Looking forward to the Holidays

It's the first of December. I love the holidays. Ok, I don't love the angst, the pressure, the busy-ness, or the crowds at the mall, but I do like snow, and cocoa, and tasty foods with the people I like the best. I've started edging toward holiday cupcake flavours this past week, and so far we have this:

And that is a Ginger Binge cupcake. A spicy gingerbread cake, studded with bits of candied ginger, and (with thanks to Isa, Terry, and VCTOTW) lemon frosting. For some reason, until I saw their gingerbread cupcake, i never would have thought of lemon and ginger as a good flavour combination, but I tried it out and wowee-zowee, it's great!
And I have to admit, i prefer this cupcake to gingerbread men...even if i can't dunk it in my teacup.

Punkin' Pie Cupcakes

Okay. I went and got my camera, so now I can share some (poor quality) photos with you once again. First up is my Thanksgiving-y offering. Pumpkin pie stuffed, y'all!
You know, I can never get blogger to put pictures in the order i want them. That's my friend's hand with a cutaway shot: It's a vanilla spice cake with a real creamy pumpkin pie centre baked in, and topped with swirl of whip cream-esque vanilla buttercream. Oh and of course, a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar!

Cupcakes on the March!

New Developments and a missing camera

Ok. So, I have been making some tasty, tasty shitake recently. But my camera has been hiding at my friend's place since hallowe'en. And maybe I'm wrong, but...posting about food just isn't the same without photos to back 'er up. So you'll have to wait for my Pumpkin Pie Stuffed Spice Cups, I'm afraid...
In other developments, the Kupcakery and I are getting an upgrade. I'm going back to school part time to study decorating for real, so that I can add special occasion cakes to the mix. I could probably make a nice looking cake now, but I want to know enough technique to keep my wedding layers layered. After that, this place is going to be a business in earnest. There will probably be a website change, and I'm hashing over the thought of another name...I'm not sure if I like my name as my quote-unquote "brand" or not.
I'll keep you posted. And more blog as soon as I find the camera!

Blog derailment!

Hi folks. I know I should be hiding my face in shame for not keeping up with my mofo commitment, but I'm just gonna be upfront about it. My life has suddenly...um...kicked things up a notch. I've barely had time to breathe, let alone bake. I do have an assortment of ingredients awaiting my tender care though, so there will be more posts in the near future.
I love my "real life". It just makes me really busy sometimes.

The Sultan's Pomegranate Cupcake

The Sultan has a vicious case of the Mondays.
What this actually means is that I had a very long day and instead of having the time to bake all my arsenal for the next week, I have to resort to looking for a picture of cupcakes I made a while ago. These are dark chocolate and pomegranate cupcakes that I made as a more "sophisticated" holiday treat last year. These very rich and grown up tasting--dense chocolate cake, then a layer of pomegranate jelly, covered by a layer of chocolate ganache, and topped of with a sprinkle of jewel-like pom seeds.

Shots are on me!

Ok, no. I am not buying all y'all free drinks. But I offer you a boozy bite.
This is a Rum'n'Raisin mini cupcake. I like my rummy cupcakes really rummy, so I keep them bite-sized to prevent drunken cupcake fiascos. Rum and rum-soaked raisins are both in the moist, dense cake, topped with rum buttercream and a single drunken raisin up on the top.

Incidentally, you've probably noticed by now that I use mostly vegan buttercream as my frosting of choice. It's versatile and dagnabit, it's delish! I do top cupcakes with glazes and ganaches too, but I have to admit that buttercream is what you're going to see the most around here.

Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake Off!

So, I know I technically don't have to post on weekends for this veganmofo thing. But 31 days of cupcakes has a way better ring than adding "less weekends" to it does.
Besides, today is an awesome day! In honour of world Vegetarian day, the Toronto Vegetarian Association is having a vegan bake off. Last year I was a runner up, and it really inspired me to kick my baking up a notch.
My offering this year is my Lumberjack's Breakfast Cupcake.
Now, the thing you need to understand is that this cupcake began as a joke. Omni's have been on this insane kick lately where they'll put bacon in, or on, anything. Really anything. My boyfriend came home one day talking about chocolate chip and bacon cookies. And I thought...that is the least vegan thing I've ever heard. But it sounds awesome.
I admit, i used to really like bacon, back in the pregan days. And the idea of something sweet, with something salty and crispy? Aghghghgh... (that's me making Homer Simpson's drool noise.)
So I decided to see if there was any way I could possibly make this vegan acceptable. Really, i was just thinking of mixing sweet and salty, but then someone mentioned on the ppk (post punk kitchen)forums that bac-o's are vegan, and my idea came to life. A little like Frankenstein's moster.
I have to admit, i don't expect to win any prizes for this. It's a bit wierd by most people's standards, and I don't find bac-o's the prettiest topping, but I promise you, this is the most amazing flavour combination. Salty, sweet, crispy, and yet soft and moist. Think of it as a really good breakfast. Coffee cake, real maple syrup buttercream, and yep, "bacon" bit topping.