candy cane cupcakes

sweet chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream and a sprinkling of candy canes.

gingerbread cupcakes

spicy gingerbread cupcakes with sweet cardamom buttercream.

mint chocolate cookies

chocolate cookies with an andes mint inside. 

cranberry orange scones (vegan)

local cranberries in december! so sweet. so tart. so perfect for a batch of comforting scones for d.

jello shot cupcakes

c. is turning 31 and 21 simultaneously. why else would anyone ask for jello shot cupcakes for his birthday?  in addition to saturating each tiny cake with a decent amount of vodka jello, we added vodka to the frosting.
i post this only to, once again, praise prairie vodka.

german chocolate cupcakes

secrets and ingredients

“Benson, Minnesota, may be a small, Midwestern farming community, but connoisseurs will soon recognize it for crafting what may be one the world’s most naturally exquisite spirits– a vodka whose luxury is derived from its simplicity.”

secrets.  i love benson, mn. some of my favorite people in the world come from this awkward little town.  and now so does my favorite vodka. 

which turns out to be a secret ingredient in the best ever pie crust.

and a not so secret ingredient in the upcoming jello shot cupcakes...

cheers, benson. 

cherry pies

pumpkin cupcakes

from my mom's pumpkin bar recipe. a patch of pumpkin cupcakes.

there are some mornings.
when the only thing to do is sip coffee.
preferably from your great grandmother's holiday cup. and saucer.

and then put up your christmas tree a month early.

because we all want.need to believe.
that magic is real.
that good does exist.
that everything
will be alright.

carrot cupcakes

three ways: vegan, gluten free, and packed with animal and wheat.

lemon thyme scones

first snow

'i am younger each year at the first snow.
when i see it, suddenly, in the air,
all little and white and moving;
then i am in love again
and very young
and i believe everything.'

anne sexton

song for november

'i spent the day forgetting
the dream
that woke me up.'

chris pureka

angel food cupcakes

a. is far from angelic. so it was a surprise when he asked for angel food cake with strawberries for his birthday. wanting a bite size version, i filled each cupcake with strawberries and topped with a cream cheese.whipped cream frosting.

salted caramel ganache cupcakes

spooktacular tiny cupcakes with salted caramel ganache hidden in the middle. happy birthday e!

pumpkin cookies

home to celebrate mum's birthday. spend time with the family. close up the lodge for the winter. and capture a few last images of autumn.

autumn mix

been working on a mix for fall since sometime in september. soon. or at least before the first snow falls. i will have it ready to send out. in the meantime, be patient friends. and enjoy the first track. gregory alan isakov (the latest on my list of favorite guitar playing folk singing boys) performing 'all there is'.

brownies

m. asked for brownies for his birthday. he got cream cheese swirls. triple chocolate. walnut with a caramel drizzle. and vegan brownies with raspberries.

apple turnovers. three ways.

apple with cherry. apple pear. and old fashioned apple pie.

caramel apples

two bits of advice on making caramel apples.  just because home depot leaves saws sitting out doesn't mean that you should help yourself to cutting your apple sticks.  and a candy thermometer may the best tool for testing the temperature of your caramel.

applicious

leaves are falling. temperatures dropping. and the apple crates are piling up at the market. while i have easily eaten twenty different types of apples in the past weeks, i still have around 7,500 other varieties to try.  these are local haralsons.  crisp. tart. but sweet enough to stand alone in baked goods.

tiny apple pies

the flakiest sour cream crusts filled with apples and topped a cinnamon crumble and caramel drizzle.

chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling

my dear friend d. is confident. charming. and all attitude. her birthday cake was four layers of chocolate cake separated by chocolate buttercream, raspberry mousse, and fresh raspberries. all wrapped in a thin chocolate band. you'll have to imagine the splendor. and settle for the accompanying cupcakes.

goat cheese fig tarts

i love fresh figs. beautiful. sweet. and the most amazing texture. the perfect pairing for these cheesecake like tarts made with sharp goat cheese and then drizzled with a balsamic honey reduction.

mint chocolate cupcakes

chocolate cupcakes filled with mint ganache and topped with minty buttercream.

