half. In my (two) least successful years, I’ve lost the thing within two weeks of the New Year. So then I’m disorganized AND filled with shame. Nobody wins.

… [click for recipe and more]

Filed Under: Desserts

Double Caramel Cupcakes

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Julie • 2 Comments

Before I share this recipe, I want to say that we were extremely fortunate here in DC to have escaped the direct wrath of Hurricane Sandy. Seeing the absolute devastation in New York and New Jersey has made that even more clear. So many people have lost everything – homes, livelihoods, friends and neighbors – and the suffering is just unbelievable. Please consider donating to the American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund by clicking the picture below. If you’re strapped financially, which many of us are, consider making a blood donation – it’s free and every little bit helps.

Our thoughts and well-wishes remain with everyone impacted by Sandy.

… [click for recipe and more]

Filed Under: Desserts

Bailey’s Cheesecake Cupcakes

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Julie • 3 Comments

For the past couple of years, I’ve done this thing at work where I try to make special cupcakes for everyone on my team’s birthday. They pick a flavor off of my menu and get a half-dozen to take home, and the rest of the batch is for everyone to enjoy. This was really easy when I was on a six-person team, slightly more difficult when we kept adding on new people and eventually got into the double digits – and on top of that, they ALL have summer birthdays. Seriously. I think there’s maybe one November, but June, July, and August are teeming with coworker birthdays.

This shouldn’t really matter since I switched projects in April and am again on a much smaller team, but none of the people on my new team like sweets. Besides, after three-plus years on the old team, I kinda still liked them, so I try to keep up.

Try is the operative word. I’m currently between two and three months behind. Whoops.

These, for example, were for a June birthday. And this coworker does not order from my menu. I’m not even sure she looks at it. She gives me a list of flavors that she likes and my job is to make magic happen. If I were a bad friend, I’d pick two flavors that don’t remotely go together. But I’m not a bad friend, and she is an excellent friend who deserves magic cupcakes (maybe even more than once a year), so she gets Bailey’s and chocolate instead of peanut butter and orange. And she also gets the added bonus of feeling like she’s having a drink at work – Lord knows we all need that sometimes.

These are now on the menu for good – they’re such a fun departure from a standard cupcake. Dense, rich, and creamy, one at a time is all you’ll need, but you’ll definitely be back for more. And you’ll be sending silent thank yous to my coworker Elizabeth for inspiring a new addition to the repertoire for the second year in a row.

… [click for recipe and more]

Filed Under: Desserts

Movie Munchies: American Pie (Apple Pie Cupcakes)

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Julie • 14 Comments

*Note: “Movie Monday” will now be “Movie Munchies,” because I’ve remembered that I can barely function on Mondays, let alone try to tie together a recipe and a movie. You’ll see Movie Munchies posts on…whatever day they happen to be posted. Hope you keep enjoying!

So I have a confession to make. I didn’t make these with Movie Munchies in mind – I made them because a coworker requested them for his birthday last week, and I was so happy that he did. I’ve been dying to make these and share them for a really long time now, and I’m super happy that I didn’t have to wait for autumn and apple season. And while I didn’t make these with a movie in mind, it’s really not that hard to find a movie with a plot point central to apple pie.

… [click for recipe and more]

Filed Under: Desserts

Mounds Cupcakes

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Julie • 1 Comment

I have a little bit of a thing lately for candy turned cupcakes. I guess there’s no real reason to do this – why not just eat the candy and call it a day? I’ll tell you why – because it’s fun to reinvent the wheel when the new wheel is a delicious frosted hug. These cupcakes were my mom’s request for her birthday last year, and she requested them again this year for Mother’s Day. She’s a dark chocolate fanatic, which is why these are topped with a rich, fudgy ganache instead of a standard buttercream. Bittersweet ganache is also a perfect yin to the yang of the (to die for) coconut filling – I think heaps of frosting on this might be overpowering.

… [click for recipe and more]

Filed Under: Desserts