Strawberry Raspberry White Chocolate "Ombré" Cupcakes

Pink is always such an under-credited color. How many people do you know who say that pink is their favorite color? There is a stigma around it being a girly color, so all the feminists in the world (so like very girl ever) don't like saying it's their favorite color. And honestly, it's not the most versatile color and can't be used year round or worn everyday, etc.

But you simply cannot deny that it is an incredibly pretty color.

Chrimbo Cupcakes

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You may be wondering why this post is called "Chrimbo Cupcakes." Apparently British people say "Happy Crimbo" instead of "Merry Christmas." I got this information from Molly, so I'm going to trust it, since she studied abroad in London for five months, but I'm still skeptical.

But these cupcakes truly are Christmas cupcakes. Chocolate and peppermint. Red, green, and white, and oh-so-festive looking:

Pumpkin Biscoff Cupcakes

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It's astounding that it's already November and we only have one pumpkin post to show for ourselves. Quite frankly, I'm a little disappointed in us.

This post is a first step in rectifying that egregious lapse in pumpkin coverage.

Childhood Sandwich Supreme Cupcakes

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Do you ever get writer's block? I'm pretty sure everyone above the age of 12 has experienced writer's block at some point. (Because by that time you've had to write a school paper or two.) Recently, I was facing a very similar dilemma in the world of baking: I wanted to bake. But I had no clue what to bake. My whole kitchen stretched out before me, my pantry bursting with ingredients, but my mind was racing to come up with a recipe but couldn't think of anything out of the ordinary. Peanut butter? Delicious. But done before. Caramel? Used a lot. And stressful. Pumpkin? Too early.

So I enlisted Molly's help in coming up with a recipe. We came up with a plan: any time either of us has baker's block, we give the other a prompt of sorts- two (or more) ingredients that we somehow have to incorporate into a recipe. Molly gave me marshmallows and sprinkles (used in some form other than decoration.)

Butterscotch Chocolate Cupcakes

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I don't know about you, but for me butterscotch is one of those flavors that is easily forgotten, easily overlooked, and easily overdosed. It's good...but it's not that good. These cupcakes beg to differ.

For all the reasons listed above, my expectations for these cupcakes were not that high. Did the cupcakes pay any heed to that? No. They blew my expectations out of the water. Boy, did they. 

(There's a lesson to be found in that, if you look for it, about not letting yourself be boxed in by other people's expectations for you, about proving anyone wrong who says you 'can't' or 'aren't good enough.' But maybe you prefer your cupcakes moral-free, in which case: ignore this aside and enjoy your cupcake.)

Because butterscotch is so oft forgotten, these cupcakes are automatically distinctive. They're simple and unassuming in appearance, but one bite and you're thinking, "Wow, these are something special." And they are.

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

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Have you ever tried putting root beer in chocolate cake? Because it's good. Like really good.

Reese's Cupcakes

I hope you guys aren't getting bored of peanut butter and chocolate baked goods. I hope you never do. Because they constitute about 35% of what we bake and post about on this blog

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

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The story behind these is simple: I was in the mood for Reese's (nothing new), and saw these on FoodGawker, and whenever I thought about baking, my mind kept wandering back to them. When you're in the mood for cupcakes and Reese's, (I can't imagine when you wouldn't be...) these are perfect.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

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Recently, my mom had to go to a business meeting and needed to bring refreshments, preferably of the sweet variety. I, of course, was commissioned to make these for her. My mind immediately started coming up with lavish ideas, but all of these were ruined when I learned that one of the people attending this meeting needed them to be gluten free. No, they did not have an allergy they decided to go gluten free for a couple of months to see how it would work as a diet or whatever. I do not under stand this- why would you willingly not eat gluten? No bread? No cupcakeS? No brownies? No cookies? No croissants? I would not be able to do it.

Bakery Review: Primrose Bakery

Yesterday, I made a trip to Primrose Hill to track down another bakery on my list called, fittingly enough, "Primrose Bakery." Because it was so out of the way (two tube transfers and a 15-minute walk through Camden), I decided to make an afternoon of it and do some exploring around the area.

Isn't their logo adorable? I almost didn't want to throw the bag away!

Brown Butter Cupcakes with Cinnamon Streusel and Blueberry Frosting

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I made these to welcome my dad home from his latest trip, that lasted two weeks, so in order to do so, I started brainstorming all his favorite flavors- blueberry, cinnamon, etc. They turned out great.

Bakery Review: The Hummingbird Bakery

This post is brought to you by Instagram, because I didn't have my good camera on hand. Apologies in advance for any hipster-induced traumas that may result.

In the absence of being able to bake myself, the next best thing is taking advantage of the many professional bakeries sprinkled throughout London. I have made it my mission to try as many of these bakeries I can in the upcoming months, the better to know which ones to take visitors to when they come!

Yesterday I made a visit to The Hummingbird Bakery, one of the most well-established bakery chains in London. This was actually my second attempt to try Hummingbird; a couple weeks ago I tried to visit their Notting Hill location but found it closed for renovations! Yesterday's visit was to their location in Spitalfields, only two tube stops away from my campus. It wasn't as quaint a location - tucked away in an alleyway in a rather business-y neighborhood near the Gherkin - but it was more convenient than going all the way out to Notting Hill (a good 30-minute tube ride away).

Holiday Cupcakes

NOTE: This is a tandem post; Audrey's commentary is left-aligned, Molly's is right-aligned and italicized.

You may have read our last post about Christmas bread pudding (or if you haven't, go read it now!), but knowing our family, one scrumptious dessert during our celebrations doesn't cut it.

Having bread pudding on Christmas Day is all well and good, but we wouldn't want Christmas Eve to feel overlooked, now do we?  We have a "no hurt feelings" policy here at The Batter Thickens. No holiday or special occasion will go uncelebrated by a baked good to recognize the occasion!

So on Christmas Eve, Molly and I each made a batch of cupcakes. I made chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream, she made chocolate gingerbread cupcakes with marscapone frosting.

Sweet Potato Casserole Cupcakes

The Batter Thickens is on vacation. (Sweet words on a sweet blog.) That means we're united, ready for a week full of joint baking projects, joint posts, and sharing (a little too much) food together. 

[Speaking of joint posts, this post comes to you in two voices: Molly's will be left-aligned; Audrey's will be right-aligned and italicized. But we bet you'd probably be able to tell who's speaking anyway.]

Hello, this is me, Audrey, over here!

And that's even before we hit Thanksgiving.