adventures in cup-caking!

since the boys on are their special diet, i no longer make boxed cakes/cupcakes.

i love walking through borders, and a while back- i had come across this book.

i exercised some serious self-control and did not purchase it (the first time).

i went back to borders with my friend (kim), showed it to her, and put it back on the shelf (self-control....two times now).

a week later, when both boys were in school and i had some time to kill, i went strolling through borders, found and looked through the book...and still....i put it back (third time now!).

finally, i could bear it no longer. i waited until i received an online coupon, i hustled the kids to the car, drove to the nearest borders, and snatched up martha stewart's cupcakes.

phew! finally.....i had it. i flipped through it many times for the following few days. i just couldn't decide which ones to make first.

i decided to make the snickerdoodle cupcakes. my friends (theresa and leah) were my guinea pigs and they [said they] loved them!! i found them quite delightful myself and all three of my boys loved them, too. they are light and fluffy and the frosting was delicious, too!

the second recipe i tried were the s'mores cupcakes. i was soooo excited to make these and take them camping! well, i must say....they were a bit of a disappointment. the cupcake tasted more like a thick and heavy muffin and the chocolate ganache and marshmallow creme (all from scratch...thank you very much!) weren't as sweet as i expected. after all the work, i decided to still take them to all our camping buddies. no one said they weren't good....but tommy and jessica did keep referring to them as muffins! ha....anyhow....i won't be making those again!

this past weekend, i made the brown sugar pound cakes (with brown butter frosting), and i got rave reviews! josh loved them, and he took a bunch to his coworkers- who loved them, too! i took some to leah and tommy...and tommy requested more.

well, tonight....i am hosting a coffee n' cupcake night for my bible study friends. last night, i made the cookies n' cream cheesecakes...and this morning, the boys and i snuck a taste. they are rich...and delicious!!

i just took the pumpkin brown butter cupcakes out of the oven (and i made cream cheese frosting for those)...and they smell wonderful!

later on today, i will be making the chocolate flourless cupcakes! i am so excited for my friends to taste test.

*did you see julie and julia? such a cute movie....where a girl decides to make every recipe in julia child's mastering the art of french cooking. i may just be the girl who decides to try every cupcake in martha's book!! maybe she'll call me and invite me onto her show...and...oh, who am i kidding???....i would rather die than be on tv!

well, friends....

it wouldn't be my blog if this post wasn't long winded and full of information you really didn't need! i am not even sure what the point of this post is??? i guess it's to tell you that you should go out and snag yourself a copy of this book.

while some of the recipes are labor intensive and require things such as kitchen torches and candy thermometers, and refer to things like the "soft ball stage" and "firm ball stage" (who knew that cooking involved sports?! see, i can even call it exercise!).....i believe that the finished product is well worth the time spent in the kitchen. i am finding that i truly enjoy baking and cooking....and i am 100% convinced that "food" is the 6th love language!! okay...that's a whole 'nutha post!

happy cup-caking........