Whewie, was this week a busy one! Just moved into a new apartment, went camping with a team from the middle school, and had a BBQ with my own team. Oh yes, and I also had to make over four dozen cupcakes and a gluten-free 60th birthday cake.
So, this is what my Wednesday started out as (following 1 trip to the store to find gluten-free flour and 1 more, different trip to the store to find strawberries and good butter for buttercream).
You've already seen the chocolate chip cookie dough-filled cupcakes before, but after my students heard about them, I think I would've been run out of town if I didn't show up with them. "You must bring the cupcakes, Ms. Kovaliv." "Did you remember to make the cupcakes Ms. Kovaliv?" "I have to talk to you about cupcakes. [Enter brief anticipatory pause.] You're bringing them, right?" Well, I had no choice. So, I made 53 cupcakes. This, after another trip to the store, because I needed 7 cups of powdered sugar, and lo and behold, I only had about 2. Oh, and vanilla. I'd run out of vanilla. (3 store trips, thus far.)
Then, when that was all done, I tried my hand at my first ever gluten-free cake. My dad keeps telling me that I shouldn't "experiment" when I'm baking on a deadline. But, I haven't learned my lesson, and I had a minor panic attack when my strawberry gluten-free cakes turned out of the pan like this:
Yes. That's approximately 3/4" high. Some cake to celebrate a fabulous 60th birthday, eh? So, store trip number 4 to buy more gluten-free flour mix. I usually am a little Martha Stewart in my use of store-bought mixes (i.e. I am admittedly unnecessarily snobbish about my desire to make things from scratch), but when it comes to gluten-free, I trust those mixes more than myself.
Hooray! A much more acceptable cake structure. Time to frost and decorate! But no! I've run out of eggs! Store trip #5, ladies and gentlemen.
But here it is! An entirely gluten-free strawberry and vanilla cake with lemon buttercream frosting and a dark chocolate butterfly to top it all off.
So, this is what my Wednesday started out as (following 1 trip to the store to find gluten-free flour and 1 more, different trip to the store to find strawberries and good butter for buttercream).
You've already seen the chocolate chip cookie dough-filled cupcakes before, but after my students heard about them, I think I would've been run out of town if I didn't show up with them. "You must bring the cupcakes, Ms. Kovaliv." "Did you remember to make the cupcakes Ms. Kovaliv?" "I have to talk to you about cupcakes. [Enter brief anticipatory pause.] You're bringing them, right?" Well, I had no choice. So, I made 53 cupcakes. This, after another trip to the store, because I needed 7 cups of powdered sugar, and lo and behold, I only had about 2. Oh, and vanilla. I'd run out of vanilla. (3 store trips, thus far.)
Then, when that was all done, I tried my hand at my first ever gluten-free cake. My dad keeps telling me that I shouldn't "experiment" when I'm baking on a deadline. But, I haven't learned my lesson, and I had a minor panic attack when my strawberry gluten-free cakes turned out of the pan like this:
Yes. That's approximately 3/4" high. Some cake to celebrate a fabulous 60th birthday, eh? So, store trip number 4 to buy more gluten-free flour mix. I usually am a little Martha Stewart in my use of store-bought mixes (i.e. I am admittedly unnecessarily snobbish about my desire to make things from scratch), but when it comes to gluten-free, I trust those mixes more than myself.
Hooray! A much more acceptable cake structure. Time to frost and decorate! But no! I've run out of eggs! Store trip #5, ladies and gentlemen.
