Merry Christmas Eve!

Can you believe it’s already here, because I’m having a tough time wrapping my brain around 2012 coming to an end.  You know what they say, time flies when you’re having fun…so I must have been having A LOT of fun this year!

Christmas Eve is the anniversary of my parents’ engagement.  My dad proposed at a Mexican restaurant long ago, and as far back as I can remember, they have either gone out for Mexican food or we have made lots of yummy Mexican food at home to share every year.  Without fail, everyone is scurrying to finish shopping and wrapping last minute gifts, and then things wind down around midnight when we all gather to hear ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, followed by the Grinch who Stole Christmas – the original, cartoon version of course!  I love these little things that are all our own.  I can count on so much every year with my family it makes the holidays feel extra special.

Mrs. Kostyra’s Spice Cupcakes (From Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes)

These spice cupcakes are not traditional for me, nor are they something I had attempted to bake before this first time, but I’m working my way through Martha’s book and these seemed festive enough for this time of year.  The original frosting suggested for this recipe is an orange glaze, but I had high hopes for a molasses frosting I had floating around in my head.  Seems like everything worked out, and these little guys baked up perfectly sky high due to all the leavening!  Try them out.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

* 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

* 4 large eggs

* 1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature

* 4 cups cake flour, sifted (I used regular, all purpose flour)

* 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 2 tsps ground cinnamon

* 1 tsp ground allspice

* 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

* 1/2 tsp ground mace (I used plain old ground black pepper)

* Pinch of ground cloves

* 18-24 pecan halves, depending on how many cupcakes you end up with, for topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease and flour or line a standard muffin tin with cupcake papers.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter,  and brown sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing between additions until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. (Martha’s recipe says to do this 3 times, but I just sifted everything once!)  Reduce mixer speed to low and alternate additions of the flour mixture and the milk until batter comes together.

Divide batter evenly amongst cupcake wells, filling 3/4 full, or slightly more.  (The recipe states that it makes 24 cupcakes, but I fill my tins pretty full and only got about 18).  Bake 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven, just until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Allow cupcakes to cool about 10 minutes in the pan before removing and allowing to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Molasses Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter

* 3 cups powdered sugar

* 1-2 Tbsps molasses

* 1-2 Tbsps milk

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter.  Add a cup of powdered sugar and mix until crumbly.  Add 1 Tbsp molasses, and mix again until combined.  Add in remaining 2 cups powdered sugar.  Add in the additional Tbsp molasses to taste, or if you like a lighter flavor, add 1 Tbsp milk instead.  Whip until smooth.  If too thick, add in the other Tbsp milk.  If too thin, add in a bit more powdered sugar.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

I’m always curious as to what everyone else’s Christmas and holiday traditions are…whatever you have planned, I hope you’re surrounded by family & friends, love, lots of smiles, and lots of sweet treats!

…And don’t forget to leave some out for good ol’ St. Nick & the reindeer!

I’m not sure whether or not it makes me feel better, but I certainly wasn’t the only Christmas shopping procrastinator bustling around out in the world today!  Without fail, I end up being way too busy to shop early, and I end up with a full list of family members to shop for in minimal time.  Luckily, I expected the challenge, this being the last weekend before Christmas,  so I bundled up in a warm coat, loaded my ipod with holiday favorites, and ventured out with the attitude that I’d make do with whatever happened!  Rain was pouring down, the stores were hopping, and I actually made some really great progress despite the never ending lines.  I owe it all to adrenaline and caffeine!

Martha Stewart’s Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

Baking this time of year is especially magical since there are so many awesome, festive flavor combos!  These chocolate mint cupcakes are no exception.  I followed Martha Stewart’s cupcake recipe pretty closely (the frosting is a different story altogether), except that I subbed in milk + vinegar for the buttermilk since I didn’t have any on hand, and left out the peppermint extract completely.  I really wanted the chocolate flavor to shine so I could save the peppermint for the frosting.  At first, the batter seemed WAY too runny…as in, I felt like I was pouring chocolate milk into the cupcake tins, but everything worked out and they baked up beautifully!  A yummy addition to any Christmas dessert tray

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

* 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder)

* 1 1/2 cups sugar

* 1 1/2 tsps baking soda

* 3/4 tsp baking powder

* 3/4 tsp salt

* 2 large eggs

* 3/4 cup buttermilk (I used 3/4 cup milk + 1 Tbsp white vinegar)

* 3/4 cup warm water

* 3 Tbsps vegetable oil

* 1 tsp pure peppermint extract (I left this out!)

