baking is fun.

Since I talk about these cupcakes a lot, I figured I should post the recipe. Here it is; the Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper Cupcakes. I might have to post the recipe for the marshmallow buttercream. I found a recipe for an easy way to make buttercream frosting, but I haven’t attempted it yet. I probably will in the next few weeks.

Some notes, find a restaurant supply place and call them and ask the price on a litre of Rose’s grenadine. That’s what I used for maraschino cherry syrup. I am able to buy it in Spokane for about 4 bucks. You can buy a small bottle of it at any grocery store for about 5 bucks. And I use grenadine a lot in soda and such so yes, I do need it by the litre. I love the stuff. Also, I didn’t use their frosting recipe, because mom told me that kind of frosting is vile and ridiculously sweet. I mean, it takes TWO goddamn POUNDS of confectioners sugar. Instead, I will give you the recipe for paste frosting. It’s the one my fam always uses. It’s pretty  easy and crazy good and sorta tastes like that rad whipped frosting on Costco cakes. ALSO! Fill the cups about halfway, since the batter rises a fair amount. I ended up using a bit more cinnamon than the recipe called for and it was fine.

For the cupcakes; Recipe found HERE originally.
Chocolate Cherry Dr. Pepper Cupcake:

* 2 ¼ cups of Dr. Pepper
* 2 cups of sugar
* 2 ½ cups of cake flour
* 2 eggs
* 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
* ½ cup of maraschino cherry syrup
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 cup of unsalted butter (2 sticks)
* pinch of salt
* 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
* ¼ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 325º. In a medium size sauce pan bring Dr. Pepper & cherry syrup to a boil. Place chocolate and butter into a bowl and pour hot Dr. Pepper over, cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Whisk mixture till smooth. Stir in sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sour cream. Add flour in 2 parts alternating with the eggs and whisk till smooth. The mixture will be runny… but tasty. Fill cupcakes cups and bake approximately 15-20 minutes or until skewer comes out clean

Paste frosting;
5 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of butter nice and soft
1/2 shortening
1 cup of sugar

In a sauce pan, on medium heat whisk the milk and flour until it’s stiff. No really, whisk whisk whisk, so it doesn’t burn. Your arm might get tired, that means you are nearly done and if it’s one big glob. Spatula the glob into a bowl, then cover with waxpaper. When I say cover I mean press the paper onto the goo. Refridge blob for about an hour. Let your cuppy cakes rest. Cream the butter and the shortening. Add the blob of goo beat it up and slowly add the sugar. Just keep beating it until the frosting is smooth and there is no grit from the sugar. It will get nice and fluffy and you will have more frosting. Add a splash of vanilla extract to your liking. And a bit of grenadine too. I added just a dash so it was a pretty pale pink, and also so it wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet or cherry. Or if you want chocolate frosting add a bit of cocoa powder. It’s a versatile frosting recipe.

Then, FROST YOUR MOTHEREFFIN CUPCAKES, SON!

the stanley cupcakes

Ok so I talked about making it happen. I decided to make a Stanley Cup replica for the Puck Daddy No Foil Contest. And I wanted to use cupcakes. I knew this was going to be hard to make happen. I wasn’t even entirely sure how I was going to build it. I just made it up as I went along. Here is the process;

om nom nom

I baked a bit more than 100 of these suckers. I stopped counting after a bit. The nice thing about mini cupcakes is they cook wicked fast. But its a bit time consuming to fill the lil’ thingers. I used a recipe from scratch because that’s how I roll. The cake part turned out really well not too dense or too light. At this point I still was sort deciding how to build the base. Then I had a vision;

heyyyy that could work...

My mother finished up a bottle of R&R, it’s her favorite. I duct taped the bottle to a glass plate. To stick the cupcakes to the bottle I just used some powdered sugar and a bit of water and stirred it until it was stiff. SERIOUSLY STICKIEST SUBSTANCE EVER.

quality material.

