A story of insanity and caramel

This started out as a simple vanilla cupcake with some caramel frosting. But I tend not to make things the same way twice. Over a few repetitions, my simple caramel frosted mini cupcake evolved into something covered filled with caramel, then brushed...

Taking a break from fruit – Oreo cupcakes

It began with a misunderstanding at the boyfriend's office. "Mini cupcakes in the Oreo area" was read as "Mini Oreo cupcakes", and resulted in a disappointed Oreo fanatic. The guys sort of hacked their own Oreo cupcakes, and sent me pictures....

Theft and Kiwi Cupcakes

One rainy Friday night, after office happy hour, I drunkenly decided I'd had enough. I stole 2 pounds of overripe kiwis from the office kitchen. I found a cardboard takeout container lying around for them, and had to tape it...

Getting tropical with Mango Mochi Cupcakes

Have you seen these cupcakes? They're guilty of being inexact AF. They're essentially in "gym buddy jail" - these should only be shared with specific people who I know are okay with not getting that info this one time. I honestly found writing out this recipe without using phrases like "a handful of ..." or "....until it feels right" to be a bit of a struggle.

Eating my booze: Margarita Cupcakes

A few years ago, not long after moving to SF, a friend and I found our way into a meetup called Iron Cupcake.  It was a themed monthly amateur cupcake contest held over at Leland Tea near Polk St.  You could pay...

Bad Math Makes Cookies

Here's another tale of brownies going sideways: It was an emotionally dark and stormy night shortly after the election. I hadn't heard back yet from any of the organizations I'd reached out to about volunteering. Friends were telling me stories...

Healthy Brownies are a Lie

My go-to brownie recipe is pretty much the simplest thing ever.  Melt chocolate, mix in sugar, flour and eggs, bake, done.  But sometimes people need or want a little less, well, brownie in their brownies.  That's when things start to...

More Simple Cookies

As soon as it gets down below 50° outside, I'm trying to heat the apartment with cookies. It only takes one visit to see why: we live in an old Victorian apartment building full of classic San Francisco windows, which don't...

Catching up with peanut butter

A huge part of what kicked me back into blogging is the number of recipe requests I've been getting. Especially as we get closer to the holidays, and as my apartment (which is beautiful and convenient and full of light, and...