The Perfect Chocolate Cupcake

So a while back...wow almost a year ago I made some of the most perfect cupcakes ever.  Perfect chocolate cupcakes.  I have always been fond of Joy the Baker's chocolate cupcake recipe...but sometimes it is a little unreliable.  I've had them cave in more times than they've com out....

So I did some tinkering from another recipe I use quite a bit and came out with perfect, fool proof, soft, delicious chocolate cupcakes.

They're awesome.  Served them at my daughter's 4th birthday party and they were a smashing success....

Here's her cupcakes from last year...

Batty for Blackberry Pie! (And Pie Crust Cookie Bats)

I'm kind of a batty lady...

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ok no I'm not really....just tired...and a little delirious...so this post might be a little strange...

But hey, you'll get a yummy recipe from it so....there's that.

Oooooo..looks creepy and Gothic...like it could be filled with baked black beetles.  Blackberry Beetles...

Baked Blackberry Beetles.....say that 6 times fast...

Ok, it isn't that hard ...never mind.

Anyway!!  It'a a blackberry pie!  A mini blackberry pie!  Make that 2 in this picture....make that 3 to 4 from this recipe that I'm just about to give you...

Double Chocolate Cookies

I like drop cookies...a lot.

I mean don't get me wrong...I love decorating...but there's something in the oh so instant gratification of just dropping dough on the cookie sheet and puting it in the oven.....

And then doin' NOTHING with it.

Ahhhhhh.....the simple life.

Ok so I couldn't leave them COMPLETELY alone....just a few...little eyeballs....

Anyway,  these cookies are AMAZING!  Like a delicious brownie. I kid you not.  The perfect texture, the perfect size, not cakey, not too dense, not too chewy...soft and light.... DELICIOUS.  And so easy to make!!!

Caramel Macchiato Brownies

So I will admit....I'm not a huge coffee drinker.  I'm a little sensitive to caffeine.  That and I can't just drink it black.  I have to have some cream and sugar...THEN I like coffee...

So I STAY AWAY from Starbucks...because they have that SUGAR+coffee thing down....to a science.  

When fall comes around...sucker for those pumpkin spice....everything.  I try to limit myself to a skinny non fat cinnamon latte if I EVER decide I will give in to coffee....in college coffee and I were pretty tight...amigos...campadres...

Anyway....I don't drink coffee...I drink caffeinated sugar milk basically.....and that is why I am not a huge coffee drinker.

Doesn't mean I don't still WANT the sugar cream concoction...I do.  And I would have to say the KING of the over sugared creamy coffee drink would be...

The Caramel Macchiato

those yummy caramels are from Firefly Confections

I wanted one really bad the other day and I had no clue why....  Maybe I was in a caramel mood...but I was also in a dark chocolate coffee mood.  I was at a loss...

So I baked me some brownies...and put coffee in it....and then topped it with thick caramel sauce....and sugar...and chocolate...

Because I'M BAD!

Peach Ice Cream with Ginger Peach Compote

Peach Season is almost over....

Remember my last post on peaches?  How I talked about childhood memories of making peach ice cream?

Think I was going to let peach season pass and NOT make peach ice cream?

Heck, think I was going to let SUMMER pass and not make any ice cream AT ALL??

Those crazy words....

Of course I'm going to make peach ice cream.  It's one of my faves.  I made this batch for my mom last time she was here.  She was really wanting peach ice cream and we had a very fine bunch of peaches...I mean I kinda went peach crazy when she was here.  Peach-tacular.

Cherry Almond Muffins

So a couple weeks ago I need a girls weekend...like BAD.  So I went to see my friend Maryann (The Cookie Artisan) because she only lives like 3 hours away from me....and the drive to her house is like 75MPH the whole way so....sweet-borrowing-my-hubs-fast-car-action.  Anyway, while we were there she, being a perfect hostess of course (would you expect less?), made us blueberry muffins for breakfast.  Ok, so I usually hate blueberry muffins...the blueberries are always gritty and I dunno...but I was hungry.  So I ate one....then two....then stuck a couple into my suitcase...

Basically I was a blueberry muffin converter....

After I got home however and ran through my stash I needed more muffins....and I needed them BAD.  They were just so soft and moist and fluffy...and juicy...and sweet and perfect...and comforting....

Yes I AM talking about muffins still....

Brown Sugar Peach Tart

Did you know it's peach season??

Well it is.  At least that's what my handy desk backdrop tells me and it would never lie to me.

I think.

(BTW: You should totally check out the desk top calendar by Going Home to Roost...it's spiffy to the max.  She does one every month for your computer and your iPhone.  New Love.)

