Cupcakes and a Going Away/Welcome Home Party

Yesterday was the day after my brother Max returned from Australia and the day before our exchange student Tilman returns to Germany. So, of course, we had to throw a party and, of course, I had to make them something delicious for their party

CUPCAKES! Portable and adorable bites of cakey goodness.

Tilman asked for strawberry and Max wanted red velvet and cookie dough.

I wanted them to be perfect so I researched and researched and prepped the day before and woke up early yesterday and threw out two batches of bad frosting and pulled out some of my hair. But...I think that they turned out quite pretty.

A strawberry cupcake with vanilla swiss buttercream.

The cake was full of strawberry bits and very moist. The buttercream on the other hand was way too buttery and not sweet enough. It was not completely overpowering with the cake but I won't make it again without modifying the recipe.

My nephews seemed to really like the frosting anyway. Dante said that it was definitely just butter but he had no problem licking it off the cupcake.

A chocolate chip cookie dough flavored cake filled with egg-less cookie dough topped with cookie dough frosting and a little chocolate chip cookie.

This cupcake was definitely the crowd favorite. I never ate a whole one but I tasted all the individual parts and they were delicious. The frosting was probably the most impressive part. I am considering putting it on some other kind of cupcake. Chocolate maybe?

Mmmmm, cookie dough.

A simple red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

The red velvet cake was nothing life changing but it was pretty fluffy and moist. I was satisfied with the recipe. The cream cheese frosting had a perfect flavor but was way too thin to pipe onto the cupcakes as I had planned. I still think that they turned out quite cute and yummy.

The rest of the party also went well. There was a good turn out and everyone had fun playing volleyball and playing on the playground. (They are teenagers but they played tag and climbed on children's toys. I guess they are still children on the inside.)

And now it is time for a bunch of adorable children pictures!

That should satisfy your cuteness quota for the day.

World Peace Cookies

When I stumbled across these cookies, I knew I would have to make them soon. Cookies delicious enough to create world peace. How can you beat that? Since I knew I couldn't keep them around the house or I would ruin all my dieting, I decided to triple the recipe and give the dough away as gifts. I also whipped up a gluten-free batch for my gluten intolerant father so he wouldn't feel left out.

Let me tell you now. It was a good decision to give the dough away. It is heavenly. I can imagine myself eating a bowl of it for dessert. And the cookies? Even better. I really can't describe how amazing they are and I am not even a chocolate lover. I couldn't help but eat four off the plate of cookies I baked for pictures. Imagine if I had a freezer stocked with that cookie dough all summer.

My six year old brother said this was the best cookie dough he would ever taste. I told him that he should hope he tastes even better cookie dough sometime. He replied, "Maybe it is possible, but probably not." He sat on the counter and begged me for crumbs as I divided up the mountain of dough.

Plus, making a triple batch of dough was so easy thanks to our new Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It is so sleek, black and powerful. It cut the prep time for these cookies in half. Too bad I can't take it back to school with me.

A ridiculous amount of butter and sugar is fluffy and creamy in an instant.

I think I am in love.

After dinner I baked up a batch of regular cookies and a batch of gluten-free cookies for dessert. I barely had time photograph them because my mom tried to grab them whenever I looked away. My dad ate seven as his "dinner."

All that was left this morning.

Here is the recipe:

World Peace Cookies

Baking: From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Makes about 36 cookies.

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

BAKING: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

SERVING: The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — I prefer them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.

STORING: Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Summer Breakfast

I have never really been a breakfast person. I don't normally eat breakfast and the typical breakfast food is just not something I crave.
That said, this summer I have been loving breakfast. I have been on a new health food kick and I have learned to look forward to my fruits, nuts, and yogurt when I wake up.
The other day I made a really delicious kefir and homemade blueberry sauce shake for breakfast.


I love these POM tea glasses. We have broken almost all of them and they only sell their tea in plastic bottles now.


Look at that swirl. Mmmmmm.


I used my shake to wash down one of these cherry pie bars. They are delicious and this one only has three ingredients (almonds, unsweetened cherries and dates). My favorite is the peanut butter cookie bar. It is made of only peanuts, dates and salt and takes almost exactly like a real cookie.

This morning's breakfast was inspired by the huge amount of summer berries in our mini fridge. Nothing really can beat creamy yogurt topped with fresh berries and crunchy almonds.

I can't wait for tomorrow morning.