Welcome Spring!

I know this is the second recipe in a row I have linked to from Two Peas and Their Pod, but when I saw this recipe I knew I'd make it the very first time I had my hand on local strawberries. Saturday, we went hiking a bit around the waterfalls of North Carolina around Brevard, and drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville. People were selling boiled peanuts and strawberries everywhere, so we were happy to buy some of each!

This cake is simple, lovely, and flavorful. It is amazing what an hour in the oven does for strawberries. I used almond extract instead of vanilla, and I read in the comments on the blog the recipe comes from that adding orange or lemon zest was also tasty. Also, we ate this for breakfast. We have no shame. :)

Easter Candy Cookies

I follow a bunch of blogs, and Two Peas and Their Pod posted a chocolate pudding cookie the other day with mini robin eggs in them. It linked back to their vanilla pudding cookie recipe. I went searching for mini robins eggs and when I couldn't find any, bought a bag each of Reeses milk chocolate peanut butter eggs and Hershey milk chocolate eggs with candy shells. I decided to make the vanilla pudding cookies with the Hershey. The first few sheets had just the eggs but I was worried they weren't chocolatey enough, and added chocolate chips.

My student workers loved these cookies! They are soft and sweet and the big candy coated hunks of chocolate certainly didn't hurt! I have (not-so-secret) plans to make the chocolate version with the peanut butter eggs inside.

Speaking of pudding. Has everyone been watching Top Chef Masters? This last episode had Celina Tio and her chocolate "puddin'" and everyone kept saying "puddin'" without the "g" and it was making me crazy. Is there a technical difference between "puddin'" and "pudding?" Is "pudding" somehow trademarked? I wanted to strangle her. She should have been sent home just for using that word alone. Phew, okay, I feel better now.

Pudding isn't always bad. It is amazing in these cookies. Make them, add something interesting, and eat!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Pancakes

I started out intending to make one of the vegan, gluten-free recipes from BabyCakes Covers the Classics, but it was a lazy, rainy, weekend morning and I didn't have all the ingredients for any of the recipes. Vegan baking is challenge enough; gluten-free baking is crazy as far as what you need in your pantry. I had xantham gum a while back when I was experimenting with vegetarian marshmallows, but it had gone bad and got thrown out. I've never owned rice flour or arrowroot powder. I had sent N- to the store for gluten free flour mix and ended up with Bob's Red Mill GF Biscuit Mix, so I needed to do some experimenting.

I felt like I was pretty close to what the Gingerbread Pancakes recipe was going after, although I didn't have xantham gum, applesauce, or agave nectar. I read online that for simple baked goods like pancakes, the xantham gum wasn't really needed, but then realized it was in the biscuit mix. So, check! Applesauce was more of a mystery. I knew people often substituted applesauce for fat in recipes, but didn't want to add more fat, as the recipe already called for a 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil. After a little hunting around online, I found a site that said you could use pumpkin and applesauce interchangeably. I had pumpkin, so check! I didn't have agave nectar, but knew that you could sub agave nectar for granulated sugar at about a 2/3 ratio. There was already molasses in the recipe, so I used sugar less than was quite right, knowing we'd be putting maple syrup on top!

The pancakes I ended up making were absolutely delicious, once I had thinned the batter down enough that I was making pancakes instead of dough balls on the griddle. The bean flour in the biscuit mix added a nice hearty flavor to the fall flavors, and the pumpkin paired incredibly with the gingerbread flavors. With 1 tbsp ground ginger and 2 tbsp vanilla, these are high in flavor, just missing all the disagreeable ingredients that some people can't enjoy.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Pancakes
based loosely on BabyCakes' recipe for Gingerbread Pancakes

2 cups Bob's Red Mill GF Biscuit Mix
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup melted refined coconut oil, plus more for the pan
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark molasses
1 1/3 cup rice milk (started with 2/3 cup and kept adding)
2 tbsp vanilla extract

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients (and pumpkin) and stir until batter is smooth. On a griddle over medium heat, grease with coconut oil. Working in batches, pour 1/4 cup batter into the pan for each pancake. Cook for 2 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side for 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining batter.

