Orange-Cranberry Cupcakes

Continuing with the fall themed cupcakes, I bring you….Orange-Cranberry!  The result of these was wonderful; they were tart and sweet at the same time.  Next time, I would experiment with using fresh, seasonal cranberries instead of dried ones.

Welcome to Fall: Pear Spiced Cupcakes

These were actually baked at the first sign of cool weather (and I’ll ignore the fact that a mere 3 days later our fair city was hitting 95 degrees once again).  With the blend of sweet pear, the spices cut through nicely to give you an autumnal feel.  Bake these on a nice rainy day!

Hot Buttered Rum Cupcakes: Totally a Keeper

The cupcake! Look at the fancy baking cup!

My fair/damp/slightly mildewed city has reached the time of year before it’s cloudy for basically three months running, but the lack of cloud cover makes for really chilly nights.  The days have this absurdly beautiful crisp fall weather with a few wisps of clouds floating overhead; a cool, bright light; and a gorgeous blue sky I can’t remember ever seeing when I lived in the Inland Empire.  I’m sorry for making you read through an overly-descriptive paragraph that has nothing to do with the actual cupcakes, but only partially because it is beautiful in the Willamette Valley right now.

I’ve never actually had hot buttered rum, but they were the request, so I did research.  And by “research,” I mean I googled “hot buttered rum cupcakes” so I could see if anyone has done it before and with what success.  The takeaway from that link was the browned butter frosting.  It tastes fantastically like toffee and even if it doesn’t really taste like what buttered rum would taste like IT IS SO DELICIOUS. Ye vegans, please note that earth balance has some browning possibilities, so these are still a possibility for you.

Old Fashioned’s: Vegan Bitters and Bourbon Cupcakes

 

Old-Fashioneds

 

A little while ago, my friend from the first red velvet attempt texted me, saying she thought that Old Fashioneds would be delicious cupcakes, and that we should make them.  As it turns out, she’s been watching Mad Men, and not checking out the To Do List.

Dark and Stormy: Vegan Rum & Ginger Cupcakes

cupcakes, complete and covered in rum syrup.

I have an enormous bottle of rum.  I guess it’s really not that enormous, but rum isn’t something I drink with any great frequency.  Thus, the only use this rum has seen has been in cupcakes.  Upon deciding (I really have been hitting the 19th century literature hard the last few weeks) I was well enough to bake again, I decided on rum cupcakes.  With ginger.  Some preliminary research on the subject brought me to the idea of a Dark and Stormy, which fits very well into my theory that cocktails make fine inspiration for baked goods.

(Note to the purists:  I did not buy Goslings.  I have a budget for my cupcake and drinking forays, I already have rum, and it’s a pain to get to the liquor store.)

Anyways.

Out of Commission

I, Gibbs, have been slightly out of commission.  I had a gnarly sinus infection, and am currently recovering from a minor but deeply annoying staph infection in my eyelid (which is about as weird as it sounds; it is only the eyelid, not my actual eye).  Anyways, that’s just to explain my current dearth of posting; I haven’t had enough energy to really bake in the last couple of weeks.

But.

I WILL BE BACK AND I WILL BE BACK WITH FANCY BAKING CUPS.  THEY ARE EXTREMELY FANCY.

That was meant to convey shouting, for all you caps-lock haters.  They are *very* fancy baking cups.

Margarita Cupcakes

I seem to have a love for translating delicious alcoholic beverages into cupcakes.  For this cupcake/cocktail – the margarita – the work was already done for me!  Using Gibbs’ handy Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I adapted a recipe to be non-vegan, and it was delightful!

Also, I apologize completely for the total lack of quality in the pictures!  I couldn’t find my camera and had to use my cell phone :-\

Coconut Coffee Rum Cupcakes

The cupcakes are so pretty.

I may or may not have a sinus infection.  However, I appear to be getting better (that is, don’t constantly feel like I’m going to fall over and/or vomit).  Hooray!  I have joined the legions complaining about minor (mine is) illness on the internet.  Anyways: cupcakes.

After a fascinating glimpse in the grinding and ill-oiled bureaucratic machinery of a college, a friend of mine has officially graduated.  She likes rum.  She likes coconut.  She likes coffee.  All of these things?  All of them?  They go together REALLY well.

Garam Masala Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Why, yes, that is a microwave older than me in the background.

There was a sale on bulk spices earlier this week (the same kind of sale that lead me to buy cocoa nibs that lead to these red velvet cupcakes) and I stocked up.  The only really *new* thing I bought during the sale was garam masala.  Garam masala is actually just the name of a sort of style of spice mix–it can be any combination of a number of different spices.  The kind I bought, however, has a combination of cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cardamom, and pepper, and maybe a few other things I’m not 100% sure on.

Though I know some people have declared that savory flavors in cupcakes is weird, I like it, and I like it as much as I like sour flavors in cupcakes.  I feel like the savory/sweet and sour/sweet combinations work well because of the contrast, playing counterpoint to each other.

Um.  I don’t suspect anyone really cares to hear me ramble about flavor combinations much longer, so into the recipe we go!

1 year Blogaversary! Vanilla Bourbon Cupcakes with Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting and a Bourbon Vanilla Glaze

The chopped up walnuts don't work too well with my frosting tips, so it got glopped on.

Two things of relative import: I do believe we have reached our one year blogaversay!  Yay!  It has been a very very delicious year, and it is very VERY exciting to go from being excited that we hit 20 hits in a day to averaging about 100 hits every day.  So, thanks!  It is pretty fabulous.

Thing two: Oh sweet sweet merciful weather gods, it is hot here.  Hot and sticky sticky humid.  Thus, no baking, and I’m slowing down posting to stretch out my current queue.

Anyhow, while Mels was visiting a few weeks ago, I made Vanilla Bourbon Cupcakes with the Toasted Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting…and it was every bit as delicious as it sounds.