Life is sweet.

Hello. There is some obligatory information I feel as though I must put out there before I continue with one amazingly scrumptious cupcake. My original notion for this blog was a place where I could write book reviews, share recipes, and anecdotes about my life. The project started with 45 books on a shelf and letting everyone know my thoughts. Somewhere the original plan for this blog deviated; the last I wrote about a book was October (it was Dracula and it was amazing; cruel and dark and far beyond it's time). Therefore, I have decided that since I am baking more, and I have started coming up with ideas for some crafty ideas, this blog will continue to deviate away from the original. I will still update with what I am reading, although it will not be in the sense of a review. And since, my grandmother is still a continuous source of entertainment, the Rosie-ism will have their place here.

On to far more delicious things!

My folks got me a dehydrator for Christmas; I was dead set on having one so I could make my own trail mixes and be awesomely self- sufficient in that way. So this week, I made Pink Lady Apple Chips.

The awesome thing about dehydrating fruit, you do not actually need a dehydrator, just an oven and PLENTY of time.

So here is the secret, fruit dehydrates at 135 degrees F. With apples and other such oxidizing fruits, you need to first pre-treat it. I did a pre-treatment bath of lime juice and honey; it really brings out the tart flavor of a Pink Lady Apple, as well as gives the edges a nice honey glaze that is delectable. Wash and slice apples, and put them in the treatment for about 5 minutes; this give you time to clean up a bit and preheat the oven as well. Then space out the apples on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven (if you have a dehydrator, place the apples on trays and set dehydrator). Apples, take approximately 4 to 10 hours to dehydrate. When making these, I left them in for 5 hours, and they were not fully dehydrated.

I seem to have a thing for coffe cake style cakes, or in this case, cupcakes; after all, who doesn't like streusel?

Mmmmm, streusel. So, these are Chai- Spiced cupcakes with a pecan streusel and a vanilla bean buttercream frosting.

Cupcake:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter; softened

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup almond milk (can use regular milk; I just prefer almond milk)

3/4 tsp fresh ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp  fresh ground cardamom

3/4 tsp fresh ground cloves

3/4 tsp fresh ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream sugar and butter. Then beat in eggs, one at a time.

Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder.

Add to sugar mixture. mix well

Stir in milk. When batter is smooth, stir in cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger.

Set aside.

Streusel:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1 tbsp butter; melted

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

Add chopped pecans and melted butter; mix well

You will notice a slight crumble and the mixture will be a dark brown in appearance when blended well.

In cupcake liners, full about 1/4 with cake batter. Add a layer of streusel; thick enough that you do not see any batter below. Do another layer of batter and streusel on top. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes.

The great thing about these cupcakes: they pack a lot of flavor, so you do not need a frosting or a glaze and they would still be flavorful enough to satisfy the palate. I chose to frost, but I will also give you the recipe for a glaze as well.

Vanilla bean frosting:

1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter; softened

1 1/2 tso vanilla bean paste (to taste)

1 tbsp almond milk

In an electric mixer, combine sugar and butter; beat well.

Add vanilla bean paste. Continue to mix and add milk

For thicker frosting, add additional confectioner's sugar until desired consistency is reached.

I left my frosting a little runny so it was a cross between a glaze and a frosting

Vanilla glaze:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar; sifted

2 1/2 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp butter; melted

Whisk ingredients together. apply to cupcake in a lattice design.

If you have trouble finding vanilla bean paste or cardamom, my favorite place to go is the Fresh Market; they have the widest variety of fresh spices and interesting baking supplies. Enjoy!