snack saturday

Irish Coffee Cupcakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons instant-espresso powder
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs

frosting

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon whiskey
• Instant-espresso powder, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cupcakes: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour water over espresso powder; let cool. Combine espresso with milk. Beat butter and granulated and brown sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with espresso-milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour (batter may look broken).
2. Fill 15 cups (of two 12-cup muffin tins) three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool; turn out cupcakes from tins.
3. Make the frosting: Whisk together cream and confectioners' sugar until medium peaks form. Add whiskey; whisk until slightly stiff peaks form.
4. Top each cupcake with 2 tablespoons frosting; dust with espresso powder.

card friday

doubles

I love when I get the same quilt from two different clients. Sometimes they pick the same quilting pattern; sometimes the quilts look the same. 

Betty pieced this Thangles quilt. Sure wish I gotten in on this one; I love the fabrics.

quilted with Bluster

The quilting pattern matches the fabric line so well.

Wilma also did a Thangles quilt.

quilted with Bluster

Wilma also did this jelly roll race quilt. On this one, she just wanted the quilting in the body of the quilt. The red in the pictures was a flange and she didn't want that quilted down.

quilted with Daisies and Loops

Nancy made a similar quilt to Wilma, adding a flange to the border. She also wanted a pattern just in the body of the quilt but asked for piano keys in the border.

quilted with Jasmine Leaves

The pattern matched the fabrics so perfectly.

Nancy also made this lovely string quilt.

quilted with Clinging Vine

I love that Nancy went with a vivid emerald green thread on the backing; shows the quilting pattern so nicely.

wordless wednesday

Friday

I made a quick stop at the quilt store to pick up a quilt when I spotted these.

They just be what brings my mojo back. Stay tuned!

PS- a quick shout out to Terri who may have just tried to steal the purple in the above stack :p

quilt monday

I had a spare hour one afternoon at work last week and snuck in a quilt of my own.

I've blogged this quilt before and I love it even more now than before.

I kept the quilting simple and ditched in the blocks. For the plain rectangles, I quilted a decreasing rectangle into the spaces.

And when I cleaned out my scrap bin, I found just enough leftover fabric to make the binding. Win!!

snack saturday

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
Zest of 2 lemons
1 tsp lemon extract
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 stick softened butter (1 cup.)
2-4 tablespoons fresh raspberry pureé (I chose not to strain the seeds out, but if they bother you
feel free to.)
4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Raspberries to garnish (Optional)


1. Preheat over to 325.
2. Beat together the butter, cream cheese, lemon zest and sugar, then beat in eggs and extract until
smooth.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the cheese mixture and beat with your mixer on low speed until
just combined.
5. Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake cups that have been lined with paper cupcake liners.
6. Bake for 25 minutes until firm to the touch.
7. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan- then transfer to a wire rack.
8. Frost when cooled.
9. Beat butter with an electric mixer until it is fluffy and pale. Gradually add in powdered sugar and mix
in low speed until it is thick and paste-like. One tablespoon at a time, add in the raspberry puree
until the frosting as reached a good piping consistency. (If it is still too thick, you can add it 1 tsp of
lemon juice)

card friday