Since Ella and I are on a cupcake kick, we decided to try a few more recipes. We made vanilla cupcakes for most of the family, and then decide to tackle a gluten-free red velvet cupcake for my dad (he has Celiac’s Disease). We topped both with a Nutella chocolate buttercream.

The vanilla cupcake was delicious; moist, fluffy and perfect.
The gluten-free red velvet cupcake was surprisingly good. Like my dad always says, you can’t expect it to taste exactly like it’s gluten filled counterpart. And if you expect it to taste the same, you will be disappointed. The texture was pretty amazing (something that can be difficult with gluten-free baking) and the cupcake was moist. It had a bit of a different flavor (less sweet), so Ella and I decided to fill it with Nutella! Yum! Evan actually preferred this cupcake and kept asking for another one of grandpa’s red cupcakes.

My mom tells me that the Nutella chocolate buttercream was delicious, I’m not a fan of buttercream. Never have been, never will be. It’s just too sweet for me. I prefer a whipped cream frosting or a meringue frosting.

Ultimate vanilla cupcakes: Cupcake Project (I did not have a vanilla bean)
Gluten-free red velvet cupcake: Cupcake Project (I didn’t have beet powder, so I used red food coloring)
Nutella buttercream frosting: My Baking Addiction

There are no words to describe the deliciousness of these cupcakes. If those words exist, I can’t find them. They are that good. Baileys and Kahlua together are an outstanding combination (in my opinion, of course).

Ella and I watch A LOT of baking shows, but most recently we became hooked on Cupcake Wars. As such, we decided we needed to conduct some experiments. This cupcake was our first and it was largely a success. I say largely because I did bake them for probably 2-3 minutes too long. If I would have pulled them sooner, they would be perfect. Click here to view the recipe from one of my favorite cupcake websites. We also decided to fill the cupcakes with chocolate ganache, because, why not?

I have been loving my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook, and have been baking bread like crazy. It is so easy and so delicious! The master recipe yields a beautiful, crispy crust.

This is also the master recipe, but I added sesame seeds and roasted sunflower seeds to the top prior to baking. I cannot even describe the heavenly smell in our home when this bread is baking!

I also made some soft, sandwich bread the other day for those silly kids that don’t appreciate the perfectly crispy crust. I added two sticks of butter and increased the flour. Then, after the initial rise, I put the dough into loaf pans. To keep the crust soft, I didn’t add water to the oven (steam results in crispiness) and I baked at 350 for a longer time (the master recipe bakes at 450). The kids loved it! I used it the other day to make grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato bisque and it was wonderful.