home. (Lovecake #2)

my fiance and i recently moved into our first home as an engaged couple. yes, we rent. yes, it needs a lot of overdue work done. yes, it's absolutely haunted. but, it's what we've now grown to call home.

and today, at this ridiculous hour in the morning, it smells amazing. like love. like a warm blanket of sticky-sweet country living. i (with the assistance of my right-hand man, fiance,) baked my first from-scratch (ok, the pie crust was bought) quasi-derby pie.

since i don't have random bourbon around, i thought semi-sweet choco-chips would make an excellent substitute, since it's sort of sweet, sort of bitter. like bourbon. and a lot less drunk, and pricey. as a grad student, sometimes, you gotta make do.

now, if only i had the incredible power of withstanding 450 degrees of gooey nutty, chocolately, sugary goodness... i would shove this pie in my face and possibly fall asleep in a dessert-coma. what, a girl can dream, can't she?

Lovecake #1: Sour Cream Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Success or Failure?
Success.

Why?
Think: Moist, succulent morsels of juicy raspberry bursting on your taste buds, as the buttery citrus frosting rounds out the tartness of the berries in every bite. That's right.

Since I heart frosting so much, I decided to get a little crazy and experiment with different flavors of cream cheese frosting. So, there was lemon cream cheese (my favorite), regular cream cheese frosting, and lastly.... wait for it.... banana cream cheese frosting. yes. 'nanas are back, bitches.

What I Learned About Life From This Cupcake:
That living alone sucks. I only made a dozen of these sweet little treats, gave away 6 of them, and still let 4 of them go to waste. Mold grows surprisingly quickly on baked-in raspberries if left on the counter for more than 3 days. This may not be a huge shock to people, but man. Was I blown away. Apparently I think baked goods are immune to mold. Makes me wonder about the shelf-life of certain baked goods that claim to use 'fresh' fruits.... they've been sitting pretty on my counter for at least a week now.... hmmmmmm. HMMMM.

Cupcake recipe credit goes to Ming of Ming Makes Cupcakes

Lemon Cream Cheese frosting credit goes to me :) mwahahaha. I seriously don't know how to replicate it. I think I added about a 1/2 tsp of lemon zest + 1 Tbs of lemon juice. I'll let you know more accurately the next time I make lemon cream cheese frosting. which will be tomorrow. seriously likely, considering i want to smother that frosting on everything in life. lemon cream cheese frosting-covered toast, here i come!

Hello, my name is Yuri. I love cupcakes.

As a graduate student with a full year of dissertation work ahead of me, of course I try to find every possible way to procrastinate. My hobbies (read: procrastination tools) include:

1) Baking
2) Making large hairball colonies post-dog-brushing and texting photos of these disturbing images to friends :

3) Facebook
4) Wedding planning
5) Youtubing hamsters shoving things in their mouths.
(ps-- they're incredible. how do they fit that many baby carrots in their mouths in one sitting? how do the carrots not pierce through their pouches? how full is too full, little hammie?)

... basically, i'm the most boring person in the world. But, I do adore baking. and reading about people's baking adventures. and perusing bookstore shelves for anything baking-related.

I also adore eating baked goods. and undressing those sweet morsels of amazingness with my eyes like a total food creep. I'm really good at that. (so basically, i'm also talentless).

Well, enough about me- and onto my blog! Welcome! I'll be posting on failures and successes of all things baking (and seasonal treats-- there's no way i'm using my oven in the hot indiana summer!) as I procrastinate my way through yet another year of my educational career. Enjoy ;)