I made ice cream cone cupcakes for my son’s birthday. He asked for a Buzz Lightyear cake but I wasn’t feeling that adventurous this year. I got my inspiration from The Divvies Bakery Cookbook: No Nuts. No Eggs. No Dairy. Just Delicious! since the recipe needed to be food allergy friendly. While there’s a specific recipe for these cupcakes in the cookbook, I decided to improvise and go with my default cupcake recipe, also from Divvies. I’ve tried other cupcake recipes and Divvies Famous Chocolate Cupcakes are his favorite. You can find both recipes in the cookbook. I started by doubling the cupcake recipe to make 24. Then I weighted the ice cream cones with Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I filled each cone with the batter and baked them in a cupcake tin at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Once cooled, I topped them with Pillsbury’s vanilla icing and sprinkles. I used an icing bag and tip to create the swirl. The next time I make these, I’ll try the larger cones. These were too small for … [Read more...]
A Parisian Dessert
I’ve had a love affair with French cuisine for as long as I can remember but my first meal in Paris was not exactly lovely. The meal came at the end of a two-hour walking tour of Paris that was preceded by a full day of touring Versailles on the very first day of a six-week college trip to France. I was tired, jet-lagged and starving but grateful my professor had finally stopped to let us eat. She picked a restaurant we found along on our route that featured a prix fixe menu. I remember the entree choices – in French, of course – were horse burger or fish. I chose the fish. It was the safe option. Or so I thought until it arrived whole from head to tail, eyeballs, bones and all. I spent more time picking out the bones than I did eating the actual fish. This meal did not bode well for the rest of my trip. Fortunately, aside from a meal featuring couscous that left me with a terrible stomach bug, my culinary experiences in France were for the most part positive. My favorite lunchtime … [Read more...]
