My (Possibly) Lucky Sweater

I’m not a superstitious person. I’m generally not even a little stitious (ba-dum-chee!) but I can’t help to think that this sweet Old Navy cardigan I thrifted is some sort of good-fortune magnet. Evidence: I’ve worn it to the last three interviews I’ve had and subsequently landed each job— the most recent being offered to me within the first ten minutes of meeting my (now) new boss! 

So by now you’re probably asking:

“Don’t you think hard work and experience is what gets you a job?” or

“Wait— don’t you already have a job that you love?” or even

“Why is this your third job in eight months?”

To which I would reply:

No. Absolutely not. It is completely reasonable to empower inanimate objects with magic instead of taking credit for your hard work, dedication, and talent. Or

Yes, I do have a job that I love— which is what has inspired me to accept a job I think I will love even more! Or

Because a girl’s gotta live! Duh! Or, more honestly, because I finally decided to pursue what I love full time!

So here’s the details: In a whirlwind of fate, I discovered the Nashville branch of the bakery I work for was hiring. So although I LOVE my current job, I decided to at least entertain the idea of applying/interviewing. (I mean, after my love affair with the city, how could I not?) I put in my resume and everything else is kind of a blur. I talked to my boss about transferring and although she would be sad to see me go, she was extremely helpful and let me know I had her support.

purse: Mom’s from the 90′s 

A few days after that I got a call to setup an interview for the next day. After talking to the manager in person for ten minutes, he offered me a full-time baking position on the spot! I tried not to squeal with delight as I penciled my start date into the calendar, but I am sure I was still beaming from the inside out!

The next day, my partner got offered the job he had been waiting to hear back from. So in one week’s time, my entire world got turned upside down and all our plans went out the window! Now we are furiously trying to tie-up all the loose ends here before we can make our much anticipated move to Music City. 

locket: vintage / gift from my mom 

Even though all of this has been a stressful process the last few weeks, at times I can’t help but think about how lucky I am. But just stating that makes me so upset because it really does negate all of the effort I have put into actively pursuing my dreams. Landing this job was not something that just fell into my lap— it was a conscious decision. I decided I wanted to work at a bakery. I sought out and learned the necessary skills to get an entry level position. I continually asked for feedback and criticism from my boss and coworkers. And then I decided to pursue an opportunity for vocational, personal, and financial growth.

shirt: thrifted / belt: kohl’s / corduroys: GAP / wedges: Ciao Bella from DSW

 Although it can be nice to think that luck has something to do with success, I know this outfit probably only went so far as to influence my confidence when I interviewed. Even if it’s cheesy, the quote “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it” really applies to my life lately. I’m really excited to see what the future holds and I’m ready to own my accomplishments. I’ll just save my “luck” so I can test it on something just as crazy— like the lottery!

A Rosy Little Birthday

This week I made these cupcakes as a special order for a friend! His mom’s birthday was coming up and the request was simple (or so I thought): 24 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I really wanted to forgo the food coloring and make the cake naturally red, but I tried several recipes out beforehand and failed miserably each time (more details here). So I decided to try out a boxed cake mix just to see what they were like.

Turns out they were moist, a little chocolatey, and super red. I am not ready to give up on RV just yet, but I am still not sure what the hype is about. Honestly, I’ve come to the conclusion that red velvet is basically just an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting! Which, I think is generally way too heavy, so I beat mine for a ridiculously long time so that it had an almost whipped consistency to it.

Overall, I think these cupcakes actually tasted great, but I had the most fun decorating them! I am learning so much about working with fondant and gum paste, but I am still so far from being any good at it! I can’t wait to look back at my photos and recipes to see all the progress I’ve made days/weeks/months/years from now— it’s going to be so rewarding!

I used this video tutorial for the roses (mine just have less petals). Do you have any experience with either red velvet or fondant? It seems I picked two pretty tricky things to combine all at once!

Apple Pie Yeast Braid

If I were Dr. Frankenstein then this bread would be my monster. It’s a mashup of a few of my absolute favorite recipes. The first is a yeast bread that my best friend, Shannon, introduced me to. She taught me how to make it almost a year ago and I’ve only just now got around to baking it again. If there’s one thing we love most about it, it’s how easy it is to customize. It originally calls for apricots and almonds but I have never actually made it that way. I had a hankering for my favorite Apple Pie Coffee Cake but I wanted something a bit different, so I decided to combine the two recipes into one great big masterpiece. (You might remember this cake from when I tweaked it to make my lemon blueberry version.) So with a little vegan science and some improvisation I was soon on my way to a potluck with the prettiest bread I’ve ever made!

Look how proud I am! If you think this recipe sounds good (then you’re right!) but you’re nervous about making bread, then all I can say is . . . DON’T BE! It’s not as intimidating as it sounds and this really is the perfect beginner recipe. (It just looks way fancier than it is!)

