sun up, to sun down

the sun came up.good morning. they wanted cheerios. i wanted raw oats.a little gardening.burrito bowls.rain. aaaahhhh the smell of summer rain.an afternoon inside.greens+roasted broccoli+avocado+red onion+egg+lemon+olive oilsunset.goodnight.

The Beauty of Eating a Cupcake

everything in its season

I cannot tell you how happy I am to find myself leaving the farmer's market Saturday mornings with a bag full freshly picked deliciousness, just waiting to be gobbled up by my little family. As we move deeper into summer and each week passes, there are more and more options for dinner growing in our own backyard, and coming from the local farms around us.



When foods are picked the moment they

Megpops ♥

I know a pretty lady named Meg.

She makes the best cookies on the planet.

She is married to my photographer friend Dan Woolf.

Last week when I visited them for another cupcake photo shoot, Meg fed me the yummiest butterscotch chip & chocolate chunk cookies.

Ok. let's back track. Before she baked the cookies, she took out her *persimmon* kitchen aid mixer. I loved the color and even complimented her on it.

While she was mixing up the batter, she fed me big chunks of her fresh amazzzazing cookie dough on a spoon.

She sent me home with a beautifully wrapped bag of about 8 gigantic delicious cookies.

I devoured a few of them...but this is what I did with the rest.

I call them Meg Pops.

The "M" is for Megan.

The inside is Megan's butterscotch cookie combined with a little of my white cake and cream cheese frosting.

Instead of eating this off of a stick like a regular cake pop, I used a spoon. Inspired by the spoonfuls of chunky amazing heavenly cookie dough I ate straight from her persimmon colored Kitchen Aid Mixer.

I tried my best to make the "M" for Megan *persimmon* colored to match her Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Megpops are simple and fun to make.

Megpop Ingredients:

•  Cookies (If you are lucky they'll be Meg's cookies)
• Wooden Spoons (You can get them at craft stores in the kiddo aisle)
• Or..if you want to be really festive you can find some decorative vintage looking spoons!
• Frosting of your choice
• Candy Melts
• Butterscotch chips (or chips of your choice)
• Parchment Paper
• Cookie Sheet
• A bowl or a melting pot for your candy wafers
• Great Memories of Delicious Cookie Making for Inspiration.

Directions:
1.  Select a medium or large bowl for your cookie brew. (Hopefully it is colorful and fun, like Meg's persimmon Kitchen Aid Mixer).
2.  Crumble up your cookies.
3.  Throw in about a spoonful of your favorite frosting (don't worry if it feels too dry you can always add more).
4.  Mix all the cookie crumbs and frosting together with delight.
5.  Form into cake pop balls and set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
6.  Now freeze. (not you..the cake pops)! For about 20-25 minutes.
7.  Use a melting pot if you have one and melt your candy wafers. If you don't have a melting pot, you can melt your candy wafers carefully in a pot on the stove while stirring continuously.  Or you can use a deep bowl and melt the wafers in the microwave in 30 second increments. (stirring in between until melted & smooth).
8.  Set up a clean sheet of parchment paper on your countertop (this is where you'll put your finished megpops).
9.  Take the cake pops out of the freezer. They are ready to be dipped. ♥
10.  Dip your cake pop in the melted chocolate using a lollypop stick or a spoon.
11.  Quickly set the cake pop down on your parchment paper and remove the lollypop stick while it is still soft.
12. Use the melted chocolate as your "glue" to attach your spoon to the cake pop as shown in the photos above ♥
13. Add excess-think cookie dough! Chocolate Chunks, Butterscotch chips, more melted chocolate, disco dust, anything your heart desires.
14.  Let dry.  Once they are dry, you can lift the little pops of wonderful off of your parchment paper with the spoon!

Somehow using a spoon just makes it all seem more sinful. ♥ And wonderful. 

The Megpops were so much fun that I kinda went crazy and made some more cake pops with a wooden spoon instead of a stick. So very indulgent.

A cake pop made with strawberry pie crust, strawberry chunks, and strawberry cake.