This is where I started to doubt the structural integrity of my creation. Also my mother did not appreciate me making a mess in the kitchen at ten o clock at night. I told her I’d try to make a quieter ruckus. Seriously though, that powder sugar glue is pro. It’d suck if like…someone got powdered sugar on their car, and then a sprinkler went off…

let it whip, whip it baby...

I made the frosting from scratch. Paste frosting is a lot of work to make but it’s crazy delish. I love this stand mixer. It’s amazing. You can let it work while you drink or whatever. The frosting is a light light light blue grey. Because to make silver I needed use fondant which SUCKSSSS and tastes VILEEEEE. And edible silver is so expensive.

omg it didn't collapse!

I had to let the cupcakes set overnight. Also I had to figure out how to make a topper bit. Off to Walmart I went. I bought one of those half sphere things that grandmas buy and shove silk flowers in they bought at Michaels. I jammed it on top of the bottle and frosted away. Now I know I will be critiqued on my execution of replication. But if I do say so, I did fucking amazing. I did my best to pipe details but it’s hot so the frosting got a tad melty. But come onnnnn. You know that is Lord Stanley. Eh eh? I will probably eat it. Except the foam part. Duh.

SUCK ON THAT ACE OF CAKES. I AM A ONE WOMAN PASTRY EXTRAORDINAIRE.

Also this is wonderfully amazing and hilarious. I want to make a mega mix of all the other appropriate songs like Back Dat Ass Up, Put Your Back Into It, I See You Baby (Shakin That Ass), Baby Got Back, etc. True story when that song was popular a few dudes actually called me that. I even thanked them.

PUPPY PARTY!!!1

I think that might have been the cutest game ever. It was filled with moments that made me go AHWWWWWW. The lone goal was scored by Tyler Johnson in the first. You’d think after that it would be totally dull. AU CONTRAIRE. What a great game. It’s amazing how much can be accomplished when the boyos stay out of the penalty box.

Tyler Johnson after scoring his goal in the first.

During the second period Drayson Bowman’s mouthguard fell out. And onto the ice. And he kept looking around waiting for the right moment to rescue it. He tried to like pick it up with his stick. And then decided to just flop over the boards and snatch it. He held it out for the trainer, “water.” And then put it back in his mouth.

I dropped my mouthgaurd. will you get it for me plz?

Then during the second it was getting a bit hectic in Tokarski’s crease and at one point Reddington just shoved the puck to Toka so he could cover it. It was pretty much “here you hide this!”

Reddington and Tokarski.

I should probably talk about the goalie. He did get a shutout, stopping an insaneeeee 41 shots on goal. Cupcakes, amirite or amirite? It wasn’t like it was a light workload either, he was everywhere and on point, go go gadget arm style. It was like, “Hey babe it’s ok I got this, I am Dustin FRIGGEN Tokarski. ” He was the first star, obvs. I wanted to give him all three stars. Apparently you aren’t allowed to do that. Second star of the night was Trevor Glass who was in beast mode. He broke two sticks and was a complete animal landing hits. Glasser, I love you darling. I love the beard too. It reminds me of last year. Fuzzy, warm, metal memories…

oh hey wassup, i'm trevor glass. i'm in beast mode.

It was a brilliant effort by the Chiefs and I was proud of them. The arena atmosphere was ridiculous. Despite the small numbers, it was just unreal. Standing ovations for saves and screaming triumphantly at the hustle the Chiefs were showing. There was a buzz like there would be on sold out game night with Tri. Kids, we are in post season. This is playoffs, welcome and thanks for joining us.

the Chief celebrating the win.

The Chiefs will be on the road Friday. Can you handle that? And the home Easter Sunday. Wear your Sunday best to the game. Please believe I will.

swagger like us.

