Hair Ornament

I made this hair ornament last night. It took about 3 hrs. I wonder how much this would retail for, and if I should take up a part-time job doing this kind of thing...

Health Mushroom coaster/scrubbie

I made my brother a Mario Health Mushroom scrubbie. I think he'll use it as a coaster, as he's still in uni, so my guess is that "washing" dishes for him solely refers to "throwing out the pizza box".

GIANT Cupcake

What a behemoth!

Using a Wilton Giant Cupcake pan, I made - you guessed it - a giant cupcake! Though tasty, it was kind of hard to bake because the two pieces of the cake were essentially equidimensional. Who thought the heat transfer equation would be so handy when domesticating myself?

Irish Cake Bombs

I made some yummy cupcakes for the office for St. Patrick's day!

 

They are Guinness chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's Irish buttercream.

I tweaked the recipes from two blogs that I found on Food Gawker.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes (Makes 24)

Recipe courtesy of: Nook and Pantry

2 C unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 C Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C granulated sugar
1/2 C light or dark brown sugar
4 oz./1/2 C unsalted softened butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg
1/2 C sour cream
1 12 fl. oz. bottle/1 1/2 C Guinness or stout beer

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or line with paper cups 2x12 count muffin tins.

In a large bowl briefly whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add one egg and beat until evenly mixed and fluffy, make sure to scrape down the mixer bowl once in a while. Add the second egg and vanilla extract and beat again until light and fluffy.

Add the sour cream and beat in, then with the mixer running, slowly pour in the Guinness.

Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and slowly stir the batter until it is evenly mixed and there are no streaks of flour. Make sure to stop the mixer frequently to scrape down the sides and make sure to mix up any flour pockets hidden on the bottom of the bowl.

Divide 1/4 C of batter into each muffin cup, you’ll get more than 24 medium cupcakes. The batter doesn't rise very much, so you can be pretty generous with the portions in each cup. (I made 16 medium cupcakes and 8 large cupcakes with one batch).

Bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for 20 – 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake in the middle of the pan should come out clean.

For layer cakes: baking 25 – 30 minutes; a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes should come out clean.

Bailey's Irish Buttercream Icing

Recipe tweaked from: Savory Sweet Life

1 cup butter (2 stickers or 1/2 pound), softened

4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream (for medium consistency buttercream)

Instructions:

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed.

Reduce to low speed, and slowly add confectioner's sugar  and beat until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter.

Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and Bailey's and beat for for 3 minutes. 

Add confectioner's sugar to stiffen, add more Bailey's to thin/intoxicate.