Dowser 9: Blitzen in a Cup

Blitzen in a Cup is one of my most requested cupcake recipes, but when I first tried to make them – easily five or six years ago – Michael didn’t think they tasted like coffee or eggnog, just chocolate and butter, so I shelved the recipe.

Move forward to the upcoming release of Gemstones, Elves, and Other Insidious Magic (Dowser 9) during the ‘eggnog’ season and Blitzen in a Cup felt like the perfect recipe to release alongside the book. So more tweaking and test baking went into the cupcake combo, and Michael finally gave them a thumbs up.

The recipe will also be featured on the Dowser 9 recipe card (the ones going into the swag boxes are already on order) and I will update the Dowser Series cookbook PDF as well. I’ll add a link to the newest edition of the cookbook in my new release newsletter on December 4, 2018 (so make sure you are subscribed).

Without further ado, Blitzen in a Cup! Chocolate, and coffee, and eggnog. Oh, my!

DOWNLOAD THE PDF

As always I’d love to see your pictures if you decide to bake Blitzen in a Cup (or any of the Dowser series cupcakes). Please tag me on your preferred social media site. I’m @MeghanCianaDoidge on Facebook and Instagram. And @mcdoidge on Twitter.

Fun! Fun!

Baking: measuring butter

Recipe found in the Dowser Series Cookbook.

I celebrated getting Reconstructionist 2 off to the editor this morning by making brownies (as posted on Instagram) and it occurred to me that the recipe calls for a truly ackward measurement of butter – 6 tablespoons. And that most of my butter icing recipes aren’t any better – using 1/3 of cup.

Measure cups, tablespoons, ounces, and grams!

I dug out my handy Butter Measuring Guide, and thought that it might be worth mentioning.

Yes, that’s the refection of my phone taking the picture.

My Dad bought the stainless-steel guide pictured above for me as a Christmas gift many years ago (apparently from Lee Valley). And honestly, it sat in my drawer for awhile unused. I tended to fudge odd measurements when baking, simply using the guide that was printed on the foil wrapper. Then I took a closer look at the butter measuring guide and it’s crazy handy!

So that is my random baking tip.

What obscure kitchen item do you find is more useful than you thought it would be?