eat me: funfetti cupcakes.

I generally tend to love desserts that are pretty, not overly sugary and are flavoured with real ingredients.  But every once in a while the six year old inside of me asks for sweet, simple and overly colourful treats. 

Enter funfetti.  I have secretly always loved funfetti, as a child I was mystified how they got the rainbow bits into the cake mix and how they didn't just melt into a weird purpley mess.  I also always thought funfetti was it's own flavour, ie. not vanilla.  Because clearly plain vanilla is just gross.  Or at least it was to my 6 year old self.  

Funfetti had been lurking on the outskirts of my mind for the last few years, ridiculous I know.  However, because I absolutely refuse to bake anything out of a box I never made, secretly assuming that the rainbow pieces were somewhat magical and impossible to recreate at home.  Until the moment that I realized funfetti was just vanilla cake with sprinkles baked in.  It took me until last year to fully realize this.  I was slightly disappointed that it was just vanilla cake after all.  But I still think the sprinkles make it taste different, or at least more fun.

These were super fun to make, every once in a while I think it's alright to break out mass amounts of sprinkles.  Especially if they turn into pretty rainbow coloured cupcakes.

Funfetti Cupcakes.  (vanilla base cupcake recipe adapted from here.)

1 1/4 C. cake flour.

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder.

1/2 tsp.  baking soda.

2 eggs.

3/4 C. sugar.

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

1/2 C. vegetable oil.

1/2 C. buttermilk.

1/2 C. sprinkles.

Directions:

_sift together all off your dry ingredients.

_in an electric mixer beat the eggs for a few seconds and then add the sugar.  beat and add the vanilla and oil.

_reduce mixer speed to low and alternate adding dry ingredients and milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

_mix in sprinkles.

_pour into prepared muffin pans and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees until golden/a toothpick comes out clean.

_frost with your favourite vanilla buttercream.

Vanilla buttercream. my most favourite recipe.

1 1/2 cups icing sugar.1/4 cup flour.1/4 cup butter, room temperature.1/4 milk.1 tsp vanilla extract.
Whisk together dry ingredients.  Add the butter.  Pour in the vanilla and then the milk a bit at a time and beat until fluffy and a bit shiny, about 3-5 minutes in a stand mixer.  

 I hope these add a bit of colour and fun to your week!  xo, T.

21 before 22.

Why hello there.

It's been a while, a rather long while and I'm so sorry.  So much has happened over the past two months and there has been so many things I've wanted to share with you!  However my camera happened to meet an unfortunate series of events in which the strap of my bag broke and my camera went tumbling down a flight of stairs....and then decided that focusing properly is a very difficult task.  And a blog post without photos is absolutely boring so I've been waiting to get it fixed...and procrastinating and it still isn't fixed.  And then I remembered I had an iPhone that happened to take photos.  Nowhere near as good as an SLR but still far better than a page full of type, yes?

About a million exciting things have happened in the past few months like having a boyfriend, breaking up with said boyfriend, learning to knit, buying new bright red shoes, starting to go to the gym, only wearing red lipstick,getting into a car accident (I'm fine, lot's of phyiso but I'm good!), finding out I get to move into a lovely apartment with a lovely roomate in January (I can't wait to show you all photos when I move!), getting tickets to go see my twin (aka. Taylor Swift) in concert in June, going on insane shopping sprees for pretty house things...and turning 22.  That last one was really fun, and involved a lot of cupcakes and dancing.

It also meant the end of my "21 before 22" list.  It's a bit like new years resolutions except far more exciting and fun, I made a list of 21 lovely things I wanted to do in my year as a 21 year old and I actually managed to do most of them, these were the first 10 on my list:

I accomplished 7.5 of them.  Yes, 7.5.


1.  I found out in November I get to move into the main floor of a lovely house with hardwood floors with a lovely roommate in January and I am so excited. There will be a million house D.I.Y's and photos to come.

2.  Nope.  I just wasn't into sewing this year.  I don't know why, but I just wasn't feeling any big sewing projects.  But I have started knitting...so I count that as 0.25.

3.  Kind of.  I'm on the waiting list for the January class at martha street studio so maybe?  Totally worth another 0.25.

