I'm baaack!

step 1 is over! hooray! i did get a few days at the beach this weekend, but otherwise, my 10 days of summer vacation have been busy. i moved all my things out of my apartment (by myself) in the two days immediately post-test. i also did some baking in those two days (kinda had to, you know how it is). i made a cake for my ma's work - chocolate banana cake with peanut butter frosting, dusted with walnuts. it was tasty but it was a pain. the day i made the frosting, i hadn't yet brought my kitchenaid mixer from my apartment. so, i tried using a hand mixer - bad idea folks. when the frosting gets thick, the mixer things just don't wanna move. and that is how i broke my mother's hand mixer of god knows how many years...oops. i had to borrow another hand mixer and by then the peanut butter frosting was getting crusty. so a few more splashes of milk later, i had a droopy frosting that tasted amazing but didn't hold up for anything. that's where the extra walnuts came in - i used them all over the side of the cake in an attempt to hold up some of the frosting. it was... messy. wish i had a picture for ya, but i got zilch.

apparently, though, the overloaded walnuts did the trick - the cake went over REALLY well. who woulda thought? so since my beach trip got cut short this week, i had time to bake something for daddy's work. i wanted something a little more adventurous in flavor than last week's cake, but not too crazy that unfamiliar palates would reject it. better yet, i wanted a banging frosting because my beautiful kitchenaid has finally relocated to my ma's kitchen (i love that thing, i really do - i should name her. suggestions?) so, after spying a box of coconut cream pudding mix in the cabinet, and craving oranges for the past 2 weeks, i decided to go down a tropical citrus yummy pathway: coconut cream cupcakes with cardamom-spiced orange citrus frosting. i know you're excited, it's been a while. so. LET'S BAKE!

coconut cream cupcakes (makes 24 regular cupcakes)

• 1 box french vanilla cake mix
• ingredients called for on box
• one package coconut cream pudding mix 

mix together all the ingredients. fill paper-lined muffin tins to 2/3 full, then bake at 325F for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. remove from the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack. 

cardamom-spiced orange citrus frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese
• zest of 1 orange, divided
• 1 tsp ground cardamom 
• 1 lb powdered sugar

cream the powdered sugar in a stand mixer. add half the zest and all the cardamom, and continue to mix. add the powdered sugar in parts, allowing each portion to mix in completely before adding in the next. scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula periodically. continue until the desired consistency is reached. if using a thicker frosting, scoop into a piping or ziploc bag, fitted with your tip of choice. then pipe those suckers!  garnish with remaining zest, if ya want :) 

mmm, can you see the cardamom in the frosting? this frosting was to die for, seriously. i was in need of a citrus punch to the face, but the cardamom makes it interesting. makes up for my epic fail cupcake turned delicious donut ball disaster a few months ago! 

there it is. in all its delicious glory. coconut, citrus, and cardamom - the three C's of perfection.

aaahh...feels good to be back!