for those who eat with no fear: maple bacon cupcakes!

my best friend kristie celebrated her 30th birthday this sunday - and if you are a good friend of mine, you know that will get BOMB cupcakes for your birthday! we went to seattle and portland together back in may of this year and one of our favorite parts of the trip was eating all of the west coast sweets - especially MAPLE BACON DONUTS! kristie is also a big fan of pigs (especially when it comes to eating them!) so when i came across this recipe from The Busty Baker - i knew that i had to whip these up for my special friend.

i was really nervous making these because 1. im not that great at making bacon and 2. it was my first time with the recipe. thankfully - they came out PERFECT. i was so impressed with these puppies, i cant wait to make them again.

 

AND KRISTIE LOVED THEM! happy birthday lovely lady!

new kitchen!

its safe to say that I am officially unpacked and settling into my new apartment home - which is located on the line of fort hill and jamaica plain in boston. i love this part of the city -- which makes me feel close yet tucked away. one of my favorite parts about my new place is that the kitchen is HUGE - and theres an outside porch desk thats right off of it. the only draw back is that i would just love more cabinet space. im looking for creative solutions for this -- but that didn't stop me from whipping up a batch of cupcakes to christen the new oven recently installed in the apartment as well.

my friend kevin has a sweet-tooth and has been very interested in a batch of my cupcakes for my new little side project here. besides working with me 9 to 5, kevin also works with the operating rooms of the old "boston city hospital". he happened to be working this friday evening and asked me if i could make him and his coworkers two dozen cupcakes to lift spirits for that start of the weekend shift . i asked him for his favorite recipe and he said "vanilla cupcake, vanilla frosting", so of course i turned to my favorite vanilla vanilla recipe from the lovely amy sedaris.

said they were delicious and that the nurse techs especially loved them. i wish i saved one for myself! i got to give credit the brand new kitchen ware that i got for amazing deals during macys home sale. i also again gotta give mad props to the brand new oven nestled in my favorite room in the house.

two more recipes on deck for this week! let me know if youd like a 6 pack or a batch!

from kitchen to kitchen

to all those who have been following my baking adventures, i apologize for the lack of posts lately. i have been moving from one kitchen to another (one home to another!) the past week and like everyone knows, the process is not easy - but its getting done.

promise to have a fresh and delicious post for this weekend! till then, dont fill up on too many cupcakes!

koolaid cupcakes on georges island

one of my best friends took  me out to georges island in boston harbor this past sunday. we had an awesome time - and of course i brought her a koolaid cupcake!

she approved! thanks kristie!

k00laid cupcakes!

inspired by bake and destroy's blog and recipes, i decided that this weeks baking adventure would be koolaid cupcakes! this was my first time trying the recipe and although i ran into a few kinks in my process - i was super happy with them overall. and so were some of my first costumers!

dry ingredients -- and adding the koolaid!

note to self: next time, do not fill the cups as much as this!

bright red tropical punch!

a batch of vanilla cupcakes (from Amy Sedaris' I Like You!) - for the non adventurous ones!

yes, i decided to take my dream to the streets and let the other good people know (outside my apartment and work walls) what this little baker has been up to. with an armful of cupcakes, i hit the orange line and made my first sale! thank you again to travis from city year who purchased my first cupcake for 50 cents. i spent a few hours in the Common - managed to bump into faces i haven't seen in a long time - and sold half my batch!

all in all - two lovely experiments and i believe a step closer to getting this business out of dream phase! thank you to all -- and if i can bake for you -- let me know :D

chocolate chip cupcakes

many, if not all of my recipes on here will be inspired or brought to you (via me) through tastespotting.com. i discovered this "visual potluck" over a year ago now and im honestly addicted to it. i feel like this collective of food blogs and foodies updates at least 5 times a day and have been tempted to cook so many of the recipes i have found on there. actually, tastespotting.com got me over my fear of cooking and baking for myself - and into the kitchen!

one of my favorite functions of this wonderful website is that there is a search button - as going through pages and pages of archives can be time consuming if you know exactly what you are craving. one of my favorite search terms is "cupcakes" and i am always amazed at what interesting confectionery concoctions i get to feast my eyes upon and even get a recipe too! as ive been more and more inspired to bake, ive been trying to bake at least one baked good a week. this week - i went for "chocolate chip cupcakes" that i found through the lovely "how sweet it is" blog.

although i prepared the cupcakes in my make shift fashion (aka i forgot to add butter to the recipe at first!) - they still came out INCREDIBLY delicious. this was also this first time that i ever used cake flour and beated egg-whites. leanne was right, these are definitely cupcakes and not muffins.

something that i experimented with this batch is Pillsbury Easy Frost. call me a cheater, or call me lazy, but i was honestly curious to see (1) how it compared with the "canned" variety of frosting and (2) if i could actually frost cupcakes prettier with this product. the verdict: very sweet frosting, nice decorative tip, but could only frost about 14 small cupcakes.

i will definetly be trying this recipe again - but with some variations. i cant wait for my next batch!

step 1:

welcome to my blog on my adventures in baking! im a 24 year old lady known as sauce - living the life ive always wanted in boston, ma. baking is one of my FAVORITE hobbies and in my attempts at following my passions - i decided to create this blog (and quite possibly a business) from my desire to bake! i am constantly inspired by foodies and bakers on the internet - and i finally am starting to feel confident in my own abilities to join this community. im also very inspired by local bakers and entrepreneurs in my city of boston - and really do think that i have the drive and determination to do what they are doing (or better!) with the businesses that they are running.

i have soooo many ideas -- but the first thing i have to do is take the first step. so here we go!