Piña Colada Cupcakes

For those of us living in the North East, spring is not yet here. It was a miserable week with lake effect snow still coming down in April.

During all the snow brushing, it occurred to me that I haven't had mixed frozen drinks in 7 months!!! My last frozen drink was consumed on our honeymoon in Jamaica last September when I had 5 to 6 to 7 piña coladas a day (who was counting?). Needless to say piña coladas are my favorite frozen drink and it always bring back memories of paradise...which does not include snow.

These cupcakes were made to rectify that sad fact and wish this winter away. Positive thoughts is all it takes to keep the snow away, right?

I adapted a piña colada cake recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It's a pineapple-coconut cupcake with coconut cream cheese frosting. Yes, coconut again!! Clearly I have an issue when it comes to coconut...but it's so yummy and I can't help myself!

These cupcakes bring back lots of summer memories that I can now hold on to until spring arrives! Paired with my favorite frozen drink, any lingering winter blues will be washed away!

NOTES

• Cupcake liners: Wilton Color cups bought from Michael's

• Cake stands: Bed Bath & Beyond, TJ Maxx and Marshall's (respectively)

• Since this is a learning blog, I need to share the things that I struggle with. I had a lot of issues with photographing these cupcakes: sunlight was too much at some point, then it became cloudy really fast and I monkeyed with my camera settings and created the 'yellowish' hue you see in the pictures. Spent some time on Photoshop trying to fix them, but it didn't exactly work. I'm going to spend some time this week reading up on using Photoshop for edits and also find other alternatives.

Valentine's Day {Baking Anniversary}

Love is in the air and it is all about hearts. Chocolate cookie hearts, red velvet hearts, red and pink hearts!! Cupid's symbol all over.

Here at Blahnik Baker, it is also my 'baking' anniversary. I baked my first cake ever a year ago in my friend Chrissa's kitchen, seen here. It was a small step at the time that now looks like a giant leap!

In honor of Valentine's day and this anniversary, I decided to recreate this cake again. The cake inspired this blog and I think it deserves a comeback. And because just baking a cake doesn't seem like a challenge anymore, I decided to make some cookies and decorate them!!

The red velvet cake is a recipe from Sprinkle Bakes. 

I used heart shaped pans this time and the heart came out looking like a heart lol! I decided not to do the crumb coat, just for something different.

For the cookies, I used this chocolate roll out cookie recipe from Glorious Treats since chocolate and Valentine's day seem to be synonymous.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

After several weeks of trying vanilla cupcake recipes, I am happy to share that I have found the ONE. This recipe gives a flavorful vanilla cake that is moist but yet light and fluffy. It is simple and I love it. It will become my go-to vanilla cake. The recipe is from Glory of Glorious Treats.

I have been taking the Wilton decorating courses. In Course II, we are learning how to make flowers with royal icing and it is difficult. But I am sure with lots of practice I will get the hang of things.

Back to the star of this post, the vanilla cupcakes!! They are the best and I will be re-making them soon again.