The San Francisco treat (ding ding!)

Surprise!...I don't just make cupcakes, I make other stuff too!  Only sometimes though, and for special reasons.  This time it's because I feel like I've been neglecting a certain someone who has already admitted he can't bake any of my recipes and is 3000 miles too far to get any cupcakes.  Unfortunately for him, cupcakes are just not easily shippable.  I'm still working on a way to fix that, but for now he'll have to be happy with what he gets.

What's in store for the lucky recipient?  Chocolate chip cookies (!), which, by the way, are his favorite...NBD.  I've been meaning to test out a recipe from Not Without Salt who claims it'll be the last recipe I even look at.  Those are some big statements!  But I'm a huge fan of hers and she has yet to lead me astray.  So, are they delicious?  Well, honestly, who doesn't love a chocolate chip cookie, but in all seriousness, yes!  They have a bit of crunch to them on the outside, but inside is all chewiness.  I really encourage the last sprinkling of salt pre-bake.  It balances out the sweetness very well and enhances the cookie-ness.  I'll let the San Franciscan make the final decision though.  (Note to receiver:  Don't be rude and share with your friends who read the blog...they know where you live.  Hell, use the cookies to bribe your friends to read the blog.  Miss you!)

Call me, maybe?

What can you do with four extremely ripe bananas?  Well, for one thing, you can dance around with a banana held up to your ear singing Call Me, Maybe for a few rounds.  That will probably get pretty old for most people, unless you're a member of the Cornell class of 2007 and were at reunions this past weekend.  (To all who were worried about me...I survived but RIP voice.  GO BIG RED).  Fortunately, for those who are not as amused by Carly Rae, there are many other options!  You can put bananas into practically any type of not-so-healthy food to make yourself feel better about eating them: waffles, pancakes, bread, smoothies, ice cream sundaes, and of course, cupcakes.

Side note: Please tell me someone has seen the Despicable Me 2 trailer...it keeps running through my head as I'm writing this post.  If you haven't...enjoy.  You'll understand after you see it. 

This recipe is adapted from browneyedbaker.com.  It's a great banana bread-like cupcake that is a bit lighter and sweeter than its bread version.  I definitely want to try pairing the cupcake with pastry cream like she suggests.  Another must try is with peanut butter frosting...banana with peanut butter is hands down one of my favorite combinations.  For this batch, I was fairly short on time and wasn't able to get my act together early enough to go big.  Actually, it was out of sheer luck that I had powdered sugar in the pantry.  I ended up just making my favorite vanilla buttercream and they turned out great.

Strawberry Fields forever

To celebrate the beginning of a beautiful Boston summer (and an awesome sale at the grocery store) I thought strawberry cupcakes would be the perfect recipe to share as my first food-related post.  Unfortunately, it ended up raining ALL day so it was not as summer-y as I had planned...#NewEnglandproblems.

I can't tell you how long I've been searching for a strawberry cupcake recipe that isn't shortcake-like or artificially pink.  And friends, I have found it!  The cupcake itself has the perfect amount of sweetness that works with the natural sugar from the strawberries.  And there are actual strawberries IN the cake!  I found this recipe on one of my go-to sites, The Cupcake Project, where she pairs it with a champagne glaze.  This time around, I decided to go with a vanilla bean swiss merengue buttercream.  I've recently been on quite the swiss merengue kick - it's not too sweet and its so...so...fluffy!  It does require a bit more work than your typical American buttercream (butter, powered sugar, tada!), but it's delicious, requires no refrigeration, and you'll never want to go back.