Cake pops with oreos inside.

See, they really are spoons!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies With Salted Caramel Buttercream

"Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing "Embraceable You" in spats."

- Woody Allen

Hey everybody! It's summer!  I enjoy the sun so much more when it isn't around all the time. When I lived in Southern California where it's sunny everyday, I took it for granted. I was always longing for a climate that had different seasons. Now I've got that here in Washington, and I do enjoy that difference. Summer is a season I particularly enjoy.

I've been spending my days out in the garden. I grow vegetables and herbs. We also have roses and fruit trees. I'm growing nasturtiums as well since they are easy to grow and edible. Heck we have so many things growing it's hard to keep track. We live on 10 acres, which is great, but also, work.

The pies call for buttermilk, I like to use this Bulgarian Buttermilk in mine. It's higher in fat than most buttermilk, so it makes for a rich end result.

Yes, I've been busy, but never too busy for baking. These whoopie pies are one of my favorite things in the world. A sure thing. A dessert I bring to parties when I want to please everyone. They are fun and tasty enough for children, but with a slight sophistication from the hint of salt in the buttercream, for the adults. I just love them. The cakes are soft and full of rich chocolate flavor, and the salted caramel buttercream is absolutely divine. A go to frosting of mine.

They are simple to make as well. The cake portion is quite straight forward.

The caramel buttercream also simple. A standard American buttercream essentially, with caramel mixed in.  I know, I know, most people don't consider making caramel of any kind, simple. But trust me. I've taken pictures of all the steps the caramel goes through, to make it as easy as well, pie. It doesn't even require a thermometer.

The secret to making caramel is the secret to most everything in life.

 Which is really paying attention and being present.

Some Dont's when making the caramel.

Don't walk away while it's on the stove.
Don't try to rush it.
Don't do other things while making it. (It only takes 10 minutes or so.)

If you follow these simple steps when making this recipe, you will be richly rewarded, my friend.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Buttercream

makes 24 pies

Recipe for pies inspired by this recipe on Epicurious

Salted Caramel Buttercream recipe is my own.


Start the buttercream first. (Recipe for pies is after the buttercream recipe, below.)


Salted Caramel Buttercream

makes enough to fill 24 pies, or frost about 24 cupcakes


Ingredients

1 cup (200 g.) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 sticks (339 g.) unsalted butter- or if you use salted, just cut back on the salt, (below)
1-2 tsp. fine sea salt
2 cups (230 g.) powdered sugar

Instructions

First, get your mise en place ready for the caramel, it will go fast. Measure the cream in a slightly larger vessel than needed. Add the vanilla to it, and place it next to the stove.

In a saucepan where you can see the bottom, like stainless steel, (I used an off white color Le Cruset pan.)
This is important because you will make decisions based on it's color. So if you use a black pan for example, it will be harder to see the color. (I've done it, it is possible, but I don't recommend it.)

Over medium high heat, stir together the granulated sugar and the water. Stop stirring after the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

This is just the sugar and the water boiling at the start. It's clear now.

Pull up a chair, you're going to sit and watch this for about 6-8 minutes, till it turns light golden, (below.)

During this time, don't stir it. Right when it gets to this point, remove it from the heat. You can swirl the pan a little if you feel like you can't see the color well. You must, I repeat, you must catch it right at this point. If you let it go any longer, it will turn to black in what feels like an instant.

This is the color you want. Remove it from the heat now.

I took this picture about 5 seconds after the picture above, after I removed it from the heat, to illustrate how much darker it turned in such a short time.

As soon as you remove it from the heat, add the cream/vanilla mixture and stir. It will boil and sputter up. (is that a word?) The sugar will turn to a hard rock, basically. You will feel like you have done something wrong. You haven't.

After adding the cream and vanilla, the sugar turns into a hard ball. It's o.k. it will dissolve.

Continue stirring until the sugar dissolves and becomes homogeneous with the cream. If you feel like it's not happening fast enough, go ahead and put the pan on low heat to help it along.

After stirring for a few moments, it's on it's way to becoming homogeneous.

