Happy Birthday, AmazingPhil!

It's been far too long since I made cupcakes.

FAR. TOO. LONG.

So, here I am! Making cupcakes inspired by one of my favorite YouTubers, the one and only AmazingPhil.

Me too, Phil, me too.
[Source: chipotlou.tumblr.com]

He was one of the first YouTubers, if not THE first, that I actively watched. (Well, him and Danisnotonfire).

Oh, stop. It was the least I could do.
[Source: explodedovariesexplodedovaries.tumblr.com]

I spent a good amount of time *cough month or two cough* catching up on all of Phil's past videos. While I was at my old job.

Oops.

(I had nothing else to do, I swear)!

I'll just hide under a blanket too. Don't tell on me!
[Source: amazingphil-gifs.tumblr.com]

Anyway, he's still one of my all time favorite YouTubers! He's quirky, slightly awkward, super down to earth, and British! Great, right? Well, his birthday is today, and I know this is cutting it close, but I wanted to make some Lion Cupcakes in his honor anyway. Because that's how I roll. Or bake, as the case may be.

He's all about the lions.
[Source: chipotlou.tumblr.com]

These cupcakes are adorable, oh so tasty little treats. I'm really quite happy with how they turned out. I've never been much of a frosting/cake/etc. decorator, so these are a work of art compared to my other experiments. I decided to go with an orange cupcake to get away from the usual, super rich flavors. Granted, the frosting is pretty sweet, but it's all about balance after all. I think the flavors mesh well together (they're like a creamsicle!) so give 'em a go to find out for yourself!

And, no, you don't have to wait another year to make these for Phil. Make them anytime you'd like. I don't think he'd mind. ;-D

Oh, I might be mistaken!
[Source: pinterest.com]

Cupcake Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
Zest of 2 oranges
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Directions

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2) Cream together the butter and sugar.

There's only so many times I can show you guys a picture of butter and sugar.

3) Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Raw egg or alien embryo?
[The truth is out there. Cue X-Files theme].

4) Add orange zest and combine.

Zesting powers, ACTIVATE!

5) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

6) Add the dry ingredients alternately with the orange juice to the butter mixture.

Look at how delicious that looks! Fresh squeezed juice is the way to go.

Action shot. BOOM.

** The cupcakes already have a slight orange tint to them with the addition of the orange zest and juice, but if you'd like them to be more vibrant, add some orange food coloring to the batter. **

7) Divide the batter into a lined cupcake pan. I ended up having enough batter for 15 cupcakes.

They smelled so good. I wish we had smell-o-vision for you.

8) Bake the cupcakes for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the tops are golden. My oven baked them in 14 minutes.

9) Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a minute or two before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
Milk
Orange food coloring

Frosting Directions

Mix together the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add a small amount of milk at a time to get your desired frosting consistency. Don't forget to add orange food coloring to keep with the lion theme!

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Once all of your cupcakes are cooled, add a layer of orange frosting to the top of them. I just used the tried and true "spreading with a knife" method.

It's that homemade look.

Lion Decorations

- Airheads, cut up into triangular pieces (I was a goof and ended up getting Strawberry instead of Cherry, so the mane is more pink than red. Oops).
- Chocolate Chips
- Licorice strips (Mine were of the sour variety. The sugar granules give the lion a little more texture).
- Black gel frosting

Assembly is pretty straight forward. And you can always tailor the decoration choices to your tastes. Remember to let your imaginations run wild!

...Badum tsh.

Almost too cute to eat!
... ALMOST ...

If someone made you birthday cupcakes, what would you want them to look like? Or what flavor would you want them to be? Let me know below! And if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below as well!

Thanks for reading and, as always, bake on with your bad selves!

Love,
Jackie

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle

Razzle dazzle 'em!

I need more sparkle in my life.

Guys, I did it. I finally did it. I made a traditional pie completely from scratch! There was blood ... sweat ... and tears ... but I did it! (Eh, I may just be a little dramatic). Ned the Pie Maker would be so proud of me. (Let me know if you need an extra hand at the Pie Hole, will ya)?

