Here is the first of four new cupcakes that appear in the second Dowser book, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic. Which, BTW – nine days ahead of schedule – is now available over on Amazon (because Amazon rocks – ha!)
Three more cupcakes to come!
ETA: Jen just asked in the comments if the cake could be baked in cake pans. The answer is yes. All the cake recipes posted to the blog can be baked in cake pans instead. The icing recipes also yield enough to ice a cake.
Directions I gave Jen: Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch round pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean from the centre). Cool for about ten minutes, then pop the cake out of the pans. I have this trick where I line the cake pans with parchment paper (I trace the cake pan on the paper then cut out a circle). I grease and flour the pan, but then I lay the parchment in as well (then pour in the batter). After you bake and cool the cake, you gently run a knife around the edges, and pop out the cake – easy peasy – then peel off the parchment paper.
I’m not too sure that I want to share Gertie’s cupcake photo, because her version of Charm in a Cup looks so much better than mine ever do. Nice frosting job, Gertie!
Gertie’s Charm in Cup = lemon cupcakes with strawberry frosting
Gertie just emailed this photo and note a few minutes ago and I couldn’t wait to share it. She wrote, “I made sure to eat two, the second one was yours. Let’s just say I was your cupcake-eating proxy, shall we?”
Hmmm, they look rather yummy, not sure I’m all over the proxy idea!
I’m beginning to really, really need to bake more cupcakes all for myself … I’m thinking about some Rapture in a Cup. I’m also getting a feeling there might be some reader payback going on around here … not sure I need the encouragement to bake more than I already do.
On Saturday, after Michelle H had grabbed a copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic, she emailed to let me know she had baked to help me celebrate my new release. I baked Love in the Cup (see post below). I was so stoked, not only that Michelle had bought my book and let me know about it, but also that she’d taken the time to share her baking with me. Actually, I was blown away. And – on top of all of that – she, and her assistant bakers, Noah and Jesse, designated this plate just for ME!!
Cupcakes and Bars by Michelle, Noah, and Jesse
Those, Michelle informs me, are Pink Lemonade Cupcakes and Orange Dreamsicle Cookie bars. And I’m totally all over that one in the middle with the PILE of chocolate icing!!
Thanks so much to Michelle, Noah, and Jesse for sharing your creations with me. You made my evening.
Rumour has it that a bunch of readers have felt compelled to bake (or, at minimum, indulge) while reading, and Michelle suggested that I put together a blog scrapbook of the results. I think this is a great idea.
So, if you bake, or buy, or get someone else to bake for you, while reading Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic I would love to see and post your pictures!! You can email me at info [at] madebymeghan.ca
I find myself all out of cupcakes … and I only ate two of the Love in a Cups!! I shall have to whip up another batch myself.
Heather from Doubleshot Reviews requested the recipe for the “dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate cream cheese icing” AKA Lust in a Cup from my new novel, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic. These cupcakes are also known as Jade’s – the lead character – favourite cupcake.
Since Heather demanded my immediate compliance asked so nicely, I decided to share the recipe with you, my lovely blogger readers, as well. Now it is true that Heather just gave Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic a five star review, but she requested the recipe AFTER she posted her rating on Goodreads, so I swear there was no bribery going on!! Ahem. Diverting attention to the recipe >>>>>>
Dark chocolate cream cheese icing slathered on dark chocolate cake = Lust in a Cup!!
Official release day tomorrow! I’m baking some Love in a Cup to celebrate. I’ll promise to post pictures!!
It all started with a chocolate bunny. Okay, it all started with a tea date with my friend, Janine, who brought the dark chocolate bunny. No, wait it goes further back than that … it was just the chocolate bunny – a Purdy’s dark ‘Hopkins’ – that triggered it all. Some time in 1995 – I told you we were going WAY back – we got ’email’ through the University. I place the word email in quotes because I am not sure that it was actually email, maybe it was just some sort of messaging system that connected Canadian or other Universities? Anyway, an old friend, Richard, and I some how connected through this system, and he sent me a cookie recipe – yes, my reputation for baking cookies was firmly cemented even then. The recipe had some story attached to it that I have mostly forgotten, something about a woman eating these cookies at Neiman Marcus and then getting charged $500 ($5000?) dollars for it, and the store refusing to reverse the charge so the woman was now deliberately sharing the recipe with the entire world …
This story, even hastily sketched out here, sounds suspect, but the cookies sounded delicious. I wrote the recipe in my book and made the cookies … looking at my notes, I omitted the nuts (as I always do) but didn’t change anything else back in 1995. Someone – I’m not sure that is my printing – has written the note, ‘good!’ in pencil (see below) beside the ingredients, so I guess they were good, but, ultimately, too time consuming for me to bake often.
