Despite being a fairly frequent banana eater, I inevitably end up with the last few bananas in the batch turning brown before I’d planned.  It’s a safe bet to assume there are at least a few brown (ok, black) bananas hanging out in my fridge at any given time.  I usually throw them into a batch of homemade granola bars or whip up some whole wheat banana bread or muffins, but sometimes you feel the urge to be a little bad.  Something tells you it’s time to pull out the gobs of butter, the heaps of powdered sugar (gasp!) and good ‘ol fashioned white flour.

A moist, spiced banana cupcake topped with a cinnamon-spiked cream cheese frosting is the perfect solution.  You don’t have to tell anyone that the cake is spiked with dark rum or that the frosting is so melt-in-your-mouth delicious that you had several spoonfuls just to test it’s flavor.  We get it.  Some days are just made for being bad.

Keep reading …

Bookmark this recipe immediately.  I promise that there is going to come a time when you are backed in a corner, you have to make something fabulous for a party/mandatory work function/end-of-a-bad-day-cure and you are going to feel trapped.  You don’t know what to make!  You don’t have time to make anything elaborate but you can’t show up with a plastic-wrapped, store-bought, chemical-laden baked good.  You don’t have time to go to the store and your kitchen looks as though it’s been ravaged by a pack of wild dogs.  This is your go-to, all-purpose problem solver cake.

A chocoholic’s dream, this flourless chocolate cake is fudgy, moist and perfectly devour-able.  It is endlessly adaptable (top with ice cream, fresh whipped cream, berries, cherry sauce, powdered sugar, chocolate ganache) yet perfectly delicious on its own.  It takes less than 10 minutes to whip up the batter and it’s out of the oven in less than a half hour.  Plus, I promise you that you already have at least four of the five ingredients already in your kitchen.  Problem?  You have met your solution!

Keep reading …

People, I have a confession to make.  Being a responsible grown-up is way harder than it looks!  I know this is old news to you amazing folks that have been pulling it off flawlessly for years, but for a newbie to the Grown Up World, I’m still a bit in shock.  Between working a full-time, crazy stressful job, grocery shopping, planning and making relatively nutritious meals, exercising, laundry, ironing and keeping an apartment in semi-presentable shape, how do you find time to do anything else (ahem, keeping up with a blog)?  This specific blog post has been interrupted by at least three of the above mentioned items on five separate occasions.

And I don’t even have kids!  I don’t know how all you Mommies out there do it.  Consider me amazed.  Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not complaining … merely explaining my too-long-to-mention absence from your email inbox and feed readers.  Let me make it up to you, please?  Will these adorable summery cupcakes do?  These lemon bottomed cupcakes topped with creamy raspberry cheesecake are the summer version of the popular Black Bottom Cupcakes.  Tangy, light and with a perfectly moist crumb these pink and yellow lovelies are a party in your mouth.

Keep reading …

I know that my calendar says that it’s going to be March tomorrow, but that can’t be right … can it?  What happened to February?  I distinctly remember having a conversation with a co-worker near the end of January commenting on how I predicted that my February was shaping up to be nothing but a giant blur.  Looking back on the past four weeks, I remember (1) work, (2) snow, (3) eating things that can be made in 30 minutes and (4) more work.  Everything else is a blurry haze.

Blurry haze aside, I do remember making this Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake in my favorite mini-springform pan and, given it’s low-guilt factor, wishing that I had made two more!  A crust made from low-glycemic whole wheat crackers is filled with a luscious (sugar-free!) cheesecake filling swirled with raspberry preserves.  Even in the midst of a month that was a complete blur, this cheesecake is utterly memorable.

Keep reading …

Consider these clementine cakes my apology for throwing that heaping pile of indulgent deliciousness in your direction last week.  When I tell you that these mini cakes are guilt-free, I mean they are completely guilt free.  They also happen to be gluten-free, refined sugar-free and flour-free (ok, flourless but I was on a roll there!). Did I forget to mention that they are also packed with protein and fiber?  I know, it’s too good to be true.

These mini beauties are adapted from a recipe made famous by the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella.  As strange as it sounds, you puree whole clementines (after boiling the heck out of them!), mix that with ground almonds, a couple other baking staples and you have the most incredibly moist, flavorful mini cakes around.  Dip them in dark chocolate (packed with antioxidants!) and you have all the indulgence without the waistline impact.  Like I said: Guilt. Free.

Keep reading …

What makes a cupcake a cupcake?  Is it merely a muffin with frosting?  Or it is a small cake topped with an oppressive amount of sugary buttercream frosting?  To each, his own definition, I suppose.  Your opinion of these cupcakes will depend entirely on your personal definition of what the essence of a cupcake should be.

These cupcakes fall closer to the frosted muffin end of the spectrum.  They are mildly sweet, flavored with toasted sesame seeds, dense and crumbly.  Where you would normally find mountains of powdered sugar-laced buttercream, there is a zippy white chocolate cream cheese frosting.  With no added sugar, the frosting is tangy, mildly sweet and a pleasant companion to, what I’ve determined is the Perfect Breakfast Cupcake.

Keep reading …

Pretend that your favorite boutique cupcake bakery is located halfway across the country.  Pretend that despite this geographic divide you are a loyal subscriber of their email list which constantly updates you of their new seasonal cupcake offerings.  This, of course, leaves your mouth watering for key-lime pie or Irish cream cupcakes that you simply can’t get your grubby little hands on without boarding a plane.

Then they send out the announcement for their limited edition cherry cupcakes.  Gasp!  Oh good lord!  The craving overtakes you.  Rational thinking ceases to exist.  Suddenly you must find a way to make cherry cupcakes.  You know that they will likely pale in comparison, but you simply must have something cherry-flavored in the form of a cupcake.  Immediately.

Keep reading …