Viva *El* Cupcake!!!

At this point in time, cupcakes have a very, VERY special place in my heart.  I could tell you why, but I'm not going to ;-P  Who can resist the sweet and powerful presence of a cupcake (or a baker's dozen of them, if you were so lucky!)?  Seriously, people...it's like all of Earth's wonder and beauty is trapped inside this little paper liner and baked to golden perfection!!!

((DAYDREAMING: PLEASE STAND BY!))

5, 4, 3, 2, ......AAAAAND we're back!  Anywho, I haven't baked as much as I usually do, but Fall is before us and I'm back at it!  Most recently, I baked these beauts: Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Pecans (exhale).

If you know anything about me, you know that I rarely color within the lines; to make these lighter, I subbed the all-purpose flour for 1/2 cake flour and 1/2 pastry flour.   They came out tasting just like pumpkin bars.   I thought that the frosting was the best part.  It had just enough cream cheese and just enough brown sugar to be the perfect buttercream!  I'm glad that there were some extras because I threw them in the freezer.  In case you'd like to try the recipe I used: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sweet-potato-cupcakes-brown-sugar-cream-cheese-frosting-candied-pecans-recipe.html.  If I had to do it over again, I'd probably nix the pecan recipe or sub it for a caramel glazed pecan.

The life of the cupcake is vibrant and well!  "Long live the Cupcake".

Sidenote: Yes, I know that it's been a while since I blogged.  It's been busy!  Ok?  Ok.  You all can thank my best friend, Danessa, for threatening my life if I didn't resume blogging.  Seeing as how she could take me out then represent herself in court, I thought I'd just go ahead and get back on the blogging train.  (Love you, D!  ...and thanks for always giving me the push that I sometimes need...)

Until next time, "Live, Laugh, Love", and "LIVE TO EAT!".