Perfect vanilla cupcakes with Nutella butter cream frosting

Every female needs a little black dress. And every baker needs a vanilla cake recipe.
Dear reader, I have found my vanilla cake recipe.
It took three tries and three different sources, but I hit on a recipe that I do believe will be my go-to vanilla cake recipe.
I discovered the recipe in my new favorite book, Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook. I love this book. I love the cover. I love the pictures. And, most of all, I love the recipes! Each one I've tried so far has been a success. And now I do believe it has even given me a staple of my culinary aresinal - the perfect vanilla cake batter.
I broke out a new addition to my kitchen to create these little vanilla cupcake creations. The stand mixer has now taken a prominent place on my kitchen counter. I'm enjoying just looking at it (and baking with it, of course). I feel so truly culinary now that I own and use a  stand mixer. Before I was just a wanna-be, now I'm one step closer to a legitimate baker. I am baking and I have the equipment to prove it!
Well, not just the equipment - I have cupcakes, too. Little, perfectly white, perfectly rounded cupcakes to show that I have learned something about baking in these past forty-some recipes. I've learned not to overbeat cake batter. I've learned that butter, when softened, shouldn't be at all melted but should be tender to the touch. I've learned that for most all cakey creations eggs need to be at room temperature. I've learend that measuring flour is a science that requires precision and attention to detail. Too much flour or too little flour can throw off an entire recipe. I've learned that convection for baking doesn't always produce the greatest of results. Best to stick with classic bake.
And I've learned that the more you bake, the more you learn about baking. I used to think baking was as easy as following a list of steps in the right order. Oh how wrong I was! There is so much more than good following of directions when it comes to successful baking. Just like anything truly exceptional, baking takes practice, patience and a lot of time in the kitchen.

To try out the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe check out The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook. In it you'll find a staple for your pastry repertoire.
Now as for that little black dress you're on your own. I suggest a shopping trip to TJ Maxx or Marshalls. But that's just me. After all, I'm just a wanna-be baker, not a wanna-be personal shopper!



PS... I topped my cupcakes with Nutella butter cream frosting from Sally's Baking Addiction.

Honey Roasted Peaches with Yogurt & Granola

Stuffed food is fun. How's that for deep and philosophical? It may be a simple, rather elementary statement, but let's face it, it's true! Who doesn't love food stuffed in another type of food? Stuffed peppers, stuffed cupcakes, stuffed tomatoes, stuffed sandwiches! In America we enjoy our food stuffed. I've even seen people stuff raspberries. Friends, that is not for the faint of heart. Raspberries are fragile and I can't imagine that stuffing them is an easy task. I have yet to take on such a feat and tonight I'm not about to try.
I am, on the other hand, going to do some stuffing of my own this evening. For me I'm choosing a larger stuffing vessel to give my two diners a more abundant filling. Dainty eaters can stick to their raspberries but in my kitchen tonight we're going big and we're going peachy!
You may be sick of peaches by now but it's summer peach season and I'm making hay while the sun shines….or baking peaches while they're in season. You get the point.
The idea for stuffed peaches came from something deeper than an affinity for stuffed food. Sure stuffed food is eye catching and almost entertaining but when I thought about what to bake tonight I started thinking on a different kind of filling and a different kind of vessel. My thoughts wandered to what I stuff myself with - and I'm not talking food. What am I really filling myself with? Am I loading on good, positive and beneficial influences? Or am I focusing on destructive fillings that cast a dark shadow on my mood and outlook on life?
Everyone is stuffed with something - be it good or bad, positive or negative. Our stuffing is bound to seep out of us and affect and influence our lives and the people in it. So we must choose our stuffing wisely. If we fill up on the destructive it only makes sense that negativity and destruction will flow from us. But if we stuff ourselves with good things, Godly things, we will shine a light that reflects Christ.
I want my peaches stuffed with oats, pecans, cinnamon and honey and I want my life stuffed with scripture, truth, joy and peace. Thankfully I get to choose what I bake in the kitchen and what I bake up in my life. I get to choose the stuffing and tonight I'm choosing to fill my life to the overflowing with all things sweet, beautiful and absolutely wonderful!

To make your own stuffed peaches is really quite simple. Here's what I did:
1. Make a batch of granola. For mine I used a cup of rolled oats, about a 1/3 cup pecans, 2 T butter (melted), 2 T honey, vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste. I tossed that altogether to coat and then spread it out on a baking sheet and baked it for about 30 minutes at 300 degrees, tossing and moving around every 10 minutes or so. I find making granola works best if it is not at all crowded on the sheet. Oats like their personal space. When the granola is turning golden remove it from the oven and let it cool (it will continue to brown on the sheet).
2. Now to the peaches. Preheat the oven to 350 and get to slicing your peach(s). Put the peaches skin sound down in a pan conducive to roasting. In the cavity of the peach put in a tab of putter and a bit of honey (the amount you use will depend on how sweet you want your peach). Pop your peaches in the oven and bake until bubbly but not burnt (about 25 minutes).
3. Remove peaches and let cool a few minutes before topping with vanilla yogurt, a dash of cinnamon and a couple TB of the granola.
4. Serve to hungry guests!

