I woke up today and just had to bake these...

I love cupcakes, and even more than that I love red velvet cupcakes. There is something delightfully gory about their blood red flesh and the pure virginal white icing. Too much? Anyway, they taste like nothing else and though I am not a chocolate fan, their distinct colour tricks me into thinking I am eating something beyond the normal chocolate vein.


Let me start by saying I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination. I am a good cook, great at times, and I have a natural tendency to want to improvise with any dish and rarely (never?) use a recipe. That doesn't work for baking as far as I can see, so I am ashamed to say I used a packet mix. Sure fire way to get the result I want with no tears. If you want a from-scratch recipe use Smitten Kitchen. Far in way the very best recipe resource out there in my opinion (besides the hallowed Julia Child and Fanny Farmer, natch).


These weren't all for me, and honestly after I have baked I never really feel like eating the result, but I needed an excuse to use one of my cupcake stands (thanks Mutt!). And a good strong cup of earl grey tea was just the ticket to wash one down (just one I promise).


And it was "bloody" good. Sorry...

COFFEE BREAK

Made By Girl, Jennifer Ramos

Well.....more like Peppermint Tea break for me these days. Coffee is one of my life's loves. You could call it an addiction! I decided a couple of months back to give it up because strangely I think it was making it difficult for me to sleep, gave me palpatations, you know all the usual stuff that you get from too much caffeine. For someone who smuggles pounds of Green Mountain Coffee back in my luggage every time I go home to Vermont, this is a big deal!

Anyway, 2 months clean now (ok, a couple of falls off the wagon along the way) I think I am safe to admire it from afar and show you my coffee picks.
1. French Press Cosy, Remade Shop 2. Milk Bottle, Fishs Eddy 3. Dark Magic Espresso Blend, Green Mountain Coffee 4. Addict Cup, Trixie Delicious 5. Coffee Cup Sleeve, Jacqueline Knits 6. Diner Mug, Fishs Eddy

Robin's Jewelry Box is packed full of the cutest miniature pastries, cupcakes, pies and candies that adorn her jewelery. Her detail is so perfect, they are just good enough to eat!

Coffee and Donuts Necklace

For the perfect match to coffee, it has to be Coffee Cake. Smitten Kitchen is a cookery blog that sits firmly in the genre of Food Porn. It really is beautifully put together with the most exquisite pictures. If I baked, this would be first on my list.

Try the Big Crumb Coffee Cake, with the addition of rhubarb for a seasonal twist. Yummy.