So…this is my first attempt at making sugared cranberries. I wanted to use them as garnish for a Thanksgiving-themed cupcake I made (coming Wednesday!) You’ll notice they don’t look quite as sugary as the usual sugared cranberries you see, but…I like them that way. Not too Sour Patch Kid-like. These are cranberries that have been steeped in a hot sugar-water mixture, to make them sticky, and then rolled in superfine sugar for a nice sugary coating. Here’s how to do…
Brainfood: The Ampersand
November 11, 2013Today…I would like to talk about the ampersand. Well, more particularly, the origin of the ampersand. I know…weird, huh? But as you may know, I am just a tad obsessed with linguistics (it was one of my majors), which means that random tangents on punctuation and such will happen here on occasion. Plus I haven’t shared a factoid with you in a while. So, not too long ago I was playing around at identifont.com—an incredibly useful site that helps you…
Nutella Frosting
November 6, 2013
I think this frosting pairs perfectly with hazelnut cake, but let’s be honest…what does Nutella not taste fantastic with? Nutella Frosting Makes enough for 12 cupcakes or for half of a standard double-layer 9″ round cake. Ingredients 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp 2 1/2–3 cups powdered sugar 2–4 TB milk or cream 2–6 TB Nutella Method Cream the butter for a good few minutes. Gradually beat in some the powdered sugar. Incorporate the milk or cream. Add the rest…
Hazelnut Cake or Cupcakes
November 4, 2013
I wanted to create a Nutella-esque cake recipe without necessarily having to put Nutella in both the frosting and the cake. Hence, this recipe! I used this method of substituting nuts for flour when baking to create it. I’m really excited about this recipe in particular because 1) it took me four tries to get it right, and 2) I haven’t seen many plain old hazelnut cake recipes out there. One thing of note: The baking temperature is 325 instead of…
10 DIY Costumes with Normal Clothing
October 25, 2013*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that if you click through any Amazon link (starred like so*) in this article and happen to purchase anything on Amazon, I get a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything—just an FYI! If you’re anything like me, you don’t really plan out your Halloween costume enough in advance and therefore find yourself making do with things you already have. But you know what? I think this is okay.…
Cinnamon Frosting
October 23, 2013
Alright, this is an easy one. It’s really just my basic cream cheese or buttercream frosting plus some cinnamon. But it goes splendidly on fall cakes and cupcakes, so I thought I’d share it. (See it on my pumpkin cupcakes in this post!) And I’m going to give you the recipe in both the buttercream and cream cheese variety—you pick! Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Makes enough for 12 cupcakes or for half of a standard double-layer 9″ round cake. Ingredients…