Cupcakes for grandma

This past Saturday was my grandma's 78th birthday! We took her out to Mama Mexico to celebrate.  Although we had dessert at the restaurant, I still wanted to bake her some cupcakes.  I made cinnamon banana cupcakes with a dulce de leche buttercream and then added two whole almonds on the top as a decorative touch.  While these cupcakes were really yummy, I think I'll add some toasted crushed almonds into the batter next time for some more texture.  Other than that, they were still a huge hit! Check out the pics!

Here is to another year grandma!

xo,

Daniella :)

Fudgy Yummy Brownies

This past Wednesday, I went to visit my best friend Dustin and his brother at their apartment in Brooklyn.  I figured I should make something sweet since they were making dinner.  These fudge brownies have 3 kinds of chocolate (unsweetened, bittersweet and dark chocolate) and have the rest of my homemade salted caramel drizzled on top.  They were not too sweet which was nice and definitely rich.  Delicious! Check out the pictures below!

Well, I'm off to celebrate my grandma's 78th birthday! I baked her some cupcakes but stayed tuned for the next blog post to see what kind. :)

xo,

Daniella :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes and Nutella Cookies

On Saturday, I had some friends over and I wanted make a new version of a red velvet cupcake recipe.  The recipe I was using before made the cake a little too spongy and lacked flavor.  To me, red velvet cupcakes are supposed to be, well, cakey.  It should be moist, have a slight crumble, and definitely taste good on its own.  It should compliment the frosting and not the other way around.  Long story short, these were awesome! I also made a vanilla cream cheese frosting and piped it, with you guessed it, my star tip!  I also baked some nutella cookies with dark chocolate chips and walnuts.  These were like mini brownies and delicious! Check out the pics below!

 

xo,

Daniella :)

Father's Day Cake!

Happy Father's Day! In celebration of this special day, I baked a yummy carrot cake! I substituted some of the ingredients with healthier alternatives.  I have actually done this before for my good friend Michelle when I went to visit.  Her family is a lot more health conscious and I wanted to bake with better ingredients so they didn't feel guilty indulging.

For this cake, I used whole wheat flour and brown sugar instead of all purpose flour and white sugar.  I also added a lot more spices to give the cake a nicer flavor and a lot more nuts, raisins and carrots to give it really great texture.  The frosting is a cinnamon cream cheese buttercream with way less confectioners sugar than the recipe originally called for.  I tend to like my frosting and cakes less sweet.  To make it a little more decorative, I toasted some coconut and added it to the sides of the cake and piped stars (with mini pearls added on top) with my favorite Wilton 21 star tip.  To add a little more contrast, I added whole almonds in between the the piped stars. Finally, I dusted some confectioners sugar in the middle of the cake!  Check out the pics and you'll see what I mean!

I hope you all enjoy your Father's Day with all of the special dads and moms in your life!

xo,

Daniella :)

Peanut butter and Chocolate chip cookies

I feel like I'm on a baking spree! Yesterday's cupcakes were amazing and today I decided to bake peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.  The thing I love about these cookies is that they are nice and toasty on the outside and really soft on the inside.  You can't go wrong with that! I also used white and dark chocolate chips to make them a little more special.  Check them out! :)

xo,

Daniella :)

Sweet and Salty

I decided to make these egg less chocolate cupcakes and to my surprise they were AMAZING! They turned out to be really moist and were not too sweet.  To top them off and make them a little more sophisticated, I made a vanilla buttercream (of course) and drizzled a home made salted caramel sauce! The flavors made my new favorite combination of sweet and salty.  Check them out and yes it's okay to drool a little! :)

xo,

Daniella :)

Summer cupcakes

The summer is officially here and it is hot!!! Regardless of the heat, I am still going to bake! Below are my chocolate cupcakes decorated with a vanilla frosting (out of my Wilton tub).  I used this frosting because it holds together really well in the heat.  Even though I am not fond of the taste, it's a great way to practice decorating my cupcakes! 

Enjoy and stay cool!

Daniella :)