Praline Cupcakes

I recently traveled to New Orleans with some girlfriends, and when I needed a sweet break from the spicy, delicious cuisine, I found an adorable cupcake shop! Of course I can't remember what it was called, but it was very much like Georgetown cupcakes.

So today I saw some pecan pralines in Trader Joe's, and had to bake me some praline cupcakes! Here's the recipe I found: http://thefrostedcakencookie.blogspot.com/2009/03/gimme-some-brown-sugar-and-praline.html. I used the cupcake recipe, but made my own cream cheese frosting. I put a pecan praline on top.

Cupcakes turned out a little drier than my amazing one in New Orleans, but the cream cheese frosting made it ok! I'll have to try a different recipe next time, but all in all, they were pretty darn good!

The Kitchen's Chambord Layer Cake

I've been feeling adventurous in baking and decided to break away from the boxed cake mixes that I normally use. I feel like boxed cake mixes are really good and can sometimes taste better than homemade! Plus, they're a lot less work. However, I ready for a little bit more of a challenge!

I decided to use Don (hubby), Joe (brother) and Don's new coworkers (never met them, they can't judge me yet!) as my guinea pigs. I went with The Kitchen's Chambord layer cake from Country living (recipe here: http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/chambord-layer-cake-recipe-3841). It was a three layer white cake with black raspberry preserves between the layer and a yummy, light pink Chambord frosting. Chambord is a black raspberry liquor (very delicious by it's self and in champagne).

I thought it turned out really well. The cake baked well and was relatively flat. It was easy to handle and layer. I loved the look and the taste of the preserves in the middle, and the frosting was fab. It was a big hit at home and at Don's job :)