The Evolving Homemaker

Yum.

Cupcake Wars have officially started in our house!  Since the kids and I LOVE the Food Network program, we have taken it upon ourselves to try and make fantabulous cupcakes every Tuesday over the summer!  So often I am in too much of a hurry to actually cook WITH the kids, this is giving us an excuse to take it slow and let the kids help as much as they want.

We had a solstice potluck to go to last week and I didn’t want to run to the store just for something to bring.  I sorta winged it with these recipes, as I hadn’t gone to the grocery store with recipe in hand or anything, and actually I had to find recipes that most closely resembled what I had in my house.  With that said, they still turned out quite delicious!

For the cupcake, I used this recipe here already adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe, and made a minor adjustment of my own.  Which makes me think I need a book titled How To Be A Domestic Goddess, which is evidently the book this blogger got the recipe from. Hmmm…40% coupon from Borders in my inbox this weekend might be put to use.  Who doesn’t need a book with THAT title?

My addition to the recipe was a half a bag of Cascadian Farms organic raspberries defrosted and added to the batter. For our first foray into from scratch cupcakes AND cupcake war pressure, plain vanilla wasn’t an option, not enough risk.  I wasn’t sure what would happen, but the batter was barely enough for 12 cupcakes WITH the raspberries added.  The cupcakes turned more of a purple color than red/pink, but they were pretty yummy nonetheless.

For the frosting, I used this recipe here from the Food Network.  I didn’t have any bakers chocolate, which I know I DID have, which has me wondering which little kid ate the Green & Blacks baking chocolate thinking it was a dark chocolate bar.  Eww.

So I substituted Dagoba organic unsweetened drinking chocolate powder instead.  It worked OK, there were a few tiny specks of powder spots left in the frosting, which was still super delicious.  So it wasn’t a failure, and next time hopefully I will have my baking chocolate bar when I need it!

Here they are ready to go to the party, and yes only eleven, we had to taste one to maker sure they were edible!  Lots of compliments from the party goers, and not a one was left to take home!

Enjoy and share any cupcake recipes you LOVE so we can try them in our adventures to cupcake-dom!

Ummm…breakfast.

My kids have taken lately to not liking cereal.  I buy some.  I pour it in a bowl.  I pour our delivered to the doorstep milk into it, only to have it sitting there three hours later with two spoonfuls taken out of it.  I tell you what, this new ‘we don’t like cereal’ stance is a pain in the booty.

Even on the busy mornings when we need to get out the door by 8 AM, I am needing to make toast or hard boiled eggs the day before.  Breakfast is supposed to be the easy meal of the day isn’t it?

So today, we had some muffins.  Thursday’s we actually have nothing on our schedule which is so lovely, and which means the kids can help make breakfast and Mom doesn’t want to hurry them along.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 C. flour

3 t. baking powder

4 T. sugar

4 T. melted and cooled butter

1 egg

1 C. milk

2/3 of a bag of Cascadian Farms frozen organic raspberries

handful of mini dark chocolate chips

~Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl, at the thawed or warmed raspberries, sprinkle with the dark chocolate chips.

~Bake for 15 minutes or so on 350.

~Eat and get your face all messy with melted chocolate first thing in the morning…make sure you have a handy cloth napkin to wipe your chocolaty hands and face!

Headed into the oven!  I added the chocolate at the last minute, it was a worthy addition.

Ready to eat and SO delicious!  I love the tart of the raspberries with the sweet of the tiny bit of chocolate on top, they went over rather well in the family too.  My pickiest eater ate TWO!

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