{above} 1. Bemidji Woolen Mills 30” Ladies Itasca Cape in Camel; $138, 2. Valhalla Brooklyn Medium Larch Bag in Antique Cognac; $279, 3. Pine Nut, Caramel and Sea Salt Shortbread Bars (recipe via Cookin’ Canuck)

// photo credits: from the respective vendors/sites mentioned above

My curlicues could definitely use some refining (especially compared to Annie’s Eats); Amateur piping aside, these were delicious. And I’m not even a chocolate lover. 

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes (aka Fauxstess Cupcakes) via Cook’s Country Best Country Recipies magazine. The recipe appears online HERE  (be forewarned there’s a signup involved, though painless.)

{above} can take the city out of the cupcake, but can’t take the cupcake out of the city…or something like that? yeah…

// Photo Credits: Top studio shot via Jeremy Spink Photography. (Thanks!) 

I’ve been a little MIA from the blogosphere on account of October pulling me in a thousand different directions. Fingers crossed November will be a bit calmer and with the cooler fall weather rolling in, the flower-season is coming to its denouement…which leaves me with my Saturdays available for picking up of back-burner creative endeavors (yessss!)

Last weekend however, I was in northern Florida for probably one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever been witness to. The bride and groom were in a “sweets shortage” as the cake they’d ordered for the reception wasn’t large enough to feed the total number of guests. I volunteered to whip up 5 dozen southern-style hummingbird cupcakes with cream cheese icing to accompany the cake. The tops were decorated with candied violets, which are edible, but very temperamental. Find the recipe below in addition to trial-and-error tips regarding decorating with fresh flowers:

{above} cupcakes in their prime, prior to the car trip.

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing adapted from Food Network Magazine.

for the cupcakes

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 cup chopped pecan pieces, toasted
• 3 very ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I personally like pink Himalayan)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil

for the icing

• 2 8 oz. package of cream cheese at room temp
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar 
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

{above} cupcakes plated at the wedding, notice the wilt.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper cups.
2. Mix mushed banana, diced pineapple, chopped toasted pecans and 1/2 cup flour in a small bowl.
3. Whisk remaining 2 1/4 cups flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt in another bowl. 
4. In a third bowl (with electric mixer on high speed) beat eggs, and sugar until thick and light (about 5 minutes). Gradually beat in vegetable oil. 
5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg mixture, and fold to make a thick batter. Fold in the pecan-fruit mixture and divide amongst cupcake compartments, about 2/3 full.
6. Bake 50-55 minutes and cool. 
7. Make the frosting by beating cream cheese until fluffy and adding the butter until combined.
8. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually, and then incorporate the lemon zest and vanilla, frost when cupcakes are cool.

{above} candied peonies* and me and my kb all dolled up.

for the candied violets

• potted African violet plants with enough blooms (try and find non-sprayed plants, pesticides/herbicides are yucky and shouldn’t be ingested)
• a lightly painted-on coating of egg whites (I used non-stick canola cooking oil spray this go-round, which i think in retrospect accelerated the wilting of my flowers…)
• granulated sugar

1. Prepare the violets by plucking the heads off of the plant. I lined them up on a paper towel and did the cooking-spray route…next time, I’ll stick to painting each one with an egg white mixture.
2. Dust the violets with granulated sugar, and keep in a cool place until ready to display the cupcakes. Note: I put the candied violets on too soon…and then traveled with them in a  car for 4 hours. The flowers wilted and congealed into the frosting, as seen above, still pretty…but not as poppy as the flower-toppers in the box photo. 

Makes a little over 2 dozen cupcakes, I doubled this recipe for my purposes.

A special thank-you to my mom for helping with this whole cupcake-production! 

// Photo Credits: *Candied peony photo and more detailed instructions for sugaring flowers available at Organic Gardening.

A is for Autumn and for apple season. How cute are these ship shaped apple pies?! ….or pierate ships to be more precise.

Pop on over to Diamonds for Dessert for the full how-to on these darling ships. 

// Photo via Diamonds for Dessert

Some pickling recipes can be quite an undertaking. I make a giant batch of Christmas Pickles every holiday season to dole out to all my friends. The total processing time is a little shy of two weeks. 

Luckily not all pickle recipes are such a labor of love. Inspired by both David Lebovitz’s take on Pickled Red Onions and Elsie’s recipe from SimplyRecipes, I whipped some of my own up in less than 30 minutes:

Spicy Pickled Red Onions:

• 3 medium red onions
• 2 cups white vinegar 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 10 whole cloves*
• 10 allspice berries*
• 2 bay leaves*
• 2 stars of anise* 
• 2 very generous pinches of crushed red pepper (i like things spicy!)*

1. Peel and thinly slice the red onion. I did this on a mandoline to speed up the process and cut down on the masochistic nature of onions to my eyes. 
2. Blanch onions in a saucepan of boiling water for two minutes, then drain in a colander. 
3. In another saucepan (I did this simultaneously to the boiling water) combine vinegar, sugar, and spices. Bring to a boil and then downshift to a simmer. 
4. Transfer drained onions to the vinegar mixture saucepan and let wallow for a good 5-10 minutes.
5. Pour onions and “sauce” into a glass jar and let cool before closing off and popping into the fridge. They should keep for a little under a month.

Makes 1 1/2 pints

*Spices can be swapped up with a multitude of things: crystalline ginger, cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, garlic, whole chili peppers, oregano…lots of variations to play with.