Something New & Interesting

So I know it may sound bizarre, but whenever I feel stressed I like to pull out the KitchenAid stand mixer and bake!  I think it is something about the sound of the mixer, and the sense of accomplishment when something turns out so good.

Joe doesn't really like anything chocolate, so I thought I would try something along his lines of deliciousness. :0)  I found a recipe on Pinterset for Mountain Dew cupcakes and figured I would try them out.  After reading posts from other bloggers I decided to take the lemon and lime zest out of the batter recipe to tone down the flavor a bit. I must admit that the finished cupcakes looked beautiful but they were a little boring in the flavor department.

Since the cake part was a little boring I went ahead and kept the butter cream recipe as is on the blog and it was FULL of flavor!  So yummy!  This was my first time making butter cream frosting and I think it turned out fabulous!  I did give the frosting a green tint (which was hard to capture in the pictures) but didn't make them flourescent green like the recipe calls for since I didn't really want fluorescent green teeth after eating them. :)

Unlike the Oreo cupcakes, which taste fabulous with or without the frosting, I wouldn't eat these without the flavor of the butter cream frosting.  They have a very different and interesting flavor that I guess is about as close to Mountain Dew as you are going to get in a cupcake. :)

If you are interested in trying the Mountain Dew cupcakes, you can find the recipe HERE on the All Things Cupcake Blog.  It doesn't tell you the temp to cook them, but I did 350 for 18 minutes and they were perfect.

I am glad the cupcakes turned out so good, but unfortunately they didn't help ease the stress and anxiety issues I am having.  Hopefully a trip to the doctor will get me some answers and some relief from this anxiety.