I've Never Wanted a Pig Until Now

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Can you get more adorable than this?!!! I don't think so.

I saw this Richard Austin photo originally posted on Serious Eats' website a few days ago, and I couldn't help but share it. Seriously though, how much cuter can you get?

That's it for now. Have a great day!

Serious Eats Shares their Favorite Cupcake Recipes

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Serious Eats released a list of their 12 favorite cupcake recipes. Their favorites include Kaleidoscope Cupcakes, Yellow Squash Cupcakes, and Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes. Yellow squash?...that sounds intriguing. You can check out the slideshow and recipes here.

Eat Your Vegetables as a Cupcake

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As a new mom, I've been following everything exactly by the book. One of the tips I have obeyed was feeding my baby boy vegetables before fruits, so that he wouldn't be prone to sweets first. (I have a huge sweet tooth and I'm trying to curb that a bit with my son.) And to my surprise, he loves his veggies! Carrots, zucchinis, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkins.

So when I stumbled across this recipe for Yellow Squash Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting, I knew I needed to bookmark it. Little Des hasn't started eating chocolate yet, but when he does this recipe will definitely come out. I can pretend that cupcakes are good for him as long as he's eating some veggies, right?

You can find the recipe here.

Truffle-Stuffed Cupcakes from Cakespy

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I love cupcakes, but I don't love them all equally. Stuffed cupcakes are my favorite kind. Cakespy posted a recipe on Serious Eats for chocolate cupcakes stuffed with Godiva Gem truffles. Mmmmm....now that's a chocolate splurge. You can find the recipe here.

Shipping Pumpkin Cupcakes in a Jar

One of the most popular questions I get is:
How do you ship cupcakes?

Answer: it's not easy. And most importantly, the cupcakes won't look perfect.

Last year I posted about Beantown Baker using Mason jars. You have to slice the cupcake in half and pipe frosting in between.

Photo: Beantown Baker

A few weeks later I attempted this when I shipped pumpkin cupcakes for Operation Baking Gals. Not easy.

A few months ago I posted about Yummy Cupcakes version of shipping cupcakes. They use taller mason jars and layer cake and frosting and cake and frosting.

Photo: Flickr

Last week Cakespy wrote about her idea for shipping cupcakes on Serious Eats. Her idea: bake the cupcakes in the jar. Genius! Saves a lot of time and trouble trying to squeeze the cupcakes into a small jar.

Photo: Serious Eats

Will we ever come up with an easy solution to shipping cupcakes? Maybe. One thing I've learned though, it doesn't matter how the cupcakes look after shipping, it's how they taste! Happy baking!

Serious Eats Offers Tips for Better Cupcakes

I love to bake, but I'm just not great at it. If you're a baker who could use a little extra help (like me), Serious Eats offers 10 tips to making better cupcakes. Check out the full article here.

Photo: Serious Eats

I'm taking note of Tip #5-use an ice cream scooper. I've seen bakers use them on Cupcake Wars, but have never tried it myself. Sounds like an excuse to make cupcakes!

Whoopie Pie Cupcakes

Photo: Serious Eats

One of the most popular desserts I make is for Red Velvet Cookies, which are essentially red velvet whoopie pies. It's a perfect vehicle for getting frosting and cookies in my mouth at the same time.

Let's go one step further and make a Whoopie Pie Cupcake. That's what Jessie Oleson from Cakespy did. Essentially you make cupcake batter, but bake as cookies (on a baking sheet) and cupcakes (with liners in a cupcake pan). Add frosting to the cupcakes and top with the "cookies." The best part is that you can make any flavor. Happy baking!

Find the full recipe on Serious Eats.