Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - March

Hello loves!! I know...I've been a bad little blogger. I sowwy! So let me just start off by saying that March's cupcake of the month was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And just what were these amazing cupcakes, you ask? Chocolate Chip Cookie & Brownie cupcakes. That's right...a brownie topped with a chocolate chip cookie topped with a little kiss of buttercream frosting. I found this recipe at 52 Cupcakes one day & had a brilliant idea to make them my C.o.t.M. They were super easy to make & so so so yummy! Everyone at work raved about them. My mom's boss has already put in an order for 2 dozen for Easter, & my coworkers husband came to the office to tell me how much he loved them. There's nothing better than having people love what I bake!

Not the best picture, but just look at that moist browniness!!

Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - February

Ahh February...that means it's time for Valentine's Day. Bleh! Okay maybe not bleh, but still...I'm not a fan. I figured February's cupcake selection required something red, & the first thing that popped into my head was red velvet. Oh yes, Red Velvet...you sexy, silky cake. I do love you so. Now I do love just about anything that's considered a dessert, but let me just tell you that red velvet cake holds a special place in my heart. In my quest for the perfect red velvet recipe, I sorted through many, & I do mean many, different recipes. I finally found one that I thought I should give a try, & I wasn't disappointed. You should really head over to The Repressed Pastry Chef & try out her red velvet & cream cheese icing recipes. So yummy!! The girls at work are going to love these tomorrow!

(Please forgive the rather shiteous quality of my photos. My memory card is full, & I'm in serious need of a new camera, so these were taken with my cell phone.)

Just to show you the fabulous redness!

Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - January

My monthly bake sales have become something I really look forward to. I've been fortunate to find some recipes that have been real homeruns. January's recipe is one of those. I adore Ina Garten, & I had previously used her Outrageous Brownie recipe for one of my bake sales. I had remembered watching an episode of Barefoot Contessa where she made coconut cupcakes that were gorgeous. Now let me tell you right off the bat that I hate coconut...I hate the flavor & I hate the texture. Buuuut the girls at work all said that they love the stuff, so I wanted to make a coconut cupcake for them & went right away to Ina's recipe. In true Ina fashion, it did not disappoint. I love, love, love these cupcakes! Me, little Miss "I hate coconut," thought they were sooooo good! All my girls loved them too. They don't look nearly as beautiful as Ina's did, but the taste completely makes up for it.

Ina Garten's Coconut Cupcakes

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:
1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - September

Just a little late on this one! I'm so slow with the blog posts these days...shame shame! Soooo September's Cupcake of the Month was a good ol' southern specialty...hummingbird cake. Mmmmm! I found a recipe from Martha Stewart that I thought I'd try. Now I didn't get to try these cupcakes, so I don't actually know how they turned out, but everyone at work loved them. My boss even said she might like them better than the strawberry lime cupcakes which is a big deal! I'll have to try this recipe again someday so I can actually get a taste! The recipe can be found here.

Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - August

WOW...I haven't posted an update in over a month!! Shame on me! Over the next fews days I'll be catching up on everything that's been going on lately.

First out of the box is my August Monthly Bake Sale. I decide to go a different route this time & picked brownies instead of the usual cupcakes. I am addicted to Food Network, & one of my favorite shows is Barefoot Contessa. Ina is genious! So for August's bake sale I choose Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies. Their name suits them well...these suckers were loaded with butter & chocolate! They were delicious!! I was sort of in a time crunch to get these finished, so in my haste I completely forgot to take a picture of the brownies. I only managed to get a picture of the packages containing the finished product. These were definitely a hit at the office!



My selection for September are hummingbird cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. A southern classic that I can't wait to try!!

Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - July

Last week was utterly insane, so I'm just now getting around to posting about my July Cupcake of the Month. I choose Lime Pound Cake with Orange Cream Cheese frosting as posted by Laurie of quirky cupcake on Blake Bakes. I'm on a big citrus cupcake kick, so I knew I had to try these! I'm having major issues as of lately with all of my homemade cupcakes falling after they're taken out of the oven. (And they're full cooked, mind you.) All you cupcake pros out there...what am I doing wrong?! Anyway...they looked so sad all sunken in, but OH MY GOSH...these things were AMAZING! The cupcakes themselves were so tart & tangy & then the orange cream cheese frosting on top gave the perfect sweet balance. I will definitely try this recipe again, only next time I will actually make it a tube pan & see if that helps at all. I think the coworkers enjoyed them too...so despite them not being very pretty, I think it was another taste success.

Here's a picture of the carnage that was created after I had to have a 1/2 cup of key lime juice. It's not a pretty sight. Poor little limes, they didn't know what they were getting into.

Cupcake of the Month - July

July's cupcake of the month is Key Lime Pound Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting! Laurie from quirky cupcake posted the recipe on Blake Bakes a couple of weeks ago, & I've been dying to try it. Everyone at the office is just as excited as I am!

Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - June

Well my first ever "Monthly Bake Sale" went over really well!! I picked a recipe from 500 Cupcakes...White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut. I had to do some doctoring with the recipe, but they came out buttery & delicious. The icing was amazing with the melted white chocolate in it. Everyone at work said they were great, so I think they were a success! I'm so thrilled that my idea worked, & I'm really looking forward to next month's selection. (I'll reveal what it is next week!)

Introducing - Cupcake of the Month!

In my constant effort to improve my skills as a baker, I have come up with an idea that I feel is absolutely genius. (It's my one good idea for the year, so I guess I better make it count!) Since I've started this little cake/cupcake venture, I've found so many recipes that I've been dying to try. Let's face it, though, I'm just a single gal trying to make ends meet, & I can't always afford to bake on a whim. Now that's where my genius idea comes in! I have decided to start a cupcake of the month club at work, more appropriately titled "Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale". The idea is that I will be picking a new recipe each month & allowing my co-workers to pre-order, so to speak, a few of the cupcakes. I will only bake a specified amount so that I'm not baking dozens upon dozens every month, & once they're gone...they're gone. In return for this yummy cupcake goodness, I'll only charging a little, & I do mean a little, bit of money for each cupcake. I'm not looking to make money off of this thing, just enough to cover the expenses of making them & that's it. This is really all about helping me try out new recipes without going broke doing it.

Well after speaking with a few of my coworkers (who were extremely excited, I might add), I decided that June would be the 1st month for my bake sale. The selection this month is White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut, & they were all spoken for within a few hours of e-mailing everyone! I will definitely post pictures next week once I get the cuppies made! Hopefully this idea will go over as well as I'm hoping...keep your fingers crossed!!