Many apologies. An impromtu Jason Statham movie bloc (The Bank Job and Crank) delayed my posting. Anyways I think it’s perhaps safe to say the Chiefs got their swagger back. Or perhaps Levko Koper was worried I forgot his name and tossed up two goals and two assists. OW OW OWWWWWW. Oh look, Drayson Bowman isn’t the only one putting up post season points. And I laiiiiike it, I laiiiiiike it a lot. Tyler Johnson put up two goals and not to be left out of the fun Stefan Ulmer was like “you think defensemen can’t score? try me.” Levko Koper posts a saucy plus 3. So CUPCAKES FOR KOPER. He can have some of the salted caramel ones I baked yesterday. Dustin Tokarski stopped 32 of 33 pucks, rawr. The return of  Trevor Glass and Ryan Letts was the kick in the ass some of the boyos needs. I love you, Chiefs. And you were 100 percent on the power play! Alright all of you can have some cupcakes, but Lev gets firsties.

Final damage; 5-1 Chiefs.

another thrilling episode of the drayson bowman show

Alright so this post is late because well, I tend to write late as it is. And after the puck action I went to the Onion for usual post game action with The Panel, food goodness and a round of deep fried Oreos and we hashed out the game. The Chiefs were on their best behavior for the most part. Lil’ babeh Drew Owsley was in net for  the Ams. He is just the cutest. I was happy with the Chiefs chemistry on the ice, they seemed to have a better sense of uhhhh whatever…enough boringness. The game was great and Drayson Bowman delivered another performance worthy of cupcakes. Mitch Wahl and Jared Spurgeon were plus 3. Most excellent. I was pleased with Dustin Tokarski netminding, he looked all sorts of crisp and I thinkkkkk he was talking to his equipment. But no hating, it got the job done. Wahl celebrated a goal like Jason Blake. But with even more fistpumps. Bows also scored the prettiest goal evarrrrr. For realz. Lovely. For the fuck of shit, Wahl can you please not fight? You aren’t exactly the best at it. Take some tips from Dustin Donaghy.

Bowman/Roman/Calla=the Productive Line. Ok, they need a snappier name. I will think of something maybe.

wassup baby?

Why yes, I am going to use this picture again…

VIVA LA DONAGHY. Keep the dream alive. Game tomorrow and Sunday. And it pleases me to type this, and I have to do right by my boy Eyebleaf, PLAYOFFS!!!1.

Tokarski Saves/Donaghy Shaves.

ARGH. What are doing with the staches? Going ahead as planned I think. Dita would want us to. And WE PLANNED SHIT! All staches are go for Friday. I am continuing my declaration.

Tonight for the Hockey Armor 7th man they decided to bring a tot out for the whole starting line. I shouldn’t call some of them tots. As a few of them were 12 and taller than me, though that isn’t entirely hard to accomplish given I am 5′2″. The whole time B and I were cooing at the boy with Dustin Tokarski. I totally wanted to know what they were talking about. Toka helped him get his gear off for the anthems. Yes there were two, the American and then the Austrian one for Ulmer. Or was it Swiss? I wasn’t taking notes. I was cooing. Brady Calla was totally sweet as well to the kid standing with him.

Oh hockey. Yes. A game and such. Despite wearing my Tokarski jersey I was hoping James Reid would log some minutes because from here on out, it’s going to all be on Tokarski. Toka didn’t look like a tuckered out kitten, which is nice. The Chiefs really are getting their something back. I wanted to say marbles but that isn’t the right word. Their mojo? Their groove? Some other 90s cliche?

I might have perhaps yelled EVERYONE GETS A GOAL TONIGHT too soon. But the thought was there. It was a quality effort and I can’t hate. Actually I can. The first goal that Everett somehow popped in. So I think the score should read 7-1. And you know what? Their second goal was meh. So I thinkkkkkk that means Tokarski got a shutout by my fake numbers. It’s the new math. Isn’t it hot? Blake Gal and Paul Sohor fought in the third. Blake didn’t do so wonderful but the best part was when Sohor got 17 in penalties and tried to angrily leave the ice….and totally fell on his ass. Yes kitten, we all saw it.