The Cook

I came across this poem and loved it, this is just the first half. The National Book Foundation has been doing features during National Poetry Month of the poets who have won the award in the past. Lisel Mueller won in 1981.

The Cook
After Vermeer

I
No wonder she thinks there's more
where everything came from

a girl as round as the jug
that never runs dry

her arms thick cream, her yellow bodice
filled with anticipation

the bread before her risen
in the same light in which she stands

(Lisel Mueller, from The Need to Hold Still)

Dairy Free Strawberry Soup

I've had David Leibovitz's "Vegan" Strawberry Ice Cream recipe bookmarked since last summer. I liked all the experimenting he had done, and was interested to try his non-dairy, pretty much non-fat strawberry ice cream recipe. At that point, strawberry season was long past in the south, and it seemed to deserve fresh berries.

Lately strawberries from Florida have started to show up in abundance in the stores. Local fruit is still a month away or so, but I couldn't wait. I bought the rice milk, decided to add 2 tbsp of the Kirsch to try to keep it from freezing too solid, and made it in one night. I did use the honey, so I won't call it vegan, since most vegans I know don't eat honey. So let's just be happy with calling it dairy-free!

It was delicious right out of the ice cream freezer, but was still ridiculously hard out of the freezer. This is just going to be a problem with homemade ice cream of all varieties until I start figuring out how to add additives (which I'd rather not). This recipe is probably more likely to get hard because there is no fat in it.

But then something miraculous happened. I had left it out to thaw, and ten minutes later it was still hard as a rock, so I kind of forgot about it. A few hours later, half of it was still a soft solid, but the rest was a beautiful soupy texture. Why throw it out? Strawberries, rice milk, sugar, honey, and kirsch make for pretty amazing strawberry soup. Plus it is getting warm but isn't quite ice cream weather. A chilled soup is just about perfect for the start of our strawberry season.

Daring Bakers March 2011 - Meringue Coffee Cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake. It seemed pretty simple, although I'd never thought to bake meringue inside of something else, and I had no idea how it would turn out.

I decided to make this with what I already had in my house, which meant my filling was orange zest, cardamom-sugar, hazelnuts, and chocolate chips. When the meringue bakes, most of it kind of absorbs into the nebulous center of the coffee cake (which is really more of a rich dough, almost like a brioche). There were a few crunchy parts that squeezed out between the cracks, and I liked that flavor. I wish there had been more of that texture inside, but I'm not sure how to make that happen!



This is a great framework recipe that I'd love to play more with. Some of the savory versions people have been making look amazing too. Please click on the links at the top to see the recipe as posted by the hostesses.

Banana Bread (vegan)

I was in San Diego a year ago for the Music Library Assoc, where I survived almost entirely on food purchased at Ocean Beach Peoples Food Co-op. I picked up their cookbook while I was there, and it has provided some great vegan recipes, something that has been on my mind lately.. I was thumbing through it tonight with my bunch of very ripe bananas in mind, and came across a recipe for banana bread that I had almost everything for. I adapted it a bit, and this is what I made:

Vegan Banana Bread
2 bananas + 1 cup chopped bananas
1/2 cup apple juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp banana liqueur
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350. Mash the 2 whole bananas and mix with apple juice. Add the oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, and banana liqueur. Mix the dry ingredients except the nuts, then add to the wet ingredients and mix just until blended. Fold in the chopped bananas and walnuts. Place into a lightly oiled 8 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch pan and bake for 25-40 minutes or until done.

Sparkle Ginger Cookies (Vegan)

Sometimes recipes change hands between friends and you don't know where they came from, and this started as one of those instances. Delicious ginger cookies that happen to be vegan! I discovered they come from Vegan With a Vengeance, highly recommended. I didn't have turbinado sugar so I used holiday colored sugar, and it added a nice little crunch.

I have a co-worker who went vegan for Lent and I was feeling badly for all her negative experiences, so I decided to provide a positive one. Not everything vegan has to be a sacrifice! And especially not these.

