Ding Dong Cupcakes

My mom made these "ding-dong" cupcakes for my Hubby's Birthday - they were filled with cream cheese and, from what I hear, delicious! I just had to post them because they were so adorable!

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Phood Phetish!

Phood on Main is one of my all-time favorite eateries in Riverside.

Last time I visited Riverside I had lunch with a good friend of mine at Phood.  Not only are they Vegan and GF friendly, they have the most amazing tasting entrees and desserts.

Naturally, I couldn't resist a Red Velvet Gluten Free cupcake. I spoke with Chef Maria Cohen about the gluten free options, and she said everything on the menu is pretty much gluten free and that it would be easier for her to tell me what was NOT gluten free than what IS...there are only a few items on their entire menu that are not gluten free!

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Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes - My Cousin's Baby Shower!

Over the weekend we celebrated my sweet and beautiful cousin at her very first Baby Shower! My cousin, Sunny threw the baby shower.  She was stressing about throwing a party for one of the MOST creative people we know (my cousin Kacey is a photographer, among her many talents....see her website here.) But there was no reason for her to stress as you can see below! It was a BEAUTIFUL and perfect shower with family and friends!

While I was limited in what I could eat at the brunch, due to the gluten and sugar restraints, which can be so hard at events like these, especially when you have cupcakes like THOSE....) I still HAD to show off these adorable chocolate cupcakes with multi-colored frosting and a raspberry on top! 

 My beautiful Mama and the Mama-to-be!

 Me and the beauty!

 Mama-to-be and her mama!

 Only Kace can rock being 6 months preggers in white stilettos!

 Baby things basket was our idea for putting her gifts together in a basket that she can later use for a changing table station or toys or whatever she needs!

 Don't freak out...this is just me stealing beautiful baby Ruby while she napped, giving her mama a break.  PS - Ruby is 6 weeks old and her mama already is in her pre-preggers jeans! Props to her!

 The cousins :) Sunny on the left...who despite being stressed about the shower (i.e. making it "cute and creative enough") pulled it all together with the help of her daughter Grace and put on a tremendous Shower Brunch!

 Yep, that's your mama, baby Swayze....

How beautiful is SHE?

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Crazy for Coconut!!!!

Apparently July is the month for all things Coconut.  It all began with my trial run with Coconut Milk.  I have tried Soy, Almond, Silk, etc...and I just have not been able to make the switch.  Until I discovered this little green box of glorious goodness.  I use it for my cereal, and baking~ and it was the platform for my experimentation with pancakes and cupcakes!

Coconut Pancakes~ Melt in your mouth! Slightly Altered Bisquick Recipe:
Prepare by adding 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract, 1/4 c. Coconut, Tbsp Sugar, tsp Baking Powder and 1/2 c. coconut milk.

 stack them up and top with powdered sugar and lite syrup (this recipe already has enough sugar for the AM!)

CUPCAKES: Strawberry with Buttercream Coconut Frosting
Frosting: 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 stick (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, 1/4 c milk, 2 tsp vanilla extract, food coloring if desired, and top with coconut!

Because I used the small cupcake liners, I was able to make my honey a little surprise cake! Warning: I am trying out new tips on my fabulous new "Gourmet Chef" frosting gun.  It's stainless steel, and means serious business.  So far I am LOVING it.  But still getting used to how to make different designs and decorations.  I think I'll watch a YouTube video....they have EVERYTHING on there!

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Sunday Bake-a-thon

So this morning I was in a baking mood.  Which is not unusual for Sundays...because usually during the week I brainstorm and daydream about baking...and don't actually have time to do bake until the weekends.  So this morning, we started off with pancakes...

 The worlds smallest pancake on the left.  Yes, it says 1:08.  That's PM in case you were curious.  So it was more like lunch....so what?  My mom used to make us really thin, small pancakes so that's what I like to make.


Then it was on to making Healthy Carrott Muffins: I used carrot cake mix, added cinnamon, honey toasted almonds, ground flax flakes, and some chocolate chips (I know, those aren't included in the "healthy" category) but to me, they can still be considered on the healthier side of muffins.  Everything is relative; Costco muffins pack enough calories for an entire day...and yes, I have eaten them whole many a time; but now, just thinking about it gives me a stomach ache and that feeling in the back of your throat similar to eating banana bread too fast....what IS that feeling????

 You should have seen me and B trying to get these muffins out of the pan, this is the unglamorous part of baking.  We were hitting the pans upside down like giving a baby CPR and yelling at the pan "come out!"It was kind of fun actually, but what's the deal with nonstick spray?? I need to find a better one, I'll be on the look out.  Maybe spreading crisco on the pan instead of non-stick cooking spray would work better?

And finally, I Red Velvet Chocolate Cupcakes. I added some melted chocolate to this batch, which I learned from a recipe for Gourmet White Chocolate Cookies which I will post soon...I have a lot of recipes that I have tried/am dying to try but can get backlogged a bit for posting them.

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