Bananas Foster Baby (Toddler) Cakes

Baking for two is a challenge. Good thing I like challenges.
Baking typically yields large quantities. Cookies are baked up in the dozens. Cupcake recipes make at last twelve to fifteen cute little treats. An average sized cake feeds way more than two people. But this week I'm baking for just two so my goal is to not only create tantalizing treats but to do it without creating a lot of waste and leftover sugary confections.
Searching for help to successfully overcome this challenge I stumbled across a blog called "Desserts for Two." Can you say perfect? The recipes are all geared towards the baker who wants to bake for a small crowd, usually a crowd of two. The best part is that almost all of her recipes are from scratch. For me from scratch is a must. I am bucking the Betty Crocker. I am denying the convenience of boxes and mixes. Even canned caramel is off limits.
Desserts for Two guided my baking experiment tonight. I asked my Mom to give me two ingredients to include in the dessert (a not-so-intimidating version of Chopped) and she came up with sour cream and pecans. After searching for a dessert including those two "mystery" ingredients that would be fit for two I came across Bananas Foster Baby Cakes. The name alone was enough to make me want to bake it. The pictures just sealed the deal.
I made some fundamental changes to the recipe. Number one I didn't use any rum. I subbed vanilla extract instead. Secondly I didn't bake them in mini muffin tin. I didn't have one on hand. All I had was a regular muffin tin so I made my "baby cakes" into "toddler cakes." Third, I used half greek yogurt and half sour cream (I had to include that mystery ingredient) to the cake itself. Lastly, I don't know how long I baked them. I believe it was more like fifteen minutes rather than the instructed ten. Since my baby cakes were bigger than babies they required a bit more baking then their smaller cake counterparts.
These Banana Foster Cakes were a big hit. Both Mom and Dad love them and raved about their moist, light texture. I do believe the words, "melt in your mouth" were used. If you want to make two dessert lovers speechless I suggest trying out this recipe. They'll be a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds!

Recipe adapted from http://www.dessertfortwo.com/2014/02/bananas-foster-baby-cakes/

Blueberry Bread Pudding (Dad's Bread Pudding)

One of my Dad's favorite desserts is bread pudding. It goes back to his days as a child growing up on a family farm. His Aunt was the cook in the family and bread pudding was one of her signature dishes.

This week of vacation has had me thinking about how hard my Dad works to provide for our family. He is the hardest worker I know and an extremely generous Father. As a thank you to my Dad I decided to bake something in his honor. Enter: bread pudding. To top off the luscious treat I decided to add blueberries, my Dad's favorite fruit. This dessert creation truly earns the name, "Dad's Bread Pudding."

For the recipe I turned again to the Bing machine which led me to Allrecipes and Bread Pudding II (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-Pudding-II/?scale=6&ismetric=0). 

Here's what I did with the recipe:

First of all I cut the recipe in half. At least I'm trying to work on portion control for my parental diners!

Secondly, I didn't have day old bread so I went to the store and bought cinnamon swirl bread (definitely would recommend for this recipe). I then removed five pieces (more than half but these pieces were small!), placed them on a cookie sheet and heated them for about five minus at 350 to remove some of the moisture from the bread. This is a good little trick if you need stale bread but don't have any on hand. 

The third change I made was the raisins. I didn't use them. Instead I used blueberries as I mentioned earlier. 

My last change was the amount of sugar used. I used about a 1/4 cup. When I cut the recipe in half it called for a big more sugar but it felt like overkill so I just stuck with the 1/4 cup. 

The result of my blueberry, cinnamon, bread creation with my slight alternations was a treat for the noise as well as the taste buds. The whole condo smelled like a cinnamon bun. The top bubbled and caramelized to a perfect golden brown. 

The picture below does not do this dessert justice. The dessert was impressive. This picture is anything but. You'll just have to take my word for it, bake this bread pudding and your guests (parents, friends, hungry neighbors) will love it. If they're anything like my two diners this evening, they'll have no trouble cleaning their plates. They might even ask for seconds!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Certain foods and the scents they produce can be real life time machines. Take, for example, white cake with chocolate frosting. When I smell a simple white cake baking in the oven coupled with the sweet aroma of whipped butter, cream cheese and chocolate I am taken back to my childhood grade school days.
Some days I would come home from school and, for no particular reason, my Mom would have a yellow cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting warm out of the oven (she never could wait for the cake to cool entirely before frosting). Mom didn't need a birthday or a big celebration to bake a cake.
Today in Northern Pennsylvania the air had a crisp chill and a breeze that seemed to whisper, "fall is coming." I could practically smell freshly sharpened pencils and hear school buses picking up loads of children weighed down with ridiculously heavy backpacks. The school year is about to come and the weather is preparing children and parents for the coming change in daily routine.
It only seemed fitting that I follow the lead of God's changing seasons and bake the treat that takes me back to my own school experience. I tweaked the memory just slightly. Instead of a two layer cake I baked cupcakes. Still the scent was just the same as I remember. When I opened the oven I was transported back to elementary school. I remembered how the best part of my days as a school girl was always walking back through my front door into the safety, security and comfort of home. Home truly has always been sweet. Sometimes it was extra sweet because of the cake in the oven but it didn't need dessert to be the place that warmed my heart. Home has always sweet because of the love shared within its walls.
So here's to home, freshly baked cake and sweet memories.
Childhood passes but the memories don't need to fade. All you have to do is bake up a cake or a cookie or whatever treat takes you back to days gone by. By simply stepping back into the kitchen, putting on an apron and baking up something sweet you, too, can go on a journey in your own personal time machine. Who knew so much could be experienced while simply baking a batch of basic vanilla cupcakes?

To try out a vanilla cupcake recipe with chocolate cream cheese frosting visit Glorious Treats at http://www.glorioustreats.com/2011/07/perfect-vanilla-cupcakes-recipe.html.