Vanilla Rabbit Hole Cupcakes

Few words invoke my creative juices quite like, "Will you bring dessert?"  Of course, the answer is always yes.  I begin giddy with excitement, poring over my cookbooks for just the perfect confection for the occasion.  The flip side is that this excitement usually turns to sheer panic as I find myself covered in frosting and short just three more candy canes at the eleventh hour.  Alas, dessert is a labor of love and goodness knows, I'm smitten.

Last month, I took on the challenge of Easter dessert, deciding to put my cake decorating chops to the test with the "Rabbit Hole Cupcakes" featured in Karen Tack & Alan Richardson's Hello, Cupcake! They're cute, whimsical, and I figured I could cut the cost often associated with the very specialized candies needed to make many of these cupcake designs work.  I also chose to bake my own cupcakes from scratch, rather than from the box, using the "Vanilla Cupcakes" recipe from the same cookbook.

Classic Yellow Cake with Chocolate Fudge Marshmallow Frosting

I admit it.  I look down on cake mixes.  I always think to myself, I have everything I need in my cupboard to make this mix so I should just make it from scratch.  Despite this grocery aisle snobbiness, the hard truth remains that I don't always have time to make a cake from scratch.  Enter Ann Byrn's The Cake Mix Doctor Returns!  I had a friend's birthday coming up and while I wanted to make a cake, I really wanted to spend more time making the apartment look nice for her than I did slaving over the stove, so I went the time-economical route.  Byrn's description of the "Classic Yellow Cake with Chocolate Fudge Marshmallow Frosting" as the most desired birthday cake in her household made it a natural choice for the upcoming celebration.  Let's dive into the fudginess, shall we?

Marinated Strawberries over Pound Cake

Yes, I have a favorite cookbook.  How'd you know?  A friend let us borrow a shelf of his fridge while we were moving and we were without a full-sized fridge for nearly two weeks.  To repay him, I offered to make him dinner.  He requested Italian and I immediately knew what book to reach for: Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis.  In my meal planning, I was naturally first concerned with dessert.  I'd just had some lovely strawberries, which inspired me to try "Marinated Strawberries over Pound Cake," basically an Italian take on strawberry shortcake, but better!

Sticky Toffee "Pudding"

I am afraid of baking cakes. I can never seem to get them right.  Usually, they come out too overdone on the outside and underdone inside.  Oven malfunctions?  My inexperience?  I was never totally sure.  Therefore, it was with some trepidation that I cracked open Rose's Heavenly Cakes in search of a recipe to serve at our Redcoat Appreciation Party (before 4th of July, of course).  I'm lucky enough to have traveled to England, and while there I had a fantastic toffee cake dessert, referred to as "pudding".  Upon a brief perusal of Beranbaum's book, I found that the "Sticky Toffee 'Pudding'" recipe fit the bill, so it was time to take a deep breath and preheat the oven.  Here goes nothing!

Peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache icing

I started working at my new job today and decided to preemptively make nice with my new co-workers by whipping up some cupcakes for my first day.  I consulted my chocolate bar cookbook by Matt Lewis and Alison Nelson for the perfect recipe.  All I had to do was look at the cover of this cookbook and I knew what I was going to make - "Peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache icing." I made these cupcakes for my wedding reception a couple of years ago and they went over beautifully, so I knew they were a safe bet.  They're easier to make than they look!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I've grown older and more fond of my kitchen, I have found treats produced from my kitchen to be the best way to show people that I care.  This week is my last week at a lovely job that I've held for almost six years.  The people who work in my office, including a few professional staff and lots of hungry college students, have lit up my day, every day for a long time and I can't think of a better way to say thanks then a yummy batch of these classically, always good, chocolate chip cookies.

Once again, for the basics, I turn to my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  It's not the prettiest cookbook or the most fun to read, but I'm of the opinion that you should perfect the basics before you try to get all fancy with them.  It helps to know why a recipe turns out well before adjusting it.  That's why, more often than not, I open up the red and white kitchen bible.