FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--GUEST AUTHOR KIM/KIMBRA KASCH

Kim/Kimbra Kasch returns today to talk about one of her failures in the kitchen. Learn more about Kim and her books at her website.

Baking...Burning...and Blah...

The Failures of Making Your Own Recipes

Love, life and reading are a lot like baking . . . a cupcake. Sometimes you get a little cup filled with sweet deliciousness.

Sometimes you don’t.

And events can make life flip and even flop, just like when you’re baking. If you let things get too “hot” you can have a real meltdown. The truth is, things just don’t always turn out sweet and yummy but then again, sometimes they do—like with this sweet treat:

Organic Lavender and Locally Farmed Honey Cupcake with a Vanilla Bean Frosting

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 vanilla bean

1/2 cup milk

1-1/3 cups flour

1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup of butter

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons of Honey

1 tablespoon of Lavender

2 eggs

Vanilla Bean Frosting

1 cup salted butter

1 vanilla bean

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Strip the seeds from the vanilla bean and set aside to use in the frosting.

Grind the lavender into small bits, add milk and blend together.

Whisk cake flour, baking powder and salt together.

Whip butter and sugar until pale fluffy, blend in honey, eggs and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients until well combined.

Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out nearly clean (do not overbake).

While cupcakes are cooling, mix together butter and vanilla bean seeds until light and fluffy.

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk until well blended – or about 8-10 minutes.

When cupcakes are cooled, frost and top with a berry of your choice or a tiny sprig of lavender.

The Cats of Cullaby Creek

Savannah meets Kyle and quickly starts to fall for him. And why wouldn't she? He's per-fect, as far as she knows. But when she starts finding dead animals in her yard and hears something scratching at her window, after the sun goes down, she starts to worry. Maybe Kyle isn't everything she thought he was - maybe he's something more.

It's a complete mystery until she discovers something about the water in Cullaby Creek, which is being bottled and sold as Mistical Water. And there’s definitely something mystical about that water, everyone who drinks it begins to change. They are “morphing” or mutating into animals. The secret to the animal they morph into is in the water.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--BEST EVER BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

photo by Clever Cupcakes, Montreal, Canada

If you’ve read any of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, you already know that I’m a sucker for cupcakes. My car brakes for cupcake bakeries. What I’ve found, though, is too many bakeries don’t know how to make a light buttercream frosting. Frosting is always the best part of a cupcake, but too much is not necessarily a good thing. There has to be a nice balance between the cake and the frosting. A cupcake where the frosting overpowers the cake is not a successful cupcake, at least not in my opinion.

Years ago I came across a delicious buttercream recipe, and I thought I’d share that recipe with you today.

Best Ever Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

3 T. flour

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

Blend together flour and milk, adding milk to flour slowly. Beat out any lumps.

Pour into saucepan and cook on low heat, stirring continually, until thick. Set aside to cool.

When flour/milk mixture is cool, add vanilla.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add flour/milk mixture, beating on high until frosting is fluffy.

COOKING WITH CLORIS--CUPCAKES WITH AUTHOR GINA GORDON

When her dream of becoming a mafia princess didn’t pan out, Gina Gordon went after her second dream of becoming a writer. And she hasn’t looked back. Gina, a self-proclaimed happily ever after junkie and cupcake connoisseuse, loves spinning contemporary tales of knee bending first kisses, unconditional love and super-hot sex. Learn more about her and her books at her website.—AP

There’s nothing a cupcake can’t fix.

At least that’s what my heroine, Liv Crawford, believes in my contemporary single title, A Taste of Trouble. It just so happens, I completely agree.

My borderline obsession with cupcakes began when they exploded onto the culinary scene a few years back. Yes, I was a bandwagon jumper. But can you blame me? They are so cute and delicious and versatile. They are perfect little treats to celebrate happy news but more importantly, they are the perfect pick-me-up when you’re feeling down.  I’ve cried many a tear into my cupcake icing.

In A Taste of Trouble, Liv has spent years testing out different recipes.  As the new owner of a cupcake bakery, she spends her days crafting delicious and visually stunning works of art. It’s her passion. Her purpose. I can relate to that because that’s how I feel about being a writer. But when it comes to cupcakes, the only thing I’m passionate about is eating them.