The dough is the exact same recipe as the original. But for the inside I used one can of apple pie filling and a little bit of a sugar + spice mixture I created. The mix is equal to:

1/2 tsp cardamom + 1/2 tsp cinnamon + 3 tablespoons turbinado cane sugar 

Just sprinkle a little bit on each 3rd of dough before you spread the apple pie filling. (You should have enough left to cover the top of the loaf.)

I accidentally  rolled my dough out a little too long which means I didn’t have much to “fold over” so I pinched it together instead.

The pinching technique proved to be a rather messy one that worked to my advantage since I wanted to coat the loaf with the remaining sugar + spice. I had some trouble with the strands coming open while braiding (since I shoved so much filling in them!) so I flipped the whole loaf over once I was done braiding, that way if they split open during baking then the top would remain intact and pretty. So after I braided the strands it was nice and gooey and I just sprinkled the mixture on top.

Just bake for 40 minutes and voila! A delicious (and rather impressive looking) loaf of my very own creation: Apple Pie Yeast Bread.  

If you can, wait for the loaf to cool before slicing. If not, then make sure to eat it with a huge scoop of your favorite vanilla bean ice cream! Because what’s better than dessert bread? Dessert bread a la mode, duh!

circle plate: vintage / aluminum ruffle platter: HandPicked, Inc.

Have you ever made bread before? I’m a beginner but it’s becoming one of my favorite things to bake. . . thanks to this recipe!

Behind the Scenes : How to Make A Mean Dirt Cupcake

For an aspiring baker, not much is worse than throwing out 22 cupcakes. Unless those cupcakes are evidence of your greatest baking fail to date, in which case you immediately delete all photos and evidence you ever made them and then try not to publicly mourn all the beautiful wrappers you wasted. End. Of. Story.

Or, you suck it up and decide to share your great big, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad experience with the world  your blog followers. I mean, your life isn’t all sunshine and unicorns, now is it? Well neither is mine.

So let’s talk about last night. It started out so perfect: recipe in hand (or more accurately: recipe pulled up in an email I had sent to myself weeks ago), ingredients all in a row, spirits high, and Fleetwood Mac playing. Little did I know, I was ready for what would later become known as The Battle of the Red Velvet Cake.
But I didn’t know of the impending doom, so I was excited. I was even extra excited to use the vintage geese measuring cups my mom gave me. Look how cute they are all in a row, ready to help out! I can hardly stand it!
And then things only got better. I finally used the beautiful ceramic juicer I bought while I was in Gatlinburg last summer. Ahh yes: supporting handmade goods, overcoming my grudge against Red Velvet cake— things were going well!
And then I did something I never do: I followed a recipe exactly how it was written. I was attempting to make a Red Velvet Cake. But not just any Red Velvet Cake. I was not interested in a bland, toxic red excuse to eat cream cheese frosting. I wanted a vegan version of the historic cake I had come across in my research: rich brown sugar, a delicate crumb, and naturally red with a cooked flour frosting. So when it called for beets, I didn’t blink an eye.

I opened those babies up and was immediately mesmerized by the magenta goodness. “This might actually work,” I thought to myself. But having never eaten a beet before, I eagerly took a huge whiff of the can to see what I was getting into. Although it smelled like damp earth after a heavy rain, I didn’t blink an eye. I mean, I routinely made brownies from a can of black beans, how much worse could these beets be? 

So I threw them in the food processor and watched as they spun into a glorious red puree. I carefully added all the ingredients. I even sifted the dry into the wet to get my beautiful batter. Only thing to do now was a taste test! One lick of that spoon and my heart sank. But I didn’t give up! So what if it was a little tangy? That’s why most recipes called for buttermilk, vinegar, or lemon juice. It’s not like it’s supposed to be chocolate cake! I convinced myself it was supposed to be like that. Oh and the obvious dirt aftertaste? That would cook out. It. Totally. Would. So I baked them up, peering through the oven window to make sure they were rising. And boy, how the smell fooled me! Over the next 20 minutes my apartment was transformed into a small town cupcake shop! I was filled with hope when the timer went off. And I was so proud of those puffy, naturally red little cakes. I put in the second batch while the first cooled. As soon as it they were in the oven I reached for my masterpiece, pulled back the wrapper, and took a huge bite.

And as soon as it hit my tongue I spit it right back out. Right. In. The. Trash. How could something even taste SO BAD? How could something I made taste so bad? I had insulted myself. Oh, it was awful. It was like a moist, fluffy mudpie made with lemon juice instead of water. It was worse than the time one of the baker’s at work left the sugar out of the pumpkin cupcakes. It was simply embarrassing.

