Now What Do I Do With My Life- Still Have Harry Potter Withdrawal?

Ah, Harry Potter. Magic, Mystery, Mayhem. Fancy British writing that is waay better than my lame alliterations. How I miss it still. Can you believe its been 7 years since Deathly Hallows was released? SEVEN. How is this even possible?!?!

Its so strange that a book series is still such an important part of my, and others, existence. I'm pretty sure that I make at least one HP quote a day. I've seen real-life Quidditch. I voted the fandom #3 in my Top 5 Fandoms list. I'm also pretty sure that I watch at least one movie every month (curse you ABC Family for your incessant re-runs!). I'm even still vehement that I'm a Ravenclaw. 

But so far the Great and Powerful J.K. Rowling hasn't done much to alleviate and HP fan's obsessive needs. Oh, well. At least that chick that wrote Twilight hasn't written any more of those "novels." I think my heart would break if she had another book come out before J.K. did...

So, how does a sad Harry Potter fan cope with such an absence? Well, you could re-read the books. Go to LeakyCon. Read fanfiction (be careful, sh** gets cray cray. You have been warned). Or, if you're like me and my friend K-Pond.....make cupcakes!!! Butterbeer cupcakes to be exact!

I just wanted a simple recipe for them, since some get really complicated. Plus, I live in Florida and its already Summery hot here. Quick and easy is a must in the Summer. Luckily I found one on The Domestic Rebel's site. They're quick, easy, and butterscotchy. So, so good!

ButterBeer Cupcakes

Ingrediants:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can butterscotch soda (or really good cream soda, which I used)

1 small box instant butterscotch pudding

butterscotch sundae sauce

~4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter, room temperature

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners.

2.) In a large bowl, beat the soda and cake mix together until combined. NOTHING ELSE. 

3.) Add in the pudding mix and combine.

4.) Fill the cupcake liner up to 2/3 the way. Bake for 13-16 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. They will be spongy, but they are cooked.

*Forget to take a picture*

5.) Beat together the butter and 3tbs to half a jar of the butterscotch sauce, depending on your tastes. Add in the powdered sugar slowly. If you use a lot of butterscotch, you'll need to have more than 4 cups of powdered sugar to help it set. 

6.) Ice the cupcakes and enjoy!

I can't promise these taste exactly like butterbeer, but they are really gooey and taste a lot like butterscotch. Eh, I liked them. So whatevs. There are a ton of different recipes for butterbeer cupcakes out there on the internet, so you can definitely find one you like!

So, will you be giving theses cupcakes a try? What do you miss most about Harry Potter? Do you want J.K to write another in-universe book? Leave a comment below and, as always, subscribe and share if you likey~

*All hail Pinterest. All hail.....my new Froakie plushie!!! He guards my laptop and remotes.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

Hello there, ~Paused Lifers~!

It's another strangely cool and windy day here in cruddy old Florida, but I actually had the day off so yay! Time to celebrate with a nice cup of coffee and then realize its only Tuesday and nowhere close to being the weekend yet.

How is one to cope with the realization that its only Tuesday? With cupcakes, of course! Chocolate cupcakes with a cherry compote and cream cheese icing to be exact.

I would have used my go-to chocolate cake recipe, which you can find Here, but an unfortunate accident befell my cocoa powder so I used a back-up cake mix.

Ingrediants:

Cake-

3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1/2 cup coffee, room temperature

Compote- 

1 bag frozen, pitted cherries

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp orange zest or extract

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Icing- 

8 oz cream cheese, cold

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 + cups of powdered sugar, depending on your desired icing consistency

1.) Make cake as directed here

2.) Put the cherries in a medium saucepan with the water, orange, vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil and then simmer until it gets nice and thick.

3.) For the icing, beat together the butter and cream cheese. Add in the vanilla. Then gradually add in the powdered sugar. Forget to take a picture because you're stupid.

4.) Cut our small holes in the cupcakes and fill with the compote. Ice as you please (I went for a half-rosette), and enjoy!

Mmmm, I love me a filled cupcake. The cherries add a nice tart taste to contrast the rich chocolate and the heavy cream cheese icing. Definitely give them a try!

So, what do you do when you realize that its only Tuesday? How do you decorate your cupcakes? Leave a comment below and, as always, subscribe and share if you likey~

*All hail the Glow C- erm, I mean PInterest. All Hail*

Mead Cupcakes and Mean Girls- You Go, Glen Coco!

Ah, Tuesday is here again I so love and cherish my days off. I guess I could put some funny picture or quote from Ferris Bueller here, but eh, I'm lazy.

So anyways, Mead Cupcakes! In honor of Renaissance Festival season I thought it was only appropriate to make a relevant cupcake. Besides, gives me an excuse to buy and drink more mead.

The recipe comes from Dog Hill Kitchen and is an altered recipe from the great and powerful Alton Brown. I did change somethings up a bit, like making a buttercream instead of a meringue icing. So here we go folks!

*Slight technical problem this week. I lost some of my pictures. So sad...*

Ingrediants:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tbs cornstarch

1/2tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, separated

5 tbs sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbs mead

2 tbs vegetable oil

1/2 cup butter, softened

1-2cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup mead

1-2 tbs honey, to taste

1.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin

2.) In a bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

2.) Beat together the egg yolks and 4 tbs sugar until it turn a light and airy yellow color

3.) Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until frothy. Add in slowly the remaining sugar as you continue to beat the egg whites. Beat until it can form shiny, stiff peaks.

4.) Add the mead and the oil to the egg yolk mix, then add in the flour. Stir until combined.

5.) Gently fold  in the egg white mixture until just combined. 

(K.Pond returns!)

6.) Put into the cupcake tin and bake for 15-20 minutes, should make 9-10 cupcakes. Drink mead in a goblet because you're a bad role model. 

7.) For the icing, beat the butter until light in color. Add in the mead and gradually add in the powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency. Add in the honey and ice!

Unfortunately, all the really pretty pics, and I did get some really, really good pics this time, got deleted when I tried to upload them : (  Still pretty good looking though! The cupcakes have a light honey mead flavor, and the icing has a very sweet honey flavor. Definitely keep an eye on them though, some of them burned and got really dried out. All in all, a pretty good cupcake!

Movies were also watched during this baking and drinking soiree, specifically Mean Girls.

Yeah, that Lindsay Lohan movie from before she went crazy. Don't judge, you know you've seen it and can quote all the best lines.

Its really the perfect background-noise, girl-day movie. Its got comedy, stupid teen movie drama, and Glen 

Coco.

Yes, you go Glen Coco. You go! I really don't care, its a very nostalgic movie for me....Stop with the judging glances!

Anyways, will you be attempting the mead cupcakes? Or maybe just the mead part. I won't judge. Leave a comment below and, as always, please subscribe and share if you likey~

*Pinterest, thanks for all the interesting Mean Girls memes. Very entertaining*