Vanilla pudding cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie frosting

Probably the last post of 2013, so let's make it a good one! My New Year's resolution is to start experimenting more with my own baking recipes, so why get a head start on that today?

Neapolitan-ish Christmas Tree Cupcakes

I'm so excited - I have so many new baking toys to play with this holiday season and I can't wait to try them out and see what can be created with them!

Green Tea Swiss Meringue Buttercream

When people ask me what my go-to baking recipe is, I tell them it's my red bean mochi cupcakes. They have a unique chewy texture because of the rice flour, and the red bean/green tea flavors complement each other well. Each time I make them, I'm finding out something new that improves the cupcakes.

Chocolate chip cookies filled with peppermint bark!

Yes, I baked two days in a row. And yes, I am baking tomorrow night as well, which means it'll be three days in a row. I may have a slight addiction to baking. The baking aisle is the first place I seek out when I step foot into a store. I think about recipe ideas while I'm working out at the gym. I feel weird if I go a week without baking. Is there a Bakers Anonymous? Admitting it is the first step to recovery, right?

Snowmen red velvet cake pops!

I started watching Doctor Who about a year ago and since then, have completely fallen in love with the show. When Nine regenerated, I was heartbroken - he was my first doctor and didn't want to see him go. And then I started watching Ten and slowly grew to like him - and then Ten regenerated, and I was heartbroken all over again. It's taken me awhile to accept Eleven, and of course, the second that I started to really love him, Matt Smith announces that he's leaving the show, meaning that I'm going to go through this all over again.

Kitchenaid Mixer and 3D Cookie Cutters = Gingerbread presents!

So my long-awaited Kitchenaid Mixer arrived this weekend (thanks Mom and Dad!) and I could not be more excited! Oh wait, yes I could be...if I wasn't sick, I'd have more energy to be excited and bake endless batches of cupcakes and cookies. Unfortunately, my head was hurting and I felt weak all weekend, so all I could manage was one measly batch of gingerbread cookies made into present boxes.

Hamburger Cupcakes!

Deceiving, isn't it? 

It's absolutely freezing in my house right now. The roommates and I are pretty sure the heater is broken, and hopefully we can get it fixed soon before we all freeze to death in our sleeps. Yes, I know I live in California, where winter doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean it can't get ridiculously cold at night. We've already blown out the power a few times from use of our individual space heaters (it tripped twice during the writing of this post), so at this point, it's bundle up and curl up in a tight ball in bed.

Thanksgiving Break

Crab ravioli!

This year, I am thankful for my family, my ten-year-old puppy, my friends, my awesome project at work, and my new Kitchenaid Mixer (!!!) that should be arriving in a few weeks! (Trust me, when that happens, it will get its own inaugural blog post).

Lebkuchen - German Christmas Cookie

Happy Holidays! (One month early...)

My work offers free German classes (we do a lot of business overseas), so I've been taking advantage of that the past few weeks. The class meets only twice a week,  so I haven't learned too much, but of course, I know how to say the important things, like "I bake cookies" or how to write a shopping list in German for a cupcake recipe.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Chocolate Bars

According to Pinterest, the key is STACKING YOUR GOODS SKY HIGH

I love living in San Francisco. There's just always something interesting and unique to do in this city - just this last weekend, I participated in Journey to the End of the Night, which is basically a giant game of zombies/tag throughout the city. If you happened to be in the area Saturday night and suddenly saw two thousand people running for their lives, don't worry, the world wasn't ending. We were just being being ten years old again - and it was awesome!

Reese's Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies

One thing I get commonly asked about my baking is: "Why aren't you 500 pounds?"

Happy Halloween - with owl cupcakes! :)

A few of my owls seem to be sleep deprived. 

Over the last year, I've come to slowly realize that I might really love owls. There's that Hedwig necklace that I have, along with the snowy owl Build-a-Bear I got for my birthday in college. OH and that awesome "Doctor Hoo" shirt I bought on an impulse. There's also the fact that I tend to gravitate towards owl-themed items, like these owl teacups that I really want. Maybe it's because owls have been trending in fashion and art in the past few years, enhancing my love for them.

