cupcakes and brownie pudding

I've been up to a little baking this summer...between baby and bridal showers, 4th of July parties and the pleasure I get from trying new recipes, my kitchen has been busy (any Lauren's kitchen, and my mom's kitchen).
First up, these super-cute hamburgers and french fries make with a vanilla cupcake bun, chocolate brownie hamburger, and sugar cookie krinkle fries. Oh, and colored frosting as the condiments. I had a blast making these for our 4th of July bar-b-que! And, boy, did they go fast!

My mom and I saw a cake pan at TJ Maxx that was for giant cupcakes in the form of ice cream cones. At $12.99, down from nearly $50 at Michaels for the same pan, how could we pass it up? The box on the cake pan had the most delicious yellow cake recipe and they turned out great!

And, how cute are these cupcake plates?! Yet another score from T.J. Maxx.

After seeing some of my work at Ashley's baby shower, a friend hired me to provide some goodies at her daughter's wedding. My first paying gig! The bride loves sunflowers and wanted to work them in...so I thought I should do a trial run to make sure I could deliver on that request. For my first sunflower cupcakes, I'm very please with how they turned out! I must say, my favorite parts are the ladybugs.

Reese hasn't seemed to mind that mommy has been in the kitchen so much. She loves to say, "Momma mix" whenever she hears, or sees, the mixer. And she LOVES cupcakes. She loves to lick the frosting and sprinkles, and especially the beaters!


I tried the most delicious recipe recently for Brownie Pudding. The first time I made it, I baked it 10 minutes shy of the recommended time, and it still cooked all the way through. Oopsies! Even though it was quite a delicious brownie, I tried again to see if I could get the desired browning pudding. I started checking after 30 minutes, and took it out of the oven after about 35 or 40 minutes. It was soft in the middle and more done around the outside, and it was delicious!

Here's the recipe:

Brownie Pudding
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup good cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla if you don't have vanilla bean
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 by 12 by 2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the 1/2 pound of butter and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.

Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Note: I just realized what I did wrong! I didn't use the water bath! I just put the pan directly in the oven. Next time I will follow the directions. But if a water bath seems like more trouble than you want to go to, just reduce the baking time by about 20 minutes and check often. Alternatively, when baked fully, this recipe makes a delicious brownie!