Bake It Pretty...aka HEAVEN

Amidst final exams, I've come to realize that taking breaks is practically as essential to achieving good grades as the actual time devoted to studying. At least that is how I'm rationalizing my time spent away from the books. Here is one of the many treasures I've found while avoiding tax laws and the principles of auditing. Yipee!

Ok...WHOA. Must purchase this ASAP, we're clearly meant to be together!

Dragons/Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Long time so nee. I've been on hiatus for no real good reason. Finals & spring break, I guess. Anyways, dry your eyes mate, I've returned in full effect.

Richard D. Jaley's 22nd birthday was a few weeks ago, so in his honor I made the dreaded carrot cake cupcakes. I've always hated carrot cake. The stigma attached is the result of a minor vom incident on St. Patrick's Day about a decade ago involving far too much cabbage and carrot cake. I will not continue. However, these little babies changed my thoughts COMPLETELY.

I used the recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World with a few minor changes. A little extra cinnamon here, fresh grated nutmeg there. For the cream cheese frosting (made with Tofutti) I added 1 t of almond extract in addish to the 1/2 t of vanilla extract and a few dashes of cinnamon, it made a huge difference. These are decorated with slivers of carrots. I Dooo suggest these as they blew my mind and changed my c-cake hating ways. Full of spice and flavor <3

Lemony-Bloob Cuppycakes

"Give me natural flavorings or give me death"

Blueberries are whats up. When raw, they are a fancy snack, but the minute you heat them up.. MAGIC! They turn into a deliciously tart and fantastically dark purpley magenta-y sauce that is awesome for adding an edgy punch to many desserts. I'm not a huge fan of food coloring because of its occasionally carcinogenic properties, so blueberry sauce is a great sub for pink.

To make these lovlies, i started with the basic lemon cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Takeover the World and altered the vegan fluffy buttercream from the same book. The only change that I made to the cupcakes was using the juice of half a lemon rather than the lemon exracts because that shtuff is way $$$.

Pseudo-Jam:

scant 1/2 c fresh blueberries
1/4 c natural sugar
1 t lemon juice
1 T cornstarch

Heat the first 3 ingredients up in a small saucepan over medium high heat until they begin to boil while smooshing the berries the the side of a spoon against the side of the pan. Lower the heat and stir for a few minutes while added the cornstarch. This addition might violate some sauce rules, but whatevs. If it is super runny, just add a little more starch--it should be comparable to a homemade jelly.

Once this has cooled down completely, you can add it to your buttercream! It's best to do after everything else has been mixed otherwise it will probably get all curdly and separated and NOT pretty. Pipe on as you please and enjoy the perfect combo of lemon and blueberry in heavenly cupcake form.