The Cupcakes That Almost Weren’t
We said that this year Lulu’s birthday celebration would be moderate. We’re leaving for Disneyland in less than 36 hours, so I wasn’t about to throw a huge party, stay up all night piping frosting hair onto a Dora-shaped cake or run all over town looking for a blasted Pillow Pet. She’d probably want a Taylor Swift cake anyway. She’s not your average three-year old.
(source)
That’s a little frightening.
I stayed true to my word and kept the celebrations to a minimum, but I was determined to find some time this weekend to bake Lu some birthday cupcakes. Finding time proved harder than it seemed.
I’m told Lulu appreciated her birthday post as Pea Daddy read it to her the next morning. I had gotten up when it was still dark outside and was busy rooting on my absolutely amazing friend Melissa as she ran her half-marathon in Wine Country.
I went for a quick run myself while Melissa was tearing up her 13.1 miles in a new PR. I figured as long as I worked up a decent sweat I’d be entitled to a free bagel and a glass of Pinot. Maybe I’d even talk my way into a medal.
No such luck on any of those counts. But I had a beautiful, hand-crafted “medal” waiting for me at home.
“Moderation” is not in any of the Peas’ vocabulary.
My kitchen floor looked like a cross between an Adam Lambert video and a strip club for the rest of the weekend. I’ll be selling these beauties in an Etsy store for $89.95 next week.
By the end of this post, you’ll want one too.
Between glitter cleanup and the “medal ceremony,” I didn’t get a chance to make cupcakes, but we did make it to the carousel.
And we let Lulu choose anywhere she wanted to go out to dinner. Did she choose a trendy vegan cafe in an upscale Portland neighborhood? Nah. But she didn’t choose Chuck E. Cheese’s either.
She, of course, chose a salad bar buffet known as Sweet Tomatoes. There was obviously no shortage of cheese, though. What’s “moderation” mean again?
Gift opening at Mimi and Poppy’s was also reminiscent of Chuck E. Cheese.
Whac-a-Mole! They’ve had a display version of the game out at Target for the last few weeks, and when I asked Lulu what she wanted to do on her birthday, she said, “Go to Target and play Whac-a-Mole!” Thankfully Mimi and Poppy hooked her up, or I might still be on the toy aisle watching my toddler giggle and scream while she simulates animal cruelty.
She gets so into it that she uses two mallets. Go hard or go home. PETA is waiting outside my door with a can of red paint and a megaphone.
The Whac-a-Mole tourney went late into the night. I’m beginning to think Mimi and Poppy had ulterior motives in buying the game.
Once we finally weaseled the game out of Mimi and Poppy’s white-knuckled clutches and made it home, it was too late to bake cupcakes. But no one ever said you can’t have cupcakes for breakfast.
Except for that one time I did. Oh well, some rules are meant to be broken…in moderation.
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
- 2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 c. organic sugar
- 1/2 c. cocoa powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1/3 c. canola oil
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1 t. white vinegar
- 1 c. non-dairy or organic milk
- 1/3 c. strawberry preserves
- thinly sliced strawberries and organic powdered sugar for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
In a measuring cup, combine oil, vanilla, vinegar and milk. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until combined.
Fill prepared muffin cups with batter until 2/3rds of the way full.
Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool.
Insert the end of the knife into the center of each cooled cupcake and turn to make a small hole. Place strawberry preserves into a pastry bag with a medium wide tip.
Place the tip of the bag in the center of the cupcake and pipe the preservers into the hole.
Top each cupcake with a thin strawberry slice.
Dust cupcakes with powdered sugar.
I think they were worth the wait.
Cupcakes for breakfast? At-home arcade games? A trip to Disneyland?
Happy Birthday, indeed.
Let’s just hope for Mickey’s sake those mallets don’t work their way into the suitcase. You know I won’t leave home without my medal, though.
I love the flower muffin ‘papers’ — so adorable!
What a great set of pictures! The cupcakes look great!
And when I was a kid, my mom used to let my sister and I do art projects with those little beads just like your girls made. I hadnt thought of that memory in like 20+ years. We made them into “sun catchers” that we hung from the window, not medals, but same concept. Very cool that’s still around!
