cakes and cupcakes Archives - Page 7 of 10

2013/10/282014/03/30

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Orange Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Letting Go

“Do you have many books? Not many here–thirty or forty. But your are welcome to any of them you haven’t read.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Grasping with all our might we hold on tightly. Until we don’t. We let go. I came stuttering into fall. Didn’t want to let our Indian Summer go. September, early October, I rebelled against all things pumpkin and spice. Late in the afternoon I find myself in the garden searching for straggling, late season tomatoes. They aren’t very good tomatoes; mushy, without gloss, yet sweet. They are not slicing or galette making tomatoes. I tuck them into a full-bodied sauce or hearty soup that’s already simmering and feel good about using them. When I’m in the garden the late afternoon sun warms my shoulders, reaching past my sweatshirt to caress and soothe. The warmth eases the grip I have on the day. My hands loosen, relax as they clammer past the tangle of a busy day for one last tomato. That’s what I’m not ready to give up. But I will let go. READ MORE . . .

2013/05/132017/12/26

Giant Cookie Cake

Lessons in Acceptance

“I have wondered why it is that some people are less affected and torn by the verities of life and death than others.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Like kite tails swirling in the blustery spring wind; days whirl by. Tangled together the strings are difficult to separate, one day resembles the next. We go along, go along and then venture a bit further. Further from ourselves and what really means the most to us. Sometimes, all the pressures and self imposed expectations of family, work and self intertwine into a jumbled ball of tension and frustration that is more challenging and time consuming to sort out than the tangled kite string. I had arrived at such a place. At the time I didn’t understand how I got there; I was just hanging on to that jumble of a swirling kite tail. Spinning, dizzy with raging emotions I was unsure of myself. I needed shelter from the intense vertigo and most of all needed to accept my arrival at the destination I had played a part in choosing. In the five stages of grief, acceptance is last. No matter how hard we work or how smart we may be the realization that life has blemishes and injuries result in scars is at times daunting. READ MORE . . .

2013/04/152017/12/26

Tropical Banana Cake

Return of the Lounging Bananas

“Kate was in no hurry. She thought to the end very quickly and then put it out of her mind. She let herself work on the method. She built a structure and attacked it, and if it showed the slightest shakiness she tore it down and started fresh.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

The ripe bananas have returned. My fruit bowl has become a tropical retreat. Mangos and oranges lounge seductively atop a pile of sultry ripe bananas. Their presence needed only a nudge from coconut and ginger to become Tropical Banana Cake. Sweet bananas on a tropical vacation end up lounging with their new friends, ginger, mango and coconut. Ginger sparkles dropping hints of tropical warmth. Tantalizing mango blushes with sweet buttery spice while coconut sways in the balmy breeze. A tropical escape baked in a cake. READ MORE . . .

2013/03/112017/12/26

Malted Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Malted Fudge Frosting

Butterflies in Winter

“A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well–or ill?”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

The annual migration of the Monarch butterfly is fascinating. Each winter Monarchs on the western side of the Rocky Mountains migrate from as far away as Canada to Pacific Grove, Twin Bridges State Park and Pismo Beach along the central coast of California. Year after year they return to the same three areas. Here along the coast they find shelter and food from November to March of each year. A Monarch that winters in coastal California does not live to make the return trip the following winter. Five generations of Monarchs have lived and died during the course of the year. Scientists are unsure how the Monarch navigates to the same place year after year. They speculate that the earth’s magnetic field, the position of the sun or the Monarchs “internal clock” guide their annual migration. READ MORE . . .

2013/02/042017/12/26

Brown Sugar Pear Pound Cake

A Charm Bracelet of Flavors

“There’s a capacity for appetite, Samuel said, that a whole heaven and earth of cake can’t satisfy.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

This is quite the cake, easy to make and immensely satisfying. This pound cake wears a charm bracelet of flavors that sparkle with each bite. Rich, with a dense crumb little surprises of lush pears, a hint of vanilla, brown sugar and a trio of oranges jangle on it’s charm bracelet of intrigue. This is one of those cakes that beg for a second slice. It is just as good on the second day as the first. As for the third day, I have no knowledge as the whole cake has vanished by then. READ MORE . . .