Never Been to Paris

I haven't been to Paris (I always have to say "yet" because I am an optimist) but books have let me travel there. The most recent was The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz, which was a great travel and foodie read about being an outsider in an amazing "and perplexing" city.

I have followed David Lebovitz in Twitter and Facebook for quite some time now, so I wasn't surprised to laugh along with his stories of awkward culture clashes and trash-day outfits, nor was I shocked to find delicious sounding recipes. I wasn't quite expecting that I'd feel inspired enough to attempt making macarons for the first time, just to feel like I was somehow close to being there. I haven't made it to any of the trendy NYC bakeries that have started offering French macarons, much less Ladurée in Paris, but I can now say I have made them for myself. They weren't exactly perfect, rather fugly in fact, but delicious and easy enough to attempt again.


I have my eye on quite a few other recipes from The Sweet Life in Paris - there are some tasty sounding fig things and more fun things to do with meringue, as well as a blue cheese cake that I can't even taste in my head. I had the ingredients for spiced nuts on hand, so I whipped those up in between steps for the macarons. I think it is safe to say that David Lebovitz himself is no longer an outsider in Paris. He has provided insight into a culture that is known as unwelcoming but may just be misunderstood (or untolerated), and this would be a useful guide for anyone considering a visit.

Bakery Review - Philly Cupcake - Philadelphia, PA

Even if you didn't know you'd be passing by, it would be hard to miss Philly Cupcake. It is located on the busy and interesting corner of 12th and Chestnut in Philadelphia, and is brightly lit with eye-catching color and cupcakes in lit up china cabinets (there may have been chandeliers; I have to admit to being too dazzled to take enough pictures). Add to that later hours than you might expect (8 pm most nights!) and your eye is pulled in. This is one of the places I was taken on an evening bakery visiting spree with the friend I met at last year's Music Library Association Conference, who had already been a reader of my blog. Her taste was impeccable, and it is always better to go places with someone in the know. (Thanks Emily!)


A lot of cupcake places win on the visual aspect but then don't taste very good. I am happy to say this is not the case with Philly Cupcake. I got a half dozen that were tasted over the course of a week, but did get two chocolate coma cupcakes to give one away to a friend. In the picture, in the top row you see the classic chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream, something with chocolate and cherry (not listed on their website, may have been a seasonal/experimental one), and chocolate coma (wow, seriously, so chocolatey!). Bottom row: empty spot for chocolate coma #2, some kind of pistachio-rose cupcake with pistachio marzipan and strawberry buttercream, and black velvet with cream cheese icing. The black velvet was my favorite - a spicy but very tender chocolate cupcake!

Philly Cupcake also sells other treats like brownies, cookies, even pupcakes for dogs. There were vegan options but I neglected to try any of those flavors.

If you are visiting or live in Philadelphia, you might consider following them on Facebook or Twitter, where they often post new flavors, special deals, and other sugar-fueled excitement.

Scones & Bones & Crumpets

Scones & Bones (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs comes out today! I was happy to receive an advanced readers copy, and immediately went to the back to see what recipes were included. The tea shop mysteries are fun to read, featuring Theodosia Browning, proprietor of a tea shop in Charleston, SC. If you want to start at the beginning, look for Death by Darjeeling.

I was happy to see a recipe for crumpets in Scones & Bones. They have always been on my to-make list, so I tried that recipe right away. Crumpets are also known as griddle cakes, and to me are the perfect cross between pancakes and English muffins. They have yeast, and the dough has to sit for a while, but they are not as bready as English muffins. I love how they are cooked simply in a frying pan or griddle and you never have to turn the oven on. I made two at a time in a pan, using the only two cookie cutters with handles that would work - half my crumpets were heart-shaped!


Crumpets are traditionally served with butter and jam or honey, but you don't have to start there! They also are great with savory spreads or used in a sandwich. I made an egg, cheese, and vegetarian bacon sandwich with mine, and since I was mimicking the McDonald's McGriddle, I added a dot of maple syrup. Strange but delicious!