* 1 candy cane, or several mini candy canes, crushed for topping (optional) But these make them super cute!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* F.  Line a 12-cupcake tin with cupcake papers.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the oil and sugar, and mix until combined.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing between additions until smooth.  Add buttermilk, extract (if adding to make peppermint chocolate cupcakes), buttermilk (or milk + vinegar), and water.  Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Slowly add dry mixture to the wet mixture, beating on low in between additions.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups.  The recipe says to fill only 2/3 fully, but I filled them a touch fuller than that since I like tall cupcakes.  (If you end up with extra batter, bake as a second batch after the first is done.  I think this recipe would have made a few more than 12 cupcakes except that I fill the cups really full.)

Bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the tin before removing cupcakes and allowing them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Frost once completely cool and top with a sprinkle of crushed candy cane.

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

The frosting suggested in the book for these cupcakes was mint buttercream, but instead of using Martha’s version, I topped my little cakes with a frosting of my own creation.  This peppermint buttercream is a spin off of my classic go-to buttercream recipe.  Peppermint extract adds a kick!  No chocolate leaves here, my cupcakes are adorned with pretty candy cane crumbles!

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

* 3 cups powdered sugar

* 1-2 Tbsp milk, or milk alternative

* 3 drops-1/4 tsp peppermint extract, to taste

Directions:

Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and mix until crumbly.  Add in 3 drops peppermint extract and 1 Tbsp milk.  Mix again until combined.  Add remaining 2 cups powdered sugar.  Assess consistency, and add more peppermint if desired.  If too thick, add remaining 1 Tbsp milk.  If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.  Whip for a minute, or until well combined, and smooth with no lumps remaining.  Refrigerate if not using immediately.

I’ve also made Martha Stewart’s Lemon Cupcakes from the same book with great success!  Check them out here.

Of course I can’t wind down this post without including my favorite outfits from the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show this year!  All Access Here.  I love, love, love the lacey number Candice Swanepoel floated down the glittery runway in during the “Angels in Bloom” section of the show – pretty, sweet, and accompanied by a set of flowery wings!

Lindsay Ellingson paraded down the runway in a black-hot cut-out corset type top during “Silver Screen Angels,” but my favorite part of the whole ensemble is the giant, feathery wings!  You can’t be an angel without wings

I wish you all happy, magical holidays!

xoxo

Happy Holidays!

Right now I’m looking forward to nothing more than tuning in to watch the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!  I am not ashamed to admit I look forward to it every single year.  You also better believe I’m the girl who dreams about walking down that runway.  With those gorgeous angel wings.  And of course abs of steel!  One day, one day   Expect a full recap from me after the show!

Ok, ok, off the fantasy for now, and on to my day.  It was a busy one, and I’m glad to be home.  I work as an NMD Assistant at a small clinic for the two most amazing Doctors anyone could ever hope to meet.  They just got back from a vacation/honeymoon in Hawaii after tying the knot there over Thanksgiving.  Congrats to them both!  I have no idea how that transitions in to talking about cupcakes, but I feel like cupcakes really need no segue anyway…they pretty much fit in with anything and everything.

These eggnog cupcakes with eggnog buttercream were a HUGE hit around here, and by that I mean, comments like “Those are my favorite so far.  Of anything you’ve made… recently” were made. (He knows who he is, so I don’t feel the need to name names!)  Nevermind the fact that I have no idea what the timescale was on “recently,” and how it could just as easily have meant within the last 2 days as within the last 2 years.  Details.    What I’m trying to say is this:  Either I haven’t made anything good lately, or these really are awesome.  At the risk of opening myself up to comments from certain people, I think I can honestly say it’s the latter.  Or at least hope.  Actually, you should make them and then let me know, just to be sure!

Eggnog Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 egg

1 1/8 cups eggnog

1/4 cup canola oil

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350*F and line a 12 well cupcake pan with paper liners.

Add canola oil, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until combined.  Add in the eggnog, egg, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar, and mix again until well combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.

Add dry flour mixture to the wet mixture, turning mixer on low between additions.  Mix until batter forms.

Add 1/4 cup-fulls of batter to each well of the pan.  Bake about 20 minutes, rotating the pan in the oven half-way through.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing cupcakes and setting on a cooling rack.  Do not frost until completely cool!

