Chocolate Cupcakes with a Blueberry Compote Filling and Nutella Buttercream Frosting

Why yes I do understand that is a very long title…but did you read it?! How was I supposed to entice you to read this post if I didn’t include every component of the cupcakes in the title?

I made these as a birthday present to my roomie Anderson. Her having a birthday was the perfect excuse to stop being lazy and get back in the kitchen. I have been on break since before christmas and except for some ginger molasses cookies I have made nothing! Shame on me, I know… But here I am, finally, making something worth posting and actually posting it! Break has been amazing though. I had a brief stay up in Vermont where I got to see all of my wonderful friends and say hello to my true home. Then I went to Santa Cruz, my other home. I got to catch up with people I haven’t seen since I was maybe 11 and spending new years eve with them. Then I returned to Mount Vernon which has been fine because we got a new family member!!!!!

His name is ollie and I love him so much. He is a 7 year old rescue and the biggest puddle of love I could have dreamed of.  So I guess what I’m trying to say is forgive me for not posting more?

 

Ok lets get to the goods….

Ingredients
Cupcake:

• 6 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• ¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1¼ cups hot coffee
• 1½ cups flour
• 1¾ cups sugar
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Blueberry Compote:

• 1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries
• 3 Tablespoons apple juice
• 1 Tablespoon sugar (add more to taste)

Nutella Buttercream frosting:

• 1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter (room temp.)
• 13 oz of Nutella
• ¾-1 cup powdered sugar (to taste)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 Muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Combine the milk chocolate and cocoa powder in a large bowl.
3. Pour the hot coffee over the chocolate and cocas powder. Stir to combine and melt the chocolate, until smooth.
4. In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
5. Whisk the eggs, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla into the chocolate mixture.
6. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine, being sure to not over mix.
7. In a sauce pan add the 1 1/2 pints blueberries, apple juice and sugar and cook over medium heat. Stir until the blueberries are shrivelled and the sauce has thickened a bit.
8. Spoon the chocolate batter into cupcake tins, filling ¾ full for each cupcake liner.
9. Drop about a teaspoon of the compote into the middle of each cupcake.
10. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 – 35 min.
11. Let cool for 15 min and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Frosting:

1. Place the butter and Nutella in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
2. Beat on medium-high for 3 minutes.
3. Add the powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time.
4. Add the vanilla once all the powdered sugar has been incorporated.
5. Beat on medium for another 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
6. Reduce speed to low for 1 minute. This helps to smooth the icing and release any air bubbles.
7. Pipe onto the cupcakes and then add the remaining blueberries for decoration
8. ENJOY!

 

The Fall Post

Well its been forever since I’ve posted anything. Im not going to deny it. A lot has happened and Im not going to try and recap it all BUT fall is a time for baking. Some of the best recipes and flavours are fall related so I decided I would do a post to try and get back in the hang of all this. I present to you, Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread, because who doesn’t love feeling healthy while still eating scrumptious sugary bread :b

I will say that I have been extremely busy and not just ignoring everyone who has decided that I have something to say and reads this blog. I am now a New York resident, my family bought a house in Mount Vernon, NY. Coincidentally it is about 20 minutes away from Purchase College where I am a part of the conservatory of dance. It hasn’t exactly been an easy transition for me and home will always be in Vermont but I am slowly adjusting. Luckily my roommates are also two of the most wonderful girls and have been amazing in making my first semester memorable.

 Also Im going to do a tiny bit of self promo/dancers among us promo and say that I am in a calendar, like a legit one that is sold in barnes and noble and stuff. Here is the link if you would like to check it out https://www.dancersamongus.com/store. I am also putting some more ballet pictures up on my ballerinaing tab up above if you would like to check them out!

So without further adieu here is a bangin’ whole wheat zucchini bread recipe!

Ingredients:

(Makes 2 loaves)

• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 3 eggs

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 2 1/4 cups natural raw sugar

• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 cups grated zucchini

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

My Life and Blueberry Lemon Scones

Its been a while since I’ve written a post. Mostly since I haven’t had a kitchen to bake and partially because I have been so completely busy with life and future plans that I have had no time to just sit down and write. So lets play a little catch up. In the Kirov spring performance I was cast as a soloist in a piece called infra X which was a student choreography piece by a friend (shout out to Jimmy Folsom).

With my incredible partner Gan Shai

I was also in a pas de trois from La Bayadere, Kingdom of the shades.