Raspberry White Chocolate Layer Cake

Yesterday was the baby shower for a good friend. Her name starts with an M, as does her yet-to-be-born baby girl. Pink was required, and dragonflies are the nursery theme, so I decided to combine the two. The new mom is a vegetarian, so I had originally planned to make some kind of fabulous non-gelatin strawberry bavarian cream layered masterpiece, but anyone who has read my baking disaster post about agar agar knows I have not yet conquered the sea vegetable beast. When I regrouped and went a different direction, I kept seeing raspberry and white chocolate, since I knew I'd be making white chocolate dragonflies.


The cake is really a combination of 3-4 recipes. The white cake layers come from Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake from Baking: From My Home to Yours, which really is perfect (I've blogged it in March 2008 and July 2009 in various versions I've made). This time I made the cake layers according to the recipe, so they were light and slightly lemony. I wanted white chocolate in the cake as well, so I made the white chocolate whipped cream that is part of the Black and White Chocolate Cake in the same cookbook.


When I assembled the cake, I split the layers, spread each with raspberry jam, topped that with white chocolate whipped cream, and sprinkled that with fresh raspberries. I made the raspberry buttercream from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, and that's the color you see on the cake. No food coloring, just raspberries!

The white chocolate dragonflies are just melted white chocolate discs that I stuck in a ziploc and piped onto parchment paper lining bent to let the wings stand up. Overall, I think the fresh raspberries in between the layers as well as in the icing really clinched the flavor.

Daring Bakers February 2011 - Coconut Panna Cotta with Pomegranate-Strawberry Gelee

Coconut Panna Cotta with Pomegranate-Strawberry Gelee
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I am pretty certain I have made florentine cookies before, but I knew I'd never made panna cotta. There is always a subset of bakers who do alternative versions of the recipes, veganizing them, or making them gluten free. I decided this would be the month I would conquer agar agar, a sea vegetable that is often used in place of gelatin in recipes, making it vegetarian where gelatin is not.


Well, it was a great idea. I could not find the agar agar powder anywhere, and figured agar agar flakes were close enough. Well, that's not exactly the case. Agar agar powder can be handled almost exactly the same way as gelatin, sprinkled over water, and so on. The flakes do not dissolve nearly as well. So for my first attempt I made panna cotta based on Giada De Laurentiis's panna cotta recipe, substituting coconut milk for the whole milk and adding a cinnamon stick to the simmering cream. The agar agar flakes just never really dissolved, in either the pomegranate-strawberry gelee or the panna cotta. The fruit mixture had more of a gelled texture, but I imagine that was the pectin naturally in the berries, rather than the agar agar setting anything up. It was a soupy, loose-pudding gloppy mess. The flavor was good, but it was difficult to get past the texture!


Attempts #2 and #3 were even worse. This time I decided to try a chocolate panna cotta recipe from Epicurious.com, cutting back on the sugar as Mallory recommended in the challenge. At this point I had asked for help in the Daring Bakers forums, and Audax, baking genius, had recommended boiling the agar agar flakes in water for 12 minutes or so before adding them to the mixture. I tried this, keeping it at a rolling boil, and a skin of the agar agar would colllect at the sides and top of the mixture. 8 hours later, I had achieved the texture of melted ice cream. I went to the Eden Foods website for more advice, and they recommended the 12-minute trick, also suggesting you could grind the flakes with a coffee grinder before soaking in water. For attempt #3, I soaked the ground up flakes in water for 5 minutes before boiling, and I thought I was getting somewhere, because they soaked up the liquid like gelatin does. I tried combining it with the mixture I'd already made that hadn't set up, but that resulted in the melted ice cream plus gelatinous string mixture you see pictured above. Ugh, I threw it away. I didn't really succeed at my challenge to make this work, but I really want to try finding the powder. It just should not be this difficult. We won't even speak of the coffee gelee I tried to make, which never thickened beyond being very sweet coffee.


