On Columbus Day, I spent the day at home with my family. During the school year, it’s rare that we have a full day to ourselves so we truly cherished it. One of the things that I enjoy doing with my boys is baking, so that is what we did. Last month, I mentioned on a post that my sons had been asking to make the cupcakes and topping from the Tina Cocolina: Queen of the Cupcakes book. So, we made cupcakes!
First, I went to the grocery store to pick up the missing ingredients. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am participating in an Eggland’s Best “Pink Dozen” campaign this month in conjunction with their sponsorship of Susan G. Komen. Since “eggs” were on the ingredient list, I went in search of one of the specially marked packages of Eggland’s Best eggs with the official pink ribbon stamp. I found them and added them to my shopping cart. Yes, the EB eggs are known for their great nutritional value (in fact the November 2010 issue of Women’s Health listed EB as one of the “Top 125 Best Foods for Women”/#1 in Dairy) BUT sometimes I just want a good tasting egg to include in a treat-making session. This was one of those times!
You can see what we did step by step by looking at the photo gallery below:
(One note: I wasn’t clear regarding how to make the chocolate topping more firm from the recipe in the book. You can either use it as a syrupy-textured sauce topping or leave it in the refrigerator until it thickens for a more traditional frosting texture. My kids liked it both ways!)
One last cupcake note for NYC area folks. The authors of Tina Cocolina are having their book signing/ release / cupcake party at The Duplex (7th Ave & Christopher St.) this Tuesday, Oct. 26th, the release date of the book. The authors, Pablo and Martin, will be there from 4pm – 7pm for some book-themed drinks and cupcakes. They will also be selling the books – with part of the proceeds going to Friends of Animal Rescue. (The holidays are right around the corner, so this book would make a great gift to stash!) You can follow the Tina Cocolina events and such on Facebook.
FYI: I am being compensated by Eggland’s Best to participate in a month-long campaign. The kids and the cupcakes are all mine though!