Thanks Martha.......

I forgot to tell you in the last post, but on that wonderful birthday of mine, my mother got me an array of gifts (most of them having to do with the Wizard of Oz), apart from one. Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, a book I had been eying up for a while and finally got. Days passed from my birthday, as I was constantly paging through this cook book for something to make. A Saturday morning came, and I hadn't baked anything in the past couple of days, so of course I had to do something. With over 175 cupcake recipes it was slightly overwhelming, all those choices. But I came to a decision (finally). It was the morning so I had chose to make Streusel Cupcakes, almost like a mini little coffee cake for only your indulgence. The recipe follows:
Martha's Streusel Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• Streusel topping (recipe follows)
• Milk Glaze (recipe follows)

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2-With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir in vanilla by hand. Add flour mixture and sour cream; stir until just combined.
3-Divide batter evenly among lined cups. Sprinkle half topping over the cupcakes, gently pressing it into the batter. Sprinkle evenly with remaining topping. Bake, rotating tins half way through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
4- To finish, place cupcakes on a wire rack set over a baking sheet; drizzle evenly with milk glaze. Glazed cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Streusel Topping

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Whisk together flour, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt; cut in the butter using a pastry blender, your fingertips, or two table knives until combined but still crumbly. Refrigerate 30 minutes before use.

Milk Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons milk

Whisk together ingredients until smooth. Use immediately.

Makes 24 Cupcakes.

Yum..........It's all I can say.

I know this is a little late, and I do realize that I've been neglecting Forever Flavorful, but I have now made a promise to myself that I will update a lot more and this time I mean it. These past weeks have been slightly exciting, starting with October 1st, my birthday!! I can now say that I am officially a teenager, definitely a great accomplishment, haha. The day started with a trip to Starbucks, just before school to get a warm, delightful, pumpkin spice steamer. A mix of hot milk and that wonderful pumpkin flavoring with a bit of pumpkin spice sprinkled on top. Since this beginning of Fall I've been addicted to pumpkin, anything that I can get my hands on, so as you might have guessed, when I walked into Starbucks and in that little case I saw a pumpkin scone staring at me, I just couldn't resist. From then on I could tell this day was going to be a pure sugar fest. I got through the day of school, boring as ever, and when I arrived home I couldn't hold in my dying excitement to go pick up my cake. As most people know, I'm pretty much Vegan Treats Bakery in Bethlehem, biggest fan. I go there at least once a week to try another one of their pastries, one sugar rush after another. Conquering at least one of everything on their menu is pretty much my life goal, and believe me, I'm on my way. I stared at their menu all week before deciding upon something I'd never tried. It was called a Vanilla Strawberry Mousse Cake. My parents and I drove to Bethlehem, me in the back telling them to step on it of course. We got there and it was my birthday, so I had to get something as a snack. I couldn't choose anything small, of course, so I went for their one pound cinnamon bun. It's always been one of my favorites, one of the first things that I tried from there and believe me I ate every last bit. We got the box with the cake in it and made our way out, I couldn't help but stare at it the whole ride home. I had asked for a Mexican Fiesta for dinner and when I got home that's exactly what we had. After having a cinnamon bun and tacos in a short period of time, I have to admit, I kinda felt like I was going to throw up, but I didn't, thank God. My stomach was still recovering, but they brought out the cake and I wasn't going to miss having my own piece, no matter what my stomach thought. I ate that piece of cake right down, loving every minute of it. So moist and delicious, it reminded me of why I love that bakery so much. The day was coming to an end, always a sad thing on your birthday, but with all that food in my stomach I was burnt out. I went to bed, with having only one single thing to say, YUM!