Here it is when it's finished, it just need to cool.

But wait, it's not quite done. Strain it first to make sure you don't have any bits of sugar that didn't dissolve.

Using a fine mesh strainer placed over a heat proof bowl, pour in the caramel to remove any bits of sugar remaining.

Set it aside to cool while you start on the pies.

Set the caramel aside until it's cool to the touch. About 1 1/2- 2 hours. You can also make this part the night before, and let it cool overnight.

While it's cooling, start making the pies. (recipe below.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, (or a large bowl with a handheld) mix the butter and salt (start with 1 tsp., add more later when finished to taste) on medium high speed until very light and fluffy. About 4 minutes.

Add the caramel. Beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Then mix again. Add the powdered sugar and mix very well, until very light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Taste it and see if it needs more salt for your taste. 

At this point it should be a good consistency for the whoopie pies. If you are piping the buttercream onto cupcakes, you may want it a bit firmer. If you do, just refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour and proceed.

For The Pies

Ingredients

4 cups (601 g.) all-purpose flour
1 cup (114 g.) Dutch-process or natural cocoa powder (my favorite cocoa is natural high fat cocoa from Penzeys, it gives these cakes a rich chocolate flavor)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (480 ml) well-shaken buttermilk
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 sticks (1 cup) (227 g.) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (300 g.) packed brown sugar
2 large eggs

Directions

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 180 degrees Celsius, or Gas Mark 4.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add eggs, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.

With a 2 Tablespoon size disher, scoop batter onto parchment lined or Silpat lined baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie. Put your clean hand under the faucet and get it wet. Gently pat the mounds down a little to prevent them from being too round on top.


Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, for about 10 minutes. They are done when tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched. Don't overbake.


Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.

When cool add about a Tablespoon of buttercream to the middle of one of the cookies, and place another on top to make a sandwich. If not serving them right away, place them in an airtight container.

Chocolate cherry cupcakes!

Scroll down for text and recipe in English!

Jag vet vad ni tänker. Inlagda körsbär? Vem äter det egentligen? Det för genast tankarna till den där pralinen i Aladdins chokladask som alltid blir ensam kvar (förutom när min bror är i närheten). Men jag lovar, i det här sammanhanget är det faktiskt väldigt gott! Självklart går de att utesluta om man vet att man inte tycker om dem, men de gör ganska mycket för smaken faktiskt.

Annars försöker jag mest hitta anledningar att få fota körsbär. De är så naturligt vackra och väldigt tacksamma att fotografera!




Chokladcupcakes
Cirka 10 st

•200 g mjöl
•2 msk kakao
•0,5 tsk bikarbonat
•180 g socker
•50 g rumsvarmt smör
•1 stort ägg
•0,5 tsk vaniljpulver
•0,5 dl rapsolja
•0,5 dl filmjölk

Fyllning:
•Körsbär i rom


Värm ugnen till 150 grader C. Blanda de torra ingredienserna i en skål. Vispa rumsvarmt smör och socker fluffigt i en annan skål. Tillsätt ägget och olja och vispa till en jämn smet. Tillsätt de torra ingredienserna och filmjölken i omgångar, börja och sluta med mjölet. Fyll muffinsformarna till 2/3 och grädda cirka 25-30 minuter. Låt svalna. Skär ett litet hål i varje muffin och fyll med ett körsbär.





Whipped cream cheese frosting

•150 gram cream cheese
•1,5 dl grädde
•0,5 tsk vaniljextrakt
•1 dl florsocker

Vispa grädden i en stor skål. Blanda cream cheese, florsocker och vaniljextrakt i en annan skål. Häll över cream cheeseblandningen i vispgrädden och vispa ytterligare. Känns frostingen för lös, ställ den i kylskåpet en stund.






In English:

I know what you're thinking. Cherries in rum? Who the heck eats that? The first thing I think of is the chocolate praline filled with preserved cherries from the chocolate box Aladdin (which we usually eat around christmas in Sweden) which are always the only ones left in the box (except when my brother is around). But I promise, in this case they are delicious! If you know you don't like them, simply exclude them and replace with something else. They really do taste great in this recipe though!

