Here's a bit of background: last week, I introduced David and Elizabeth to the marvelous creation that is Food TV's "Cupcake Wars." After one episode, the kids were hooked. We abandoned all care and dove into recreating the kitchen chaos that we'd just witnessed on Channel 163 (or was it 164?).
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| Chocolate cupcakes, studded with white chocolate chips |
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| Clockwise from top: salted caramel cupcake; chocolate cupcake with ganache; chocolate-dipped strawberry cupcake; chocolate and vanilla layered cupcake; strawberry/chocolate cupcake with whipped cream; vanilla and chocolate layered cupcake with whipped cream and ganache drizzle |
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| Simple vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting and flower adornment |
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| Vanilla cupcakes, a few studded with semi-sweet chocolate morsels, fresh from the oven |
The great irony of it all, of course, is that Elizabeth had, long ago, declared herself to be "allergic" to all things having to do with cake, and eventually David refused to try our first creations because he said he didn't like some of the ingredients.
I breathed a huge sigh.
This didn't dissuade us, though, from continuing our love of watching this wonderful show together. Now that "Cupcake Wars" is programmed to be recorded on our DVR, it's bound to become a regular thing with us.
Yesterday evening, I was thumbing through my copy of Martha Stewart's cupcake cookbook, and David padded into my bedroom, unable to sleep and missing his daddy. I invited him to snuggle next to me and look at the different recipes. One immediately caught his eye: a Streussel cupcake. We went down to the kitchen and discovered that we didn't have all of the ingredients to whip these together, but I assured him that I'd rectify this situation later on.
And then, it occurred to me that when I whip up a large batch of any sort of sweets, there really is no way for us to eat all of them at home. Bringing a few samples to work is always an option, but I am sensitive to the fact that many of my co-workers are on a gluten-free or gluten-limited diet.
Suddenly ... a thought: What if I were to create two versions of cupcakes - regular and gluten-free? What if I logged each experience as a journal, included comparative recipes and photos and ...
... and here we are.
The first blog entry will be done tonight, with our recreation of Martha Stewart's Streussel Cupcake, made two ways.
Stay tuned!
