sprinkles cupcakes!

A pretty good deal, I’d say.
$14 for a box that makes 12 Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Considering that a cupcake usually retails at $3.25, these mixes are pretty great. And if you don’t live near a Sprinkles bakery, also great. If you have never heard of Sprinkles or don’t live in the LA area… I suggest you go over and buy this mix right now. Sprinkles has the densest, most moist red velvet cakes I’ve ever had.

Surprisingly (and I don’t think too many people are aware of this), California Pizza Kitchen makes a decent red velvet cake, too. They sell them on the dessert menu by the slice and it’s pretty friggin’ fantastic.

They sell these mixes at all the Sprinkles locations and I think also at Williams-Sonoma stores.

The frosting recipe provided with the mix doesn’t taste quite the same as the frosting on the cupcakes sold at Sprinles chains, but still decent. A lot more sugar than my usual cream cheese frosting recipe.

as red as my mixer!

ready for the oven!

cooling.

.

If you would like me to post the official Sprinkles cream cheese frosting recipe, let me know.

[Edit: Frosting recipe added]

Sprinkles Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick butter, firm but not cold
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using the flat beater in your electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and salt on medium low speed until smooth and creamy (approx. 2-3 mins).
Reduce speed to low and gradually add the confectioners sugar, beating until incorporated.
Add the vanilla and beat just until mixed.
Do not overbeat or the frosting will incorporate too much air (it should be creamy and dense like ice cream).
Add milk (1 teaspoon at a time) if frosting is not a spreadable consistency.

I found that the frosting was double the amount that I actually needed! I like frosting but not too much, so if you’re the same, you could halve the recipe or save the rest for later. Or if you love frosting to be super thick on your cupcakes, use all of it at once.

they look so real! :)

Kind of strange how cupcakes and red velvet have become the trendy dessert in this town. I remember a couple of years ago, if someone listed their favorite cake, I don’t think I ever would have heard red velvet. But now it seems every teenage/young woman I know gets super excited about red velvet and how great it is and have you ever tasted it before.

Crazy food trends.

I remember the first time I tried red velvet cake was on my 18th birthday. I had my first Sprinkles red velvet cupcake on my 19th birthday. I had my first red velvet cheesecake shortly after my 20th birthday.
I wonder what I’ll have on my 21st birthday. What’s left?
Lynn and I contemplated the idea of red velvet ice cream. I bet someone is developing it somewhere. With a cream cheese ribbon running through it. It sounds half awesome, half weird to me though.

Too bad I won’t be spending my 21st birthday with the people I know and love at home since I’m planning on studying abroad next spring… This blog might even go on hiatus since I probably won’t have the means to bake… Hmm.
I can’t wait though.
I’m pretty sick of the LA/OC scene.

GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!

milan? fashion capital of europe.

or budapest? the paris of eastern europe.

hong kong? thriving asian metropolis.

pumpkin pie snickerdoodle bars

mix and pour

Busy busy busy.

In May, I was expecting to be busy this summer, but I think I still was under the illusion that I would still be lounging around, relaxed in LA scorch with my a/c blasting, kicking it on the weekends with whoever was still left in the U.S.

I didn’t think I would become a tired, haggard person hungering for the couch, refusing to go out after work because the only face I wanted to see was my television, and eating dinner ravenously after eight hours of just sitting at a desk, and proceeding to knock out before midnight.

Work is hard. -___-
So, can I just say, real life sucks? I’m actually looking forward to school starting because I am not feeling the 9 to 5 grind. More like 8 to 6 with all the traffic, too.

And with the recent development of my skin flare-up and my dermatologist telling me I need to decrease my intake of flour, eggs, and alcohol (HOW WILL I SURVIVE), I haven’t been baking too much either. And by not baking too much, I mean, not at all. My brain hurts.
Luckily, it was a friend’s birthday about a week ago, and I had been out of town so I decided to bake her a little something to make up for it. I found this recipe on dozenflours because it sounded AWESOME.

sliced and frosted.

Pumpkin pie snickerdoodle bars.
Wow.
First off, I love pumpkin pie. LOVE it. It’s my favorite type of pie and one of my all-time favorite desserts.
And snickerdoodles. ALL-TIME favorite cookie. Better than chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, whatever you can think of.
So, it sounded really appealing: pumpkin, cinnamon, bar cookie, what’s not to like right?

Somewhere, I think I did something wrong.
It tasted a little too salty. And I screwed up the white chocolate drizzle on top.
So, I just slathered each one with some left-over cream cheese frosting that I had. And made do. I’m not totally loving the recipe but my mom taste tested some and she seems to adore it.

I still don’t know how I feel about it.
What do you think?

-

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars
adapted from DozenFlours

Snickerdoodle Layer:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Pumpkin Pie Layer:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs, at room temperature
15 oz. can pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

1/2 batch cream cheese frosting (Recipe found here at the bottom.)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan and lay a piece of parchment paper across the pan, so that it extends the pan slightly. The parchment paper is an optional step, but it will make it easier to get the bars out later

To make snickerdoodle layer:
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be thick and cookiebatter-ish.)

In a mixer bowl (you can use the same one you used to make the snickerdoodle batter) with a paddle attachment, mix together all ingredients until well combined. This layer will be less thick and more pourable. Pour over the snickerdoodle layer, smoothing out the top.

Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake for 33-40 minutes (maybe more depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the *center* of the pan comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely (about an hour). They will deflate a bit and remain a bit pie-like on the top layer. The bars that are closer to the edges of the pan will be more firm, but are still equally as yummy.

After the bars completely cool, frost the tops.

Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Place on a cutting board and cut into bars. Store in a covered container.