At least the Florentine Cookies were good. I didn't have corn syrup in the house, but I did have Golden syrup, so I used that in place of it and it worked just fine. Next time I'd definitely pull back on the sugar a bit, and maybe add some orange zest to the cookie or the chocolate. The recipe the Daring Bakers used was from Nestle, so you can try it too!

Bakery Review - Termini Brothers Bakery - Philadelphia, PA

I was first introduced to sfogliatelle by Alex Guarnaschelli on her show on Food Network called "Alex's Day Off," the Italian Dinner episode. Unfortunately, the Food Network posted for the pastries was severely edited and the reviews are terrible, so I wasn't about to try it, and wouldn't recommend you do either.

In the ChowHound forums, as I prepared my trip to Philadelphia, I kept running across mentions of the Termini Bros. Bakery, a south Philadelphia institution that also has a stand in the Reading Terminal Market, which would be a block or so from my hotel. I saw that they had highly acclaimed pastries, including the elusive sfogliatella, so I added that to my list of things to track down.

I went to the Market three times and never saw the pastry, because by the time I was there for lunch or in the afternoon, they were sold out. The last day I was there, I was in the Market for a committee meeting brunch, and snuck over to the Termini Bros. They had half a tray of sfogliatelle left, so I bought two to take home.

Sfogliatelle (is that plural? I confess my Italian isn't good) are interesting as pastries go. The outside is crisp with a bunch of thin layers, and it is filled with ricotta (the two I bought had a few pieces of citron inside as well). It is filling and not very sweet, but delicious. Definitely a distinct pastry, and I'm glad I got to try it.

My co-workers got to enjoy assorted cookies from Termini Bros., which included fig bars, pignoli, macaroons, and amaretti, all of which smelled delicious. They also had beautiful cakes and torrone in the case. If you end up in the Reading Terminal Market, or near any of their four other locations in Philadelphia and New Jersey, they are definitely worth a visit!

Happy Valentines Day!

Er... it was. I had returned home from Philadelphia the night before, so I asked for an easy Valentines Day. I said I would make dessert, and skimmed through Twitter for inspiration. I came across this post for Berry Brownie Trifle from Two Peas and Their Pod, and knew it was meant to be.

Yes, it was easy. But also tasty! I made brownies from a box (gasp) and added raspberry jam to whipped cream, but at least I whipped it from scratch.

Those mini trifle dishes are deceptively huge inside. We had leftovers for later in the week.

Sometimes, it doesn't have to take all day to make a holiday special. And sometimes, someone else's idea is worth using!

Pear Entremets with Biscuit Joconde Imprime

Better late than never. I had everything purchased to make the January Daring Bakers Challenge, but ended up out for the count with a bad cold for an entire week! I wasn't going to let it all go to waste though, and finally made it over the weekend.

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert. You can read the challenge and original recipe in its entirety on her blog.


I always see pears in the store in January, so I decided to take that flavor and run with it. I found a recipe for Pear Walnut Spice Cake by Gale Gand, topped it with a cinnamon bavarian cream of my own creation, and topped that with a carmelized pear. In my vision of this dessert the carmelized mixture formed its own layer on top, but my bavarian cream was too delicate and the heat melted it. I was lucky to end up with it still looking moderately okay after being thrown into the freezer.


It was a nice flavor combination, although with the joconde it ended up being like double-cake. The pear walnut spice cake was a bit heavy inside, and while it tasted good, this would have been better with a mousse or another bavarian cream. I do think this skill is a useful one, and really enjoyed making the decorative biscuit joconde imprime.

Take Back the Tea Party Trifle

Thursday, January 20, is Take Back the Tea Party Day. It is a holiday that a friend and I came up with, sick of politics, sick of animosity. We decided to take back the tea party, full of deliciousness and elegance.

What better tea party treat than a traditional trifle?

I've actually never made trifle before. And I didn't *exactly* follow a recipe, so I'm not sure how it turned out yet, but I think the picture makes it look like a giant dessert goblet. I looked through hundreds of pictures and recipes and they all seemed to include some kind of cake, some kind of fruit, and some kind of creamy mixture somewhere in between custard, pudding, and whipped cream. Well, those things I can do.