Eggnog Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick margarine

3 Tbsp eggnog

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Cream the margarine in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add in 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until crumbles form.  Add in salt and eggnog, and mix again.  Add in remaining 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, and then the vanilla extract.  Whip on high until smooth.  If buttercream seems too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar – if the opposite is true, add a little more eggnog.  Add in the nutmeg and whip again.  Store in refrigerator until ready to use!

As my time spent in Los Angles this summer is coming to an end, I can’t help but get a little teary-eyed, thinking about all of the amazing things I’ve done and seen, and the unforgettable people in my life I’ve had the privilege of reconnecting with and spending time with.  Time has literally flown by, and it feels like just yesterday I over-packed my AC-deprived car and headed southbound in 110 degree heat to the town I left my heart in many years ago.  I remember the promise of freedom, relief, excitement, and a summer to be remembered filling the air, and my wide, happy eyes.  It’s not often I get to up and take off, though my spirit often wants to – I call it wanderlust, and the yearning for a new beginning, new experiences, sights, sounds, etc. rather than being restless and discontent.  Restless, I can be, but I’m often content, so that’s not what I would call it.  And now, here I am wrapping things up, both physically and emotionally; now experiencing that discontent thing a little as I wish for a few more weeks, at the very least.  Instead, I have just a few more days.

Going through my last two months here, I’ve been filtering, revisiting, and questioning, but am happy to have come out realizing I wouldn’t have done anything differently, nor would I trade my time here for anything in the world!  I’m so pleased to say I can go back home with no regrets, knowing that I’ve had the best of intentions and kept my heart big and open,  I’ve learned a lot about myself, and certainly re-confirmed what I already knew about the beach before in that somehow it heals me, soothes me, and always keeps me coming back! The other night, I planned to make a trip to the gym, and instead drove right on by, heading for the ocean instead.  I spent a blissful evening walking in the sand, breathing in the sea breeze, and meandering around the pier in Santa Monica, which is basically a carnival on the water that is brilliantly lit up at dusk.  It’s not the first time I’ve found myself at the beach instead of somewhere else while I’ve been here, that’s for sure, be it Santa Monica, Venice, Laguna, Newport, San Diego….the ocean just does that to me

No matter where I’ve been, or what I’ve been doing, the common thread in my lovely time here, as I mentioned before, has been the people.  I have some amazing friends that I don’t get to see anywhere near as often as I’d like, and though with some of them it had been months or years, I know they are true friends because everything seems to come right back.  I’ve spent time with friends from high school ( Hi, AP and Brett!), from my days at UC Davis (Love you, Steph!), from years and years back in my Newport Beach days (ahem, TK), and so many more I hope to see and keep in touch with much more often.  I even decided since I’ve been here that I’d love to start writing  hand-written notes or postcards to the people more special in my life so that we can check in with each other and say hi in a much cooler way than with email and Facebook!  The internet is an amazing thing (obviously! haha), but sometimes the most precious and thoughtful means of showing you’re thinking of someone are often lost to quick text messages.  I’ll be getting in touch for your addresses – you know who you are!

I’ve had the summer of my life, in the most cheese-ball sounding, but completely serious way possible!  So many thanks, I love you guys!

I’m positive I’ll be writing more about my time and experiences in LA some more soon, but for now, let’s get into a recipe I tried for the first time while here: gluten free vegan carrot cake…and of course, vegan cream cheese frosting!  It was super awesome, if I do say so myself

Gluten Free Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe

It’s not often I really really enjoy a gluten free AND vegan cake or bread recipe, since I have yet to fully perfect that art form, but this cake was really delicious.  The flavor was spot-on, from what I remember a good carrot cake to be – a yummy spice-cake with lots of carrot, and the pineapple was a new addition to me, but I think it worked in the crushed form.  It’s pretty dense, and much like a quick bread.  Loved it

Ingredients:

* 1 cup gluten free flour mix (I used Bob’s Redmill)

* 1/2 coconut flour

* 1/2 cup oat flour (make sure it’s made with gluten free oats)

* 1 Tbsp cornstarch

* 2 tsp baking soda

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 2 tsp cinnamon

* 1 tsp nutmeg

* dash of ginger

* 1 tsp salt

* 1 tsp xanthan gum

* 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar

* 1/2 cup canola oil

* 1/2 cup applesauce

* 3 flax eggs (3 Tbsp ground flax + 9 Tbsp water)

* 1 tsp vanilla extract

* 1 8 oz can crushed, drained pineapple

* 2 cups finely grated carrots

* 1 cup roughly chopped pecans (or walnuts, if you prefer)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* F, and grease or line 2 small cake pans (about the size of the top of a 3-tiered caked – roughly 6″ across).  Sift together the flours, xanthan gum, salt, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and cornstarch in a bowl.  Set aside.

