So, have you ever watched Hoarders? I know, not something you'd expect me to talk about on this blog. But, I ~more often than I'd like to admit~ find myself glued to the TV watching these very, very sad people trapped by all their STUFF. I have stuff, do you?
Good thing for me, though, is that Hoarders makes me feel okay with my stuff. I do need to purge this fall and make some changes to my life plans with all my stuff. For example: Do I need 10 plastic lawn chairs and 2 tables for the next back yard bbq bash? Probably not. I think my large party days are over and to "draw" a crowd like that probably isn't in the cards. Maybe next big bash will be a "Bring Your Own Chair" party...I don't know.
And, I will admit: there is a method to all this purging madness. The simple truth is I need MORE room for all my BAKING STUFF! Baking stuff before party furniture? I think yes!
The Giveaway! Yes, you read it correctly: OUR FIRST GIVEAWAY!! So, we have a few little this and thats for one of you--to add to YOUR baking STUFF! We're very excited to start our giveaways and we hope you can come back over the next few months to see what else we're giving away. Our friends at Sur La Table are helping us gather up some of these goodies--We can't wait to share!
We're giving away these two fun cupcake items from Meri Meri: 3 cupcake boxes and cupcake liners. Pretty cute, huh? All you have to do is leave us a comment with your contact information. You have until Sunday, Nov. 11th at 9pm (PST). Open to everyone, no matter where you live cuz that's just how we roll. Sorry, the giveaway is closed...Stay tuned for the winner annoucement coming soon!
Now, on to the cupcakes! I made these cupcakes using a few recipes. The most special part is the blueberry compote that I learned to make from my friend, Susan, over at My Mother's Apron Strings. Susan is amazing...I just wished I was as generous as her. She's so creative and a great baker. Someday we're gonna meet up and enjoy some tea and treats...I have hope. :)
Extra special blueberry and mascarpone filled cupcakes with yummy blueberry mascarpone frosting...And, yes, there is booze in these: blueberry infused gin!
Baking with Spirit Feature I'm also sharing this recipe as part of our friend's, Janine, blog Cake of the Week, which features a monthly Baking with Spirit challenge. This month it's GIN! I'm excited to be able to share these blueberry-gin inspired treats! Please check out Janine's fun creations...Reading her blog always bring out the Anglophile in me!
This gin is very smooth with a nice sweetness of blueberry. The combination of blueberry and juniper from the gin just might make a gin "drinker" out of me yet!
I made this for a few BIWB recipes, including this loaf cake recipe that was in the Sacramento Bee last month. I learned about infusing booze from a very cool website Post Prohibition. The recipe for Blueberry Infused Gin is from KitchenKonfidence. Post Prohibition not only tells you how to infuse all kinds of booze, the website even has amazing cocktail recipes for all that wonderful infused booze.
As we all know by now, I am not a gin drinker. Well, to be honest, I'm not a drinker of any alcohol, straight that is. If it can be mixed and doesn't taste like booze, I'm in! The only exception though, and for some strange reason unbeknownst to yours truly...seems to be a Manhattan.
I don't even like maraschino cherries!
We all know by now that I'm a cocktail kinda gal or why else would I be baking with booze? Booze combined with sugary or savory baked goods? Well, now you've peel back just a bit more of the BIWB girl onion.
Today is Ginger Rogers' birthday and she would have been 101 years old today. This cupcake honors her and her amazing talents. The ingredients and inspiration come from the cocktail named after her. The Ginger Rogers Cocktail is the most popular cocktail at the super trendy and super retro bar, The Absinthe Brasserie and Bar in San Francisco. These guys really celebrate the era of great and creative cocktail culture and have a very cool bar companion book (that I MUST have), The Art of the Bar.
I grew up watching Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies...Who in my generation didn't? My sister and I watched them whenever they came on the T.V. No DVR in those days, so watching a movie lots and lots of times kinda took the place of re-wind today. Here is a clip from one of those movies, Swing Time. They say this is the best dance scene these two great dancers ever filmed...You're about to see why.
Isn't that amazing. I so dreamed as a little girl that I would dance like this one day. Alas, no couples dancing ever came for me, but that doesn't mean I don't chair dance when I can. Ya know, the kind you do in the car? And, let's not forget dancing while your baking! ;-D Or, even while cleaning house.
And, don't get me wrong: I am not adverse to learning swing dancing and the Texas two-step some day!
I know that you'll enjoy this cupcake...It's super moist with a great texture and full of exotic flavors: ginger, mint, lime and gin! Kinda like being in Rio, huh, with Ginger and Fred.
Lemon and Blueberry Gin...Doesn't that just *RING* with the sound of an amazing cocktail?! Too? This recipe is from Erica's Sweet Tooth, a very cute blog hosted by Erica who makes super adorable and yummy things. I covet her photos and ability to make everything look just like it tastes: Delicious! The Blueberry-infused gin idea originates from Post Prohibition a very stylin' and hip web site embracing the concept of traditional cocktails plus much more.
Gin is made from distilling grain alcohol with juniper berries and has lots of flavor profiles. And, once again, I was exceedingly happy to learn that 11th century ITALIAN monks first mixed juniper berries with crude distillates. This concoction was even used as a remedy during the Black Death. Gin has a very long and interesting history including bathtub gin made for the speakeasies during Prohibition. I'm pretty sure that's when my grandmother, Bambi, gained her pension for Sloe Gin Fizz....
If you are a gin drinker, I am sure you know all the subtleties of gin: fruit and citrus palates, sloe gin versus London dry gin, country of origin, and favorite cocktail. What I bet you don't know is that there are very, very few (if any) baked goods which call for gin. Let's just say, I had to get creative...Lord knows I wasn't EVER going to drink this stuff. And, as gin is flavored with berries, blueberries and gin just seem to go together.
This *EASY* and *SUPER DUPER MOIST* loaf cake is so luscious, I may just have a Nigella moment and pull out the thesaurus to find more words! Plumb, juicy and sweet blueberries surrounded by tart and tangy lemon yogurt cake...With just a subtle hint of gin in the cake and in the syrup that wraps its arms around this cake. Perfect for breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. You decide.
