Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

I'm not sure why I even said yes. I'm not a professional by any means and I've never done anything near a wedding cake before. It was soon after my cake won a ribbon at the state fair though so I must have been at a weak moment when my brother asked if I'd make their wedding cake and I actually said yes. The only reason I even considered it though is because they said they wanted something less traditional and were thinking more of a cupcake tower.

Coconut and Lemon Curd Cupcakes

I don't throw around the "best" designation around very much. I like too many foods and always like trying a new take on something so I hardly ever say that anything is the best of whatever category it may be in. I think too many people just say something is the best, or want people to believe that whatever they made was the best so the recipe now becomes "Best whatever whatever". However, I do admit to adding "best" as  as a search term when I'm looking for a new recipe online. Did I just contradict myself?

Coca-Cola Cupcakes

Although I like cupcakes, I never really jumped on the whole cupcake craze bandwagon. To be honest, I can't even remember the last time I even made some. The thing is, they are so easy to make and they make a pretty fun dessert, so I'm not sure why I don't make them more often.

I'm not sure how I originally saw this recipe but it looked pretty good and after looking at a few others I decided to give it a go. I was intrigued to see what effect both in flavor and texture that the coke would have on the cupcakes. The flavor was definitely present but not overly so. There's only a small amount of chocolate in these and I think if I made them again I would increase it even more, although that might make mask the coke flavor a little more. They were super moist and I think with a little more chocolate they would be just about perfect.

Red Velvet Cake

I never had Red Velvet cake until after I was married which basically means I lost 22 years of eating the best cake in the world. This cake shows up for pretty much every birthday in my wife's family so I got my fair share in pretty short time. I'm typically not a huge cake fan, so if I'm I'm going to eat cake, it had better be good. This Red Velvet is about the only cake I truly look forward to eating. It's light, fluffy and moist with a light chocolate flavor and the frosting is what really sets it apart. It's roux based, meaning it's made from a flour and milk mixture that is cooked first and then whipped into the rest of the frosting. The result is a velvety smooth creme with a flavor that is unlike anything I've ever had before.