4.  I got it inked in March and I LOVE it.  It is currently hidden under 100 sweaters because it's freezing here, but it still makes me so happy.

5.  I graduated with my undergrad in Environmental Design, architecture focus in May.  It was a crazy four years but I loved it, we had a pantone themed grad party which was sweet, that's me and one of my studio friends, we have matching bows.

6.  It's terrible that I have to put visiting extended family on a list, but I wanted to make it a priority to see her more than just at holidays, we went for lunch this summer and it was fun.  She's awesome.

7.  My grandma is still the only one in my family capable of making dutch pancakes.  Still a goal.

8. Starting in August I've been going to moksha yoga every week, I love it, it is SO warm and that is the best.  It's also super nice to be as flexible as I was back when I used to dance.

9.  Yep.  I am incapable of buying flat shoes.  I promised myself I was going to buy kitten heels for my Christmas party because I'm already 4" taller than most people.  I came home with those red ones.  I give up.  At least I can walk in them.

10. I've found so many!  I've currently been listening to a ton of Alex Winston, but I've also fallen in love with Julia Holter.  Taylor Swift is maybe a guilty pleasure.  There, I said it.  We're practically twins anyways...

 

It feels so lovely to be back!  I can't wait to share the other half of my 21 before 22 list with you!

xo, T.

eat me:. walnut carrot cupcakes with ginger frosting.

So, I don't know if any of you have noticed, but it's been a very long while since a cupcake recipe was featured on this blog.  I have not idea why but the amount of cupcakes I bake is severely disproportional to the recipes that make it on this blog, probably because most of them are baked for specific things and they all get eaten before I can take photos!

So, when one of my friends asked me if I wanted to come over and bake carrot cupcakes with her and add ginger frosting I leaped at the chance.  I love cupcakes. And I love ginger.

These cupcakes turned out super well.  They were really moist and the addition of walnuts and ginger made them a hundred times better than any other carrot cake I've ever had.  Leave it to Deb and Smitten Kitchen to always have the best inspiration!

walnut carrot cupcakes (recipe modified from smitten kitchen)
2 C. all purpose flour.
2 tsp. baking soda.
2 tsp. ground cinnamon.
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg.
2 tsp. fresh grated ginger.
11/2 C. brown sugar.
1 1/4 C. vegetable oil.
4 large eggs.
3 C. grated peeled carrots.
1 C. coarsely chopped walnuts.

sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. in a separate bowl mix together oil and sugar. add in eggs one at a time. add to flour mixture and stir until blended. stir in carrots and walnuts. Divide batter among prepared cupcakes pans.  bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean with only a few crumbs.  let cool.  makes approximately two dozen.  more accurately 21.

ginger cream cheese frosting.
1 package of softened cream cheese.
1/4 C. butter, softened.
1 1/2 C. icing sugar.
fresh grated ginger.

in an electric mixer beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy, five minutes.  add sugar and mix.  start grating in fresh ginger, tasting along the way until you find an amount you like.  I know, super exact right? We really like ginger so we probably added about 1/8 of a cup of fresh grated ginger, but start with less, taste it and go from there.

once your cupcakes have cooled completely, frost with an offset spatula.

Have a lovely start to your last week of August!  So many exciting life things have happened this month and I cannot wait to see how September unfolds, perhaps I will tell you about them in a bit! xo, T.

eat me: chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.

These cupcakes have been on my mind a lot lately, mainly because they are delicous.  Which is why you need to make them.  Chocolate cupcakes with half an inch of peanut butter - cream cheese frosting, topped with chocolate peanut butter glaze and chocolate chips - these cupcakes are rich, but so worth the multiple calories they probably contain.  Just like, maybe go for a walk while eating one, it'll kind of balance out, right? And then you can go home and eat the leftover peanut butter frosting with a spoon [something I may or may not have done the other night..]  I should probably warn you that these cupcakes have weight from adding all those layers of goodness, so like, be prepared.
If that above paragraph didn't convince you to make these right now I don't know what will.  I love them because they are rich and delicious but not super sweet.  The original recipe from Smitten Kitchen makes it as a super lovely cake - I feel like they are a tad bit more managable as cupcakes!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes. slightly modified from Smitten Kitchen.