Have fun at Disney!
Sweet Tomatoes is not too bad of a choice, Lulu – I babysat a girl who wanted to go to the Target food court for her birthday.
those cupcakes are adorable!! i hope you have lots of fun at Disney!
Happy day to Lulu! Have an amazing time in Disneyland.
P.S. I think your breakfast cupcakes have a much better ingredient list than most standard cereals.
It looks like lulu had a fab birthday you are a great mom!
Aw, it looks like Lulu had such a wonderful birthday! Not only do I love the cupcake wrappers but the cupcakes themselves look incredible delicious. And they just sound mouthwatering!
oh my – what a wonderful day! And these cupcakes looks better than what you could buy in a shop!!
Hahah Lulu looks like those cupcakes were the perfect way to end her special day!
Congrats to Melissa! How awesome for her and that you were able to support her. Super mom, super friend, you’ve got it all girl!
She is having a good birthday, huh? You missed my birthday…I’ll collect my chocolate strawberry cupcakes now please.
Oh, wow. You and Melissa together? I adore you both SO much, and I’d have killed to be a part of this meetup!
what a lovely host and mom!! I love Melissa and it’s so wonderful you got to spend time with her!! And those necklaces are etsy worth..maybe you can have them make a few necklaces (sweat shop style) and auction them on your blog to raise money to save the dolphins or something!!
The pictures and the cupcakes are so lovely. Really.
So neat to see you and Melissa together. I love Melissa…wish I lived near you all for a nice meetup
Those look great and these pics are adorable
I love the flower shaped cupcake foils! It looks like Lulu had a blast on her birthday…have a great time in Disneyland!
This post takes me back, way back to elementary school. Sleepovers appeared to the untrained eye like a mini sweatshop making hundreds of beaded necklaces, bracelets, headpieces, etc.
Sounds like a wonderful birthday for LuLu and those cupcakes look amazing.
I LOVE Sweet Tomatoes…we had lived in AZ for 2 years and finally decided to try it and then couldn’t believe no one had TOLD us about it…I wasn’t vegan yet the last time we went, but good to know I can probably still go.
Ok. Who dosen’t love “Whac-A-Mole”?!
I can’t believe how much the girls look alike now that Lulu is (sadly) outgrowing the baby stage.
Whack a Mole is my favorite arcade game! I do however feed the woodchucks in my backyard so I think that absolves me.
The cupcakes would be great for breakfast!
You are hysterical. And those cupcakes look delish. I can’t wait to have my pea cookbook!
And her new Aurora dress is bee-yoo-tee-ful! Is it getting packed?
Have a great time! Can’t wait to see pics!
Happy Birthday Lulu! When I was little I just liked homemade food. Nothing compared to my mom’s food, and I would always get sick when I ate restaurant food (it might have been because I ordered mac ‘n cheese and hotdogs anywhere we went. Even at the space needle!)
Such beautiful girls you have! I love the picture on the carousel!
Have fun at Disney! Make sure you see the World of Color show at California Adventure! It is worth the trip alone!
Ahh so many BEAUTIFUL people
Enjoy Disney! That’s awesome – the girls will be in heaven
those cupcake molds are the cutest! i love the chocolate covered strawberry idea too…yum!
Sending a belated birthday wish to Lulu! …and I’m bookmarking these cupcakes! yum!
I’m glad Lu enjoyed her birthday!
lulu’s for-the-camera-smiles are just killing me – TOO hilarious.
Are those silicone muffin liners? I’ve been meaning to get some of those. Do they work well?
These cupcakes look awesome!
Yup, they are the silicone liners. They work well for the most part, just don’t try to make a fat free recipe in them or your muffins/cupcakes will stick!
Great photos Mama Pea! I love the one of you, the girls and Melissa.
Cupcakes for breakfast would make me a very happy birthday girl too
I hope you have a blast at Disneyland!
haha gotta love smashing rodents on the head. I mean, I can’t imagine not being excited about that!
What a blast from the past! I remember making those jewlery pieces when I was a kid. Although I think when I made them they were to be hung in a window as a light catcher. My mom was a good sport because I think I made her a ton of them and she hung all of them on the windows:)
It always looks like you have such a great time with your kids. You are an amazing mom!
