Eric loves peaches and I love cupcakes, so this was the perfect combination for us. These cupcakes are so moist and perfect for the warm weather.

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk
1/2 cup fresh peach puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup softened butter
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 oz pulverized dried peaches

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice two to three fresh peaches and puree them in a blender.

In a large mix bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix together buttermilk, peach puree, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

Using an electric mixture, beat butter and granulated sugar until pale (this should take about two minutes). Add the eggs one at a time; make sure to mix them well after each egg is added. Mix in pulverized peaches. Mix in a third of the flour mixture, then half of the wet mixture. Then mix the second third of the flour, then half of the wet mixture. Finally, mix in the last third of the flour mixture.

Line cupcake tin with liners. Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full with batter and bake until golden brown. Use a tooth pick to test the middle. Let cool for ten minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

For a frosting I used cream cheese frosting and a little bit of peach puree and honey. I oringinally mixed in some pulverized peaches, but it was too chunky for me. Eric really liked it, but I hated it so I re-did it. Make sure you let your cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Ta da!

I got engaged in February, but we wanted to wait until the Spring to have our engagement party. It isn't going to be very big; mostly family. Anywho, it is tomorrow.
I am thinking about having hydrangeas in the centerpieces for the wedding, so I thought it would be fun to decorate the cupcakes for the party with hydrangeas. This was my first time trying it and I would say that it was a success!

First, I made baked the cupcakes. I really like lemon, so I made lemon ones.

Our colors for the wedding are yellow with a little bit of orange, so of course I did yellow and orange frosting. I did not make my own frosting, but you could if you wanted to. I used one tub of frosting for each color. I added food coloring and mixed it until I achieved the perfect color. Make sure if you are mixing colors (like yellow and red to make orange) you add the lightest color first.

I saw this really cool trick for using frosting tips. You put your frosting onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it up. Then, you pick it up and fling it around, twisting the ends. Then, you clip one end and place it into your coupler. It makes clean up so much easier.
Plop both colors of your frosting next to each other on the plastic.

The tip I used is the Wilton 2D large closed star tip. You squeeze the frosting out a little bit then press down and let it squeeze out of the sides a little bit, then twist and lift up. It took me a couple tries to perfect my technique, but once I did they turned out really awesome looking!

I have the most amazing fiance. We have been together almost exactly a year now and I have never been so happy. I cannot wait to marry him. However, he seems to have a problem with his sneezes. He always sneezes into his hands. It is good that he is covering his mouth, but then his germs and spit are all over his hands. I keep telling him to sneeze into his elbow, but he doesn't. So finally I decided to use positive reinforcement to get him to sneeze into his elbow: I promised him one cookie for every time he sneezes into his elbow instead of his hand. So far he is up to 19. To reward him for his good progress I am baking him cookies. I found a recipe for oreo pudding cookies at http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/05/oreo-pudding-cookies.html and tweeked it a little.

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 package (about 4 oz) chocolate instant pudding     mix
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 king size Hersey's Cookies and Cream candy bar
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
Cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy.
Blend in pudding mix.
Add eggs and vanilla.
Add flour mixture.
Break candy bar up into small pieces (I broke each small rectangular piece into thirds).
Fold in candy pieces and chocolate chips.
Dough will be very thick.
Place parchment paper on baking sheet.
Place dough balls onto parchment paper.
Bake for 10 minutes.

I tried to make sure I got at least one piece of candy in each cookie. These cookies are super ooy-gooy after you take them out of the oven, so it is a good idea to let themm cool a little on the parchment paper before you move them to a cooling rack. My spatula was covered in melted chocolate. Yum!

They are the most amazing cookies I have ever had (and I'm not just saying that because I made them)!