baking inspired jewelery

so cute! i found this baking pan inspired necklace at the lana0crystal shop on etsy, one of my favorite websites! enjoy!

sprinkles cupcakes: beverly hills

sprinkles cupcakes is by far one of the most popular cupcake bakeries in la. no matter when i have gone to the beverly hills location there is always a line! and for good reason, the frosting is amazing (so good they even sell frosting shots)! those of you that do not have a sprinkles in your area may have seen the owner and creator of sprinkles candace nelson as a judge on food network's cupcake wars. on my last trip to sprinkles i got a 4 yummy cupcakes red velvet, black and white, chocolate marshmallow and strawberry here's what i thought!

cupcakes ratings
strawberry
frosting: 5 out of 5
cake: 5 out of 5
perfectly moist
taste: 5 out of 5
i am in love, normally a strawberry cupcake wouldn't be my first choice but this one blew me away! the frosting is perfect, it has a natural strawberry taste and is a natural pretty pink
black and white
frosting: 5 out of 5
cake: 5 out of 5
taste: 5 out of 5
perfect combination! i could eat the frosting for days
chocolate marshmallow
icing: 3 out of 5
cake: 4 out of 5
taste: 3 out of 5
this one was really rich and chocolatey, if you LOVE chocolate this ones for you. my favorite part was the marshmallow filling
red velvet
icing 4 out of 5
cake: 5 out of 5
taste: 4 our of 5
over all really yummy, i would have like the icing to be a little sweeter
shop
prices: 5 out of 5
standard for specialty cupcakes
presentation: 5 out of 5
cute storefront and they use recycled paper products
red velvet: 4 out of 5

Passion Tea Lemonade Cupcakes

If you are familiar with Starbucks (who isn't?), you have probably heard of their Passion Iced Tea Lemonade. If not, you should get it immediately- it is delicious and the perfect spring/summer/anytime you need a refreshing beverage drink! The best part about it is you can make it at home (Tazo Passion Tea is available at most grocery stores and even Target). Of course I knew I must create the perfect representation of this amazing drink in cupcake form. I think the end result was successful! Now for the recipe...

First, I have to thank Cupcake Project for teaching me how to infuse butter with tea. It truly is the perfect way to get a strong tea flavor without compromising the texture of your cupcake and/or icing. You can find the full post on this here.

I chose to do a lemon cupcake and a passion tea buttercream frosting, primarily because my favorite lemon cupcake recipe does not include any butter, therefore it would be difficult to really get the passion tea flavor in the cupcake itself. I did however sneak a little bit of brewed passion tea into the cupcake, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it made. Here is the recipe I used, modified from this recipe by Coconut & Lime.


Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
3/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup canola oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/8 cup brewed Passion tea
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs at room temperature
zest of 2 large lemons

Frosting:
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 Tazo Passion tea bags, cut open
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar ( depending on how sweet you like your frosting)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablesoons milk

Directions for Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Whisk together all dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine all remaining ingredients (zest, eggs, oil, lemon juice & tea)
4. Add in the dry ingredients, slowly until combined thoroughly.
5. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way full.
6. Bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Directions for Frosting:
1. Melt all of the butter in a saucepan until it is just a liquid.
2. Add the contents of the two Tazo Passion tea bags and stir.
3. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring consistently.
4. Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes.
5. Pour the mixture through a very fine strainer, making sure to catch as many tea leaves as possible.
6. Put the butter in the fridge, and leave it until it starts to solidify (check on it every 20 minutes)
7. When it is a soft, room temperature-like consistency, place in a mixing bowl and blend it until creamy using an electric mixer (love my kitchenaid!)
8. Add in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, making sure to taste along the way.
9. Add in the lemon juice.
10. Add in as much milk as you need, depending on the consistency you want.

An added bonus of using Passion Tea in your frosting- the hibiscus flowers in the tea turn your frosting a lovely shade of pink!

Ratings:
Cake: 5 out of 5
The cake was delicious; perfect texture, not too sweet, not too tart.

Frosting: 4 out of 5
I should've made mine a little less sweet, but the flavor was amazing.

Taste: 4 out of 5

The overall taste of the cupcake was amazing. It really did capture the refreshing aspect of the drink while still being a fun, sweet dessert.

Bottom line: This cupcake will make your mouth very happy, and it looks pretty too.

we love other people's cupcakes too!

since we love trying other peoples cupcakes as well as baking our own we decided to review some cupcake shops in la/ nyc/ nj. here's how we decided to rate them! the cupcakes will be rated on frosting, cake, and taste. the shops will be rated on prices, presentation and of course our favorite cupcake the red velvet! each category will be rated from one to five cupcakes, one being the worst and five being the best. enjoy!

about us

danielle and jess are two best friends who are currently separated by 2800 miles of land. danielle is a grad student currently living in los angeles and jess is boutique manager currently living the nyc area. they have been best friends since 2008 when danielle hired jess to work for her. they bonded over drinking coffee with a straw, red lipstick, dressing like pin up girls and of course cupcakes! since they would normally check out cupcake shops or try out new recipes together they decided to start this blog as a way to experience their love of cupcakes bi-costally. there will be trips to cupcake shops (with reviews) weekly recipes and other miscellaneous cupcake inspired things!