Other than that I'm just looking for excuses to take pictures of cherries. They are so beautiful and very gratifying to photograph!


Chocolate cupcakes
Makes approx. 10

•200 g flour
•2 tbsp cocoa powder
•0,5 tsp baking soda
•180 g sugar
•50 g butter, at room temperature
•1 large egg
•0,5 tsp vanilla powder
•0,5 dl canola oil
•0,5 dl buttermilk

Filling:
•Preserved cherries in rum (optional)

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add oil and egg beating well.
Add flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down sides of bowl. Fill paper liners about 2/3 full and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool while you make the frosting. Cut a hole in the center of each cupcake and fill with a (or more if you want to) preserved cherry.



Whipped cream cheese frosting

•150 grams cream cheese
•1,5 dl heavy whipping cream
•0,5 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 dl powdered sugar

Whip the cream in a large bowl. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in another bowl. Mix everything together and whip until smooth. If the frosting is runny, put the bowl in the fridge for a while.

it makes me very happy...

From now until September I could easily title every post "I love summer", with a photo of something simple and summery that makes me happy. Every single day I find new things to love. 
Like being outside all day long. aaalllll day long.in the sunshine.
Digging in the dirt. Weeding (ok, lets not lie. I hate weeding, but love being in the garden with the kids)Roses. in my house. to smell.
Sweating

fudge filled cupcakes with peanut butter frosting

I love cake. And cupcakes. And really, anything involving the word, cake.
This weekend after we ran I thought we had earned ourselves some kind of cake. And chocolate, filled with chocolate, topped with peanut butter was exactly what we needed.
Chocolate Cupcakesmakes 24 cupcakes
2 ounces semisweet chocolate3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder3/4 cup boiling water6 TBS butter, melted1 1/2 cups sugar2

Dear Wasatch Back,

a collection of little letters
Dear Wasatch Back,you came and went again. You were a blast, terribly challenging, and beeeeautiful. Thank you.Dear Robby,I love when we go on super dates like this! Take that, The Bachelor!! Remember how you don't really love to run?? Yet you keep signing up for these and doing awesome? I love you.
Dear firemen, thank you thank you thank you for spraying runners as

Cupcakes are Fashion.

To me, cupcakes are fashion.  I've lived in the big city of Los Angeles and worked in the fashion industry.

I've traveled to Paris for inspiration..twice. And I want to go back.  I ate a ton of pasta & gelato in Milan, Italy.  I drank wine and watched the boys who weren't afraid to wear loud colored pants and carry man purses.  I went crazy shopping at the night markets in the wee hours in Hong Kong.  I've even given myself a facial in Iceland..in the famous Blue Lagoon.  Now I am back in Wisconsin living near family, kind of navigating where my life is going next.

And I believe that my passion for all things fashion comes alive in my cupcakes.  I really do truly believe that cupcakes are my calling. They allow me to design something so meaningful that you can *taste* it!

I remember when I was a little girl I used to draw pictures of women in clothing for hours upon hours. I dreamed of being a fashionista. I made magazines for my friends and handed them out in school.  I wore things that most people laughed at.  I even remember people telling me one day in junior high that it looked like I was wearing a tablecloth.  But it was me....in a tie-dye shirt that my mom used to wear back in the 70s. I felt inspired. ♥ That's all that mattered to me. Maybe it did look like a tablecloth. But I was 12, and I was trying to find my niche.

I just stumbled upon one of my fashion drawings from back in the day........
and although somewhat embarrassing..I guess I can share!

I think I drew this when I was like eight. (It was the late eighties!)



So now to back up my theory of cupcakes as fashion:

New York Couture sells some really fun cupcake fashion.

Judith Lieber Cupcake Clutch. ♥



My favorite designer. ♥ My inspiration for all things fashion.

I want a cupcake dress.

I want to know who made this peacock cupcake that is all over the internet. I wish I could say I made it!



Iron Fist Shoes. ♥