missing you

I woke up this morning, turned the TV on and they were playing "One Love" by Bob Marley as background music for a show. It's funny because the whole time we were in Jamaica, this is the one song we heard pretty much all the time. I guess it made me miss A even more. He's in Montreal for the weekend for a gig and I'm home alone. It's only three days but it feels much more than that. It's the first time we've ever really been "separated" since we got married.

I still can't believe it's been almost a year.

A singing a cover of Why Georgia.

heavenly butterscotch cupcakes

So amazed with how these butterscotch cupcakes turned out. And yes, they are truly heavenly!

Next project: White chocolate truffle. Yum!

mango cupcakes and sugar cookies

So I had my first cupcake pops order =). I did say it was going to take a lot for me to try and do these again. It was a lot of fun but took up lots of time to make. I had made individual labels which made these perfect giveaways or addition to your traditional loot bags.

I haven't made cookies in years and even then, I usually make the plain, non-decorated ones like peanut butter cookies or shortbread cookies. I'm experimenting on sugar cookies using cookie cutters. And of course, even after a couple of batches, I still wasn't too happy with the way the dough formed although they didn't come out quite as bad as I thought they would. Excuse the burnt edges though; I am but a humble beginner cookie maker.

The only thing that made me happy about this batch is the "pink loves chocolate" theme.

And finally, another experiment making mango cupcakes. Not so happy with the way it turned out although they tasted amazing and the whipped mango cream topping was delicious. I guess I imagined it to rise a little bit and it didn't for some reason. I have to keep experimenting. The ones with the white icing is actually royal icing I made from scratch which was amazingly easy to work with.

I'm still not happy with these but there's always room for more experiments =)

cupcake pops

In search for unique and inspiring cupcake recipes and ideas, I've come across an innovative and creative baker, the amazing Bakerella. She created these amazing cupcake pops and I've been meaning to try these for awhile now. Of course, mine did not turn out as beautiful as hers but what the hey! The step-by-step directions can be seen here.

As it turns out, it's very difficult to form cupcake like moulds without the flowery cookie cutter that Bakerella used.

here's all of them =)

I also made cupcake bites. Dipping them were quite a challenge! You can tell from the messy outcome!

I'm so amazed by the amount of hard work, thought and patience put into creating these little things and I could only hope I would have an ounce of patience enough to make these again because they are amazingly delicious!

super mario cupcakes and more!

My nieces are visiting from Delaware and I made some cupcakes.

vanilla cupcakes with strawberry buttercream & chocolate icing

This reminds me of the beach. I love cocktail umbrellas!

A bought me a caramel apple from Rocky Mountain on his way home from work.

Without the wrapping. This is chocolate toffee

Cross section

thomas train cupcakes

I made some cupcakes for a birthday party over the weekend and I'd like to share some pictures. I've been experimenting a lot with fondant and it's so much fun being able to create these little things. Thanks to my sister for hooking me up with these amazing opportunities.

haha sorry. The bee makes me happy =)

I did say the theme is Thomas, the tank engine =) My talented husband made this. He said it looks more like Nanalan though.

The flavours are dark chocolate and that green looking one is actually strawberry flavoured. I added a touch of blue food colour hoping to create a light blue cupcake and yet, they somehow turned green. Finally, here's all 42 of them =)

back to life, back to reality...

We're back from our short-but-definitely-worth-it trip to the beautiful island of Jamaica. I have tons of pictures to edit and share plus a few underwater goodness courtesy of the cutest addition to our gears, the underwater case for Canon G9. It's crazy and costs as much as a good enough point-and-shoot but still! Look how cute!

What makes it even more amazing is the fun we had being able to take pictures while snorkeling. It will be very popular in our future Caribbean trips as well =)

I also want to share some pictures from our crazy caramel weekend. Without further ado, here are some pictures of the caramel apple project we thought would never end!

I had a lot of fun making them but 150 may be a tad too much for the first time! I'm so glad however, that I was able to do them in such a short period of time. Thanks to my mom and A for staying up late, helping me decorate the apples. I hope they served their purpose at the party.

Here is the recipe for the caramel I made from scratch. And before attempting to make them, I suggest you get a candy thermometer! Good luck!

Caramel Apples

granny smith apples

for the caramel:

1/2 kg of dark brown sugar

1 can of condensed milk

1 cup of unsalted butter

1 2/3 cups of corn syrup

2 tablespoons of vanilla

toppings:

candy sprinkles

oreo cookie crumbs

cinnamon sugar (a mixture of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar)

toffee bits

chopped nuts

mini chocolate bits

semi sweet chocolate and white chocolate for re dipping and drizzling

shredded coconuts

tools

a trusty candy thermometer

measuring cups

popsicle sticks or candy dowels

muffin or cupcake wrappers

wax paper and baking sheets

a small sauce pan

(My customized instructions after making almost 12 batches of caramel!)

Mix all the ingredients for the caramel apples in a metal saucepan and simmer (?) under medium-low heat. Keep stirring the mixture and make sure to scrape the sides of the saucepan to prevent burning. Bring mixture to a boil slowly increasing to medium-high heat, still stirring frequently. With your candy thermometer, wait till the temperature of the caramel reaches up to 236 F. Remove the saucepan from the heat and wait till it cools slightly to 200 F.

Dip the apple into the caramel, holding the apple by the popsicle stick. Slowly lift the apple out of the caramel letting the excess drip off back into the pot of caramel. Twirling the apple gently will help to remove excess caramel. Place apple on a prepared baking sheet. If the caramel thickens too quickly, place under low heat.

To add the toppings, wait at least 20-30 minutes to allow the caramel to set and dip the apples to the desired topping. Another option is to melt some semi sweet chocolate and then rolling the apples in chopped nuts, for example, to add a different flavour and texture to your caramel apples. White chocolate goes well with shredded coconut while the simplest and easiest topping is probably rolling your caramel apples in cinnamon sugar.

Take some pictures of your apples, place it in the fridge and enjoy! Good for at least 7 days or more =)

caramel apples

After almost three months of planning and designing, I'm done with jen's invites! They just have to be put together and they're ready to go. I just feel sad I will be parting with them soon....

I have two more invitation projects coming so off to designing I will be again in the next few weeks. Anyway, someone asked me today if I can make caramel apples. Bought some supplies at the market and look what I got!

messy, I know! haha. but still. not bad for a first try =P

I still need to practice on my decorating skills but I'm so glad I tried these. Awesome idea for dessert =)

when all else fails...

...make more room for cupcakes! I'm kind of feeling down about something but I just can't think about it anymore and so, I bake. Anyway, in light of the depressing air brought about by attempting to do our taxes this weekend, I also have something to look forward to in April that I can't tell you just yet. I will post pictures. =P

Cupcakes of last weekend for a 25th birthday party. Classic red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

I woke up early this morning for these.

Thomas, the tank engine!

A sampling of chocolate caramel cupcakes for a birthday party in April. I had so much fun making them!