Oh, my sweet Nigella Lawson

Photo by James Merrell from NPR website

Seriously I'm obsessed, it'a condition really.  I cannot get enough of Nigella Lawson.  Ever since I made her Chocolate Guinness cake, I have been scouring the interwebs for her recipes, cookbooks, and food ideas.  Her food just exudes love and comfort.  Both of which, I would like more of in my life and food.  I also love that she is British and has a different way of talking about food and it's preparation.  I mean, she makes food sound so delicious and wonderful that I am compelled to cook her recipes.  I plan to scoop up one of her cookbooks ASAP!!!  The first one on the list: How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking.  After that, maybe Feast or Nigella Bites.  Oh man, there are just too many to choose from!

See, I got on a Nigella tangent and almost forgot about this amazing cake.  Rich, chocolately and moist, with a slight hint of beer.  In fact, I couldn't really taste the Guinness, but some of the other cake-partakers could taste it.  Guinness has a bit a of a molasses flavor, so it gives the cake a lot of depth and enhances the chocolatey goodness of this cake.  Well, and who doesn't love cream cheese frosting? It goes so well with this cake, but it can definitely stand alone, sans frosting.

(Note: A friend of mine said to chill the Guinness before trying to open the bottle or it will spray all over you, your guests, and your kitchen. What? You think it was me?  What makes you say that?)

Cupcakes

(You can find this print on Etsy)

So, I've decided that I love to make cupcakes.  There are two problems with this:  1)  If I make them too much, I will then weigh 547.5 pounds.  Not good.  2)  They have been the 'it' baking item for a while now and I don't really like copying people or going with trends too much. 

But, they're so pretty, so very, very pretty, and fun to decorate, and fun to eat, and...did I say, pretty?  So, to heck with the problems.  I'm going to make cupcakes until my fingers fall off.  I will need help with #1, however, so if you ever want a cupcake, I'm more than willing to share with you.  :)

First up, Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes.  Um, I died and went to baking heaven after I ate one of these.  Seriously, it's the best cupcake I've ever had, period.  The recipe calls for Raspberry Extract and I couldn't find it, so the raspberry flavor in the frosting was very faint.  But, they were still the most delicious cupcake ever and the frosting was creamy and yummy and tasted like a professional made it. (was that a run on sentence?)   Next time, I will be scouring the Twin Cities to find that extract, come heck or high water.   Ahhhh, life is good. 

My Raspberry Lemon cupcake, all decorated for Easter

This is a Dorie Greenspan recipe, but I found it on the blog My Baking Addiction.  Seriously, I will never make a cake from a box again.  Well, that might not be totally true...I'm weak, what can I say.  :)