Couldn't have said it better myself, Ned.

Are you proud of me, dear reader? I hope so! At least a little? And even if you're not, I wanted to share my experience anyway. Because that's what I do. ;-D Besides, right now is the perfect time to make a pie. Thanksgiving is this Thursday and pies are wonderful treats to share! Or eat by yourself. I'll let you make that call.

Now, instead of making an apple pie, like I had originally planned, I decided to make a Razzleberry Pie. (My title makes sense now, doesn't it? Hehe). Razzleberry pie can come with many different berry combinations - strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, etc. And as much as I love blackberries, I wanted a smoother, hard seed free, filling. That doesn't mean the pie was any less delicious, though! And if you think my berry combination is weird, you can always come up with your own. Baking comes down to personal taste. You've got the power, after all!

So much powah!!!

Side thought: Does anyone else sing "razzleberry dressing" in a little kid's voice whenever they hear or read razzleberry?

He knows what's up.

No? ... Okay, forget I mentioned anything.

On with the show!

Pie Crust Ingredients:
2 cups flour
10 tbsp salted butter, cold - cut into small chunks
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup ice water

Razzleberry Pie Filling Ingredients:
2 cups frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen raspberries
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp water

Pie Crust Directions:
I have a confession to make. I had to make the pie crust twice. The first time I made it, it just didn't work out at all. Everything ended up in the trash. Many profanities were muttered. It was great. So, don't feel bad if you have trouble either! Pie crusts are hard to make, guys.

1) Put the flour in a large bowl and cut in the cold butter until you form coarse crumbs. It could take a few minutes.

Look at how nice it looks.

I didn't get a picture of the process. Hard to take pictures with dirty hands!

2) In a separate container, whisk together the egg yolk and water.

3) Make a hole in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture.

4) Gradually stir the flour and egg mixtures together. Keep combining until a rough dough is formed. If the dough seems too dry, add 1 tbsp of ice water at a time until it's just saturated enough.

5) Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap. (Or if you're a doofus like me and ran out of plastic wrap, you can put each ball into a plastic bag. Doh).

All the dough!

6) Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Or even overnight, like I did!

Razzleberry Pie Directions:
1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2) Put all of the filling ingredients into a medium saucepan and simmer on the stove over medium heat until the filling is thickened. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

It snowed in my saucepan!

Getting there. Slowly, but surely!

That's what I'm talking about!

3) On a lightly floured surface, roll out one ball of dough to fit your pie tin. Place it in the tin and let it cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.

I used a fondant roller because I don't have a rolling pin... Huh.

4) Once the filling is cool, pour it on top of your chilled pie crust.

Gorgeous, darling!

5) Roll out the other ball of dough to fit over the top of your pie.

6) Place it on top of your pie and crimp the edges together. I didn't really know what I was doing, so mine ended up looking very rustic! Make it as fancy or as simple as you want.

I love the way my pie looked!

7) Prick holes in the top of the pie dough to allow steam to escape during the baking process.

8) If you so desire, you can make an egg wash out of 1 egg and 1 tbsp of water to brush over the pie crust. It gives it a beautiful color when it's all done!

9) Put the pie in the oven and bake until the crust is golden and the mixture is slightly bubbling. With my oven, it only took 40 minutes. It could take a little bit longer for you!
      - If your crust is getting too brown, cover the pie with aluminum foil to finish the baking process!

10) Take your pie out of the oven and let it cool before serving! If you cut into right away, it'll ooze all over the place!

YUUUUUMMMMMM.

And there you have it! A delicious pie to feast upon this coming Turkey Day. Or any day that you feel like making it, really. All days are good pie days. It was very hard to wait to share this with my family. I wanted to dig into it as soon as it was out of the oven!

Dean Winchester is my spirit animal.

What's your favorite pie to make for the holidays? Or even better, your favorite pie just to eat?! Comment with your favorites down below! Please leave any other comments or questions down below, as well!

And, as always, bake on with your bad selves!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Jackie