I Was Masterbaking All Day To Get Ready For The Party - Mango Cupcakes

Mango cupcakes . . . so the batter is orange. Mango colored, if you will, but mostly orange looking. Do you know how you get get mango into cupcakes? You buy mango pulp. Wanna know where you get mango pulp? In the Indian grocery store. I had a little adventure and went and found a grocery store in San Francisco where they actually sell 3 different kinds of mango pulp. I, of course, got the best, the best according to the shop owner. I mean how would I know what the best mango pulp is?

Anyway, a super simple, wonderful cupcake. Moist, not too sweet, and not an overwhelming mango flavor. I like mango, but a strong flavor would have killed me. It almost felt healthy (but only almost). It had a great whipped cream frosting, and then dipped in raw flaked coconut, and then topped with fresh mango and toasted coconut. Pretty amazing, popular with the crowd, especially the little girl at the party, which means it is good for kids too! For sure a keeper, I will make this again.

It's A Bake Off, It's A Bake Off!

So, my friend Mike decided to host a Bakeoff, or a Bakedown, or whatever you want to call it. Bottom line, the headliner was the Master Baker vs. the Fornicaker. Or the Master Baker vs. the Sauce. Whatever you call it, the end result was delicious. Delicious and totally insane. You are never meant to eat that amount of sugar in a single sitting.

You see those trophies on the table? Yep, those are the prizes for the baking. Pretty awesome. I went a bit over the top, and decided to contribute 5 different items, you got it, 5 baked goods. Overall, amazing goodies all around. I was a huge fan of the French Almond Apple Tart, and the Key Lime pie. The most creative and prettiest was by far the Chocolate Cake Volcano, which I am totally going to work on recreating. It was a great way to combine cake and ice cream. I'm a fan.

OK, details of what I made forthcoming.

Can't Stop Till I Get Enough - Rum Bundt Cake with Chocolate Sauce

2 of 2 in the series . . . Mugdha is a huge fan of alcohol, and a huge fan of dessert, so the time came to combine them for her birthday. I liked the rum bundt a whole lot more than the Tres Leches, and it was by far the most consumed at the festivities. It was the right amount of alcohol, and the chocolate sauce was pretty amazing. The cake was light and airy, not overpowering, and the rum combined well with the different spices. Drink up!

Back on the Masterbaking Wagon - Boozy Tres Leches Cake

So my roommate and our close mutual friends had birthdays in August, and I missed the big celebration due to stupid work travel. Anyway, when I finally made it home, it was cake baking time. Deepa is a huge fan of Tres Leches, so I made one . . . but with alcohol. I did it with cachaça. The cake in and of itself was great, and the whipped cream topping awesome too. But, probably too much cachaça. According to the roommate, it was much better the next day (less alcohol taste), so maybe I didn't let it rest long enough. I am going to try again, but less booze, and more wait time. Wish me luck!

Not That I Stopped Masterbaking - Coconut Chocolate Cream Tart

Yes, yes, yes, a pause from the blog. I didn't stop baking mind you, but between a trip to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, a trip to Kenya to go to the Turkana Cultural Festival, and then a whole lot of running around in the US, I have not had the time to post. I have made some great goodies during my hiatus, the best probably being some Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cookies. Genius.

This weekend my roommate had her family over for dinner, and I made the dessert. Her cousins picked out what I was going to make - Coconut Chocolate Cream Tart. It was pretty spectacular, the crust I got from another recipe, and it turned out pretty well, I need to roll out the dough more next time, it was a little thicker than I would have liked. But overall a success. I might make more of the coconut cream since I like coconut just that much. It was a hit with everyone, it had so many great things going on . . . whipped cream, short crust pastry, chocolate cream, coconut cream. YAY for masterbaking!

Oh Yeah, Right There - Cinnamon Banana Swirl Bread

I never would have come up with this flavor combination on my own. I get the bananas with chocolate, or butterscotch, but cinnamon . . . it just didn't sound right to me. But boy oh boy did it taste right. Not much that I would change, although I might do two layers of cinnamon, and have less of it on the top. I did like the way the top formed a nice crispy crust with the cinnamon and the sugar as it baked. The bread wasn't too moist, which can sometimes be an issue. And not too sweet, like other breads can get. Perfect for tea or for a snack.

No Matter How I Try, Sometimes My Master Baking Doesn't End Happily - Chocolate Oatmeal Date Cookies

This cookie should have been great. I love dates, they are such a wonderful sweet and chewy addition to anything, it should have made this cookie spectacular. Chocolate chips, cocoa, oats, dates . . . recipe for a winner. Sadly, this one fell flat. It just wasn't remarkable on any level. Not a strong chocolate flavor, not a strong date flavor (I wasn't even sure I could taste the dates, I knew they were in there). And the consistency was off. It was really dense, and not for any redeeming reason. Oh well, it was a good try, but in the end, just ok.