1 C. flour.
1 C. sugar.
1 tsp. baking soda.
1/2 C. cocoa powder.
3/4 C. warm water.
1/2 C. sour cream or plain yogurt.
1/2 C. oil.
1 egg.
1 tsp. vanilla.
1 tbsp. white distilled vinegar.

Sift together dry ingredients. Add oil, then sour cream, then water, then egg, vanilla and vinegar, beating after each addition.  Pour into a prepared muffin tin and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees until a knife comes out clean.

Let cool then frost and glaze.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting.

1 brick cream cheese.
1/3 C. peanut butter.
2 C. icing sugar.
1/2 C. flour.

Beat cream cheese for a few minutes until fluffy. Add peanut butter, beat for 3-4 minutes then add dry ingredients.  If it is too stiff add a tablespoon of milk to thin it out a bit.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Glaze.

1/2 C. chocolate chips.
2 tbsp. peanut butter.
1/4 C. milk.

In a double boiler/a heat proof bowl over a pot of boiling water melt the chocolate and peanut butter over low heat.  Once melted and smooth slowly add milk, stirring constantly until it has incorporated and the glaze is smooth again - it will go kind of lumpy when you first add the milk.  Use immeadiately by spooning over frosted cupcakes.

This is probably the longest recipe I have ever posted.  But it is so totally worth it - make them!  Have a lovely week, xo. T.

things i love.

Happy Tuesday!  And since it happens to be Tuesday I thought I would share some of the things that I currently love, besides new blog layouts (yay!) and image tags (the only thing I can write in html.)

1.  seafoam green.

I love seafoam green, it is currently my favourite colour.  It's colourful but still calming and since there isn't a lot of this shade in Winnipeg it stands out!  I got this scarf for my birthday and have been waiting impatiently for spring to wear it!

When I was in Brazil everything was seafoam green; clothes, walls, nail polish, etc., so you can imagine my joy!  This purse is from a little shop in Sao Paolo, the eyelets are laser cut.  Yeah.

It apparently is a genetic thing.  We have a huge collection of seafoam green and turquoise objects in our house.

2.  ginger-lemon

I love spiced things and I love citrus, hence this is one of my favourite flavour combinations!  I recently made ginger-lemon cupcakes for a friends birthday and they were so good! (recipe here.)

3....rap music

shocked? Yeah I thought so.  This is more of an unexpected, secret love, probably stemming from a teenage love of Missy E. and a brief stint as a hip hop dancer.  So, for the four people that read this, now you know what I'm probably listening to while working in studio until 2 a.m.  It is the only way to survive.  I still secretly wish I had sweet hip hop moves.

So, this is what I've been listening to.  Like all weekend. 



along of course with this.  She will forever be my favourite.

I hope you have a lovely day. xo.

pumpkin picking adventures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two posts in a row, I am obviously very much procrastinating from school.  Especially attempting to decipher ridiculous old English books from the 1600's.  But anyways.

Pumpkins!

My love for them goes without saying.  One of my favourite parts of fall is going to Lockport to pick pumpkins.  We've gone driven out to Lockport to hang out at the Half Moon restaurant and look at old cars every thanksgiving weekend I can remember.  And for the last handful of years, pretty much ever since I began to really love baking, we've stopped at one of the little farms on the highway home to pick out our favourite pumpkins.  They lay them out in pretty little rows in their front yard and you get to meander around and pick the one you love, there are so many kinds!  It used to be a rather small operation, but it appears the secret is out because the highway was lined with cars when we arrived!

So much fun!

and yes, they have a giant cat made out of hay bales in their front yard.

Oh, and these are the monster cupcakes my mum made with my cousins yesterday to keep them amused for thanksgiving.  So much sugar.  So much fun. xo.

off to market...

pretty signs make me the happiest.  Some lovely kale is peeking around the corner.

Summer adventures are my favourite.  Last minute decisions.  Impulsive choices.  Doing things simply because you actually have the time to.  This would be one of those days.

After an impromtu delivery of cupcakes to some friends at the farmer's market last week fragments of discussions about selling cupcakes at the market had been swirling around. 

Such thoughts were initially flipped off, after all why in the world would someone want to buy something that that they could bake on their own or that I just usually gave them?