Early on in the book, Liv describes a Guinness Chocolate Cupcake. Now, I’m not going to pretend that I can bake or even come up with a recipe that’s all my own. Instead, I direct you to the My Baking Addiction blog for the recipe that was the inspiration for the cupcakes in the book.

So if you like cupcakes and things that are sugary sweet, try A Taste of Trouble. Oh, and there may even be a mention of French Macaroons.

A Taste of Trouble

When Liv Crawford decided to pursue her dream of owning her own bakery, it was no surprise that she forgot to add “maintaining a serious relationship” to her business plan. Not when she believes a cupcake can fix anything, even loneliness.

Jake Miller isn’t concerned about being lonely. He’s cast aside his playboy lifestyle to pursue something more meaningful, his passion for photography. So, when his boss asks him to pursue a beautiful woman and coerce her to his office for a disguised meeting—no matter what it takes—in exchange for the opportunity to turn his hobby into a career, he jumps at the chance. At first sight, Liv awakens his long-buried desire for commitment, but his secret mission could ruin his hopes of keeping her.

Despite Liv’s commitment to swear off relationships to run her bakery, Jake quickly becomes her number one distraction. Yet, even her misgivings can’t tame the heat as they straddle the line between love and ambition.

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COOKING WITH CLORIS -- NATIONAL BAKE WEEK

Did you know that this is National Bake Week? Cloris is celebrating with some yummy cupcakes that you might want to serve for Easter. -- AP

LEMON RASPBERRY CUPCAKES
(makes 12)

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon lemon extract

3/4 cup fresh raspberries

1-1/3 cups whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon raspberry syrup

Dust raspberries with small amount of flour and set aside.

Combine remaining flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. In large bowl beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Turn mixer to low and add half the flour mixture, then the milk and lemon extract, then the remainder of the flour mixture. Fold in the raspberries.

Line cupcake pan with liners. Spoon batter into liners. Bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven 23-25 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

For icing whip cream and sugar until medium stiff peaks form. Gently fold in raspberry syrup. Spoon or pipe onto cupcakes.

COOKING WITH CLORIS--PARTY! Part 2

Yesterday I gave you some ideas for entertaining home birthday parties on the cheap.  Today Cloris will offer creative suggestions for feeding those little tykes. -- AP

Hi!  Cloris here.  After the kids’ shirts are designed and while they’re drying, it’s time to feed the hungry horde assembled around your table.  Prepare peanut butter and jelly, tuna, egg salad, or deli sandwiches ahead of time.  Use a soft sandwich bread.  Have a selection of large cookie cutters in a variety of shapes on hand.  Let each child choose the shape he wants for his sandwich.  Depending on the age of the kids, they can either cut out their own shapes by pressing the cookie cutters into the sandwiches or do so with help from you.

For dessert whip up a batch of my No-It’s-Not-Cheating Surprise Cupcakes ahead of time, but don’t ice them.  Have several different flavors of canned frosting available in bowls.  Let the kids ice their own cupcakes by dipping them into the frosting and twisting as they pull the cupcakes up. 

Then set out bowls of sprinkles, chopped cookies, chocolate chips, and candies for the kids to decorate their cupcakes.  You can also serve them dishes of ice cream and let them make their own sundaes.  An ice cream cone inverted on top of a scoop of ice cream becomes a clown hat.  The kids can “glue” candy decorations onto the cone with a dab of icing and press candy eyes, a nose, and a mouth into the ice cream “head.” 

CLORIS’S NO-IT’S-NOT-CHEATING SURPRISE CUPCAKES (makes 24)

It’s OK to use a cake mix sometimes, and when you’re baking for a kid’s party, it’s definitely one of those times.

  Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

2 eggs

2 c. sour cream

24 chocolate kisses, unwrapped or 24 small washed and hulled strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake papers.  Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir together with large spoon until well blended.  Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each halfway.  Press one kiss or one strawberry slightly into center of each cupcake.  Spoon remaining batter to cover evenly, filling cups to ¾ full.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until tops spring back when touched.  Allow to cool a minute or two before removing from pan.  Cool completely before giving to kids to ice and decorate.

What creative ways have you entertained kids at a party?  Let us hear from you. -- AP