Cupcakes

My friend Jenny started a blog as she baked through (and blogged about) Martha Stewart's Cupcake cookbook. Check it out at Give Cupcakes. Earlier this fall she asked for helping getting through all the recipes. She has done a great job and I was a little nervous to offer help. Let's be honest y'all I am NOT a baker and the first recipe I did definitely proved that.

This recipe is Lavender-Iced Brownie Cupcakes.  And I learned my high-altitude lesson when my entire first batch fell. They still tasted great but looked pathetic!

My cast of characters. (Not complete).

Chocolate & Butter. Yum. I had never tasted baker's unsweetened chocolate before. I tried some after this was melted. GROSS! I will never make that mistake again.

That sad fallen cupcakes of round I.

Sunken middles :( The great part was it held the lavender icing in a nice little pool.

I called one of my baker friends for advice for the second round. 1 more egg, less sugar and less baking powder. 

Round II looked awesome!

The icing was really easy. 

You can't really tell but the frosting had a nice lavender color thanks to food color.

I brought them over to play Dominoes with some coworkers. 

Wine, Mexican train and fun friends. It was a lovely snowy night!

So, lesson learned on baking in the altitude. Which won't really help for my next recipe that I will be making this week. I am in FL for Christmas! My 8 year old niece and I will be attempting Almond Hazelnut Cupcakes. I will hopefully get a few more pictures since I will have a great little helper.

And, I have a new found love for cooking/baking with Lavender. It is such a great taste.

Well friends, off to enjoy the sunshine & the beach. I'll be back this week with another cupcake recipe.

J