Big plans...cupcake plans.

I started carrying a small notebook around with me a couple of months ago. I realized that I kept getting these ideas about things I wanted to write about or remember, but wouldn't ya know I usually would forget them by the time I had finished mentally telling myself "I need to remember that one." You know how it goes. The human brain can only entertain 7 different thoughts simultaneously, and being an over-thinker by design, I am constantly overloaded in the "maximum thought" department.

This notebook allows me to jot down the things that occur to me WHEN I think of them. Genius, I know. Then, when I'm feeling inspired to write, I just flip through the pages until a particular quote or pondering begs to be transcribed into more words than just the few I haphazardly wrote down on the tiny page.

Today was one of those days where this small investment of time and money game in hugely handy. It was a slow, sleepy day at the office and per usual, my mind wandered off of work-related tasks. I recently discovered a marvelous website (shout out to my fabulous uncle for the suggestion) called Taste Spotting, aka "Food Porn". And it really, really is. There are thousands of pages of brilliantly photographed treats and delicacies of every variety - enough to inspire even the most culinarily challenged of people to throw on an apron and brave the kitchen. It is my new favorite way to kill time at work. No, no, not kill time - get inspired.

Since finding out about my food allergies, I have fallen irrevocably in love with cooking. I love finding recipes I can convert to something I can enjoy without any pain. Even more than that, I love sharing my creations with the people I love. I have been toying with the idea of recipe development for a while now - I have no idea what goes into actually creating a recipe from scratch, but I think I'm ready to start experimenting...

Perusing the many specatularly sugary treats on my new favorite online destination, I started to think about cupcakes, and how they are really like an empty canvas. There are so many interesting variations out there that use basic cake recipes as a base (for which I have many a gluten/dairy-free favorite!) but are so much more intriguing than just chocolate or vanilla. I thought to myself, if gourmet cupcake shops are popping up all over the place, why can't I try my hand at creating original cupcake recipes for the people in my life to enjoy? I am, after all, a firm believer that a cupcake can change your life, so why not create some "life-changing" cupcakes of my own?

This prompted me to pull out my pocket notebook and begin a list of all the different kinds of cupcakes I want to try my hand at. This is the list:

1. Chocolate Covered Pretzel - pretzel cupcake with chocolate ganache frosting
2. Pumpkin-Bourbon cupcake with salted caramel frosting
3. Lemon Rosemary cupcake with lemon curd filling and vanilla buttercream
4. Snickerdoodle (vanilla cupcake with a cinnamon swirl & cinnamon-sugar buttercream)
      I won't take credit for this one. I want to re-create a Trophy Cupcake but gfree :)
5. Lavender Vanilla
    Yet another Seattle cupcake spin-off: Cupcake Royale
6. Black Forest cupcake (dark chocolate cake with cherry center, chocolate frosting, cherry pie filling & cherry liqueur topping)
7. Kir Royale (vanilla cupcake with Chambord swirl, champagne-spiked buttercream)
8. Peanut Butter Cup (peanut butter cupcake with chocolate buttercream)
9. Tea Cupcakes (matcha, Earl Grey, black tea, Chamomille, the possibilities are endless!)
10. "Healthy" cupcake (something with oat flour, shredded coconut, pecans, flax seed meal, craisins & dark chocolate)


There it is people, my inspiration of the day. I will try to post the recipes as I make and perfect these puppies - crossing my fingers for good results : ) I am hoping this list will grow as well...suggestions?

Happy cupcake-ing friends.

♥ mb.