The last something months

The BEST chocolate cupcake recipe I have come across yet, thanks to Ina Garten via The Boy Who Bakes. Moist, swt, absolutely indulgent :) Perhaps the secret ingredient to make this cake darker in flavor is the freshly brewed coffee. I don't care, it beats the mayonnaise cupcakes I attempted 2 years ago by a million miles. Don't trust every highly rated and reviewed item you see online :T














Also I'm slowly learning to frost cupcakes...













Flowers in February















And ice cookies. Secrets from other baking blogs to pretty icing that sets well and doesn't leak: Don't add too much milk/liquid and dried egg (meringue) powder adds the shiny look and hardening factor.







The Metropolis on exhibit at LACMA. Yay for student membership and members appreciation month!




Attempting to appreciate celery is hard work ;)

Love for carrot will never die. Carrot juice and ice cream is apparently a Persian dessert. Genius?? The carrot cupcake comes from Smitten Kitchen, it is indeed a soft and fluffy cupcake but I was looking for moist and dense. Will have to remember to use organic carrots next time and maybe something more like this from BraveTart. Also, Smitten Kitchen's latest post was carrot cake pancakes!!! That sounds amazing... If only I had all the time in the world to grate bags of carrots.




Riding down the coast on the Pacific Surfliner.














The only kind of 3 hour commute I do not mind undertaking.










This year, Santa lost his reindeer.