There's citrus in my yard!

Grapefruits from our yard.

I enjoy a good orange from time to time but citrus has never been my favorite fruit. But its funny how excited I get about grapefruit and satsumas now that I can see them growing from our kitchen window.

Best. Cupcakes. Ever. (That I've made)

Sooo, I'm sitting in front of the computer one afternoon, thinking about all the work I should be doing (and I did a little) when I decided what I really wanted to do was bake some cupcakes. I looked in the fridge and we had some champagne leftover from my awesome going away/engagement party and some strawberries. I was off and running. I knew what I wanted to make- Champagne Strawberry cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream. I  found a couple of recipes from two of my favorite blogs-lemon-sugar.com and loveandoliveoil.com, made some alterations and VOILA- the best cupcakes I’ve ever made. 

Note- The frosting recipe makes  a lot. A LOT. For those of you that view a cupcake as merely a frosting delivery device, it may be fine. For me, however, I could have easily cut the recipe in half and still had some left over. The recipe below is the full amount. You’ve been warned.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup champagne/sparkling white wine
1/3 cup +2T strawberry puree (1 cup of whole strawberries and whiz them in a food processor or immersion blender)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, champagne, strawberry puree, sugar, vanilla, and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Mix until fairly smooth. Fill cupcake liners with 1/4 cup of batter (cups should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

1 bag (12 oz) White Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 sticks (1 and 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softenend
1 block (8oz) cream cheese
5 cups confectioners sugar, more as needed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, microwave the whipping cream for 1 minute until steaming but not boiling.  Pour chocolate chips into hot cream and stir until smooth.  Set aside to cool completely.  In a large bowl, combine butter and cream cheese and mix until smooth.  Add cooled white chocolate and beat until just combined.  Add confectioners sugar, salt and vanilla extract.  Beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  If frosting is not "stiff" enough to pipe or frost with, add more confectioners sugar, a 1/2 cup at a time until desired consistency is met.  However, the same result can be met by refrigerating frosting for a short time.  Scoop into a piping bag and frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Garnish.  Store in the refrigerator until 30 minutes prior to serving. 

What's Next?

Love has brought me- a Lawrence, Kansas girl- here to South Louisiana. Fifteen months ago I would have never thought it- love or Louisiana- a possibility. And yet here I sit in a warm and cozy 1920’s house wondering what’s next.

One big “next” is this little thing called a wedding. Brian and I are getting married in the spring. It is going to be a small, classic yet relaxed wedding for friends and family. What I failed to realized was that planning a small wedding is as involved as planning a big wedding.  We’ve got most of the biggies taken care of- dress, tux, bridesmaid dresses, priest, flowers, cake, reception, and photographer. Still need to find a DJ (help!).

But now it’s the little things that are starting to stress me out- and it’s always the little things that stress me out. How are we getting to the church? To the reception? When are we going to decorate for the reception? What if nobody comes? What if everybody comes? Should I get someone to do my makeup? I don’t usually wear a lot of makeup, so I want to make sure I look like myself. But I want to look good in the pictures. After all we’re paying a lot for them. But I don’t want to be” Sadie the Painted Lady”. AHHHHHH! These are the things I’m thinking about when we’re sitting on the couch and Brian says “What are you thinking about?” and I say “Nothing.” He wouldn’t get it. I love him but he just wouldn’t get it.

So we’ve got that going on. And then there is everything that goes along with moving to a new city – finding your favorite grocery store, figuring out the best walking location, who is the best veterinarian, etc. etc.  And, of course, there is the “next” that is figuring out what I want to do with my new life in the South.

I am a writer. Up until this point I’ve always had a “regular” job. None of them had “writer” in the position title but somehow I always finagled my way into doing whatever writing needed to be done. I love it. I love/hate the process and I really love when I’m finished.

I am in the enviable position of having the freedom to decide what I want to make of my life down here.  But total freedom can be scary. The options:

1.       Get a “regular” job which would give me the opportunity to meet new people and a steady income.

2.       Strike out on my own and become a freelance writer.

3.       Anything else I want to do.

So, what am I going to do? I’ll keep you posted. It changes from day to day. For instance, today I sat down and began a list of organizations I would like to do some writing for. And when I was done with that, I decided it was a good idea to make some Champagne Strawberry Cupcakes with a White Chocolate Buttercream.

Oh yeah- I’m also a baker. I love it. I find it relaxing. I won’t be as relaxed in five weeks at my wedding dress fitting but oh well. 

Stay tuned for what’s next.