Guinness and Baileys Cupcakes

Guinness and Baileys Cupcakes, originally uploaded by jerseyjenny.

What better dessert to make for the Superbowl than cupcakes with beer in them? I yanked these from Smitten Kitchen and I am so glad that I did. The recipe was not hard- a little time consuming, but not difficult at all. I wasn't thrilled with how the Baileys icing came out of the large star tip, but I only have that one and a teensy tiny one, so giant star tip it was.

We ran out of ganache- I probably carved out too much of the middle- but it was easy enough to make a second batch of it. I never knew that ganache was just heavy cream, chocolate, and butter!

Anyway- make these, stat. I am going to try the batter as a cake next time- two thin layers with a thin layer of ganache in between and a fancy star patter of frosting on top. YUM!

Domestic Goddess-ing

IMG_7392, originally uploaded by jerseyjenny.

Tonight, I made my first recipe from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess. My mom got it for me for Christmas (after I had read it at Marty's house and fell in love with it!) The recipe was easy- Cappuccino Cupcakes- and I had all of the ingredients on hand. I've been trying to keep a well-stocked pantry, and lately I have been doing a good job of it. I am almost out of sugar- I bought a 10 pound bag a few months ago- but otherwise I am doing fine.

I love the slightly runny icing (white chocolate!) and the dusting of cocoa powder on the top makes them just delicious to look at!

First day at the new gym is tomorrow.

Big Girl Knitting

I had my first knitting class today at Knit-A-Bit. It started off pretty poorly (dropped stitches! slippery needles! split yarn!) but it ended pretty well. I learned how to cast on and bind off and I made a pretty pathetic, crooked, hole-y little swatch. But that's okay- the instructor said, "If you knew how to knit, you wouldn't be here in this class."

I bought a new pair of bamboo knitting needles and I cannot WAIT for my break this afternoon so I can get started on a new swatch. I am apparently awesome at casting on, according to the instructor. Glad I can be good at something.