Well, after a week of having these things filtering through the back of my mind I decided to just go for, after all its summer and I love anything that involves pretty, lovely things.  Getting to make delightful signs and make a pretty display?  Yes and yes.  I could have really cared less if I actually sold anything, luckily I got to look at pretty things and make a little bit of a profit!

before they began to melt everywhere in the sun.

the absolute best hot pink cake stand ever.

all my favourite pretty things.  vintage tablecloth.  vintage johnsonware and petalware plates and probably the most floral money box at the market!



more little cupcakes, with mint from the community garden.



little sunlight angels.

just the happiest!

It was a beautiful way to spend a warm summery evening.  Will it happen again?  Likely not, but thats the best part of summer, anything really can happen on a whim.  Thanks Dayna for letting me share your table with your gorgeous vegetables!  xo.

mint chocolate cupcakes and wooden skies.



mint chocolate cupcakes, with my absolutely favourite frosting.

 This week has been a very "little suzy homemaker" week.

Tuesday was spiced apple muffins from smitten kitchen, and as I type this homemade pizza, inspired by one of my lovely Anna magazines is in the oven.  These were Wednesday's adventure.

Although muffins are delicious and a most delightful snack they are not dessert, and will never be dessert.  Dessert has to involve copious amounts of frosting, chocolate and adorable plates and the first two were very much lacking.  I decided to fix this problem by baking my absolute favourite thing: cupcakes.  Perhaps it is the lovely swirls of frosting, the adorable petite size of them or more likely, the large quantities of delicious buttercream, but I absolutely adore them.

I have been waiting for a while to bake these, the peppermint extract that I made is finally ready, and my mint plant is somewhat selfishly taking over its allotted space in my garden.  So obviously this was the first logical thing to do! 

The last time I made these was the past fall, during a somewhat terrible week turned wonderful when The Wooden Sky happened to be playing in the city.  That week became wonderful mostly due to the fact that I adore both cupcakes and The Wooden Sky and the combination is even more fantastic.

Enjoy!

the mint extract! the mint extract! hanging out
with our lovely bunny cookie cutter that just happened to be around.

the dry ingredients.  Martha Stewart would be ashamed I didn't sift the cocoa powder.

add all the wet ingredients and mix until it looks chocolately and delicious.

fill baking cups approximately 2/3 full.  (note that they are way more full, this is a reoccurring issue.)

beautiful and awaiting their lovely frosted tops!

the much used, much loved frosting recipe. 



the lovely garden mint gets folded into the buttercream.

This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart, who I shameless admit was my childhood role model.  I realize other children probably had Barbie, the Spice Girls and/or a variety of superheros but I had Martha.  That probably explains a lot.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes
modified from the much adored martha stewart

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I love the Dutch!)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk (if you happen be like me and enjoy baking on a whim with a very empty kitchen you can make your own buttermilk by adding between 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar to some milk and letting it sit for a minute to thicken!)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup warm water

2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder (sift this first to make extra-smooth batter!), sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add in eggs, one at a time, making sure they are thoroughly incorporated before adding the oil and water.  Add in the peppermint last.  This creates a very liquidy batter, don't be frightened, it will bake into beautiful, moist cupcakes soon!

Taste the batter.  If it isn't minty enough add a bit more extract.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill 2/3 of the way full.  Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.  Let cool while whipping up your gorgeous buttercream!  Makes 15 or so, again I tend to fill the cupcakes a bit higher than directed.

Mint Buttercream

my most favourite frosting recipe.

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 milk

1/4 mint leaves, finely chopped

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Add the butter.  Pour in the milk a bit at a time and beat until fluffy and a bit shiny, about 3-5 minutes in a stand mixer.  Sprinkle in the finely chopped mint and carefully fold in.

Frost cupcakes to your heart's content with an offset spatula!  If you would like to create whimsical swirls of piped icing, I suggest doubling the recipe above, otherwise you will have very small swirls.

delectable looking cupcakes waiting innocently to be devoured.

Arrange on your loveliest little cake stand and eat while nostalgically wishing The Wooden Sky would come back to the city and being very glad that you still have a decent chunk of time until you have to start thinking about school.