WINNERS!

Thanks so much to all of you who participated in my "Fan Appreciation Day" Contest! there were a number of first-time commenters, as well as my loyal readers who honestly... make this whole blogging aspect worthwhile!

so THANKS!

Now, I know I said I was only going to have TWO winners for every fifty comments, but I decided to let the random number generator choose THREE comments. (honestly? I made a big batch this time, and I have to get rid of them before *I* eat them all!!)

so thanks to the random number generator...

I can happily say a hearty congratulations to:

1. DIANA

2. CATHY

3. NANCY

I will be contacted you each very soon to make sure I have your correct mailing address! THEN, I'm off to the post office to mail your prizes!

Thanks again to each of you for playing as well as all of the promoting that was done! I've got a few more Jane Flavors I've been thinking about, so you never know when I'm going to do another contest!

xxoo!

Fan Appreciation Day - A CONTEST!

I really should have cleaned today. or did the laundry. or prepped dinner so I'm not left scratching my head in a mad scramble trying to feed everyone when we get back from my daughter's dance class.



instead... I made a new Jane. And while I will have a full post describing the newest Happy Jane up soon... I thought I'd make the introduction short and sweet.

meet the "Fanna Banana"

There's no monkeying around with this Happy Jane... She's got a banana cookie base (which happens to be egg-less, by the way), a white chocolate and banana cream center, and then she's topped with a generous coating of extra dark and bittersweet chocolate.



These Janes were inspired because both my husband and son are fans of bananas (get it.. fanna banana = fan OF banana??) and every now and then I like to make the guys in my life happy. Then I figured.. why not make some READERS happy, too?



So here goes, gang---



I'm going to give away TWO sets of 6 Fanna Banana Happy Janes for every FIFTY comments I get on this post. All it takes is a comment telling me what YOU are a fan of. (well, that, and the random number generator picking your comment number!)



(wait.. back up.. what do I mean 2 sets of 6 for every fifty? Did I not drink my coffee today or something?)



so it goes like this: If I get anywhere from 2-99 comments on this post, the random number generator will pick TWO comment entries to each have a half-dozen happy Janes mailed to them. if this post sees 100+ comments? then FOUR winners will be chosen. 150+ comments? SIX winners. you get the drift. I will, however, limit the number of winners to 10. not that I can even IMAGINE this blog post getting more than 250 comments (snort! hah! maniacal laughing like you can't imagine going on!) but in the CRAZY chance that I DO get more than 250 comments, I'm going to keep the winner count at 10. otherwise I'd be in the poorhouse trying to ship these girls to all the winners! That's fair enough, right?





so while I'm at it.. here's a FEW other little tiny rules:

• 1 comment per person with a valid e-mail address so I can contact you, please!

• do NOT forget to say what you're a fan of! Keep with the theme, people!

• Winner must reside in the continental USA. (I don't want them spoiling or melting before they have a chance to even arrive!)

• ALL COMMENTS must be received by 9am EST TOMORROW, FRIDAY MAY 15th.

BONUS ENTRIES! want to be able to leave another comment/get another entry? Here's TWO MORE WAYS TO ENTER:

• OPTION A - Link to this contest on Twitter! afterwards, come back here and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet. (URL can be obtained by clicking the timestamp below your tweet)

• OPTION B - Link to this contest on your blog! afterwards, come back and leave a comment with the URL of your blog post linking to the contest.

Not bad, eh? Three chances to enter, and since I'm going to say that a person can only 'win' once... the odds are pretty good on the spread.





Good luck! now spread the word, so I can spread some appreciation!

_____________________

Thanks so much to all of you who entered! I'm certainly a fan of people who enter my contests!

Speaking of contests... this one is officially CLOSED!!! check back later for the WINNERS!!!

The Secret Lives of Cupcakes

Cupcakes remind me a LOT of people. Cupcakes.. much like people... all are different. different shapes, different colors, some good, some bad... and let's face it... there are pretty ones, and there are ones you don't want to be caught in public with.

Consequently.. you just don't know about a cupcake til you get under the wrapper and sink your teeth into one. (please note.. I do not suggest taking wrappers off of or sinking teeth into people. this might not go over very well with people that don't know you very well...)

Today I made a simple vanilla cupcake for my daughter and her friend that came over for a playdate. Then I topped with a very simple chocolate ganache buttercream frosting.

I'm sure the kids were happy enough with the very idea of cupcakes.. and CHOCOLATE frosting.

but I'd be a liar if I didn't say that it made me happy to watch them discover that their cupcakes were techno-blue with chocolate chips inside.




I guess secrets aren't always a bad thing.


Very Simple Vanilla Cupcakes (adopted from the book 500 Cupcakes)

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter, softened
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 cup self-rising flour (I used all-porpose)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat Oven to 350F, place 12 paper baking cups in muffin pan.

