Tag Archives: Cupcake

Come Here, You Pretty Little Cupcake

20 Apr

Since the Tiny Kitchen is in a state of Big Disarray, and not ready for a full blog, I decided I’d post some pics of back when I was Elevenses Bakery. I was reminded of it by Deb Brunson, who is in culinary school and last week (or this? I can’t remember, and I haven’t had time to keep up with my fellow bloggers) was focusing on cakes and frostings.

When I got my tonsils out a few years ago, they gave me Percocet for the pain, which was lucky for me as they forgot to mention they’d be taking out my adenoids as well. I woke up feeling like I’d gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson (although my ears were fine and unbitten), and although the pain took the focus off my throat, I needed that Percocet.

And in my lovely Percocet haze, I came up with Elevenses Bakery. (Click on the link for more info on Elevenses!) The concept, the branding, everything. Continue reading

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Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Cupcakes

31 Mar

Our neighbors, and friends, went away a week or so ago. I call them Pal and Am, fondly, but they are really Al and Pam. We have an arrangement with them where we watch each others’ cats when any of us are out of town, but this time Cookie, their older cat, was a little under the weather. I won’t go into details, but I did suggest trying to give her some puréed pumpkin.

I didn’t promise it would work, which is good, because neither of the cats even tasted it. The potassium I was supposed to give Cookie was nasty—if it tasted anything like it smelled, the poor girl was in trouble. Luckily, the poor kitty’s bad day was someone else’s delicious baked treat… Continue reading

Red Velvets for Valentine’s Day

14 Feb

A delectable Valentine dessert.

I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure why people go gaga over red velvet cake or cupcakes. I’m not saying they’re not nice, I just don’t think they are that spectacular. People have asked me what “flavor” red velvets are—and that’s just impossible to describe. I do keep making them because choosy red-velvet eaters choose mine. I’ve heard the following compliments:

“Better than Sprinkles‘ red velvets!” (Take THAT, Candace Nelson!)

“As good as my Southern grandmother’s red velvets!” (I’ll take that compliment all day long, thankyouverymuch.) Continue reading

Adult Cupcakes with Stout and Chocolate

5 Feb

Sometimes, they're just too pretty to eat. That's a lie. No they're not. It just screams "Eat me!"

This one’s for my boys—Colin, Duncan and Alasdair—who came out to visit me just over a year ago while on a trip around California. Col and Dunk are two of my favorite people in the world, and Alasdair is right up there too. We got to know each other during my time in London; Colin and I would go to movies and dinner together while Dunk was off shooting another Channel 4 television programme. Yes, I spelled that the English way, thank you very much. Those are times I still cherish! When Dunc was in town we’d have dinner at each other’s houses or attend fabulous parties hosted by our various fabulous London friends, of whom I miss very much. Sigh…

I got to see Alasdair infrequently when he was in town from Switzerland, where he moved to be part of the World Health Organization. I think. All I know is that he is a doctor in great demand in places where AIDS is an epidemic. And on top of that he’s super fun.

Of course I had to invite them over for dinner, and because I’d been bragging so much about cupcakes, I made some for them. Cupcakes, until very recently, were not a popular treat over in the U.K. They are mainly an American thing, and when they do make them over there, they are small ones, mainly for children’s parties and they call them “fairy cakes“.

I like to call these “adult” or even “manly” cupcakes, because although they are small cakes with frosting on top, they have a flavor profile that caters to a more sophisticated palate. And The Husband says that the frosting tastes as good as his Nana used to make, and that’s good enough for me. Continue reading