Only now finishing out the first two weeks of January, I’ve already been witness to more ear-splitting renditions of “Happy Birthday” this year than I’d wish to recall. For some inexplicable reason, it seems that birthdays tend to travel in groups, so I find myself sharing this time of celebration with many other fellow Capricorns. In fact, a certain friend of mine happens to have a birth date that falls only one day later than my own! After a brief query and the ubiquitous response for “something chocolate,”I took no surprise in this sort of response and already had a recipe in mind. Planning to bring them to school a day early due to the awkward placement of the weekend, Thursday evening found me measuring out the ingredients for the Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes from VCToTW.

Now, I’ll admit that it was a somewhat rushed effort and I wasn’t giving them all the love and attention they deserved, but I’m still disappointed that they fell slightly, as evidence by the following photo. I thought I portioned them very nicely however, careful not to overfill as the book had warned… No matter, they still tasted heavenly. In the future, I would certainly be interested to try this one again with more exact measurements, and a closer eye on the cupcakes as they bake, though.

Of course, I switched up the ingredients based on what I had on hand, and to take into consideration what would be more “school appropriate.” The bourbon was removed in place of more soymilk, but wanting to maintain a complexity of flavor, joined by the addition of a dash of instant coffee. They were topped not with the suggested frosting but the old standby of some chocolate ganache that was taking up valuable real estate in the fridge, just begging to be used up. Finally, as with anything that calls for walnuts, I substituted pecans which I simply find to be more agreeable. Personal preference, that’s all.

Despite the small set back of their shape, they went over very well with the birthday boy and everyone lucky enough to get a taste. Regretfully, there were only enough ingredients to make one batch, so there wasn’t a single whole cupcake remaining by the end of homeroom. Atleast I can be fairly confident in reporting that they were a success, no matter the final height.

And no, the irony of bringing in someone else’s birthday cupcakes on my own birthday was not lost on me. Just have a cupcake and everything will make more sense.

Subtlety not withstanding, allow me to show off one of the fabulous holiday gifts that I received from a certain family unit including an aunt, uncle, and two cousins! Normally this is one of those things that I would lust after, complain about wanting, but never make a single move to actually purchase it for myself because I’m too stubborn to surrender money to any venture that won’t directly allow me to create more things. The novelty and sudden surge in cupcake baking brought this one very close, but if it hadn’t been for my tech-savvy aunt who spotted this one on my virtual wish list, I doubt I would have ever held one of my very own.

Introducing the Cupcake Courier, the largest (Not to mention prettiest) cupcake carrier to be found, online or real life. Brand new and straight out of the box, this baby practically glowed before my very eyes, convincing me that it was imperative to whip up three dozen cupcakes as soon as possible to give it a little test run. With the last day before vacation galloping forward, it seemed as good a chance as ever to bake a massive quantity of sweets to share with every single person I encountered in a typical school day, so it took very little convincing from my shiny new courier before I was preheating the oven.

Wanting always to keep an appropriate theme but still please the masses, I opted for a simple chocolate cake base (From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, of course) and the basic fluffy vegan butter-cream, studded with crushed candy canes and amplified with a few extra drops of peppermint flavor and food coloring. Colorful and tasty, I knew that I would have no trouble finding people to help me consume these first passengers in my cupcake courier.

With three interlocking layers holding one dozen cupcakes each, it takes no genius to see from my photos that I did fall slightly short of a full three dozen. Finishing out with 30 sweet cakes, I realized that I had run out of tins to bake them in. While I could have been patient and waited for them to cool, remove those that were completed and reuse the same tins… I wasn’t. So instead I just grabbed a mini loaf pan and made a small snack cake out of the remaining batter to share with the family. I guess I still have yet to push this baby to the absolute limit, but I must say, it preformed perfectly at slightly less than capacity anyway.

While I’m sure that everyone enjoyed the treat of free cupcakes, I got more comments about the carrier than the sweets themselves! Even random people passing in the halls marveled at my “cupcake hotel,” or made very confused comments mistaking it for a pet carrier instead. Almost understandable… Except for the fact that you can clearly see into it, but hey, these are the brilliant students who attend my school, so I’m not surprised in the least.

Needless to say, the cupcake courier was a huge hit with everyone, myself included. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to bake tons of cupcakes to pull this gem out of the back closet. To those who were thoughtful enough to give me such a treat, [I believe you know who you are] thank you so much!

Dear Mom,

As another birthday comes and passes, I just wanted you to know how thankful I am not only that we have an opportunity to celebrate another full and eventful year, but how meaningful it is that I could be here to join in. I’ve missed out on a lot these past years, including your actual birthday, but most of all, I’ve missed you.

Another year, another 52 weeks, another 365 days; However you want to quantify the time spent that has brought us to this point is unimportant. It’s what you’ve done and the memories of that time that will ever matter. It’s always a story unfinished, a work in progress, and for all my memories of the past and those to come in the future, I owe you my life. Of course, all daughters could say the same of all parents, but you’ve done more than your share to keep me a part of this world. Going above and beyond the call of duty, I don’t take for granted that you pressed on when so many others would have thrown up their hands and walked away. I wish I could have done something spectacular for your birthday, but I don’t think any expensive gift or ridiculous outing would have proven anything more than my genuine appreciation for your successful voyage across the seas of time.

This is getting a bit too mushy for me, so I think it’s time I cut my little monologue short and cut the cake instead.

I love you mom. Happy Birthday.

Feeling down? Frustrated by life in general? I have the perfect remedy, guaranteed to brighten not only your spirits, but whoever happens to be so lucky as to have you for a friend: Bake cupcakes. Today, this lesson was enthusiastically demonstrated and proven by myself with the aid of VCToTW’s scrumptious gingerbread cupcakes with lemony frosting.

Honestly, I have found close to no activity that will make me feel better than whipping up a fresh batch of lovely vegan cupcakes. Unlike knitting or crochet, the finished product may not last more than a day or two for you to treasure, but the instant gratification is hard to resist. Instead of slaving away over the same thing for days or weeks, these babies are done barely 30 minutes after you first start pulling out the flour and inserting cups into the pans. Not to mention the endless creativity to expend on decorations when they’re all done and cooled! Perhaps my favorite part of the whole process, I’ve been dying to get my hands on a real set of tips and pastry bags. Recently scoping out an awesome deal at my local supermarket (20 cheapo bags with 3 craptacular plastic tips) for only $3, I simply walk away without a set in my cart.

Once upon a time, I actually did take a real cake decorating class and wasn’t so awful… I could make a blob that looked remotely like a rose, and sometime the patterns I made with a star-tip could be generously described as… Wavy. Yeah. But hey, it was fun and I learned a lot from it! Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to practice and hone my skills, lacking the tools and time, so now my ability has diminished further, if one could even think it possible. Nonetheless, I figured that there was nothing that would steady pastry bag like getting in there and squishing frosting out onto some baked goods myself.

And that’s why I ended up with some sad piles of frosting like this:

Oops. It didn’t work out the first time around, so I just kept on going. With a ridiculous mound topping its crown like some bad beehive hairdo, I guess it’s no wonder that I ran out of frosting before covering each miniature cake. Ah well, live and learn. Next time around, I’ll try to be more sparing with the sweet stuff.

I did get a little bit better as I went through the line of naked cupcakes. Eventually I got one or two (!) that looked pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Once all the frosting was either delicately piped or crazily smeared over most of my body, I took a deep breath and noticed that I really was feeling a lot better. Daily stress and stupidity forgotten, cupcakes heal all. I can’t wait to share these and spread the joy, too.