Category: Cakes and cupcakes

  • Peep cupcakes

    The weather has been really weird. One day it feels like February, the next like June. It’s foggy in the morning and sweltering in the afternoon. The cherry blossoms bloomed early, and now it’s raining pink petals all over the DC area. So, basically, it’s spring. And that means… time for Peeps! You probably recall […]

  • Raspberry cupcakes with blood orange buttercream

    I don’t like sappy romantic comedies. I’m not into greeting cards. I don’t want a heart-shaped box of chocolates. I think giving someone red roses on Valentine’s Day is a cop-out (I’ll take peonies or tulips, thanks). The fact that they’re bringing Titanic back in 3-D makes me want to injure several people. But I […]

  • Sugar Plum Fairy cupcakes

    I started taking ballet when I was 2 years old, and my mom started taking me to see The Nutcracker every year not too long after. I was even invited to try out for a small part in Ballet Arizona’s production one year, but I was too tall (if you can imagine that!). This year, […]

  • Blue velvet cupcakes

    I totally meant to post these BEFORE the Army-Navy game. But then I spent a zillion hours baking “Go Navy, Beat Army” cookies, and my oven stopped working and I had to finish baking the cookies in my neighbor’s oven… and then Michael Phelps was swimming about a mile from my house, so obviously we […]

  • Cranberry upside-down cake

    Whether you pronounce it pee-can or puh-kahn, I love pecan pie. So much so that when I was in Afghanistan (as a reporter) and the rocket attack siren went off in the middle of dinner, I took my slice of pecan pie with me to the bunker. I may have looked ridiculous eating pie in […]

  • Lava flow bundt cake

    Those of you who know me in real life would probably guess that my favorite drink is a margarita. And, yes, I am definitely pro-margarita (on the rocks, no salt). But my actual favorite drink is (and has been since elementary school, sans alcohol of course) a piña colada. I mean, come on. Pineapple and […]

  • Tell-tale heart chocolate-raspberry cupcakes

    “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.” It was the old man’s pale blue eye (with a film over it) that turned me into a cake-flour coated madwoman. Well, that and a heart bundt cake Isabel baked a few months ago. […]

  • Natty Boh beer cupcakes

    If you’re not from the mid-Atlantic, you may not be familiar with National Bohemian beer — or Natty Boh. Natty Boh has a long history in Baltimore, and while it’s not brewed in the Charm City anymore, many people consider it Baltimore’s beer. And the super cute one-eyed mascot, Mr. Boh, still winks at everyone […]

  • Coconut cake

    As my mother and most of my friends will tell you, I may have been the pickiest child on the planet. I am a lot better now — although I still won’t eat lunch meat or cold sandwiches, mushrooms, fish, raw onion, cantaloupe or many breakfast pastries — but even at my pickiest, I loved […]