Have fun at Disneyland!! And Happy Birthday Lulu
I love dusting chocolate cupcakes with powdered sugar. They look so pretty.
I’m sure this question is easily google-able, but why Google when I have Mama Pea… What is the difference between whole wheat pastry flour and regular whole wheat flour? Last night I stocked up on some baking supplies for my new apartment and I got the whole wheat flour a recipe called for, but saw the pastry flour and wasn’t sure what the official difference was. Could this recipe be done with regular whole wheat flour, or do I need the pastry variety?
Also, the cupcakes look delicious and I won’t tell a soul about Whack a Mole.
You can always use “whole wheat flour” rather than “whole wheat pastry,” but whole wheat pastry is not nearly as heavy and dense as regular whole wheat. I like to use it because it mimics the texture of the plain old refined flour that we all know in love in traditional baked goods. In cupcakes, cookies or muffins, I would ALWAYS use the whole wheat pastry flour. Hope that helps!
i love how the strawberries cover up the secret sugary hole filling!!! FANTASTIC!!
btw, i love the look of that medal around ur neck, u deserved it!! <3
This is the first time I’ve commented but I just wanted to say I love your blog and everything about it! Happy Birthday to Lulu–she is too precious
Enjoy Disney!
Thanks so much, Natalie!
the pic of lulu looking up at you is so cute! little girls can be so precious.
Adorable cupcakes! (and child). My mom would always let us eat pie for breakfast the morning after Thanksgiving. I think stuff like that is good for kids, and parents, once in awhile
I am pretty sure my mom just shoved all our tiny beady/ art things from all of our projects under the rugs!
What a fun weekend! I love that you got to cheer on Melissa – so awesome. The cupcakes look phenomenal. And Lulu’s smile could change all that’s wrong in the world. Maybe you can sell her smile on postcards.
Ha, I love the bit about Whac-A-Mole
Kids games are just too funny!
The cupcakes look delicious! I might have to make these as a first day of school treat to myself
Lulu picked Sweet Tomatoes and she likes cupcakes for breakfast? A girl after my own heart.
Have fun at Disneyland!
love those cupcakes and love hte necklaces haha I expect to see them in Etsy
omg that taylor swift cake topper is a little creepy!!
I used to LOVE those iron on beads, and they destroyed my parents floors-ah the joys of being a kiddie!
I love the combination of strawberries and chocolate – these look great! I bet they would be good with raspberry too!
Strawberries and chocolate YUM
Those cupcakes looks great! It is never too late for cupcakes even if it is for breakfast the next day, that is one rule I would break too
HUGS
hi… i love that cupcakes! your girls are so pretty!! have a great time in disneyland!
That last picture of Lulu is priceless–pure chocolate delight.
These look awesome!!!!! I notice you use whole wheat pastry flour in alot of recipes. I have not found whole wheat pastry flour yet. What would be a good sub? Just regular whole wheat flour? Thanks for all the great recipes!
Oh, good. Here goes another recipe into my bookmarks titled “Need To Make IMMEDIATELY.” I’m going to have to start a hierarchy of immediacy. Even though I want these in my mouth right now, they’re going to have to come after those brownies of yours from earlier this summer.
Those cupcakes look delish!!!
Thanks for a funny post! I’m calling PETA right now!
These look so good! I know anything with strawberries and chocolate would be a birthday wish come true for me : )
Have fun in Disneyland!
Just playing catch up here
What a fun day…I looove L’s new dress!!! I could use a cupcake up in here. They sound + look amazing. I love how they rose and cracked so perfectly. Also, L’s bday post was the sweetest thing ever. I hope you had an awesome weekend with the family and can’t wait to see a Peas postcard from DL!! xoxo
Cutest Cupcakes ever!
The whac-a-mole game is addictive. I saw it in Target as well and started playing – now I want one!
PS Come to Richmond in February and make me those cupcakes for breakfast. Thanks!
How cute are those flower shaped cupcake cups? And of course, they sound delicious. Looks like Lulu had a great birthday.