Thanksgiving Desserts

Boy, oh, boy have I been busy baking... I was in charge of baking desserts this year for my family's Thanksgiving feast. I made pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, pecan bars, apple pie, sweet potato pie, cornbread muffins, and a cornucopia out of Pillsbury breadsticks!

- breadsticks cornucopia -

- pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting -

- pecan bars -

- sweet potato pie -

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Apple Pie Time!!!

I loooooooove autumn! I love the brisk, nippy weather, the crunching of the leaves under my feet, but most of all the FOOD! I love how you can get everything pumpkin flavored (which is my favorite!) and apple-related things everywhere! Yes, I love fall. This week truly felt like autumn was finally here, so in honor of this I baked my first apple pie of the season.

I'm tweaking the recipe a bit, so I'll post that later! Happy Fall!!!

Bridal Shower*

So a friend asked me if I could cater the desserts for her sister's bridal shower. Of course I said yes! She gave me a list of things that she wanted and the color theme (red and aqua), which made my life way easier. I hope that the bride likes them, and CONGRATULATIONS! I couldn't take the best pictures of them before I had to package them up and send them away, but here's what I have!

- red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting -

- brownie squares with chocolate drizzle -

- chocolate covered pretzels -

- mini carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting -

Feeling Neglected?

I'm a horrible excuse of a blogger... I have recently started a full time job, and therefore my time has been limited to watching this fall's returns of Hawaii 5-0 and DWTS (weirdly entertaining). I have a biiiiig project coming up this weekend, so I'll make sure to blog about that soon!!!

Beer and Cupcakes?

One of my closest friends had a birthday recently. Being the beer lover that she is, I thought it was only appropriate to bake her some cupcakes with her favorite beverage. BEER! So, off to the liquor store I went to get my beer. My plan was to make some cupcakes with Guinness Stout and then whip up a frosting with Bailey's Irish Creme in it. So when I got to the checkout counter with my liter bottle of Guinness and asked for a Bailey's nip, the guy looked at me with a pitiful face. "Having an Irish night in, tonight," he asked, showing off his multiple Irish-themed tattoos at the same time. I wanted to make it very clear that I wasn't going to be drinking by myself at home, so I told him I was making cupcakes for a friend. Not sure if he believed me.... haha! Anyway, here's my recipe for Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting. 

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 ½ cups of Guinness Stout

½ cup of Unsalted Butter (4 oz. or 1 stick)
¾ cup of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 cups of All Purpose Flour
2 cups of Granulated Sugar1½ teaspoons of Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt

2 Large Eggs
⅔ cup of Sour Cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.

2. Put the butter and beer in a pot and bring to a simmer. 

3. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth and let it cool slightly.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. 

5. In a mixer bowl, beat the eggs and the sour cream together. Then, add the beer/butter/cocoa mixture and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. You don't want to over mix. 

6. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way and bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely to room temperature.

Bailey's Irish Creme Frosting

2 cups of Confectioner's Sugar

1 cup of Unsalted Butter (8 oz. or 2 sticks)
3 tablespoons of Bailey's

Preparing the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar until incorporated. Slowly drizzle in the Irish Cream and beat until combined. 

sorry the pictures are so yellow..... darn artificial lighting!