I had a craving for a chocolate cake at 10:30. Like, at night. And not many places (if any!) are open this late on a Sunday that will sell me a slice. And living by myself, I am not about to bake (and therefore eat) 24 cupcackes or an entire cake (or buy one!). If I did this every time I wanted cake or something, I’d weigh like 300 pounds by now! ;)

So, these super cute ramekin dishes I bought at Michaels for 30 cents each (it was a post-Valentines day sale) came in QUITE handy.

The best part is it’s a small reciepe, AND doesn’t use anything I don’t keep in the house (ie, chocolate chips or baking chocolate - uh, if I kept it here I’d eat it all before baking with it!)

So, that being said, may I present you with…

Cake For The Chocolate Craving, Single Girl
**note: I forget where I found this recipe - I’ve had it for awhile, and it was from some website/blog, so if anyone knows where it’s from please let me know and I’ll give credit where credit is due!

Ingredients
- Flour: 1/4 a cup, then 2 more tbsp
- 3 tbsp buttermilk.

If you’re like me, and don’t have buttermilk just kicking around - put 1 tbsp lemon juice into a measuring cup, then fill with milk until the 1 cup line. Let curdle for 5-10 minutes… ta da! Buttermilk replacement.

- 1 egg
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter (melted) - I use margarine, though (mildly healthier!), and it works fine :)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda (1/8 = half of 1/4, if you don’t have a 1/8 measuring spoon)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sugar

Directions
- Grease (or Pam!) the cooking dishes.
- Mix buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.
- Add butter tbsp by tbsp, mixing in between
- Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and sugar
- Pour wet over dry, and mix
- Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean)

Volia! Delicious cake, and in individual(-ish, I only ate half of one dish in one sitting) servings.

AKA my first attempt at (cup)cake decorating - rabbits digging holes in a garden! They’re from the Hello, Cupcake! book. I won’t lie, that book is pretty much the reason I was inspired to run out and buy a bunch of icing tips, gel food dye, and baking supplies to try my hand at cake decorating.

Just call me Martha Stewart!

For the garden cupcakes, I dyed vanilla icing green for the grass (using Wilton’s gel colouring), and used a #18 Star tip to create the grassy-icing effect. I then decorated with mini eggs and spring (flower!) sprinkles. For the bunnies, I iced the cupcakes using the remaining vanilla icing and then dipped them into a bowl of Oreo baking crumbs until covered. I made the feet by hand using melting chocolate. You put the chocolates in a ziploc bag (easier clean up than the bottles!) and zap it for 30 seconds. Knead, cut a TINY tip off one corner, and voila! Instant drawing pen. The tail is simply a white Malteser (did you know those existed? I had no idea until I found them at Bulk Barn!)

I made these little guys for Easter dinner at my Grandmothers… they were a hit! I can’t wait to decorate more cupcakes - the only problem is, well, since I live alone I have no one to feed the cupcakes too once I bake them. Any takers? ;)

So, today I decided to bake Mini Egg Cookies. A quick (okay, I was gone an hour and a half but who’s checking ; ) trip to the grocery store, and a few missing items later, I was ready to get started.

The finished product?

These cookies are absolutely DELISH! I’m so excited about how good they are, I thought I’d share the recipe.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups mini eggs (broken into large chunks)

Preparation

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
Stir the butter in a separate, large mixing bowl until creamy.
Gradually stir in both sugars, until well mixed.
Add eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition.
Stir in vanilla.
Gradually stir in flour mixture until combined.
Put the Mini Eggs in a ziplock bag, and crush into chunks (I used a hammer).
Stir in Mini Eggs.

Baking Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C).
Grease cookie sheets (or coat with cooking spray).
Bake for approximately 8 - 10 minutes (until edges are golden)

———-

Tada!

Now eat them and enjoy - I know I am :)