Springtime Cupcakes!

I'll let you in on a little secret - when I make cupcakes, I often use a cake mix.

SHOCK AND AWE!

I know, I know, it's a cheat but I just figure it's cheaper than raw ingredients and they rarely ever fail. The key to making it not just taste like a typical boring cupcake is to add new ingredients to it to make it unique.

Like....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I haven't had marshmallow fluff since I was a wee child. It's full of horrible sugar and it's AMAZING! I can see myself using Fluff for more cupcakes in the future. Perhaps S'mores cupcakes?

Here's my recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.

Cupcakes
1 box white cake mix
4 egg whites
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk plus 3/4 tablespoon lemon juice*)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Filling
1 cup marshmallow cream
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 cup icing sugar

Icing
500 ml whipping cream
1 tbsp strawberry flavoured gelatin powder
1 cup icing sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º and place liners in cupcake tray.

2. In mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except cake mix. Blend well. Sift in cake mix to ensure no lumps of mix will be in the cakes. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Try not to over mix.

3. Fill cake liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.


*if you do not have buttermilk, you can substitute it for 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 tbsp of lemon juice. You should prepare this mixture 10 minutes before starting the recipe as you need to give the milk time to sour.


Once the cakes have cooled, cut a piece out of each one for the filling. I happen to have a rad cupcake tray that bakes each one with a hollow centre from the get-go. It saves on time and each one looks perfect!

4. Combine all ingredients for the filling. Spoon into hollow cake centres.

I love the use of vanilla bean paste in baked goods. I love the look of the speckled vanilla beans throughout the food. I find it appealing.

5. Whip cream until hard peaks form. Add gelatin and icing sugar.

6. Pipe whipped cream onto cupcakes just before serving and garnish with a strawberry.


I brought 15 of these to a friend's place last night. There were six of us and they were eaten in about an hour or so. Impressive!

I'm moving once again...in just under two weeks! I'm looking forward to it. Closer to the city and work, and I'll be living alone once again. My crafting time may be lessened in the next couple of weeks but it'll be worth it.


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Mmm...mmm...awesome!

We're in the middle of a soup kick at my house. In the last three weeks I've made a tomato chicken soup, beef, quinoa & barley soup and a split pea soup but my favourite has been the Italian sausage and tortellini soup. It's rich, filling and delicious. Try it!

Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup

3 links sweet italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
5 cups beef stock
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup corn
1 green pepper, diced
8 oz cheese or beef tortellini
chopped parsley

I started by removing the sausage from casings and browned it in sauté pan for about 10 minutes. Drain most of the fat but leave a bit to sauté the onions and garlic in. Next add the beef stock, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming any fat that may surface. Finally, add the rest of the ingredients and let cook for another 10 minutes or until the tortellini is cooked. Now eat.

We actually made double the recipe and have been eating this soup for days. Normally if I make this much soup in one go, I would freeze half of it but I figure the tortellini would soak up all the liquid and would become huge and soggy.
 **** Come visit my new site at www.thecraftinista.com ****

Cupcakes, birds, hats, kitties, snow and even more snow!

Ahhhh....time for some updates!

Nova Scotia has not seen this much snow in years. It seems like we've been dumped on by snow at least once a week. By the time we recover from one Nor'ester, it seems like another one is just around the corner!

The upside to all of the snow? Sledding! Although I went once about two years ago, it ended in a disaster. My first run down the hill resulted in me crashing, using my face as a brake and suffering a concussion. This time was a success though - no injuries and fun was had by everyone. And we went at night, which is fantastic for two reasons -

1. No small children. I always fear I'm going to run one of them over. Plus, they always show me up by never falling off their sled and they can go further than I can. They are tiny, little jerks I tell you!
2. Halifax is really pretty at night


Next update - my family has gotten larger! Don't get too excited though - I just got a new cat. My friend Angel found a tiny, malnourished cat outside of her apartment building a few weeks ago and I took her in as my own. Her name is Vega Bond! Although she's pretty cute and likes to snuggle a whole lot, she's finding it hard to adjust to The Captain and Weeze but she's getting there. And she likes to shred toilet paper...all the time. Hopefully she'll grow out of this.


Now for a few craft updates! I've made a few things recently but am behind on what I was to complete. I've started a lot of projects, but as per usual, am having a hard time completing them. I need to buckle down and get to to work.

First up, I made a pretty simple striped hat with a flower. The pattern for the flower can be found in one of the Stitch 'N Bitch books, The Happy Hooker.


I also whipped up a cute little amigurumi bird sometime last week. I found the pattern for a set of Love Birds on the Lion Brand website and made one but never got around to making the second. Click here to find the pattern but you will need to be logged into their site.


Tomorrow I am heading to a potluck at a friend's place and I decided to make cupcakes. It's been awhile since I made them, mostly because when I do bake them, I can't eat just one - I eat like five. And oddly enough, when you're trying to lose weight, eating 5 cupcakes doesn't help! I made up a batch of cookies and cream cupcakes with and vanilla bourbon buttercream frosting. They turned out pretty friggin' awesome. Can anyone say "Nom nom nom"? Oh wait, I can! Nom NOM NOOOOM!


 **** Come visit my new site at www.thecraftinista.com ****