Carrot Cake Cupcakes!

For the sake of making my Matt happy, I decided to make his favorite dessert... carrot cake, in cupcake form. The recipe comes from Flo Braker's "Baking for All Occasions". The cake is moist, with a good amount of carrots! Hmmm..... not only yummy, but a good source of vitamin C. The frosting is fantastic. A traditional cream cheese frosting with a twist of citrus. I'm quite happy with the turnout. By the way, the basil plant lovingly nestled behind the cupcakes is not the original seedlings posted earlier. The seedlings did not grow...... they just went to the trash....

For the love of Cheescake

My first cheesecake. I decided to make the ricotta cheesecake from Martha Stewart's " Baking Handbook" What was supposed to be an easy cake to make, i found pretty difficult. Mine (above) kind of got squashed while transporting from pan to rack, so it's not as pretty as hers (below)

but man was it good! Sorry, didn't take it for a test taste at work. There wasn't any left to take!

New Bake Books!

Really, Borders has got to stop sending me these coupons. My book obsession is just out of control. I just acquired the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook last week and have been obsessing over a variety of recipes I hope to make in the near future. It's so fantastic. So many pictures of techniques and of the baked goods themselves. For a baking beginner, or for someone who is stimulated by pretty pictures, I highly recommend this book. Anyway, back to my book obsession.... I was watching the Martha Stewart Show ( hmmm... it just happened to be on TV), she had a lovely baker named Erin McKenna on as a special guest. She had come out with a new book called Babycakes, filled with recipes of vegan, gluten free and sugar free baked goods. I have never tried making goods for special diets, but it looked so delicious on TV. I have never been impressed with vegan treats I have tried before, but there is always a first. I think the first thing I make will be the Carrot Cake Cupcakes.... of course only after I make the Ricotta ( completely un-vegan) cheesecake from Martha's book.

Loppem

Yay, I'm done! The loppem sweater from Nora Gaughan Vol 3. I first saw the sample at Imagiknit and had to make it. It also helped that I got to try it on too. After the frustration of making two sweaters now that didn't fit me this year, I just couldn't bear yet another one. I used Palace, from Berroco yarn. It is 50% Merino, and 50% Silk, and it feels like butter. Very light and has a nice drape. Not much for keeping warm, so I think I'll save it for when it gets a little warmer. Yes, below.... another ridiculous attempt to photograph myself with it on.