Go Team Canada!

I made these cupcakes for the February 21st olympic hockey game, Canada vs. the U.S., and even though Canada lost that game 3-5 my maple flavoured team Canada cupcakes were winners among our group lol!

The road to gold may have been more difficult since but the boys brought their game face back against Germany winning 8-2 and then again with a great game against Russia, winning 7-3.

We never lost faith in our team, Canada will come back and win Gold!  Looking forward to tonights game: Canada vs. Slovakia.

Good luck men! At least our women kicked some major butt these Olympics ... way to go ladies, bringing home gold yet again with their win last night against team USA, 2-0.

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IronCupcake Earth ... February is Passion

Although I am very happy to have won the Iron Cupcake Challenge for January I couldn't resist posting a new entry for Iron Cupcake's February challenge, the theme, Passion.

So glad I tried this theme out because I think I've come up with one of my most mouth watering cupcakes yet - Dark Chocolate Raspberry with Strawberry!

For "passion" I decided to make a cupcake that included a few common food aphrodisiacs that would entice 'passion' such as dark chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, honey, and vanilla.

I am also proud to say that these babies are gluten-free, dairy-free (mostly) and low-fat/sugar (I substituted the sugar with honey).  Even the dark chocolate had no added sugar, though it could possibly be the one thing that has a bit of dairy in it.


Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake with Strawberry

Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp gf baking powder
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup salt-free margarine (canola oil)
- 1 egg white
- 1/4 tsp raspberry oil
- 2/3 cup fat-free soyamilk
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Wash and cut 12 small to medium sized strawberries, one for each cupcake cup.
4. In a larger bowl, beat together the margarine and honey until well mixed. Add egg white mixing well. Add raspberry oil.
5. Alternately beat in the flour mixture and milk, making about three additions of flour mixture and two additions of milk, beat together until smooth.
6. Scoop batter into prepared pan, just about halfway each. Add a one fresh strawberry to each cupcake cup, the batter will rise a little.
7. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until tops are browned.
8. Let cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove and cool completely on cooling rack.

To Decorate
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Melt chocolate in microwave on high, 20-30 seconds or until melted and smooth.
2. Pour a spoonful of chocolate over the cooled cupcake and spread until completely covered, do for each.
3. Cool cupcakes in fridge for about 10-15 or until chocolate is hard.
4. Add one fresh cut strawberry and a couple of raspberries. Drizzle left over melted chocolate over each one.

Enjoy!

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A Les Coquettes Valentine's

How do you spend your Valentine's Weekend? ...with the sexiest, hottest Bourlesque Troupe in town, that's how!

For the February 13th show, Love Story, I made cupcakes for Toronto's hottest Bourlesque Troupe in town - Les Coquettes.  The show was fantastic and the cupcakes were a big hit at the event!

 

I baked 50 Devil's food cake cupcakes and 50 Red velvet cupcakes.  To show the theme of passion and love I decorated them using red and white hand-made fondant roses and red and white sugar candy hearts.  My  absolute favourite however, was the cupcake bodice I made using white and black fondant, icing, marshmallows, and a red heart candy - very sexy!

Now that's HOT!!

For info on future shows (which I highly recommend you attend) please visit: http://www.lescoquettes.com/

Happy Chinese New Year: The Metal Tiger ... grrrr!

I like to think of this time as an opportunity to revisit those resolutions that we may have let slip or maybe never made at all.  Chinese New Year could be that second chance to make resolutions again.

My resolution
To continue to lead a healthier, cleaner lifestyle (cutting out meat, dairy and gluten from my diet).  So far, it's been challenging but great! The real challenge has been to still maintain a high protein / low sugar diet as well but once in a while I'll still indulge in a gluten and dairy-free cupcake!

Please visit my NEW blog for the latest MGD-Free recipe:
Besides Cupcakes


Just for fun: Here are a few Chinese New Year Superstitons ...

1. On the stroke of midnight, every door and window in the house has to be opened to allow the old year to go out. - hmmm, not the best plan of action during the dead of winter!

2. Many people also abstain from eating meat on the first day of Chinese New Year festival because it is believed that this will ensure a long and happy life. - Done and done

3. Any noodles in your bowl should be left uncut, as a sign of long life. - Or, you could just eat one really, really, really long noodle

4. A home is thought to be lucky if a plant blooms on New Year's Day, as this foretells the start of a prosperous year. - Note to self: start watering your plants

5. Everyone should refrain from using foul language and bad or unlucky words. Negative terms and the number 4, sounding like the word for death in Chinese, are not to be uttered. - Ah crap - I mean, lovely

6. References to the past year are also avoided as everything should be turned toward the New Year and a new beginning. - Love it!

7. On New Year's Day, one should not wash hair because it would mean that good luck for the New Year could be washed away. - Now that's just not sanitary

8. The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year. It is a lucky sign to see or hear songbirds or red-coloured birds or swallows. - Interesting, talk to strangers, preferably hot strangers wearing red clothing

9. It is considered unlucky to greet anyone in their bedroom so that is why everyone, even the sick, should get dressed and sit in the living room. - oh man I was so looking foward to staying in bed all day

10. Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day as this may cut off fortune. - So take a break from Baking

Good Luck to All the Amazing Olympic Athletes!

In honour of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games I created some cupcakes inspired by this year's mascots.  These little guys were just too cute not to turn into cupcakes!

I kept the recipe simple, baked vanilla chocolate chip cupcakes, which I gave to friends to enjoy because I didn't make them gluten-free.  I spent more time on the design and decoration for each cupcake. For the characters faces I used a combination of: fondant, caramel candy, starbursts, fruit chews, mm's, piped icing, and colored sugar.




Working on Sumi, early stages.  I actually coloured my cupcake batter orange before baking - don't ask! lol ... had plans to do something else with them but that didn't happen.

So, who are the characters?

SUMI
An animal spirit who lives in the mountains of British Columbia. Like many Canadians, Sumi's background is drawn from many places. He wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear.

QUATCHI
A young sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. Quatchi is shy, but loves to explore new places and meet new friends.

MIGA
A young sea bear who lives in the ocean with her family pod, beyond Vancouver Island, near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear.

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Good Luck to Our Canadian Olympic Athletes!

Please visit i Bake Cupcakes next week Tuesday, February 16th - I will now be updating my blog twice a week! Every Tuesdays and Fridays

Mo Cupcakes for a Midlife Man

A good friend of mine recently celebrated his 40th birthday Mo and Fro style and in honour of his birthday I made 40 cupcakes, 36 of which were stylin' their own little mustache.  I didn't include the fro cause these guys were just too cute just as is.

Half the batch were Devil's food cake flavour and the other batch were called 'Blondies' - I just had to make blondies because the party was held at a bar in Toronto called Blondies! Too perfect.

I found the recipe in Martha Stewart's fantastic cupcake book (you can find the recipe here).  In my recipe, however, I used a combination of toffee bits, butterscotch chips and cashews instead of toffee bars.


Either way, these cupcakes were a big hit with everyone! They especially liked how each one had a mustache, which I added using blacking icing and pina colada flavoured Jelly Beans.

Here they are all together.  I reserved four cupcakes to write 'Happy 40th Birthday Jonathan' but the message got a little smudged.

Jonathan even managed to find a cupcake that mached his style!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

I also need to thank all my wonderful friends and family for voting for me, I Bake Cupcakes, in the Iron Cupcake Earth Challenge - I WON!!