Here is my best cupcake making tip..

The best & easiest way to get even cupcakes is to use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to fill your cupcake liners.  A measuring cup guarantees that your cupcakes will be evenly sized and I’ve found 1/4 cup to be the perfect size for getting nice moderate domes on the top of the cupcakes.

This has worked for me with any type of batter from thick butter based batters to thin soupy batters.

I was a girl scout roller derby girl for Halloween, so it only seems right that I move on to the boy scouts next.  I’m picturing a vintage Norman Rockwell type boy scout, with a big red neckerchief – not the anemic ones they wear now.  This was the inspiration for La Neckerchief – a not-too-bulky easy to wear indoors-and-out type scarf.  You knit it on size 7 needles using less than one skein of Paton Classic Wool, which is what I had around. Or even better use some Malabrigo Worsted which will be super soft around your neck.

The gauge isn’t super important as for the one part that has to be a certain length you are told to knit to that length (rather than a number of rows).  If you want to use a bulky yarn you will probably want to do fewer increases/decreases and the opposite for thinner yarns.  The pattern is after the jump

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My mom was recently lamenting the lack of good bread around here. So I bought a copy of Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day. I’ve been meaning to try out it out for a few weeks but the recipes generally involve allowing the dough to sit in the fridge overnight, I just hadn’t gotten around to it.

With the cold weather hitting New Jersey, it seemed like the perfect time to have the oven on. Last night I made the dough for Lean Bread. It almost seemed silly to use my stand mixer, but I still did. Two minutes later I had dough. I stretched it the required 4 times and put it in the fridge.

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I have been secretly coveting Batter Blaster since I spotted it in the refrigerator cases in the local grocery store but it’s $6 for a slightly-larger-than-whipped-cream sized can.  But yesterday it was on sale! So I bought it and made some pancakes.

You shake the can up and squirt it out like whipped cream. It has a star tip so it’s even looks like kinda thick beige whipped cream. You can sorta try to make shapes but it definitely spreads a bit.  The first batch came out totally flat. The second was a little better and by the last one I was able to get fluffy-enough pancakes. But I definitely get better and more consistent results using Bisquick. Read more

I’ve had it in my head that I wanted to design a simple lacy wristwarmer/fingerless glove using some Malabrigo Silky Merino. However I’ve had a hard time coming up with the right lace pattern. Today I finally figured it out and knitted up a sample.  I need to write up the pattern so I can test knit it as the second wristwarmer. I’ll hopefully post it by this weekend.

Here are the very first prints I did all on my own. On the second day of my class we worked independently on a press. In the morning I used the 5×8 Kelsey but the boxcar base on it was too small for my plate. So I ended up using one Amber had which was this cat with antlers. I had a lot of inking issues and in the end we both decided we could live with the tail being darker. I  need to add some type and make these Christmas cards.

I loves me some letterpress so I was super excited to finally take a letterpress class this weekend. The class was offered by the Center for Book Arts and called Polymer and the Platen Press. Our amazing instructor was Amber McMillan.

I’ve had a Kelsey press for a couple of years but I’ve never had any idea how to use it. After this class I am ready! Now I just need to spend a few hundred dollars on other supplies

Since it was a polymer class we used polymer plates rather than type. I think this is definitely the way to go.  I will eventually post some photos of the finished product but here is an outline of what we did to print after the jump.
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I have to admit I’m one of those people with a closet full of pedestals, platters, and other serveware. I don’t think I have ever left HomeGoods without buying something. I have a particular affection for finding cute ways to server cupcakes. Here are a few neat ones I’ve seen recently.

White Ceramic Cupcake Stands – $39 for 6
at Farmhousewares.com
These adorable cupcake pedestals make a snack seems like an event. They would also be a great way to display a cake + cupcake combo.  Simple and white they go with everything

Pottery Barn Glass Pedestal Stand & Dome – $14
at Pottery Barn
A glass pedestal seems like the perfect way to present an elegant cupcake.  Although it would be interesting to see how long they remain under glass.

White Enamel Cake Stand – $72 set of 3
at Amazon
Simple white enamel cake stands are a versatile way to serve cupcakes. You can put a cake on top and cupcakes on the lower tiers. Only have a few cupcakes – only use the top 2 layers.

I have a similar glass set of stands that I bought from Macy’s and I use them all the time. White or glass stands are great because they go with everything.

I was playing around with wire crochet today. My first attempts were just crocheted wire but I changed it up to crochet around a larger gauge wire form. I thin this is better because it helps the piece retain its shape.

I used 32 gauge cheapo wire from Michaels. I tried it single, doubled and tripled with a size “0″ crochet hook. I plan to make some samplers with different combinations of wire, hooks and stitches. I have some sterling silver 30 gauge wire that I’ll use once I get the technique down. I looked around online but I didn’t have much success finding 32 ga sterling or fine silver wire. Well I did find it on Fire Mountain Gems but it was $53 which is at least $20 more than it should be.

Anyway, I think it looks pretty – kind of lacy but organic. What do you think?

Last week was my mom’s birthday and she requested a red velvet cake. I normally make cupcakes for birthdays but occasionally I do make layer cakes.

I used Magnolia’s Red Velvet Cake recipe. It says it maked 3 9″ rounds but I only had 8″ pans and it turned out fine. The cake was a bit dry though. I also used 3 tablespoons of red food color as opposed to the six in the recipe.  A bottle of McCormick Red food coloring is just about exactly 3 tablespoons (not the little 4 pack bottle).

I used the same yummy cream cheese icing recipe from the Martha Stewart Cupcake book that I used for the carrot cupcakes. One recipe was just enough fill and ice the cake, but not enough to decorate with and it probably could have used a smidge more icing on the sides. So I ended up making another half batch.

I was very pleased with how the decorations went. I was inspired by the Scootabaker’s cake. I think it would have looked even better with a touch of gold on it but I only had some silver sprinkles.

My mom loved it and was impressed with my writing. She’s  a master cake decorator and usually when it come to doing the writing I hand the piping bag to her. She said it even looked like her handwriting. Actually, I was pretty good at faking her signature in high school.

This cake was huge! With seven hearty eaters we didn’t even eat half of it, but it’s ok since I’m all about leftover cake.

RECIPE ROUNDUP

• Martha Stewart’s Cream Cheese Frosting
• Magnolia’s Red Velvet Cake (via Epicurious)