They were all very successful good shows and I was so excited that my family and Corey (my boyfriend) could come to see not just one but two shows. So now I am a graduate of the Kirov Academy of Ballet… artistically any ways. I decided for convenience purposes that I would transfer my credits back to U32 and be able to walk with my fellow peers who I spent the first 5 years of my middle and high school experience with. So next friday I will be a high school graduate. Immediately following that I am heading to France! I know I know, it sucks, I’m going to miss all the grad parties because I will be living and dancing in the french riviera…. 😉
As for my plans for next year I have been accepted to the SUNY purchase dance conservatory as a ballet major. So come august I am off to college. Purchase has quite a unique program though and I am very excited to become a part of that community.

Ok ok, enough with my life, and now for the baking!!

Lemon Blueberry Scones

This recipe is adapted from My Baking Addiction. These turned out so fluffy and light! There is a lemon glaze that can be added, I thought they were sweet enough as they were so didn’t add it.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
zest of one to two medium lemons
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 cup fresh/frozen blueberries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest; mix with your fingertips until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt and egg until smooth.

Using a fork, stir the yogurt and egg mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Add in blueberries. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. The dough will be sticky first, but as you press, the dough will come together.

Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.

Caramel Corn Etc.

Hello world,

Well its been awhile since I’ve posted anything but that is not for lack of baking. Quite the contary. I have a few recipes to share with you. My life has just been extremely hectic. As a senior in highschool you will never hear the question “What are you doing next year?” more in your life. And let me tell you, that question is unbelievably hard to answer especially for someone like me. While most high schoolers apply to college and spend their spring stressing out about where they will get into, us dancers have a little bit of a different problem. From january to about march is when all the ballet companies with any openings audition and hire people. That means that I have been traveling to nyc almost every weekend for multiple auditions. At this point I still have no contract but my audition process is not over. Ive also applied to North Carolina School of the Arts and Suny Purchase and was accepted into both of their dance departments. So while I still cant answer the looming question of where I will be next year I have a few plans as back ups so that I wont end up stranded without anything to do.

Now for the baking.

Below are some pictures of the delicious things I’ve baked since early january. Along with each picture will be the link to the recipe since writing up each thing at this point would take more time than I have. So Happy St. Patricks day to all and here are some non related treats for your eyes to enjoy.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Caramel Corn

Also a huge shout out to the person behind butter is better (the blog credited for the amazing caramel corn) Jessie Smart is a fabulous baker and everyone should check out her blog for lots of decadent delicious recipes. She also has a Facebook page that everyone should follow.

Blog: http://butterisbetter1.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butterisbetter1?fref=ts

Tiramisu

So this post is a little late. I made this while I was still at home during winter vacation. But I’ve been a little busy. This past weekend I was in NYC to audition for Colorado Ballet. Its that time of year. College, summer and Professional Company auditions… Unfortunately i didn’t end up auditioning this weekend. I came down with the flu which was absolutely no fun at all. I had basically every symptom that goes along with the flu, Chills, body and head aches, a stomach ache, a high fever, and somehow i also contracted a nasty cough which has taken my voice away. Basically this past week and weekend were the best…not.

Since I cant talk I decided I’d write. Ive been doing that a lot lately actually. I sat down yesterday and wrote a 4 page letter. Sometimes its just so cleansing to write. Especially if you’re writing about whats been happening in your life. If you need help finding perspective on something you’ve done I find it especially useful.

I made Tiramisu for my friends birthday. She turned 18 and told me to surprise her. I know she likes coffee and so i thought it was a fitting desert and a little more fun than your average birthday cake. I had enough ingredients to make two of them which was actually convenient because my boyfriends birthday was a week later so I made one for him too and just gave it to him early.

My Friends birthday “party”

This may sound bad but when I bake for other people I usually don’t use healthy ingredients. Most people don’t like to eat healthy things anyways because they think they taste bad and to be honest some things are really hard to make healthy. Most deserts are french derived and the french cooking is so based in butter and cream and rich ingredients that it makes it hard to substitute for them and still have an equally as good outcome.

Recipe from http://detailsjuliette.wordpress.com/2013/10/19/tiramisu/

(Btw her pictures are beautiful)

Ingredients: (Makes 8 small servings)

• 6 Eggs
• 400 g Savoiardi (ladyfingers) *I couldn’t find any but I used tea cookies and I’ve heard Milanos work quite well.
• 500 gr Mascarpone (or a light cream cheese if you want to make it light)
• 120 gr granulated Sugar
• Coffee (espresso, just enough to soak the ladyfingers in)
• Chocolate flakes (to decorate)
• Cocoa powder (to decorate)
• pinch of Salt

Directions:

Brew the coffee and set aside to cool down.