First, I started with pound cake. Since one of my goals for the year was to find a go-to pound cake, I went with the Million Dollar Pound Cake recommended by a friend, Laura G2. I did something wrong, clearly, since it didn't come out of the pan very well. It is a good thing I'd intended it for trifle all along! I trimmed off the top, sliced it up, and sandwiched strawberry jam in between the slices. The slices got diced into 2" cubes.

I made a cooked vanilla pudding, and after it cooled slightly, it was mixed with some fresh whipped cream and a jar of lemon curd. I cooked some frozen cherries and blueberries (mid-winter not being the most seasonal of times to decide to make a trifle!), and used the juice from that to soak the cake layer. I didn't want to use alcohol this time around because of all the pregnant women at work. Nobody wants to be excluded from a tea party!

The fresh fruit I saved for the outward facing layers- strawberries on the bottom and kiwis around the top. I basically layered cake - fruit - cream, repeated, and took it to work to stick in the fridge until tomorrow. It must weigh 25 pounds. I hope there isn't too much liquid inside, but it will probably still taste delicious.

Because that's what tea parties should be... delicious.

Check out the Worldwide Take Back the Tea Party Event, and feel free to join in on the celebration!

Candied Kumquat and Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Last year, I purchased kumquats and they went bad before I ever did anything with them. This year, I was determined to do at least one thing! I had come across a recipe for orange cheesecake with candied kumquats, which seems to be the go-to kumquat recipe on the web. I've heard other suggestions, like kumquat screwdrivers, which also sound delicious.

Ever since last April when I hosted the Daring Bakers Cheesecake Challenge, I knew I'd want to return to the delicious and creamy cheesecake recipe provided by my good friend Abbey from Tastes Like Burning. While I used the candied kumquat recipe in the original link in this post, I adapted Abbey's cheesecake recipe for this dessert. I candied the fruit first, and then used 2 tbsp of the remaining syrup instead of the lemon juice and liqueur in the cheesecake. Then I took about 1/4 cup of the candied fruit and diced it up, folding it into the cheesecake before baking (I was baking a 6 incher this time around).

Honestly, I felt like the cheesecake was the best part. The candied kumquats on top threw off the balance a little, especially since their flavor was already so present in the cheesecake itself, and the sweet-tart was lovely with the creamy cheesecake.

At least now I know what to do with the mysterious miniature citrus fruit that appear every winter. (Now I just need some ideas for what to do with the candied kumquat syrup! Maybe some kumquat soda is in our future....)

Julia Child's Pound Cake (Le Quatre Quarts)

One of my baking resolutions for 2011 is to find a go-to pound cake recipe!

I got a lot of great recipes from people who read the blog or follow me in Twitter, and I'm excited to try them over the course of a year.

I was thumbing through the second volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child since I got it for the holidays, and stumbled across a cake recipe called "Le Quatre Quarts." I knew that I would have to start with Julia!

It isn't quite exactly pound for pound on the ingredients, and the recipe does have a few interesting quirks. First of all it is only large enough for an 8" round pan, so if I made it again I'd have to work with the ratios to fill a bundt or loaf pan. (It might just need to be doubled). The most interesting thing was how it is mixed - first the eggs, sugar, and citrus zest. Then the flour. Then the butter, which has been whipped into a mayonnaise texture. I was skeptical but followed her exactly, and was pleased with the results.

The best part of the cake didn't end up in the served dessert - it domed up too much and had to be trimmed off, but that part was crackly and sweet. The rest of the cake had a fine crumb but wasn't dry. I made Julia's Creme du Citron from the next page to fill the middle of the cake, and it was like a creamy sweeter lemon curd.

Nursery Cupcakes

We seem to have a lot of babies coming at work (don't drink the water). For today's baby shower, I made little miniature cupckes, some with little faces! Most had little kissy mouths, but some looked like they might be crying or singing. I got the idea from What's New Cupcake? a book with cute ideas that relies a little too heavily on pre-made foods.


With the rest of them, I just did pink swirls and little pearls.

Congratulations to Andrea and Dave!