February 14th - Cupcake & Kiddo Photo Shoot

Today I photographed kids with cupcakes at Cozy Cave Bake Shoppe. It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours on Valentine's Day!

February 8th - Cozy Cave Cupcakes Shoot

I have been collaborating with a friend who makes truly amazing cupcakes at her bake shoppe, Cozy Cave. I am creating a line of greeting cards with cupcake images to sell in her shoppe and other places. She made me five gorgeous cupcakes to start with. I had a great shoot today but have not edited down the photos yet. Here is a selection...

A Lovely Little Birthday Party

What could be better on a lovely Saturday afternoon but a birthday party for a little friend? Good fun for the whole family!


I was drooling over this sweet little art studio in the yard of my friend's friend, where the party took place. It has its own little wood stove inside, for those chilly winter days. I am soooooo envious!


Quinny bakes some more cake for the party...


Organic yellow watermelon, anyone? Why, YES!!


I know they are dreaded plastic but who can pass up a rainbow?


A little winged friend left behind some beauty...


I love the texture in this chair, my breezy summer dress, and the retro awesome linoleum pattern.


Soon there will be a sunny sunflower in this pot!


What year is it? Hard to tell isn't it?


Wee friends enjoy some healthy snacks before we bring on the cupcakes.


Even this tiny ant won't pass on a cupcake. Thanks for the delicious treats and for a wonderful party!

If you would like the cupcake recipes you can see this post and this post...

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe, Otherwise Known as "Part Two", as Promised...

I slipped up this AM and ran out of the house to bring Q to play with her buddy, A, and I forgot to bring the cupcake cookbook that I promised her mom, so sorry, Heidi!! And while I told her she could come to this blog to get the chocolate cupcake and icing recipes, she teased me in the comments section with "where is part two?!" which I promised around the time our newest addition joined us. So, here it is, without further a do...



Vanilla Heaven Cupcakes
By Elaine Cohen
From the book, Super Duper Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

1 c milk, at room temp
3/4 c egg whites (about 6 large or 5 extra-large), at room temp
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 c plain cake flour or all-purp
1 3/4 c sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 12 pieces



1) Set oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with cup liners.
2)Pour the milk, egg whites, and vanilla into med bowl and mix with a fork until blended.
3)With an electric mixer, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl at lowest speed. Add the butter pieces; continue beating at slow speed until mix resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery ingredients remaining, about 1 minute.
4) Add all but 1/2 c of the milk mixture to the crumbs and beat at med speed for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1/2 c of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds longer. Stop the mixer and scrape sides of the bowl. Return the mixer to med speed and beat about 20 seconds longer.
5) Pour the batter into the muffin cups so that the cups are 80% full. Bake for 17 - 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake; if it comes out clean, it is done.
6) Transfer the muffin pans to wire cooling racks or away from the hot oven. Let them cool for 10 minutes. Place onto rack or plate to continue cooling. Wait at least one hour before frosting.



You can make pastel colored cupcakes by adding a couple of drops of the food coloring of your choice.

Hope this helps, Heidi! We can't wait for A's birthday :)

Homemade Cupcakes + Friends = One Awesome Birthday Party - Part One

So, it is official, Quin is now a three year old. Her birthday was earlier in the week, and her party was today. I lucked out last fall and won a 6 kid, Build-A-Bear Birthday Party, at a silent auction. If you don't know what this is, it is when you go to a shop, pick out an animal skin, which is then filled with stuffing while you watch. Then, you pick clothes, shoes, accessories for it. I got this certificate for a steal, and am so glad because Quin and her friends were THRILLED with their new stuffies, but I could never have afforded this over the top part of the party (thank you to the grandma who was bidding against me who made sure I won). All kids have more than enough stuffed animals but the kids find these really special because they were able to design them.




After we made out animals, everyone headed back to our place, for homemade cupcakes and milk. Quin and I had a wonderful time making her cupcakes last night, and then frosting and sprinkling them this morning.


My mom has sent us numerous cupcake making recipe books, and I took the recipes for chocolate and vanilla cupcakes from one called Super-Duper Cupcakes by Elaine Cohen. I tried to find the recipes on line but could not, so will post them here.


Deep Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
By Elaine Cohen
Makes 12 cupcakes

1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1 c very hot water
2 t pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature

1) Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with baking cup liners.
2) Put the cocoa in a small bowl; add the hot water and mix until smooth. Cool to room temp, the stir in vanilla.
3) Whisk in flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.
4) Beat the butter with mixer set at med-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 15 seconds. Add the sugar; beat until the mixture is fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds.
5) With mixture on lowest speed, add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about 1/3 of the cocoa mixture; mix until the ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter. repeat the process twice more. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the bowls sides with a rubber spatula. Return the mixer to low speed; beat until the batter looks satiny, about 15 seconds longer.
6) Pour the batter into the muffin cups so that the cups are about 80% full. Bake the cupcakes for 17-20 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake, if it comes out clean or with a crumb adhering to it, it is done.
7) Transfer the muffin pans to wire cooling racks or away from the hot oven. Let them cool for 10 minutes. Place the cupcakes onto the rack or a plate so they can continue to cool. Be sure to cool the cupcakes completely before frosting, one hour.


Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
by Elaine Cohen

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (1lb) confectioners' (icing) sugar
1 T pure vanilla extract
2 T heavy cream (or milk)
Pinch of salt

(I never remember to buy unsalted butter, so in this recipe I used butter with salt and omitted the pinch of salt. I also thinned my frosting a bit by adding an additional 2-3 T of cream. TT)

Beat the butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, heavy cream, and salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at low speed until the sugar is moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat, stopping twice to scrape down the bowl, until creamy and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes.

(I then divided the frosting, colored one bowl pink, by adding just two drops of red food coloring, and the other bowl orange, by using 3 drops red and about 5 drops orange, which by the way, is nothing like the directions for coloring in the book. You just need to experiment. We had pastel frosting but you can make very bright colors, too.)



For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Follow the recipe above but add 3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder and another 2 T heavy cream).

*Stay tuned for Part Two, which will have the vanilla cupcake recipe...

All Images, aside from the book cover, by Tiffany Teske