Separate egg whites and yolks and beat the yolks together with half of the sugar.

In another bowl start working the mascarpone with a mixer and slowly add the egg mixture.

In a third bowl beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, then add the other half of the sugar.

Add the egg whites to the mascarpone and egg yolks mixture slowly with a spatula or a whisk to keep it light and fluffy.

Break the ladyfingers in the length that will fit in the glass (or any container you will use). Soak the ladyfingers very briefly in the cold coffee.

It’s time to assemble. Put a first row of ladyfingers in the glass, cover them with cream, sieve a layer of cocoa powder on it, put a second layer of ladyfingers, cover with cream and dust with cocoa powder. Add some chocolate sprinkles (or temper some chocolate and make your own shapes to decorate if you like).

Put in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Serve cold.

Less Guilt Blueberry Muffins

Im home again! Its been so wonderful just lazing around. Right before I came home we had our winter performance at Kirov. (New ballet pictures will be posted to the Ballerinaing page of my blog). And once I return I will have to kick myself in gear to audition for companies and colleges. But for now I’m enjoying relaxing and spending time with friends.

My mother actually found this recipe but I had been looking for a good healthy blueberry muffin recipe for some time. These came out incredibly fluffy and delicious. I definitely recommend them.

My favorite food (aside from whipped cream) is a good ole blueberry muffin. Unfortunately even though muffins are categorized as a breakfast food and sounds fairly healthy, the majority of blueberry muffins sold are packed with white flour and tons of sugar. NOT THESE!!!!  Although they do have a little bit of sugar in them they are made with 100% whole wheat flour they also have yogurt instead of butter and milk which reduces the fat a lot!

Recipe adapted from Vital choice

Ingredients:

12 1/2 oz whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup turbinado (raw) sugar
1/2 cup canola or safflower oil
1 egg
1 cup low-fat yogurt
1 1/2 cups frozen wild organic blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 380 F

In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Keep aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients . Stir mixture by hand, well, but do not over mix. Add wild blueberries to mixture and stir briefly.

Fill a muffin sheet with muffin wrappers. Spoon your dough into each wrapper so that it fills up about 2/3 of the hole.

Place into the oven and increase the temperature to 400 degrees.

Bake for and 25 mins. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Gluten Free Ginger Spice Cinnamon Rolls

We have a snow day today.

We only have this much snow and its a snow day. It is supposed to get worse and accumulate but still, this looks a little pathetic. This weekend we had ALOT more snow.

We had so much that I was able to make a snow man and we went sledding in the parking lot on trays from the cafeteria. It was fantastic. I spent the rest of the day completely in the christmas spirit. I watched 3 christmas movies, drank hot chocolate, made paper snowflakes and sang christmas songs. There were storm warnings for the next day and we were basically supposed to have an ice storm that night so I was figuring that we wouldn’t have school. I was wrong. We only had a delay of classes until 11 which isn’t even that special for me since on a normal day I don’t have classes till 10(muahhahahah). This morning though I got up because I was supposed to recite this poem for my english class today and it was stressing me out. I was actually wide awake at 7 am. I AM NEVER UP AT 7. So then I got dressed and ready to go eat breakfast and I saw the sign that said we don’t have school today.

SO since I’m up at this ungodly hour of 8:30 this morning, I thought I would do something productive and share these wonderful cinnamon rolls that I made while on thanksgiving break. Behold, ginger spice cinnamon rolls with a honey walnut glaze!

 This was my first time making cinnamon rolls but luckily both my 92 year old grandmother and my father have made them many times before. My dad actually made the glaze for these which was really healthy and delicious, so you can thank him for that.

This recipe is adapted from The Baking Beauties and from Crazy for Crust.

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 2/3 cup (260 grams) brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) potato starch
• 1/3 cup PLUS 1/2 cup (105 grams) tapioca starch ( corn starch works too)
• 1 tablespoon (10 grams) xanthan gum
• 1 tablespoon (12 grams) rapid rise yeast
• 3 tablespoons (45 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
• 1/4 cup (45 grams) instant vanilla pudding mix (dry) OR dry milk powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
• 4 tablespoons (55 grams) margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup (115 grams) water
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (170 grams) milk
• 1 teaspoon (5 grams) cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons (30 grams) oil (I used Canola)
• 1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla

Filling

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons  rice flour

Frosting

• ½ cup Honey
• ¼ cup Maple
• ¼ cup Butter
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• Walnuts

Instructions:

• In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix all dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
• Put water and margarine in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the margarine has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add other wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
• With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you have to.
• Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
• Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on a slightly damp counter top, so it covers an area bigger than 8″ x 16″. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Gently lay another piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough. Pat the dough down into a rectangle shape. Lift and reposition the top plastic wrap whenever you need to. Roll the dough out (with the plastic wrap on top) to approximately 8″ x 16″.
• Combine the filling ingredients in a medium bowl and wisk until it becomes a paste.
• Remove plastic wrap. Spread filling mixture evenly across dough’s surface. Leave 1 1/2″ along one long end without any filling, this is where your cinnamon rolls will be sealed.
• Starting along the long end, use the bottom sheet of plastic wrap to lift the edge of the dough and roll it up, forming a long cylinder. Start with the edge that has filling on it, that will be the center of your finished rolls.
• Using a long piece of dark thread (I used a knife and it worked fine), cut the long “cinnamon bun log” into 8 pieces, about 1 1/2″ wide.Place rolls in prepared pan, with cut side up. I like to push the rolls down to about 1″ high.
• Allow the cinnamon rolls/buns to rise in a warm, draft free place for about 30 minutes, or until nearly double in size.
• Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are a nice golden brown.
• While they are baking make the glaze. Combine the maple, honey, butter and cinnamon in a small pot and heat until the butter melts and the glaze becomes liquidy. Remove from heat and let it cool and thicken. Add chopped walnuts.
• Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before spooning the glaze over them.
• These are best served warm, however, I had great success with reheating them in the microwave for a few seconds when they were a day old as well.

Now I’m going to go play in the “snow” and enjoy by day off. Have an awesome day at work and school everyone :b

Gluten Free Apple Pie

This has been an eventful thanksgiving break. (THAT IS A HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT) To start things off I met my dad at the airport and I almost started crying because I was so excited to be back in my home state. Then we went over to baggage claim where he surprised me by having my boyfriend come along and meet me there too. That did make me cry. Then we went to the parking garage and they had lost the car. So, I was wandering around looking for my dads car ( a white Prius..don’t judge he is on the energy efficiency board) when my dad finally hit the button on his keys so the lights would flash. But the car that flashed wasn’t a white Prius IT WAS A WHITE VW BUG! Now a little backstory, that is the car I have wanted since I was born basically. It had a little red bow taped on the front and he had taken paper and covered the front license plate so it said SPDYBTL (speedy beetle) which was his nickname for me when I was a little kid. Needless to say I was completely and utterly speechless. I was crying and I couldn’t form a sentence to save my life. Corey (my boyfriend) caught the entire thing on video which my dad later sent to my mom. Anyways it was an unbelievably exciting way to start the week off.

This year for thanksgiving I was nominated to make the pies. I have a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with me making this blog and exposing my love for baking to the world. But anyways I was perfectly fine with that until I remembered that they were all going to have to be made with rice flour or something of that sort. I hate baking gluten free. Im just going to come right out and say that. Unfortunately my father has Celiac Disease which makes him unable to digest gluten.

The recipe that I picked for the crust was as I expected, pretty terrible. Its not that it tasted bad, people actually liked it, but it was so hard to use. Laying those delicate criss crosses across the top to make that beautiful picturesque apple pie was basically a disaster. For any of you out there who are inexperienced with baking gluten free but need to for some reason, I would recommend buying a mix. The one by Bob Red Mill was the one I used for my pumpkin pie and it turned out fantastic…

Even without the exciting beginning to my week it would have been fantastic. Just being home, seeing my boyfriend and other friends and family has been wonderful. I had so much to be thankful for this year!

Recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/no-sugar-apple-pie-2/

• 2 (9 inch) pie crusts
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed ( I just used Apple Cider)
• 6 cups sliced green apples
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a small bowl whisk together cornstarch, cinnamon, and 1/3 cup of the apple juice concentrate. Set aside.

In a large saucepan simmer apples with remaining apple juice concentrate until apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in maple syrup and cornstarch mixture. Continue to simmer until thickened. Remove from heat.

Spoon apple mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. Cover with top crust. Seal and flute edges. Cut steam vents in top.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Thanksgiving Time

We are nearing the week of thanksgiving. Which means that I will be going home soon which I could not be more happy about! Tonight we actually had a mock thanksgiving for the foreign students who don’t get to experience a traditional thanksgiving dinner at home. One thing I noticed was that the pumpkin pie that they served did not give pumpkin pie justice… Given it’s Kirov food which isn’t always the greatest but these pies were donated so there isn’t even that excuse.