Anyway...my weakness for peaches is deep rooted...in my deep southern heritage.  My grandpa used to go help harvest the peach crops in Georgia during the season.  We always had TONS of peaches around.  I have fond childhood memories of making peach ice cream on the patio...You know, with the old ice cream makers where you needed rock salt.  We would have peach tea, peach cobbler, peach jam.....

Anyway...I love peaches...and I've always had a soft spot for anything baked with peaches...like peach pie.  Or how about fancify it??  A peach tart!

And not just any peach tart....this is one sinfully-delicious-mouthwatering-sweet-and-savory-peach-explosion!

Yes I said it....explosion.  This is going to EXPLODE PEACHES.  

I don't shy away from the dangers of the kitchen...so I went for it..and my alchemy proved to be SO successful I have to share it with you...

Key Lime Cheesecake Ice Cream Sandwiches

So I don't know if any of y'all know this about me, but I'm a native Floridian.  Lived there till I was 8 then became all Texified.  But still southern y'all.....always southern.

Anyway....it's fair to say I've had my share of key lime pie.  I LOVE key lime pie....it's way better than lemon meringue if you ask my taste buds.  Which no one really does....and my taste buds get hurt about that....taste buds have feelings too ya know.

So to make an effort to appease my taste buds, who get a little blue in the summer when they realize they aren't in Florida, we usually make a key lime pie out of an old cookbook our family has.  For some reason this year I couldn't place said cookbook.  Le Disaster.  So I didn't know what to do...taste buds were starting to complain and get all whiny.....nothing worse than whiny taste buds ya know.....we all know....

So I had to wing it....and experiment....and I finally came up with these!!

Key Lime Cheesecake Ice Cream Sandwiches!!

Seriously, these have everything that I was missing about our favorite lost key lime recipe.  Except now it's cool, refreshing and portable!  A real tropical frozen treat.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

I've oddly had a tone of requests for my sugar cookie recipe.  Which I think is interesting because a sugar cookie is a sugar cookie right?  But I still get requests.

Now I really like my recipe.  It isn't too sweet, in fact it's rather buttery which I love.  And has a soft texture. Not a super soft cookie but not a crisp cookie.  So if you like 'em crisp you wont like mine.

I warn you, it isn't ground breaking...I mean there's only so many ways to make sugar cut outs.  And it isn't diet friendly.  But it is delicious.

So here it is....

My sugar cookie recipe.

Wildberry Pie

Ok, I love pie.  I mean LOVE pie.  Almost as much as I love my husband....

However, I have never been a huge berry pie fan.  Maybe because most berry pie you get out there is made with the canned filling....or a flat, stale crust.... I dunno.  But I've never been a berry pie fan...

Until now

This pie is SO good!  It's a little tart and a little sweet.  Basically, perfect with ice cream.

Recipe: Easy Brownie Triangles with Mint "Buttercream"

So after the events last Friday, I didn't feel much like working over the weekend.

It's Christmas, a time for love and family and peace, and the thought of working through another weekend with my daughter was a little depressing.  So I didn't.  I had fun with her instead.

Every time I make cookies she asks me if she can be my little helper.  It's heartbreakingly sweet...that little face with those doe eyes looking up at me.... tho I know her real motivation is just to get her hands on a cookie and icing...to eat it.  Still...

So this weekend I made a project that she and I could do together.  Even got the hubs to join in.

So yeah, it's a family activity.  Something you can easily do with your kids this holiday.  And it's fun too!

No, these wont be OMG amazing or expertly done or perfect by any means....just clean wholesome down and dirty baking fun.

Faux Gingerbread: Brown Sugar Spice Roll Out Cookies

Recipe time!!

Let's start with a story.  Love stories right?  I'll just pretend you said "yes, love them, please tell me a tale...."

My dad hates molasses.  I mean can't stand it.  The look or smell of it....just not his thing.  And it's not that Dad is picky.  He eats just about everything.  He used to cook for a living before I was born.

See, when Dad was a kid he went to go work at the feed mill with my grandpa.  Well, one of the byproducts of the mill was molasses.  Or something like it anyway.  It was my dad's job to climb down in the tank whenever there was a back up and unclog it.  So he had to go down armpit deep into the pit to fix it.  Guess what kind of things like molasses?  Maggots.  Maggots love it.  And beetles.  Getting a visual here?

Really, I don't blame him.  Not one bit.

Appetite aroused?  Awesome.

Anyway, my family came up for my daughter's 4th birthday party and I was working on Callye's 12 days of Chirstmas project.  I was making a "gingerbread box".  But for some reason I didn't have molasses in the house.  Must be habit.  And good thing too because I don't know that dad would appreciate the molasses-eee goodness a bakin'.  SO I improvised with what I had in the house to make a gingerbread-like cookie that is molasses free....  And it turned out AWESOME!