I wanted to give up. I gagged every time I looked into the kitchen at those sad, sad cakes staring back at me. If I didn’t have a special order of Red Velvet Cupcakes coming up in April for a friend’s mom’s birthday, then I probably would give up. But I have two cans of beets left, a few new recipes, more tips from various cake forums, and a huge grudge against Red Velvet Cake that I’m trying to fight. I just hope it’s enough to get me through the next month.

My Sweet Secret

I’m happy to finally share that I have made some more progress on my goals list! It all happened really fast but I am now officially working at a bakery!I got a call from a local cupcake shop on a Monday about three weeks ago and set up an interview for the next morning. It went swimmingly well and I spent the rest of the day at work dreaming about what life would be like if I got the job. Then on that Thursday I was offered a position, by Friday night I had put in my two weeks notice, and on Saturday morning I started to train as a frosting & filling maker + decorator!

I have spent the last two weeks working two jobs and being in complete disbelief that I am now getting paid to do something I love. By no means was my job [fashion consultant at a jewelry boutique] terrible, but it just wasn’t something I could see myself doing longterm.

This is only my first week working solely at the bakery and things are already looking up. I am going to train this week to fill-in for one of the bakers going on maternity leave, which not only means I get to bake but I will also get to decorate even more (which is great since that is where my interests are right now!).

I’m still trying to wrap my head around how incredibly fast the last month has gone by and how many wonderful things are happening in my life! I get paid to do what I normally just do for fun! THERE IS A CUPCAKE ON MY PAYCHECK.

Not only am I happier than I have been in a long time, but I have a feeling things are only going to get even better from here on out. As cheesy as it sounds, I honestly feel like this is the closest I have ever come to starting a career. So now that there’s no place to go but up, cheers to new beginnings!

“The Best You Ever Made”

I don’t mean to brag, but these Banana Maple Cupcakes with Spun Sugar Hearts were deemed “the best you ever made” by my partner. I mean, he does have a thing for banana flavored foods, and I have been told that several of my other desserts were “the best I’ve ever had” by friends, but these cupcakes really might actually be the best. I think my favorite food conversation comment  of all time came from my Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes and went like this:

These are vegan?
Yes.
But they’re so good! Sooo goooood! They’re even moist!

You guys, I’m changing the world! Okay, so maybe just the opinions of those that get to try my vegan baking. But hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? And what better place to start spreading compassion than your own kitchen?
For the hearts, I used the caramel sauce from this croquembouche recipe. I promise they aren’t difficult, just messy. Put down lots of parchment and experiment. And remember to watch the sugar mixture closely so it doesn’t burn!

So here’s the breakdown: Banana cupcakes, topped with lightly flavored maple frosting + a pool of maple syrup in the center. I got the idea from this photo and decided to try it since I have had trouble with making the maple flavor strong enough in the past (and I didn’t feel like buying maple extract to remedy it).
Look how the syrup drips down the side of that front cupcake! Yum! These are definitely for those that like to indulge in dessert, not the kind of person that appreciates cupcakes because they feel they are “less messy” than cake. Pile on the syrup and top with your sugar creations, I made mine into hearts: 

Vegan! Banana Maple Cupcakes
adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup ripe banana, mashed well
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup milk alternative (I used vanilla soymilk)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1. Prepare your muffin pan with liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the banana (mashed well with a fork, a few small lumps are okay), sugar, canola oil, vegan milk, vanilla, and almond extracts.

4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients, folding everything together until just combined.

5. Fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds of the way up. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick or knife comes out clean when testing. Cool completely before frosting.

Vegan Maple Frosting

• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup*

1. With a mixer, beat together the shortening, margarine, and vanilla extract. Alternate adding powdered sugar one cup at a time and maple syrup one tablespoon at at time, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat for 5-7 minutes until fluffy. Create a well in the center of your cupcakes and fill with additional syrup. Note: If you are going to pipe this frosting, try refrigerating it for about 30-45 minutes first because it is not very stiff.

*It’s okay if you only have breakfast syrup that is not technically Pure Maple Syrup. At least for me it is. . . I am not picky.

If you celebrate Valentine’s Day then these Banana Maple Cupcakes would be a great gift for someone special OR something fun to make together. They would also be sweet for an anniversary gift .Or just because you like hearts. Or bananas. Or trying new things. Or if you just need a go-to banana cupcake recipe. Now what are you waiting for?! Go forth and use those bananas you are never going to eat!

Update: These are best served same day. The spun sugar kind of dissolves and melts into the cupcakes. Also, my sugar hearts kind of tasted like coffe, but that could just be because of how long I cooked it for. (so I am saying if you don’t like that idea then be careful how long you leave them in the cupcakes or how long you cook the sugar for!) I am trying the spun sugar again this weekend so I might do another post/update about it!