baby cakes

leftover cake bits from a birthday project (see the recipe page) turned into tiny cakes for s. her adorable son attacked his portion with style. carefully removed and savored each raspberry and then stabbed the remaining cake with his fork and devoured from there.

macaroon acorns

or how small is too small?  a first attempt at macaroons.

twice in my life i've planted my own full garden. and both times i've moved before harvest.  rather tragic, really.
i visited my old house the other day. where my sad, under watered, under loved garden wilted in the summer rays.  basil, tomatoes, peas, eggplants. all dead or dying.  but my underground crops of beets and carrots were salvageable. so i pulled the baby beets and brought them home to pickle.

one day i won't wander.  and oh! what a harvest i'll have!

vanilla cupcakes

a. asked for vanilla cupcakes for his birthday. with vanilla frosting.  beautiful yet boring. so i hid a salted caramel filling in the vanilla bean cakes and topped them with a sweet buttercream.

the mixed tape

yesterday i returned to find a parcel from ireland at my door. my first mail at my new home (i also love mail but will save that for a later posting). in it there was the most brilliant mix! it opens with the lou reed classic 'walk on the wild side' and proceeds with a blend ranging from dusty springfield to the eels, stereophonics to buddy holly. the treasure amongst all the tracks is a version of steve earle's 'galway girl' done by mundy in irish.  while i figure out how to post the mp3, have a listen here.

my older brother made me my first mixed tape. while i cannot remember exactly what was on it, it was certainly an odd collection of punk, metal, and covers. just last year, he plunged into the modern day and made his first mixed cd. it was perfect blend of his current favorites sprinkled with the rancid and lita ford of our past.

my younger brother was born a master of the mixed cd. when i lived abroad, he sent me a mix each month. introducing me to new sounds by cleverly folding them in with the familiar.

i love mixed tapes. (now playlists and cds) love making them. love receiving them.
it's an art really. creating a musical sampler.
both random and thoughtful.
flowing perfectly from track to track.

thank you dgmc. and everyone else who has ever made me a mix!

peaches

at home. canning peaches with mom.

vanilla cupcakes with lemon curd and blueberry buttercream

on a quest for the ultimate summer cupcake.

mocha cupcakes

i don't mean to make so many cupcakes.
it just works out that way.
they're lovely and bite size and make people happy.
who can argue with that?

oreos

sweet petit chocolate cupcakes.
oreo buttercream.
mini oreo toppers. en masse.

red velvet

d. is beautiful. bold. and classic fun.
could there be a more fitting birthday treat?

blueberry rhubarb crisps

really the only proper thing to do with fresh blueberries is eat them. as is.
but as i was falling behind i decided to launch into blueberry baking season early.

blueberries

my dear mother. the most blueberry crazed woman i know. waits patiently each year for blueberry season.  and then heads out into the northern woods and picks until her buckets are filled and her heart is content.

she recently sent a pail filled for me.  complete with branches. in case i didn't make it out to pick my own.

sacher torte

silly little melted torte.  the heat and humidity of july have been messing with me.  and my baking. 

the pre meltdown photos are missing.  but will surface eventually. perhaps after this heat passes...in september?

happy birthday g! 

fourth of july

baking for the fourth of july celebration included hundreds of frosted cutouts and dozens of mini cupcakes.  b loved the chocolate cupcakes!

white chocolate cheese cake

strawberry scones

strawberry season

m. and i made our way north to the berry farm this weekend!

puffs and stuff

after having successfully baked myself out of my apartment (this week's been a scorcher. don't know why i thought using the oven was such a grand idea.) i've resigned to sipping cool beverages and updating. outside.
but prior to this, was listening to the one, the only, nina simone.
and making some 'whatever needs to be used in the fridge' creations.

mille feuille

rhubarb cupcakes

i had been wanting to create something rhubarb that was easy to manage.  that didn't involve gooey insides.  and this is what i came up with. thus far.  a rhubarb cupcake with a rhubarb buttercream. 

lemon 'cheese' cake (vegan)

a lemony cheese like cake brushed with a blackberry glaze and topped with fresh berries.