Place all ingredients ina medium bowl and beat with electric mixer until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Spoon mixture into the cups, bake for 20 minutes. (I have a convection oven, and took mine out at 18 minutes)

Remove pans from oven and cool for 5 minutes, then remove teh cupcakes and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to three months.

yields 1 dozen

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Feel free to add in whatever mixers you feel appropriate to show a little bit of YOUR inner self.

We added techno blue food coloring and a gabzillion semi-sweet chocolate chips. (Playdates just seem more fun with a gabzillion chocolate chips.)

getting there is half the fun

So I've been on a mission lately. Not only have I gotten it into my head that I need to make a cupcake counterpart to every Happy Jane flavor I create... but I also want to enter the Ice Cream Cupcake challenge this year.

Two things need to happen for me to accomplish my goals. First... I need to get an ice cream maker. I was TOTALLY hoping to get one for Mother's day... but I got a lawnmower instead. I'm not going to talk about that here, though.. because I do try to keep from using profanities on this blog. So whatever. I'm still ice cream maker-less. But I'm not too worried. my husband may MAKE the money, but I control the budget. There shall definitely be a belated mother's day ice cream maker coming my way soon.

So the second thing is that I need to figure out how to make a good graham-cracker cupcake. I don't mean a vanilla cupcake with a graham cracker bottom. I mean.. "holy cow.. this tastes exactly like a graham cracker.. but it's a cupcake!"

I found a recipe online that I used yesterday.... but the problem is that it's in grams. gar! So I made some conversions and did my best to re-create this recipe.

The 'batter' ended up being VERY THICK. like "am I making muffins or scones here?" thick.

Nonetheless... they baked up fine. At least by looks anyway. to taste one out of the oven was not what I had hoped for. They tasted a bit... well... bran muffinish. I mean.. they were OK.... but not roll over and find a glass of milk good or anything.

But I thought... let me forge forward. you never know what they'll taste like after I pipe some buttercream in there and cover them with chocolate. Oh wait.. did I say buttercream? Yeah... I did. Marshmallow buttercream, as a matter of fact. thick, sugary, make-your-teeth-hurt marshmallow buttercream. SURELY that would balance the neutral graham taste of the cake.

But wait... because I was looking to re-create my More than S'mores Happy Janes in Cupcake Formation... I needed to get some chocolate. Thank you, Trader Joe's... this ought to work nicely in a ganache layer on top.

and nicely it did. I spooned a little on each cupcake, and sprinkled with a few graham crackers for garnish.

When all was finally set... I excitedly peeled away the paper to see the treasure that would greet me. Looks good, no?

Of course... there's no point of piping in the buttercream if you can't see it in there... so here's a cross-section for you.

All in all... it was... lackluster.

I know!! so sad!!! I was really bummed it wasn't spot on. I even typed out the recipe with the conversions so I could include it here on my blog... but I don't feel right sharing it.. cause it wasn't good enough.

All in all... I need to tweak the recipe a little. I think... because I used an entire portion of graham flour... it was a little on the dry side. next time I'm going to use a mix of the graham and white all purpose flour. and instead of non-fat milk, I'm totally gonna break out the full-fat moo-juice. that little bit of fat helps to make a moist cake.. so I need not to skimp on that.

Also?? I need to pipe in MORE buttercream. The cake wasn't BAD... but with the grainy/branny/neutralnessof the cake, and the dark dark bitterness of the chocolate ganache... you really need a bit more punch of sweet for balance.

So hooray for the pictures... but fingers crossed that I can get this right. I really do want an authentic graham-cracker tasting CAKE... and when I DO get that magic combo down.. I will re-post with the winning recipe.

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let it be known that I am currently doing my best to personally get rid of all these 'bad' cupcakes. They may not be great... but I'd hate to see all that good chocolate go to waste. Besides... I figure, with every one I eat, I'm one bite closer to figuring out how to make it better. I better stop messing things up, though... summer is coming, and my bathing suits will not appreciate all these mistakes I'm eating!

Send 'em Some Sugar (Literally!)

Do you ever see something and think.. oh, that's cute.. I could do that... then forget all about it?

A while back I had seen something in one of the many cake decorating books that I buy about decorating sugar cubes for a party. Cute idea, right? I thought so too.. then promptly forgot all about it.

The other day I indulged and bought myself another book called Beautiful Cakes by Peggy Porschen. It was in a discount bin, so I really couldn't resist. Sure enough, as if by fate.. the very last feature in her book (as well as the back cover art) is home-made sugar cubes.

I figured the baking gods must be screaming at me, cause sure enough.. here we are nearing the end of Teacher Appreciation Week, and a mere few days away from Mother's Day, and I have NOTHING. no gifts, no cards, nothing in the mail on the way anywhere... NOTHING. Ladies and gentlemen.. this is a time to send some SUGAR!