Here is your scoring summary.

Go to youtube and pop it into HD to watch. It’s worth it.

Cupcakes for Callas. Because I said so.

[[EDIT: OMG. Steve Dangle whom I love and adore did a video for the Puck Huffers whom I also love and adore. Watch the video. Tokarski comes up. And a killer Vesa impersonation.]]

on this weeks “the drayson bowman show”

Bowman is heartbroken that his childhood love slipped in some body lotion and bonked her head on the counter. She was struck with amnesia and is in a coma. She doesn’t remember anything about him. Not his tall handsomeness, his scoring prowess or that she and him had been dating since the 5th grade. Bows, in emotionally agony thinks he knows what will wake her up: Scoring goals. This indeed does work, she comes out of her coma after he scores his 4th goal and shrieks “Drayson my love! I remember! I remember! And I smell coconuts…..Can someone run to Wendy’s and grab me a Frosty?”

wassup baby?

Bowman scores 4 goals. Brady Calla assists three of them. Surly he’d get second star, right? Nay, he did not. He was robbed. Robbed I tell you. Brady just know you earned some cuppy cakes too. The Chiefs win and all I can say is “about damn time…”  Also I should not be on a computer with Nyquil in my system.

Chiefs are home Friday and Saturday.

Lick it up baby. Lick it up.

You know, thanks a lot WHL. Really. You never want people to see games, like ever. Unless they pay some outrageous fee to stream in some soddy internet player.

So what did I miss last night when the Chiefs were on the road? Oh nothing but complete sexiness. Seriously. So many cupcakes to give out. The sexy kind. Really hot. The Chiefs played the Kyle Beach-less Everett Silvertips. So all I have is the scoring summary to imagine the hottness that was a 9-1 victory. For starts? The Jareds were plus 4. What a wonderful defensive duo. Throwing their weight around and getting the job done. Dustin Tokarski in the pipes on a Wednesday? Odd. Dustin Tokarski stopping 19 of 20? Typical. And awesome. Ondrejjjjjjj Romannnnn scoring another goal? I think it’s getting hot in here. Brady Calla/Brody Jenner had a goal too. I just might ease up on him a tad. I might. It’s up for discussion with The Panel. Do I need to go through nine goals I didn’t even witness? No. Let’s kick it scoring summary style.

it's called motivation.

Cupcakes. For all of you. Let’s keep it going, shall we?

we’re a four piece prog rock alterna band.

this band rules.

The Chiefs wore some black jerseys so they could be all “GRRRRR we won the Memorial Cup” which didn’t make a lot of sense.  Honestly I am a bit tired of this winning the Memorial Cup nonsense being mentioned about 15 times a game. It’s a bit embarassing. It happened months ago. So chill the fuck out and get a new schtick.

I was a bit conflicted at the game. Kyle Beach is no longer a Silvertip. Part of me did a happy dance and part of me was a sad panda. But it didn’t matter because Dustin Donaghy was a good kitten and scored a goal and found someone to fight with. Cameron Abney went through what I have seen so many times before which is something like a moment of panic in Donaghy’s numerous opponents, “oh fuck I am fighting Donaghy and my face hurts.“

Wait why am I talking about Donaghy? The darling of the game was Ondrej Roman. The J is silent as Lori and I discussed.  I might just start tacking on j’s to the ends of words. Seej howj itj worksj outj. It was dazzling to see Ondrej back. Has he always skated that fast and I had forgotten? It had been entirely too long but he seamlessly fit back in and posted an assist. So naturally I was swooning.

But I have to give cuppy cakes to James Reid for being flawless and getting the shutout. What kind would you like? From the start of the season I didn’t entirely have faith in Reid given he was being measured against Dustin Tokarski. He had his moments of shakiness and proved me wrong. Oh yeah, I am totally wrong sometimes. Yeah ok, so a double batch of cuppy cakes for Reid, who also needs some nickname.