Baking

Baking With Olive Oil Instead of Butter – I Tried It

August 12, 2011

I was skeptical about baking with olive oil. But, I attended a preview of the new We Olive store in La Jolla and during our olive oil tasting, our expert suggested substituting their blood orange olive oil for butter when baking cookies and cakes. I tried it. I decided to use the basic Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that is on the back of Nestle chocolate chip packs. I’ve known the recipe by heart [...]

Read the full article →

Soda Bread: Not Invented by the Irish (And a Great Recipe)

March 14, 2011

Contrary to popular belief, soda bread was not invented by the Irish. In the 18th century, the American Indians were the first recorded as using soda ash to leaven bread. Baking soda bread became popular in Ireland, because it’s cheap (baking soda is less expensive than yeast) and easy to make. Due to poor conditions, yeast also wasn’t always available. The combination of baking soda and the lactic acid in buttermilk is what makes the [...]

Read the full article →

How to Make 3 Different Reindeer Cupcakes

December 13, 2010

You knew this was coming right? Once we tackled the Thanksgiving turkey cupcakes, I knew it would be easy to move on to Christmas reindeer cupcakes. La Jolla Girl was very helpful because these reindeer cupcakes use a similar process. We used Ina Gartin’s Banana Crunch Muffins (they make fabulous cupcakes) and buttercream frosting. You’ll need: 1. Cupcakes 2. Frosting tinted brown. Leave about 1/4 cup white if you don’t have a white frosting tube/pen. [...]

Read the full article →

The BEST Banana Muffin/Cupcake Recipe (Promise)

December 10, 2010

If you’re looking for a perfect banana muffin or cupcake recipe, this is it. I promise. I’ve made it more times than I can count. I’ve over cooked it, under cooked it, froze and defrosted it, frosted it for cupcakes, and left it plain for over sized muffins. It’s good every time. I’ll show you how to make it as muffins or cupcakes. Sorry the photos are dark, it was evening when we made them. [...]

Read the full article →

Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe: The One Used for Turkey Cupcakes

November 13, 2010

Due to popular demand, here’s the recipe for the pumpkin cupcakes I used for the turkey cupcakes. It’s Ina Garten’s and I found it on the Better Homes and Gardens website. It’s a very kid friendly recipe because there isn’t a mixer involved. Everything can be done by sifting things together and whisking, two of La Jolla Girl’s favorite things to do in the kitchen. I just crack the eggs, help measure, handle the oven [...]

Read the full article →

Giraffe Cupcakes That Kids Can Make

November 1, 2010

I got a bit carried away with a giraffe baby shower theme. There aren’t a lot of giraffe cupcakes online that I could copy so I had to create my own. Plus, La Jolla Girl really wanted to participate since the party was for her aunt. I found these Wilton Mini Noah’s Ark Metal Cookie Cutters. One of the shapes is a giraffe. Then I decided to use fondant instead of making cookie cupcake toppers [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries