Not too proud of this post

Here are the cupcakes I made this weekend:

Cute, huh? I think so. These are vanilla cupcakes (my absolute fave!) with honey cinnamon frosting. Delish! Now, I have made my share of ugly cupcakes... Lots of ugly actually. I decided to share some of the things I've made in the past on here -- to show how far I've come.

Both these pictures are of cupcakes made from boxed cake mix and canned frosting. Disappointing!

These are a little better... They are also made from scratch, but I hadn't mastered my piping skills yet... Well, I still haven't, but I get gradually better every time. From top to bottom: Coconut sponge cake with espresso buttercream, Guinness chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, and finally, Graham cakes with key lime cream cheese frosting.

These are Brazilian "brigadeiros"... Chocolate truffles, basically. These were not made from scratch though, so they were a bit disappointing. Brigadeiros are one of the main things I still have to try making from scratch.

This was the first cake I ever made. I tried it last June for our friend's 25th birthday. It was actually more stressful than enjoyable to make. Not as beautiful as I'd hoped, but it was delicious, nevertheless.

And finally, this is the cake my boyfriend surprised me with on Valentine's Day. I was so shocked he baked all by himself! I mean, he's a great cook, but now baking?! I was very impressed, to say the least. He made everything from scratch and it was delicious! I wish I was this good when I first started, but unfortunately, as you can see, that was not the case. Anyway, that's that for tonight.

XOXO,

Marge

Happy Valentine's!

My best friend and I spent the entire day in the kitchen making these very special cupcakes.

Flavors: To the left is Vanilla cake with Cream Cheese frosting; to the right we have Chocolate cake with Raspberry buttercream.

Anthony took me to see the Broadway show Phantom of the Opera. I loved it! It also happened to be their 10,000th performance. How awesome is that?! There was confetti, there was a speech, and even cake...

Hope your V-Day will be as special as mine was!

XOXO,

Marge

Lemon Meringue Cookies

If you do not have access to a stand mixer, do not attempt to make these cookies. They are extremely easy to make, so this was the perfect recipe to try out this afternoon. They take a long time to bake, but they're worth it. And the best part about them: Only 23 calories per cookie! A couple of tips before you begin:

• If you have long hair, tie it up.
• Wear old clothes. Things are about to get sticky.
• Make sure the room you're making these in is dry and cool. You need the right conditions because they need to be the right consistency.
• Last but not least, when I say use parchment paper, I mean it.

Lemon Meringue Cookies recipe: (yields 20-25)

2 large egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.

2. In your mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt on medium speed until soft peak is reached.

3. Start to add the sugar 2 T at a time. Continue to beat on medium-high speed until stiff peak holds. Should have the consistency of marshmallow fluff. Add food coloring if you wish, I used 3 drops of yellow.

4. Fold in lemon zest.

5. Using a piping bag and large tip, pipe your cookies onto your cookie sheet with the parchment paper. (I did not have parchment paper, but they were still pretty successful. Don't risk making these with wax paper like I did though.)

6. Bake in preheated oven for 2 hours. Until hard and no longer sticky.

7. Let them chill completely and enjoy!

XOXO,

Marge

Sugar Cookies

Today we went out to The Bronx to hang out with a couple of Anthony's friends from college. I baked some sugar cookies for the occasion. They came out really good so here is the recipe:

Sugar Cookies recipe: (yields 30-36)

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a small bowl, gather your flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

3. In your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

4. Beat in egg and vanilla.

5. Gradually add the remainder of your dry ingredients.

6. Roll your dough into little balls, using either your hands or a tablespoon (like I do!) and place them onto your greased cookie sheet one inch apart from each other.

7. Bake in preheated oven 9-12 minutes. Don't go beyond 12, even if it looks questionable, because the texture will not be right at that point. As soon as you can see some golden, they should be ready.

8. Enjoy! Share these with your friends and family!

Now, if you have kids at your house -- or boyfriends -- let them join you in the kitchen! In my case, since this recipe yields so many cookies, I let Anthony "play" with some of the dough... Here are his works of art:

Happy Super Bowl XLVI! Let's go Big Blue!

XOXO,

Marge

My Favorite Recipe

Just last week, I finally discovered my go-to vanilla cake recipe! I've had such bad luck in the past with vanilla cupcakes, that I was determined to find a successful recipe. So I did! Here's its background story.

I went to a high school just 2 blocks away from well-known NYC bakery, Billy's. I knew a couple of people who worked there, so I would often visit them and get free cupcakes. It was bliss! They made the most amazing vanilla cupcakes, and I'm sure my friends knew the recipe, though I never bothered asking. However, just the other day, when googling "the best vanilla cupcake recipe," one of the top results happened to be "Billy's Vanilla/Vanilla Cupcakes". Not only that, but it was posted on Martha Stewart's website. I made Anthony visit numerous supermarkets in the hunt for non self-rising cake flour (which is extremely hard to find). Eventually he found a box and boy, oh boy, was I thrilled!

The recipe yields around 30 cupcakes, which was perfect, since we had all our friends over for the Giants/49ers game. Anthony made pulled pork and it was absolutely delicious. Nothing went to waste, which is a miracle in my household, so it was the ultimate success. And the Giants beat SanFran and made it to the Superbowl!

I can't stress this enough when I say, "if you follow this recipe to a T, you will not be disappointed!" Only use the ingredients that this recipe calls for. Don't try to use substitutes for the non self-rising cake flour, it really won't come out as perfect. Also, and this is very important, do not overfill your liners! It will destroy your cakes, I promise you. I made this mistake once. Another tip is to never over-beat your batter. Keep that in mind when making any recipe - especially this one. Without further ado, here it is:

Vanilla Cupcake recipe: (yields 24-30)

1 3/4 cups non self-rising cake flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 T baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 sticks butter

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract (not pictured below)

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

2. In your mixer, gather all your dry ingredients and give it a good stir.

3. Cut your 2 sticks of butter into cubes, and add them one at a time into your bowl, mixing thoroughly each time.

4. Add your eggs one at a time. Mixing thoroughly after each addition.

5. Pour your vanilla extract into your milk. Add your vanilla-milk into your batter in 3 parts.

6. When all your ingredients are blended, scrape the sides of your bowl and give it a good mix with the scraper, just to bring it all together.

7. Scoop your batter into your liners, dividing evenly. Only fill up 3/4 of the way.

8. Bake in preheated oven 17-20 minutes. Until toothpick comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Frosting recipe: (makes enough for 14-18 cupcakes)

2 sticks softened butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup marshmallow creme

2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 T milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Gather all your ingredients, leaving out the milk, and mix till everything is blended.

2. Add milk till a consistency to your liking is reached. Usually 2-3 T.

3. Pipe away and decorate! We used chocolate shavings!

Last but not least, share these babies with your friends and family -- they will love you forever! I made this recipe yesterday when visiting our friends and their 3 kids. Their 7-year old told me, "this is the first time I ate a whole cupcake!" And guess what? That's one of the many reasons why I bake. Because it makes my loved ones happy. Why do you bake?

XOXO,

Marge