CUPCAKES!!!!

Hello Reader,

I thought I would round out this week of blogs with just one more post about food; another dessert to be exact. 

CUPCAKES!!! (I am very proud to say I made these beauties you see below)

One thing I love about this area is the food selection. There's Greek, Italian, lots of Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Mediterranean, Indian, you name it there is a restaurant here to meet your request. But there are also food places that specialize in one particular food: popcorn, chocolate dipped fruit, ice cream sandwiches, etc. One of my favorites is Mind Over Batter which specializes in cupcakes, cakes, and cake pops. The cupcakes are my favorite!

Below are the first cupcakes we tried there and they were both unbelievably rich! The one on the left was mine, a caramel macchiato - it was like eating the espresso drink. I love sweets, but I could only consume half of this cupcake at once since it was so rich. I see that as a good thing, it was satisfying twice - satisfaction is the whole point of eating, right? The one on the right was a cookies 'n' cream cupcake that was basically a giant Oreo in cupcake form. Again, so good!

 

Below are two specialty cupcakes we picked up for St. Patrick's Day. The one of the left was mint chocolate with a Nabisco wafer for a gold coin and the one on the right was something with pistachios, almonds, and coconut (I think). Very festive and I always love anything combining chocolate and mint.

So all this cupcake eating inspired me to make my own and take on some intense recipes. I had never made cupcakes from scratch but I thought it would be fun to try. While watching Cupcake Wars one day I saw a baker make chocolate stout cupcakes with an Irish cream butter cream frosting. My first thought was how perfect it would be to make those for my boyfriend's birthday ... followed by the thought of how perfect his birthday was as an excuse to make them! In addition to the first pic on this post, you can see them below. I really think this picture deserves to be featured in a food magazine somewhere. Just sayin' ...

Per usual, I packaged some up to send back east by reusing the box from the other cupcakes. I packed them into boxes and wrote "THIS SIDE UP" all over them. According to mum, some illiterate individuals may have handled the box because the cupcakes were not pretty looking when they arrived in Maine - but the taste was there!

Next, I took on dark chocolate cupcakes with a salted caramel filling and a dark chocolate ganache frosting. They were unbelievably rich and wonderful! They are purposefully left at room temperature so the caramel stays ooey-gooey. I made a mini version for an office celebration and they went over very well.  Aren't they cute?

I also made a few regular sized ones for myself. On the one below I drizzled the caramel over the plate and topped it with a sprinkle of sea salt to be fancy. I am very proud to say this was the first time I made caramel and it was a success! (I didn't even have a candy thermometer.) These cupcakes were like eating a chocolate, caramel covered pretzel - delicious!

So that is my journey of cupcakes thus far in the southwest. I plan to continue the journey because it is quite delightful! I still haven't tried the original cupcake store around here, but I plan to eventually. Until then, the one down the road and my kitchen will continue to satisfy my sweet tooth!

Thanks for reading!

- Molly