7 Minute Frosting is full of...

So the recipe I have for 7 Minute Frosting claims it takes 7 minutes. Do not be fooled by this!! It took me closer to 30 minutes to make, but it's very delicious and, although tricky, not difficult. Be cautious, once this frosting is done, it starts to harden pretty quickly, so have a piping bag ready, and work quick.

You will need:

1 1/2 c. sugar, plus 2 tbsp
2/3 c. water
2 tbsp light corn syrup
6 large egg whites, room temp

An electric mixer, a small heavy saucepan and a candy thermometer

Combine water, 1 1/2 c sugar and corn syrup in the heavy saucepan. Clip the candy thermometer onto the side of the pan so it is touching the liquid.

Bring contents to a boil, over medium heat, stirring occassionally until the sugars dissolve. Without stirring continue to let the syrup boil until it reaches 230* on the thermometer.

While the mixture is coming to 230*, in the electric mixer, whisk egg whites on medium high until soft peaks begin to form. Add remaining 2 tbsp of sugar and continue to beat whites until peaks slightly stiffen.

Once the mixture on the stove reaches 230*, with the mixer on medium low, slowly and steadily pour the hot syrup into the egg whites. Raise mixer speed to medium high and whisk until the bowl is cool to the touch and stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes, although mine took more like 15.

Transfer to a piping bag, and using a large plain tip (like Wilton #1A) pipe frosting onto each cupcake: Hold bag over cupcake, with the tip just above the top, and squeeze to create a dome effect, and release pressure by pulling upwards to form a small peak.

FATCAKES! #1 Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

So for Christmas, Charlie got me a bunch of cupcake cookbooks, and then almost immediately requested a recipe, Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. He's a HUGE Snickerdoodle fan, and I'm a HUGE cupcake fan, so I thought I would start off the new year, and my new FATCAKES! series with Snickerdoodle.

Charlie calls me "Fatcakes" cuz I love to quote a line from iCarly (yes, shut up, sometimes I watch Nickelodeon. Don't judge me.) that Sam says, "Mama knows her Fat Cakes", anyway, it stuck.

Anyway, the FATCAKES series will be a big project for me this year in I hope to go through the entire cupcake recipe books I have a make as many as I can in 365 days. Keep checking up on me and my progress!

SNICKERDOODLE CUPCAKES

These pretty little cupcakes taste EXACTLY like the cookie and are surprisingly easy to make. Makes 28.

You will need:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2c. cake flour* (NOT self rising)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 sticks butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
2 tsp pure vanilla extract (you all know how I feel about this one)
1 1/4 c. milk

*If you don't have cake flour, or are hard pressed and can't find it, you can use all-purpose flour and substitute out one tablespoon of flour for one tablespoon of corn starch.

Preheat the oven to 350* and line your cupcake pans with papers. Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. If you have a sifter, awesome! If not you can use a sieve to sift, or mix well using a fork.

Using an electric mixer, or your handy dandy Kitchen Aid, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy on a medium high speed. If your butter has not come to room temperature, you can cut it up into small cubes, this helps break it down a bit.

Add each egg, one at a time until well incorporated. Beat in vanilla and reduce to a low speed. Add flour and milk by alternating in batches (flour 3, milk 2).

Divide batter into your cupcake pans, until about 3/4 full. I find it easier to scrape down he bowl and transfer the batter into a large plastic or pastry bag and pipe it into the liners. This helps with control and allows for less spills and drips.

Bake cupcakes for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester (toothpicks or raw spaghetti noodles work well) inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cook on a wire rack.

Frost cupcakes with 7 minutes frosting, and dust with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar to make them look perfectly adorable.

This is NOT a food post

So, with me leaving for Atlanta right around the corner I have started getting my "gifts" ready for the Cooks.

Dear Cooks, if you are reading this blog post, kindly DO NOT LOOK! Kthxbai

So back in December when I got my Martha Stewart Living (yes, I subscribe...) there were AMAZING recipes and ideas for homemade gifts for those of us with shallow pocket books. It was then that I noted I would make these amazing Salt Scrubs for the girls for "Christmas". I use Christmas in quotes because I knew I wasn't going to get to see them until Jan-Feb due to the craziness of the holidays and the overwhelming demand of work though the end of the year. Then Brian's dad bought me some plane tickets to come visit in February right before my birthday as a gift cuz he's ever so nice. This is a small token of appreciation and my way of saying thanks and such for the hospitality of 08.

My favorite splurge treat for myself is going to Sephora and getting Philosophy Senorita Margarita Hot Salt Scrub. It's heaven. It's to die for. It's the only scrub I've ever used that really exfoliated and made my skin soft. It costs 25 bucks. For some reason it's not on Sephora's website anymore, but you can gawk at it here.

I seriously love the stuff.

Anyway back to the wonderment that is all things Martha. You can find her "recipe" here, but I tweaked mine as I saw fit.

You will need;



Epsom Salts (or organic sugar if you want to do a sweet one)
Carrier Oil (I used Olive Oil, but Sunflower, Vitamin E, anything light and low in fragrance will work)
Essential Oils for Scent (I used Eucalyptus Oil for my strong one, and a Bergamont oil for the lighter scent.)
Food Coloring to match you "scent" (I ended up using a mix of green. blue and yellow)
An eyedropper so you don't ever scent

Start with 2 cups Epsom salts (or sugar) in a medium to large bowl.



I found that I liked my scrub with a bit more viscosity so in the end I ended up using closer to 4 cups.

Add to that 1 cup of carrier oil and mix well.



Next you're gonna mix in your lighter scent first, drop by drop. Martha said use like 4 drops, but I ended up using closer to a tablespoon. Just add, mix and sniff until it's strong enough for you. Then add in your heavier scent. I used Eucalyptus oil which can be pretty strong, and still even the few drops Martha suggested weren't enough. I ended up adding about a tablespoon. Once again, it's up to you and how "smelly" you want your salts to be. Add, mix, sniff to your liking.

Then I added the food coloring 5-10 drops at a time until I found a color I liked...



In the end I think I used about 20 drops of "lime", 10 of "turquoise" and 10 of yellow. I wanted it to be as close to the Philosophy's color as possible. I think I got pretty close.



I then transferred the scrub into little jars I found at Michaels. That is also where I found the coloring and bergamont oil. They were in the candle and soap making aisle if you go to find them. The jars were in the painting supplies.



The amount I used filled 3 8oz jars to the top, and I had a bit left over that I stuck in a little dixie cup and put in the shower for later. I can't wait to try it and see what the girls say about it too!

All in all the trip to Micheal's cost me about 16 dollars, I had the Eucalyptus Oil, Epsom salts and Olive Oil, already so that was not a recent expense. I'd say, for how much you get, and I still have a TON left over to make a TON more.. its definitely cheaper to make them yourselves, and more fun too.