I will say that this was so ridiculously easy that I almost feel guilty giving this as a gift. With some sugar, a half of a drop of neon food coloring, a splash of water to dampen the sugar and my itty-bitty cookie cutters... I was totally in business.

really. if you've ever built a sand castle... you can do this. Take care that the sugar isn't TOO wet, make sure it isn't too dry, and be sure to pack it down.

oh, and wait a few minutes before trying to remove the cutter. otherwise you might end up with a jacked-up sugar shape.

or worse... a real mess.

within an hour or two, the sugar shapes were ready to be handled (GENTLY) to have their picture taken... but I'll be letting them 'dry' over night before I package them up. Nonetheless... here they are ready to sweeten a special some one's day.

Each of my daughter's teachers (and a few of my favorite friends that are moms) will be getting a box of tea and some home-made sugar cubes. While I have them slated for Teacher Appreciation and Mother's Day gifts.. these can certainly work as adorable favors for a baby shower, bridal tea, birthday, princess party, or even a get-well gift (spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, right?)

Happy Mother's Day... Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, and just Happy Day in general! Now go send some sugar to someone... if they haven't already... they might just do something sweet for you in return.

Grahamtastic

I've said it before. I'm SURE I'll say it again.


This recipe for home-made graham crackers is GREAT! A certain drawback is that of any other dough I make, I just can NOT help myself from eating this raw. maybe it's the honey, maybe it's the graham wheat flour itself, but all I need is a spoon and a bowl of this stuff. (Just don't tell my daughter... I tell her all the time we can't eat things because of raw eggs. she'd have a hypocritical field day with me if she knew how much I was sneaking behind her back.)





Of course, my main reason for making this recipe is so I can get my little graham cracker rounds for some of my Happy Jane varieties. but every time I DO make them I think... "Why don't I make these more often???"


If you have ever made a sugar cookie or cookie using a cutter with any success, then you can TOTALLY make these grahams. My only suggestion is to be sure to roll them out so they are thin. In the past I've made them thick like my cookies, and the kids just end up looking at me weird. like I'm giving them dog biscuits or something.





We were super boring and stuck with squares this time around, but I did let the kids 'prick' the holes in the top and 'help' with the sprinkling of the cinnamon sugar before baking. (notice the HEAVY layer of sugar??)





no joke.. any time of year these are a light and fun snack. and it should be noted that despite my kids' habit of a heavy pour/sprinkle of sugar on top, this treat has FAR less sugar than the majority of store-bought varieties out there. Almost kind of gives you the green light to cover them in chocolate and marshmallows, you think?

Right in the Kisser!

So I've mentioned before that some the spring time, I like to find inspiration from citrus. Combine the availability of so many fresh fruits this time of year with all of the grass, trees, and flowers in bloom... and my mind kept seeing shades of green. Consequently, I succumbed to the green as well as gave a nod of respect to my days in Florida and bought myself a bag of Key Limes this week.

Of COURSE I was thinking about Key Lime Pies, but then I thought... ooooh... key lime HAPPY JANES. all the taste, tang and creamy goodness of a pie in one uber-decadent bite. SIGN ME UP!

Do you like how nice and neat I started with my bowl of key limes and clean cutting board?

Unfortunately, trying to de-pulp key limes is NOT an easy task. not only did my fingers prune in the prolonged exposure to juice, but man! I made quite a mess!

I tried everything! A peeler, a fork, knife, spoon... considered the food processor... but nothing but time and effort were the trick to removing the pulp (sans PITS!) from the little green meanies.

I strained the pulp and juice, because I was really only wanting to add the lime pulp. I knew too much 'juice' and my buttercream would not set, so I tried to minimize my liquid additions.

Once my buttercream filling was set, I piped it on to some home-made graham cracker rounds. I know I've said this before, but I LOVE this recipe for home-made graham crackers!!! So tasty!! (speaking of tasty... don't these girls look so GOOD??? )

You know the rest! do the dip.... let harden, and enjoy!! (ok, more like.. do the dip, get impatient waiting for white chocolate to set, stick in freezer, STARE at freezer willing sub-zero temperatures to make the shell harden already... THEN enjoy!) I tried to keep to the key lime pie 'flavor' as much as possible, so I stuck with white chocolate.

I joked on Twitter that my husband Troy was going to propose to me again when he tasted these.

He did. (well... no ring was involved.. but he did actually put his dishes in the dish washer, so that's close enough for me!)

Please give a warm welcome to our newest Jane----

The Key Lime Kisser!

Lessons Learned: de-pulping key limes is HARD! I have bought key-lime juice in the past, but man oh man, if I could out-right purchase key lime pulp.... I would totally do it. When I make these again (and I will... these are definitely a high-ranker in terms of flavor in our house, and I see them being made well into and through the summer!) I will try different methods of de-pulping. maybe I'll even try the food processor. you know.. once I figure out if eating key lime rinds is ok.