Back to the bunny. Yes, the bunny made me want to make these cookies again, but of course, I can’t ever follow a recipe, so I modified it to taste.
Yes, I chomped off the bunny’s ears and gnawed on his head a couple of days ago … can you blame me?This is what 10oz of dark chocolate bunny looks like grated. YUM!I hand rolled the first batch, as the original recipe suggested.
First batch – tasting notes – hand rolled, baked for 12 minutes and allowed to cool on the rack for 10 minutes. They were a little too dry for my tastes, and maybe I didn’t use enough chocolate chunks? So:
Second batch – tasting notes – dropped by mounded tablespoons, baked for 10 minutes. Allowed to cool for 5 minutes. Better.
Third batch – chilled the dough for 24 hours. Ate fresh from the oven, dipped in milk – YUM!
Fourth batch – chilled another 24 hours (48 total). I do think these do get better with extra refrigeration.
hand rolled cookie, baked and broken…
So, all in all, this was a fun and tasty experiment. I’m about to dropped off the final batch to the neighbours across the street, as I need to get them out of the house. Did I mention the recipe yields DOZENS of cookies? Too many dozens!! These don’t rank in the top five of my all time favourites – they are still too much work – but they are super tasty and a good use of a chocolate bunny.
I stumbled across a picture of these cookies on Pinterest a number of weeks ago, and – enthralled, as I have a number of friends for whom gluten is an enemy, I immediately clicked away to Recipe Girl to grab myself a copy of the recipe. I first tested the cookies on Jan 21, 2012 and took them to a Stitch & Bitch to rave reviews. I made them a 2nd time for a party on Feb 24 – where I had a number of requests for the recipe, hence this blog post.
Sorry for the focus-challenged picture, but I wanted to show the dough mounds – these are still too big, and ran into each other during baking.
Modifications – I stayed very true to the recipe. It is simple AND delicious!
On Jan 21st, I used 4 egg whites and Callebaut bittersweet chocolate chips. I noted that 14 minutes was the perfect baking time, and the cookies where very rich so, next time, I should use teaspoons instead of tablespoons to spoon the batter onto the cookie sheet (which I covered in parchment paper without the non-stick spray).
On Feb 24, I used 3 egg whites (2 of the eggs were larger), and mixed some semi-sweet chocolate in with the bitter (again, I used Callebaut, though this time I chopped the chocolate as I didn’t have any chips). It is important to note that even spooned in heaping teaspoons I believe these cookies are still too large. They are rich and chewy and so tasty, but I think smaller would be better. Many of the guests at the party broke the cookies in half and shared. Also note, I cannot fit 12 on a single baking sheet – they have a large amount of spread – 6 mounds is better.
Rating: 5 stars!!
Update: July 22, 2018 – These cookies are still most definitely a go-to recipe for me. But I use Valrhona cocoa powder, Tanzanie (75% cacao) from Cacao Barry feves (aka chocolate discs), pure vanilla, and sea salt.
…I feel like I am forgetting something – not the point – the point is that this is all I have to show for all that baking:
One photo. Taken on my iPhone and posted to Facebook to tease my sister (who LOVES homemade turtles), and, yes, I do believe that blob on the right side is the shadow of my finger in the shot – sigh!
Just had the following text-ersation with Michael:
Me: 2736 words. Brain suddenly feeling a bit mushy.
Him: Sounds like it’s time for a workout.
Me: I was thinking of baking. Which is probably the exact opposite.
Me: Also, are you calling me fat?
— LONG PAUSE —
Him: Absolutely not.
Me: That’s not what it sounded like. It sounded like you don’t want cookies.
Him: I would never say no to cookies.
Me: Okay. As long as you have your priorities straight.
Him: Straight as the line between the back door and cookie sheet.
That, btw, is pretty damn straight. Poor Michael — the trials and tribulations of being married to a writer who bakes. Not that he seems to mind. Upon reflection, perhaps this is simply funny to me because I have a case of mushy brain right now… okay, off to bake… another flash fiction friday instalment coming this week.
Last week I found this monster zucchini hiding behind a garbage can full of crazy potato plants (more on those later). Under this stealthy cover the zucchini was able to grow beyond tasty eating size and into what-the-hell-am-I-going-to-do-with-this proportions.
So this:
Monster “Ambassador” Zucchini
Became this:
Monster Zucchini = 8+ cups when grated!!
Became these:
Zombie Chocolate Chip Cookies (x 2 batches)
And this:
Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips
And last, but certainly not least in taste, these:
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
And yes, despite this flurry (fury?) of baking, I did manage to get some writing done last week.
