Redless Velvet Cupcakes with PINK Frosting

Happy Happy Halloween! This has GOT to be one of my favorite holidays and I've been LOVING all of the great food (and decoration) ideas popping up on blogs and all over the 'net. If you're looking for something festive to bake, might I recommend the "creepy" cupcakes I posted earlier this month? ^_^


Now let's talk about cupcakes with PINK frosting (which are admittedly not at all spooky hehe). You see, since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Jen of Beantown Baker announced The Power of Pink Challenge for bloggers to draw attention to a great cause by making pink-colored food. I've been fortunate not to have any history of breast cancer in my own family, but many friends have not been as lucky and one even lost her mother to it at an early age. So please join me in honoring the people in our lives whom breast cancer has affected. On top of that, remember to have regular self and doctor's examinations as early detection is crucial.

Black Black (Forest) Heart Cupcakes (Iron Cupcake)

As if participating in one cupcake group/contest weren't enough (it's so addicting!), I've gone and joined another one (mmmhm). IronCupcake:Earth has just entered it's second year. And clearly, these bakers know how to start a party 'cause the very first theme is music, inspired by our favorite boogie-ing talkshow host, Ellen.

Black black heart why would you offer more?
Why would you make it easier on me to satisfy...I'm on fire
I'm rotting to the core
I'm eating all your kings and queens
All your sex and your diamonds

So which lucky song (=p) was my muse? Well I've gushed before about the talented and sexy Canadian singer, David Usher. The dark and sensuous song quoted above, "Black Black Heart", was my unforgettable introduction to his music and inspired me to make these equally luscious and deeply flavored Black Forest-inspired chocolate cupcakes with brandied cherry filling, whipped cream frosting, and homemade chocolate hearts. Check out the music video after the jump to get the full experience. Voting for Iron Cupcake will begin at this site Friday, October 30th at 8 p.m. (central) and will be open through Thursday, November 5th. And please show some love to our generous IronCupcake:Earth prize providers by visiting their sites!

The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
Bella Cupcake Couture
Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne

Indian Night - Eggplant Curry and Easy Dal

Have you heard this month is the 3rd annual Vegan Month of Food, more commonly referred to as Vegan Mofo? For all of October, a whole buncha bloggers (most vegan but some not) have pledged to write to their heart's content about vegan food and related topics. If you're interested, you'll find additional details and a list of participants here. While I'm not participating this year (or a vegan), I love the creativity exhibited by vegan chefs. And there's no doubt in my mind that vegan food can be every bit as exciting and satisfying as any other.

Indian cuisine illustrates this point beautifully, so I dubbed last Sunday "Vegan Indian Night" in honor of Vegan Mofo. Craving one of my favorite restaurant dishes -- a mashed roasted eggplant curry -- I immediately turned to Manjula for guidance. This sweet Indian lady is known for her fail-proof vegetarian recipes and step-by-step videos to go with each one. The result? My eggplant curry held all the complex flavors of the restaurant version without the inch of oil to weigh them down.

I know pita bread ain't Indian, but humor me and pretend it's naan, k?

Cupcake Hero::October Roundup - Please Vote!

The roundup of entries for Cupcake Hero::October [Pumpkin/Halloween theme] is up! Thanks to CB of I Heart Cuppycakes for putting this together so quickly despite a power outage. VOTING IS OPEN from now through October 21st @ 11:59pm EST.

I entered my Creepy Pumpkin Bug and Mummy-Cakes, which were loads of fun to make. Everyone really stepped it up with the creativity this month to come up with festive Halloween decorations. Please visit I Heart Cuppycakes to see all the spo0o0oky entries and to VOTE for your favorite! =D

Sasha's Favorite Banana Bread and Giveaway Winners

First I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my very first giveaway. It was really fun reading about your favorite things about Halloween! So much fun, in fact, that I wanted to spread the cupcake joy even more than I'd planned. I'm happy to announce that the 2 winners (chosen randomly) of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World are Joanne (comment #2) and Snulfers (comment #26). I'll be emailing you both shortly - congrats! For the rest of you, stayed tuned 'cause I'll be giving away more stuff for sure.

Now with the gray wet weather currently blanketing the D.C. area, this just felt like the right time to share my simple and beloved recipe for classic banana bread. Though I wrote earlier about a delightful twist on banana bread that added coconut, citrus, and rum flavors, today's recipe is the one I return to time after time for it's unbeatable moist texture and pure banana flavor. The simplicity of one-bowl mixing can't be beat. Plus the recipe is so flexible that I've made many versions with different nuts, chocolates, flavorings, and grains.

