Pink Peppercorn & Pink Grapefruit Macarons

This month's MacTweets is all about a pink October in honor of Breast Cancer awareness month. My mother has often participated in the Breast Cancer walk and this year she was diagnosed with the terrible disease. It's been found that one in eight women have it now; disheartening, but the technology to heal just keeps getting better so that's one uplifting fact to keep in mind.  

Sweet Shortcuts: Thai Tea Creme Brulee

I'm trying out a new weekly post on random recipes I try using shortcuts. It's not really enough to to qualify as a proper post since it's something I've made using store-bought items. But I still think it's useful to know and could come in handy when you want to make something quick and easy using short cuts.

That time I ate my way through DC and Baltimore

I've had the travel bug for a while now so I was especially looking forward to my long-awaited trip to Washington DC and Baltimore last weekend. It was wonderful to see some of my good friends from college (except for J who I've known since 5th grade!). Many laughs were had and many foods were eaten. I spent an entire Friday with fellow foodie and phenomenal chef HLi, and we wandered the national monuments and had two lunches... while ducking into four bakeries (!). We even did a blind taste test on me with red velvet cake, along with a taste test on my homemade macarons and some store-bought ones. Mine won but I think the tester may have been slightly biased...

Here's a food diary of some of my favorites eats in DC and Baltimore... You can see my reviews on the food I had, here!

Peaches n Crème Cupcakes

This cupcake was inspired by wedding colors I’ve been forced to look at recently for a friend who’s planning her wedding. The colors of peach and white caught my eye, and my mind immediately went to desserts. I’m not a huge fan of peaches, but something about peaches and cream sounded so dreamy, comforting and delicious. Sure, summer is long gone, but I wanted to capture the end of it in one final, perfect cupcake. I rushed to the store and managed to nab the last of the peaches in stock.

The Mojito Cuparon!

Dear readers, please come together to witness and bless the joining of this macaron and this cupcake in glorious harmony...until they're both devoured and relished...!

When I taught a macaron tutorial a couple weeks back, I chatted with Stef of Cupcake Project and discussed combining our forces... her cupcakes and my macarons in an adorable delectable mélange of flavor and presentation. We decided to make our own separate versions and post them at the same time; you can check hers out at her blog, Cupcake Project!

Sweet N Salty Chocolate Tart

My thoughts are scattered very often and even more so when it comes to food. I’m so easily stimulated by what I see on television, read in books, what’s on display at grocery stores, and what I have on hand in the kitchen. I’ll start off concentrating on what dessert to make for a dinner party or a friend with a flavor in mind. Then I’ll go to the grocery store and notice something else on sale or some item next to the one I’m looking for, which will trigger a new dessert idea. It’s a long endless chain and the proof lies in my pantry and this blog.

Lemon Poppy seed Cake

For my friend's birthday this year, I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, and she asked for lemon poppy seed with a simple, barely-there glaze. My first thought was, really?! I had never even seen poppy seeds let alone tasted anything with them and... well, seeds in a cake...? Although I love a lemon cake, I didn't really understand why poppy seeds had to be included, especially such controversial ones! But I had to deliver on my friends' request and boy, am I glad I did...