My family for the most part doesn’t use white flour or sugar when we bake. Since I’m from Vermont we sweeten everything with maple syrup! Since its a liquid it cant always just be substituted in recipes which is why I call upon my handy dandy Rodales Basic Natural Foods Cookbook. 

I have used this cookbook in making my black berry pie  and I found that it was just scrumptious. The recipe for the crust can be found on that page under Basic Rolled Pie Crust.

The filling in my opinion needs to be spicy but not overwhelmingly so. So here it is folks, a healthy, tasty pumpkin pie that is actually done right in my opinion.

Photo from http://www.gracerivers.com/

Filling:

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin
3 cups milk or light cream
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 450F

Add seasonings to pumpkin in one bowl. Place milk or cream and eggs in a another large bowl. Stir in pumpkin mixture, honey/maple syrup, molasses and vanilla. Pour filling into your already made crust.

Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 350F and bake for 30 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack and go make the scrumptious whipped cream described below.

Scrumptious Whipped Cream:

Unfortunately there isn’t a perfect way to make whipped cream because everyone has their own likes and dislikes, some like it really really sweet while others..well…don’t. So here are some guidelines but good luck and remember with these ingredients you cant really go wrong here…

Heavy Cream: Depending on how many people you are making it for either 1/4 or 1/2 quart will work
Vanilla: About 2 teaspoons but you can always add more depending on the amount of cream
Maple syrup: The amount you put in is completely up to you depending on your sweetness levels

Put heavy cream in the bowl of your mixer. Start the mixer on medium and slowly add the vanilla. As the cream begins to thicken add the maple syrup to taste. Once its satisfyingly sweet turn the mixer on high and wait until fairly stiff peaks form. A word of warning, make sure the whipped cream is relatively thick before you turn the mixer to high otherwise cream will spray everywhere.

Then for the fun part. Serve yourself a large piece of pie and add a dollop of your scrumptious whipped cream. Ahhh now thats what I call a thanksgiving desert.

Cinnamon Cupcakes

AWESOME BLOG ALERT!

While casually paroozing pinterests food and drink section i just happened to come across this wonderful blog that I immediately bookmarked for future use.

home

Other Pinterest news. Well not news per se but for all of you who enjoy laughing at other people (ok lets face it everyone enjoys doing that) this story is for you. Those of you who aren’t already aware I am currently at Kirov academy of ballet. Its a russian school and so all the teachers are basically really intimidating and scary. Anyways yesterday after class I had an hour before my rehearsal started so naturally my friend and I went on her ipad to Pinterest and started looking at wonderful pictures of food. I was basically drooling everywhere just looking at the food. Then much to our surprise our teacher bursts through the door of the studio and finds us just sitting there drooling. So what do we do? Drop the ipad and just stare at her trying to look as innocent as possible. Now something you should all know, my teacher is maybe 5’3″, extremely petite, blond, and she has the biggest eyes. She might not sound that intimidating but believe me those eyes give a look with such intensity that you just want to curl up in a little ball.. Ok back to my story. So we were sitting there just staring at her. She didn’t know what we were doing so at this point we already look strange, but then she asked “what girls?” in her little russian accent. Of course we didn’t say anything because we were utterly shocked so she walked away and said something probably along the lines of “what strange girls.” in russian under her breath. It was awesome. That is the one word I would use to describe it……….. No wait its not. I think awkward would be better….

In other news we are having bake sales occasionally to raise money for senior trips so here is a picture of some cuppity cakes that we made. They were delicious and I encourage you all to make them because they are perfect for fall!

This recipe is courtesy of http://www.annies-eats.com/

although I added more cinnamon because there is never enough!

For the cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

½ cup whole milk

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. grated orange zest (completely optional)

½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

2-3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.  Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl.  Stir milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat just until butter melts; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick enough for the batter to fall in a heavy ribbon when the beater is lifted, about 5 minutes.  Beat in orange peel and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture; beat just until blended.  Beat in the milk-butter mixture just until blended.  Divide batter evenly between cupcake liners.  Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 16-18 minutes.  Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting, cream the butter and the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until very smooth.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.  Add the vanilla extract and cinnamon and mix until incorporated.  Slowly add the powdered sugar, and keep adding until you reach the desired consistency and sweetness.  Frost cooled cupcakes.

Because I am cooking in a ghetto kitchen (not really) I piped these all using a ziplock bag with the tip cut off. It can be done! last but not least sprinkle some frosting on to make them look all nice and pretty. Enjoy!