Mix together the ground flax and water, and set aside for about 10 minutes, until thickened (this makes your flax eggs).  Finely grate about 3 medium carrots to yield 2 cups.  This will probably take forever…or maybe that was just me? ;p

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the canola oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla extract.  Once the flax eggs have thickened, add them to the mix and beat together until smooth.  Mix in the grated carrots and crushed pineapple.

Slowly add the dry mixture into the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl, mixing between additions.  Once everything comes together, stir in the chopped pecans by hand.  Pour batter (it will be thick) into the 2 prepared cake pans, place in oven and bake about 45 min – 1 hour depending on your oven.  Once a toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done, but be sure to check around the 40 min mark to make sure you’re not overbaking.  Turn out onto cooling racks.  Don’t make the mistake of frosting the cake before it’s completely cool, like I might have done…Ooops!

Note: Even throwing it in the freezer for as long as you can stand to wait for it to cool before wanting to frost and eat won’t exactly yield ideal results…I’m talking frosting melting and running off the cake like a mudslide, haha!  Live and learn!

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

* 2  8 oz tubs vegan cream cheese (I used Trader Joe’s brand)

* 1/2 cup Earth Balance non-dairy spread

* 3 cups powdered sugar

* 1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Beat Earth Balance and cream cheese together until smooth in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add in the vanilla.  Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well between additions.  If the frosting still seems a little thin, add a little more powdered sugar.  Add in lemon juice, to taste, just for that little tang you get from real cream cheese!  Refrigerate so that it firms up before using.

I’m not ashamed to admit I ate this frosting by the spoonful…no cake needed often times!

Gobbled. Up!

 Time to live it up my last few days before school, work, and reality take over again…;)

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I’m not one of those people who are heavily into the semantics of muffins vs. cupcakes and the like.  I mean, I’ve heard some swear you can’t have a muffin with a cupcake paper, and others that you can’t have a cupcake without.  Sure, cupcakes are well, to state the very overly obvious, CAKE…clearly not to be eaten for breakfast…right?

But then what about the chocolatey, cakey-sweet, sugar crumb topping-smattered “cupcakes” parading around under the guise of the muffin moniker?  I know better.  We ALL know better.  So can we please just call the portable, little cupcake/muffins whatever we dang well want once we pop them out of those cupcake/muffin tins, wrappered, frosted, dessert or breakfast bound?  I’m sure there are other specifics involved, like texture, crackly vs. smooth top, etc., but when it comes down to it, I’ll call it a cupcake if I plan to frost it.  I’ll call it a muffin if I plan to eat it for breakfast, especially if it has “mocha” in its description – that’s definitely breakfast.  Maybe I’d skip the frosting in that case, and then call it a cupcake when I pile on the lightly banana-y buttercream frosting.

Life is so much more versatile when you let a muffin be a cupcake every now and then or bake a cupcake without the paper, right!

Mocha Banana Bread Cupcake Recipe

More chocolatey than coffee flavored, these little gems are more muffin-like in the way the tops puff and crack slightly, but more cupcake-esque in texture.  I highly recommend frosting, but you absolutely don’t HAVE to.  But you should!

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup non-dairy margarine

1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium-sized)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp instant coffee granules

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease or line wells of a standard size muffin tin.

Cream together the margarine and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.   Add in the vanilla extract and the eggs, beating between additions.  Beat in the bananas until mixed well.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.  Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing between additions.  Add in the coffee granules and mix until incorporated.

Scoop batter into muffin tins until almost full.  Bake about 15-18 minutes depending on your oven, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool before frosting.  While cooling, make the frosting.

Hint-of-Banana Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

2 sticks non-dairy margarine (1 cup)

1 yellow banana, pureed

5 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixture until smooth and fluffy.

Add in the pureed banana and vanilla and beat again until smooth.  Add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach desired thickness.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

I’m not trying to steal any mocha banana bread cupcake thunder here, but keep an eye out for what might very well be the most amazing carrot cake recipe ever.  It’s also vegan.  And gluten free.  No biggie.  It’s coming up soon!

Enjoy your weekend!  I have some Santa Monica beach time to look forward to! <3