December 13, 2018
I finished off the last of the pumpkin puree from the classroom pumpkins with three more batches of the well-loved pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes. And the kiddos were excited to decorate their own at our Holiday Party. Though extremely stressful at times, I love that my profession allows me to Read more…
November 20, 2018
This is my 9th year teaching… and my 9th year transforming the classroom pumpkins in Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. I’m a creature of ritual. And this ritual starts with my enthusiasm for Autumn and… pumpkins. For home, for the classroom, for those worthy enough to give a pumpkin to. I’m Read more…
November 3, 2018
The first batch of cupcakes for this year’s kiddos. I start simple with a chocolate cupcake and vanilla buttercream for our Dia de Los Muertos celebration… The classroom spread. I go to Don Paco Panaderia in Sunset Park every year for the pan de muerto. And they never bat an Read more…
August 25, 2018
To me, baking is lovely a means of affection. My time, my care, my precision–these things aren’t given away willy nilly. They’re filled in a cupcake liner and delivered to your mouth, because of… love. And in the process and in the output, there’s plenty in it for me. It’s Read more…
June 16, 2018
Nothing gets me motivated to bake than a Bake Sale that benefits animals. Last time is was for The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. This time… for with Mutt-i-grees. So I just had to go all out… First, S’mores cupcakes would mean a couple of batches of marshmallow fluff. I piped Read more…
March 3, 2018
Sometimes I make a double batch of cookies, then I make a batch of cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, then I make a lemon bundt cake (not pictured). Then, I bring them to my Mom for her birthday. Then I run the dishwasher. VCTOTW basic chocolate, of course. I tried to make Read more…
November 20, 2017
This is how I look when I wake up… next to a pretty large pumpkin I would go on to process. I used my head for scale, though I kind of have a big head. Processing pumpkin is one of my favorite seasonal rituals. The mind boggles with pumpkin opportunities… Read more…
May 14, 2017
Sometimes I make enough cupcakes, enough that I have to drive to work. With a staff potluck and a bake sale that I organized, this was the case this past week. Both events called for a special load of cupcakes. I opted for the nostalgic s’mores combination… Graham cupcakes, aquafaba marshmallow Read more…
January 1, 2017
Of all the vegan cupcakes I have tried all over the country, my favorite comes not from a vegan bakery but Sprinkles–the world’s first cupcake bakery! During a recent visit to a book store I perused their long-awaited cookbook, excited to see that my beloved vegan red velvet cupcake and vegan Read more…
February 17, 2016
I kind of have a thing for impractical cake bakeware, specialized Nordicware pieces that are intricate and fun. Of course most of my pieces are from the Williams Sonoma Outlet, as 50$ for a cake pan is a bit steep. My latest 60% of Nordicware pan seemed most promising: the Shortcake Baskets Pan. Read more…
November 22, 2015
Every year I take home the pumpkins in my classroom and turn them into cupcakes, highlighting the delicious circle of life. After baking the different pumpkin varieties until tender, I scoop out the flesh… …and blend away in the food processor. Ok, so I processed one of the pumpkins from the porch Read more…
October 11, 2015
The Mets are in the play-offs. With a tough loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, I’m baking up these blue and orange wonders. Let’s go Mets!
June 7, 2015
When it comes to serving vegan cupcakes to non-vegans, you have to capitalize on the opportunity–make a point about the delicious potential and non-weirdness of the v-word. To increase the appeal, go with well loved flavors–or even better, nostalgic flavors. And you may need to embrace both ends of the Read more…
December 23, 2014
The holidays means increased baking duty. I deliver eleven–a poison test out of respect for recipients of course. This batch was for my class’s fundraiser. Then there was my classroom holiday celebration. They got unfrosted cupcakes to dress up how they pleased. My chocolate butter cream-filled (and of course vegan) batched Read more…
November 20, 2014
Every year, my classroom blog becomes my food blog. They spent October and most of November on Hercules. Now it is time for the 4th annual Harvest Festival Pumpkin-Cupcake transformation. It is time they turned into cupcakes already! After some roasting and pureeing, they became cupcake batter along with a pile of Read more…
September 14, 2014
Coming up for air from the chaos of a new school year, I baked some “12 Men on the Field” cupcakes: rich chocolate cake (I used Chloe‘s celebration cake), vanilla buttercream filling, chocolate ganache-topped with a vegan royal icing football laces. 3 types of icings for every cupcake. I’m not Read more…
August 15, 2014
With plenty of banana cashew cream leftover from my raw stint, I spooned it into some chocolate cupcakes I made for a friend’s dinner party. Then I got fancy with the garnish. As I was already late jumping in the shower, I ran with it: toasting coconut (because I subbed Read more…
April 24, 2014
Transitioning back to Eastern Standard Time, I got myself back into the kitchen… for a sense of normalcy. I whipped up two types of cupcakes for an Easter event. First, these gluten-free beauties, VCTOTW‘s recipe. With a huge bag of coconut from the Indian grocer, I opted to top these springy Read more…
March 24, 2014
With several cans of coconut milk to use up, I packed this week’s lunch with rich, creamy coconut milk. Starting with coconut quinoa! A huge fan of coconut sticky rice, it was an opportunity to transform dare-I-say boring quinoa. I was going to to this right. Starting with a real Read more…
March 9, 2014
A special milestone for my Mom deserved pretty piped cupcakes with some color. As requested, chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing. Happy 70th La Mar! 1944 candies and my Jack Purcells.
January 4, 2014
Stale holiday cookies be gone! I processed them to adorn the tops of cupcakes. There were several peanut butters in the pantry. An oily natural kind you have to stir went into the cupcake batter. Used it all: check! The I made peanut butter buttercream with the remnants of a Read more…
December 23, 2013
Sometimes we buy pizza dough from one of the million pizzerias on Long Island. This was a minimalist pie: artichoke, salt, pepper, olive oil. Still using pumpkin puree… these were the pretty little ditties I whipped up for my grade team holiday lunch. Received some rave reviews and I can’t Read more…
November 24, 2013
Processing my pumpkins marks the unofficial start of the holiday season! The first one to get roasted is my classroom pumpkin. I usually make cupcakes from the puree. The kids get excited about it… and I like showing them that vegan baked goods can knock their socks off. It’s a win-win. Read more…
July 21, 2013
My mother has been looking forward to throwing my sister and father a birthday party for months. My sister’s 40th and my Dad’s 70th are, after all, big milestones. I signed on for the planning fun and it almost swept me away. Luckily, I’m on my summer break. The big Read more…
July 4, 2013
Blueberry vanilla cupcakes with strawberry curd, all blinged out with the colors of the season. Happy Independence Day!
