The World Through My Lens: February 2012

Last time I traveled was last November and the next one's scheduled in the last week of February. Seems like a long time, yeah? So what do I do in between the waiting and anticipating? Baking. Yes, baking is in fact a reignited passion. I remember my mama used to take orders of simple cakes with just ganache as frosting, no fancy schmancy icing that requires piping tips. She took lessons back when I was really young and she put it to good use before she started working. Another fond memory was selling the puto cheese she made to our neighborhood during summer days. I guess that's where my love for baking began.

Since I do not have travel stories to write about yet, let me share with you some photos when I decided to whip up some goodies last Sunday night. I made the Moist Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes with ButterCream frosting.

So I got some (1) flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder sifted and mixed before being added to a (2) mayonnaise (yes, this obedient ingredient made a huge difference) and sugar mixture. Mix, mix, mix (3)! That should create your batter (4).

After cooking for 15 minutes in an oven pre-heated at 350F, this is what came out next. Gooey Moist goodness!! What I need to work on next time: avoiding that volcano like shape. For smoother decorating process, it's better when they're flat.

Simple frosting will do, icing sugar + butter + milk + vanilla extract. I added a drop or two of the fuschia gel food coloring to add tint to the otherwise off white buttercream color. Then carelessly put some sprinkles on top! Viola!