So awesome in fact, that I just had to share it.  If your team NO MOLASSES then these cookies are PERFECT!

WFD? Buttermint Marshmallows

I think I get excited for cold weather.  Which is weird for me because I don't like to be cold.... but I know that when the weather gets cold, I get to wear comfy boots, long sleeves, scarves.  I get to stay inside and do indoor crafts and games with my kiddo.  I get to light fires in the fireplace  decorate my house drink hot cocoa.

I think it's mostly about the cocoa if I'm going to be honest.

Anyway, I like to make my own marshmallows because they do this amazing melty thing on the top of your cup.  You literally get a creamy bit of mallow in every sip.  It's heaven.

Well, I like my peppermint cocoa...and since we have moved to a small town I haven't been able to find my peppermint cocoa.  I know, I know...there's Amazon.  I could order it...but that requires planning ahead...yuk.  I have a hot cocoa compulsion and I can't wait for 2 day shipping even if it's free.

So this year when I made my marshmallows....I made Buttermint Marshmallows

WFD? Hot Cocoa Roll Out Cookies

So earlier this week, I posted some hot cocoa cookies inspired by a Christmas card.  It was all part of Haniela's post link up, which was super fun.

Anyway, I mentioned that they were hot cocoa flavored and I got a decent response for the recipe.

So here it is!:

Pumpkin Macarons: Recipe and Linky Party!

I enjoy trying new things.  Really...even when they turn out pretty crappy.

I also enjoy pumpkin.  A lot.

So when I get the opportunity to combine the two I do.  And since it's so close to Thanksgiving the opportunity to experiment with pumpkin has been frequent.

I've been playing with macarons lately.  And while I certainly have a LONG way to go....I think most of what I need is practice.  Technique practice.  So while these macarons might be less than perfect, they sure are tasty.

WFD?: Almost Grandpa's Apple Cake

My whole family is from Georgia.  But when I was 8 we moved to Texas and my grandma left her home in Albany and followed us.  So basically I'm a Texan.

So when I was little, my grandpa used to come visit us in Texas for the holidays.  He would leave Georgia right after pecan harvest season.  And when he would visit he would bring pecans, peanuts and all these fresh ingredients from the farms.  I have a lot of fond memories of him.  We would do jigsaw puzzles together in the afternoon.  He had an infectious laugh.  Sun tea and pumpkin pie were some of his his favorites.  He made the best Mayhaw jelly....

Anyway, every season when he would visit, there was always apple cake.  It was my favorite.  I snacked on it every second I could.  And since he passed over 10 years ago, there has been no apple cake.  I miss the apple cake.  Every year around the change of the seasons, I start to think of him.  Grandpa and apple cake.

On Grandma's milk glass....so appropriate :)

WFD?: Decadent Double Chocolate Cake

Seriously, this is the best chocolate cake in the history of the world.  I'm not even making that up.  Would I fib to you??  

No, I wouldn't.  Mamma didn't raise that kind of girl.

It's perfect for a chocolate craving, a family function, just because.... pregnancy induced hormonal meltdowns.....

WFD?: Spiced Pumpkin "Muffin Cakes" with Cream Cheese Butter Cream and Salted Caramel

Yes, it's a "muffin cake".

"Muffin cake": A term made up by me, just now, that describes a cupcake that is mixed like a muffin.  Which would technically make it more of a muffin, but it's very cake like in texture....and there's frosting so ya know...

Makes sense to me.

Lot's of parts to this "muffin cake", which should prove to be a rather long recipe packed post.  :)
So let's get right to it shall we??
Yes...yes we shall....
Ok then...

WFD? Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Hooked on the ice cream maker.  :)

That, and the local store was having a fabulous deal on strawberries....

I wanted to make a strawberry rhubarb ice cream that I saw on cooking light but when i went back to the other store they didnt have rhubarb.  You see that's what I have to do around here.  I have to hit 2 different grocery stores to get most of my shopping done....because one has better looking produce and the other one has all the usual food staples.

Anyway, I didn't want to make straight up strawberry.  It's Sophie's favorite but straight strawberry sounded so boring.  And I was feeling....AMBITIOUS (I know, that like almost never happens)

WFD? Peppermint Patty Ice Cream

 So my MIL bought my hubs and I an ice cream maker forever ago. They have one and they love it.  Well needless to say it's me right?  So it's been sitting in a box for months....

Well the weather is getting warmer, and ice cream is beginning to sound good.  And I'm still waiting on my favorite frozen custard place to come out with their wedding cake concrete.

Not until June, just in case you're wondering.  (I know you were)

So I figured I would break out the ice cream maker and make something...