Kricket Cakes

I used to live a mile away from an organic strawberry farm. It was part of my normal routine to walk through the fields, overlooking the ocean, to hand pick strawberries. Those were some pretty sweet, strawberry filled days!

Fortunately those organic California strawberries make their way up to Oregon, but with a bigger price tag. I probably won’t be making as many strawberry treats this summer as I once did, but I will still allow myself to indulge in recipes that I can resist! This recipe fell into that category of totally irresistable. I followed a link to My Baking Addiction’s blog and only about 3 seconds passed between looking at the picture and reading the words ‘fresh,’ strawberry,’ and ‘cupcake’ in one sentence before I decided that I HAD to make these. And RIGHT AWAY! So, on my way home from work, I picked up the necessary ingredients and started baking away. Around 10pm I scarfed down a DEEELICIOUS cupcake and then had another…

The texture and flavor of these cupcakes is some of the best I have ever had. The recipe is based on one by Martha Stewart called ‘Sprinkles Cupcakes’ that was modified by My Baking Addiction. I made the following changes based on my personal tastes and My Baking Addiction’s reflections: She mentioned that the cake was a little dry, so I upped the amount of strawberry puree in the cake batter and replaced milk with sour cream. I also decreased the baking time and took them out of the oven when they were ‘just done.’ She mentioned that the frosting was a little on the soft side, so I decreased the amount of strawberry puree added. This however made the strawberry flavor in the frosting somewhat subtle, so I added strawberry puree to the top to pack in more strawberriness. I also put the frosting in the fridge for a bit to help it firm up. 

I honestly can’t think of any way to make these better, but if you do, let me know!  This recipe makes 18 cupcakes. (more…)

I made these cupcakes for my bowling team’s Big Lebowski party. While I don’t think the Dude ate peanut butter chocolate cupcakes in the movie, I definitely think he would abide. And, they go splendidly with a White Russian. As a side note, after eating these cupcakes, our team went on to win our first game the following week- go cupcake power!

No one can tell that these cupcakes are vegan… they are so moist, rich, and chocolately! I am not a big fan of piping forsting letters onto cupcakes and I despise those store bought letters/icings, so I got a little inventive. I pressed upside-down mini chocolate chips into the frosting to spell out our team’s name. Yes, this did take a while, but it was a fun and mind-soothing activity.

This recipe is based on the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes from the book “Vegan Cupakes Take Over the World” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. The recipe makes 12 cupcakes. (more…)

I love the idea of combining two different desserts to make a different tasty creation. For example, combining chocolate sandwich cookies and white cupcakes with chocolate frosting…yum!

I made these for our going away party and they were quickly gobbled up! My friend Karen sent me this photo of her niece and nephew (Lucy and Evan) very seriously enjoying them.

The recipe is based on Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s “Cookies and Cream Cupcakes.” If you haven’t checked out their cookbook, “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World,” I highly recommend you do! This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. I think next time I would put a cookie on top for added flair and cookie flavor! (more…)

Okay, I am well aware that Easter is far away (and so is Spring for that matter). But Melissa brought over these awesome sprinkles that just had to be sprinkled! Once atop the cupcakes, I couldn’t help but think:  Easter eggs! Of course, these cupcakes could be made according to the recipe and decorated differently to more appropriately fit the season… like perhaps orange and black or some leafy color. It sure was nice though to have some Spring cheer after the first rain of the season!

I used a Devil’s Food chocolate cupcake recipe from the Food Network’s website and pizzazzed it up a bit and a simple icing recipe from the Joy of Cooking. This recipe makes one dozen cupcakes. (more…)