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

I just found out from this excellent, thought-provoking post at Daily Musings that today is Blog Action Day '09 Climate Change. While I care deeply about this issue, I simply don't have the energy (I'm home sick) to write a proper post on short notice about the topic. But please visit the website to read all about this blog event, find links to all the participating blogs, and even join in yourself if you'd like. This is such a critical time and we owe it to ourselves and future generations to do all we can to turn things around.

Dad's Potato Jalapeno Carrot Stirfry

This may be the first thing I ever learned to cook. I remember Dad making these potatoes for me in middle school as I eagerly watched at his side. I started cooking it for myself in high school. And it makes frequent appearances at dinner to this day when I need something super fast and easy, that's also fresh and flavorful. Only 5 (count 'em) ingredients. You can certainly add other seasonings (minced garlic would be nice, for example), but I like how this preparation really highlights the flavor of the jalapenos.

I confess it's not the most photogenic. As you can see above, the peppers get pretty soft. You could add them more toward the end of cooking so they maintain their shape, but I really love that they infuse the oil with their subtle spiciness so I add them first.

15 Lovely Blogs

What a wonderful week it's been for this newbie blogger! First I was dubbed Cupcake Hero and then I was surprised to receive this One Lovely Blog award from Michelle at One Ordinary Day. She's a true sweetheart with a wonderful little blog that you simply must see. Please go pay her a visit!

So the fun of this award is that you pass it on to 15 more blogs that you like! Now I read so many blogs that my browser often freezes up when I try to manage my subscriptions (oops). It's a bit embarrassing in fact, and my boyfriend likes to tease me about my incessant blog "scrolling." The point though is that I had plenty of beautiful and inspirational sites to select from and had a haaard time keeping the list to just 15! Keep reading to see which ones made my list...

Halloween Pumpkin M&M Cupcakes and Cookbook GIVEAWAY

UPDATE: Yay I WON Cupcake Hero::September with my caramelized banana creme brulee cupcakes. It was a super close contest and Christy's PB banana sandwich cupcakes look amazing too. This was so much fun, I can't wait to see the next roundup!


Can you guess what time it is again?! IT'S CUPCAKE HERO TIME!! Okay now I know you're thinking this girl needs to cut back on the sugar / coffee / Red Bull, and maybe I do...but with Halloween coming up we all know how likely that's gonna be (mwahaha). Returning to the ever-important topic of cupcakes, I've been plotting a while now for October's challenge (partly to distract myself while waiting for the results of September's throwdown including one of my entries).


The theme this month, Booo-tiful Pumpkin Cupcakes, had both flavor and decorative components. We were told to use pumpkin in some part of the cupcake plus to make the top "Halloween-y." Aye aye, Captain CB! Our awesome hostess was even so kind as to point us to this goldmine of ideas. I went in search of a cool-lookin' design that wouldn't require anything too fussy (like fondant or food coloring) and found these fun chocolate M&M insect and mummy toppings. All the instructions on how to make these yourself are below and know that I love questions =).

Dragon's Almond Apple Cake

It seems like apple recipes have been popping up everywhere these days! And with the colder weather (finally) making a return around here, I had a very particular craving for a fruit and spice-filled snack cake. The first time I saw this beauty on Dragon's Kitchen I was struck by its simple elegance. Now that I've made it almost a year later, I'm impressed by the balance of flavors and can think of few better ways to kick off the apple season. Apple and almond are definitely partners that I will match up again and again from now on.

The original cake is surely amazing (Dragon's made it over 100 times so it's gotta be!) but I couldn't resist sprinkling some spices into the batter itself and not just the topping. This extra boost is still subtle and doesn't overpower the almond flavor. Next time I also plan to add 1/4 cup applesauce for an additional layer of flavor, plus super moistness. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe, Dragon. Your home is definitely not the only one this cake is well-loved in!

American Samoa Tsunami

Photograph from WHEC-TV

While I happen to have a lot of random knowledge about the U.S. territory of American Samoa, most Americans probably weren't aware of its existence and location until this week. The news coming out about the aftermath of the tsunami seems to get worse by the day. Here is one recent article from the Australian news. My thoughts and best wishes go out to the people of Samoa and American Samoa, especially those who have lost or are still searching for friends and family, during this terrible time and as they begin a long journey of recovery and rebuilding.