Coconut Nutella Cupcakes

One of my best friends had a birthday a week ago.
She LOVES coconut. Coconut-flavored anything, coconut-scented anything, thai curries with coconut milk... all coconut, all the time. She also adores Nutella (she introduced me to the brilliant idea of peanut butter, jelly, and Nutella sandwiches). So when I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, I bookmarked it and waited (im)patiently for her birthday to arrive so I could make these for her.

Next, I did some research to find what I hoped would be the BEST coconut cupcake, filling, and nutella frosting for her special day. Here is what I came up with...

Chemistry (Tiramisu and Tiramisu Bars)

These photos are probably not what most people would imagine when they think of a chemistry experiment.

I wasn't expecting a chemistry lesson, either. But that's exactly what I got when I made this tiramisu and these tiramisu bars.

One of my friends requested more of the tiramisu bars I had made a few months ago (cream filling adapted from this recipe, with a sugar cookie crust on the bottom and whipped cream on top). Since I, in an attempt to expand my culinary horizons, was determined to try making authentic tiramisu by the end of the summer, I decided to make a tiramisu and use half of the filling for bars for my friend. It seemed like a perfect plan.

Like most of my "perfect plans", this turned into an extensive ordeal that I only barely salvaged from complete failure. I managed to ruin what Brown Eyed Baker called the "spot-on and foolproof", "perfected" recipe from Cooks Illustrated. In an attempt to explain what happened, I will go through the recipe and comment (with photos) on my progress at various points.

Meringue Gelato Cupcakes (for the 2011 Ice Cream Cupcake Contest)

This, my friends, is a very light cupcake with a darkly seductive taste. Two fluffy angel food cupcakes with meringue gelato in the middle and a smooth, swiss meringue buttercream on top, with a sweet little meringue cookie to cap it off.

I created these cupcakes for the 2011 Ice Cream Cupcake Contest created by Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious. These were a treat for my brother, since his birthday is coming up. If you remember from my chocolate hazelnut meringue cupcakes, he absolutely loves meringue. We went to Europe about 10 years ago and he has never forgotten the meringue gelato he tried one day in Italy. To this day, he lists it as his favorite dessert. I decided to recreate this flavor for him and incorporate it into a cupcake.

A Spring Feast

I made a Spring feast. It was months ago (back in March, erp!), but I didn't get around to posting about it until now... and I wouldn't have thought to take pictures or post this at all without a request from my best friend. It took up my entire weekend (12 hours on Saturday and most of Sunday), but it was definitely worth it. I served all of this food at a potluck get-together at my house on that Sunday evening.

Click "Read More" to see pictures and links to recipes...

Yellow (Lemon Blueberry Cake)

Spring is here, summer is well on its way. This is what my town looks like right now (this was on one of the very rare rainy days here):

Everything is in sunny yellow bloom. So it was only fitting that I made a sunny yellow cake for my grandma's birthday.

My grandma's dietary restrictions (no chocolate or nuts) have inspired me to branch out into new territories, since I have always believed that desserts with chocolate and/or nuts are always the best. I have begun to make exceptions to this rule, and while I will always be a die-hard chocolate lover and choose chocolate cake (especially with my mom's signature mocha glaze and blackberry filling) for my own birthday, I have a newfound appreciation for fruit-based cakes.

I adapted this recipe from Sweetapolita and replaced the lemon curd with an all-fruit blackberry jam. Don't look at her photos, they are far too beautiful in comparison to my amateur shots!

Just kidding. Please do look at her photos. They will convince you to make this cake just as they convinced me.