Halloween/Fall Themed Baking

Why yes, that is a giant spider in the cobweb flowers

My house had a Halloween party this past weekend, which for me means, another opportunity to go crazy with the baking.

Butterscotch cookies!

COOKIES. That is all. 

Current status: food coma.

By request: peanut butter chocolate butterscotch brownies

After consistently baking once or twice a week, I've become known as "that girl who bakes." Part of the responsibility that comes with that title is that people start requesting certain recipes. I actually don't mind taking requests - I enjoy trying to make new things and it really does save me the trouble of figuring out what the baking project of the week is going to be.

Basically: SUGAR!

My roommate posted this recipe onto my Facebook wall the other day for Brownie Peanut Butter Magic Bars and it looked so good, so clearly, I had to try it. It was really quite simple - brownie crust with a peanut butter chocolate in the middle and a condensed milk layer drizzled on top for heavenly sugary goodness.

A little bit of everything - custard tarts!

Green: green tea; Yellow - maple; Orange - pumpkin,
Speckled black - poppy seed

So today I was chatting with my friend online when he tells me "Hey, you should check out Cookie Clicker!" It's this site where you click on a cookie and then use the cookies you collect to buy upgrades to help you click on the cookie faster. My initial reaction was "Um....yeah. This is stupid." Five minutes later, I was like "HOW DO I GET MORE COOKIES?"

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I used to think that seasons back home in Minnesota were messed up - bitterly cold winters and super hot summers, with a few measly weeks of spring and fall in between. Then I moved to San Francisco and realized that seasons basically don't even exist here. I've lived here for a year already and without seasons or a summer break, time passes strangely - everything just kind of melds together.

Chocolate fudge cookies

Chocolate cookie pyramid - the best kind of pyramid

The month of September has been hectic - between Omaha/Sioux Falls, Monterey, Yosemite, and Tahoe, I've barely had a weekend just to chill out and relax. Luckily for me, October looks to be much more laid back, starting with this weekend. A fun Friday night in the city followed by a relaxing Saturday eating at my favorite places in SF, enjoying the amazing warm weather. Had lunch at Pakwan, my favorite Indian food place in the Mission (love their chicken tikka masala), followed by ice cream at Bi Rite Creamery (their ginger ice cream that they have right now is amazing - like a gingersnap in a cone). Attempted to do "work" outside on the patio, but really got distracted by the weather. Rode on the back of a motorcycle up to Grub for dinner (best mac 'n cheese bar in the city, hands down), followed up a second trip to Bi Rite because the weather simply allowed for two ice cream trips in one day.

Baking Double Feature - Maple Cookies and Poppy Seed Rolls!

Maple cookies - perfect for fall!

Whenever I bring my baked goods into work, I always have an irrational fear that no one will eat any of it and that there will be tons leftover for me to deal with. Every single time, my fears are proved ridiculous, with the cookies and cupcakes disappearing usually before lunch. This week was no different: I brought a dozen and a half of chewy maple brown sugar cookies into the office and within three hours of me setting them down, they were all gone.

Cupcake Challenge Accepted! (Dairy-free molten lava cupcakes)

Not a traditional molten lava cake, but the
 filling mimics the molten core of a usual cake!

This past weekend, some of my crazier athletically capable friends ran the Tough Mudder event in Lake Tahoe. Basically, they impressively braved tons of ridiculous obstacles - ice-cold water, electrical shocks, walls, barbed wire, and mud - for five hours. I myself didn't participate (mud and shocks aren't my thing), but I did come with them up to the cabin in Tahoe. I thought it would be nice to bake something for them to celebrate finishing the race, which led me to create the Tough Mudder Cupcake!

The cupcake that started it all: red bean mochi cupcakes with green tea frosting

Besides baking, watching TV is another one of my guilty hobbies - and fall TV is finally here! Last night was the premiere of How I Met Your Mother's final season. Like many others, I definitely noticed a drop in quality over the seasons, but I really enjoyed the back-to-back premiere episodes. I have high hopes that the writers will bring their A-game for the final season and end the show on a good note!

Chocolate marshmallow peanut butter Nutella cupcakes!

The finished product!

When I bake, I usually follow a recipe I found on Pinterest or modify an existing recipe to suit my needs, but I do eventually want to get to the point when I can make up my own stuff. This is my first attempt at doing that - cupcakes for my housewarming party! Basically my starting point for making these cupcakes was What are things people like to eat? Then I put those things into one cupcake. Hence, the chocolate/marshmallow/peanut butter/Nutella creation that resulted!

Strawberry & Cream Bars!

I'm surprised these I even had the time to make these tonight. I'm flying out to a wedding tomorrow, so I've been trying to close out several reports for work before tomorrow, on top of hip-hop class, our first weekly roommie dinner (roommate made awesomely spicy curry, by the way), and packing for my trip. Somehow I was able to squeeze baking in there - and have it turn out well! (Granted, I'm also writing this blog while I should be writing my report, but there's still time for everything...)

Zwetschgendatschi - German Plum Cake

Had another friend's birthday over Labor Day weekend, and instead of the Nutella dessert I originally had in mind, I decided to try something a little different. Zwetschgendatschi is a traditional German plum cake and learning how to pronounce its name (ts-vetch-kin-dah-chee) was probably harder than actually making it. The recipe uses Italian prune plums, which are currently in season, so I figured it would be the perfect time to try making this.

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies!

Looks simple, but TASTES SO GOOD

Last week, my new roommates and I took a trip to Costco to stock up on all the necessities...we ended up buying so much that my car had trouble accelerating on the drive home.

Baking Week!

Surprise! :)

It's been a busy week - between trying to finish up my project at work and new roommates moving in, I also signed myself up for FOUR baking projects this week. The original plan was to write a blog post for each of the projects throughout the week, but again with all the week's craziness, I haven't gotten a chance to write a word. Instead, I'm going to condense them all into this one post.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Looks ordinary, but tastes different!

Back to the basics this week! It has been a pretty tiring week so far, so I decided to make simple - but delicious! - chocolate chip cookies.

Ice Cream Cone Brownies

Looks like ice cream? 

Two baking experiments in one week? It's been a good week.

Like I said in my last post, I've been watching way too much Cupcake Wars lately and saw someone make cupcakes in ice cream cone cups, complete with frosting to look like ice cream. I instantly thought I HAVE TO TRY THAT. It also happened to be my roommate's birthday party this weekend, so I thought it would be the perfect birthday dessert for him.

Cinnamon Apple Pie Cupcakes - with Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream!

Can't see the apple filling, but it's definitely there and delicious!

So Wednesdays have become my favorite night of the week. I go to my fun hip-hop class at the gym, dance for an hour, and then come home, throw on the latest Pretty Little Liars from last night, and bake away!

My Favorite 15 Things from the Renegade Craft Fair

(Back) Peanut Butter Jelly Time! (Front) Apple Pie a la Mode

So I've developed a rather nasty cough this past weekend, forcing me to put my weekly baking on hold. I did have a great weekend though and have decided to write about that instead!

Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry center

Strawberry surprise!

What's better than a chocolate covered strawberry? How about a chocolate cupcake covered strawberry?

Microwavable Mochi

MOCHI! (These were the ones that turned out the best-looking)

I saw the most amazing spread of desserts at a buffet this past weekend when I was in Vegas - cupcakes, cookies, cakes, tarts, even a Jelly Belly candy dispenser! I wish I took a picture of it, but I was too busy grabbing a bit of everything. The cupcakes especially were an inspiration - chocolate cupcakes are definitely on the list to bake for the near future!

First Post - Brooksters

Half cookie. Half brownie. 100% amazing!

For my inaugural post, I present a delicious hybrid of two favorite desserts: the Brookster.