Seashell Cupcake Toppers

These cupcake toppers are royal icing transfers. This is an easy way to add detail to any dessert. They look difficult but are really quite easy to make. They can be time consuming but fortunately can be made well in advance. Kept in an airtight container, they will last for months.

The inspiration for the open seashells came from these beautiful butterflies by Haniela. She has wonderful tutorials, not only for the butterflies,  but for many other projects.


For the cupcakes I used one of my favorite recipes from Cook's Illustrated. Ultimate chocolate cupcakes with ganache filling! These cupcakes are very sturdy and easily support the weight of the frosting and royal icing decorations. For the icing, I used the American Buttercream from Glorious Treats. Another one of my favorite sites for inspiration and instruction.

To get started you will need:

Royal icing in both piping and flood consistency

A template printed out and resized to fit your project

 

First affix wax paper or parchment over your template

 Next with piping consistency royal icing outline the image.

 Then fill in the image with flood consistency royal icing. Let this dry for several hours.

Then use piping consistency royal icing to add the detail to the shell. I used a different color but white on white is also beautiful. Let this dry for several hours. 

You can use the shells flat and place them either horizontally or vertically on the cupcake. If you wish to use them flat let them dry overnight. To join them for 3D shells it is fine to wait just a few hours.

To join the shells, you will need a place to glue them together at an angle with icing. I used the side of a gift box. You can also use thick paper folded in half.

 

 Pipe a layer of icing to join the two shell halves and place a large pearl sugar bead in the middle if you like.  Let dry overnight.

When completely dry peel, off the wax paper and this is the final product!

I hope you enjoy these seashells! You can do so many things with royal icing transfers. This is a great way to use up leftover royal icing. So experiment! The possibilities are endless.

Salted Caramel Godiva Milk Chocolate Martini

I absolutely love the combination of salt and caramel. It seems to be everywhere these days and that's fine with me. Toffee, truffles, cookies, tarts. I could go on, but I have a drink to drink. Here is a cocktail that combines the best of both worlds, caramel and milk chocolate. I love all the Godiva liqueurs and this is one of the best.

Recipe

1 1/2 oz. Godiva Caramel Milk Chocolate Liqueur
1 1/2 oz. Vanilla vodka
1 oz. Creme de Cacao
1 oz. Half and half


In cocktail shaker, shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass.

For the sugared rim mix equal parts of sugar and fine sea salt. Enjoy!

St. Germaine and Pear Martini

This cocktail uses one of my favorite liqueurs, St. Germaine. This tasty treat is made from freshly handpicked elderflower blossoms in France. The taste is flowery, delicate, and refreshing. It is thick and syrupy and perfect for a summer cocktail. Mix it with pear vodka, a little lime and don't look back.

On a side note, I wish my job was to pick elderflower blossoms in France. Then eat and drink all day. But instead I live in San Antonio where it is one zillion degrees and will be until December. Thank goodness I live so close to the liquor store.

Here is what you need:

2 oz. Pear Vodka
1 1/2 oz. St. Germaine
Squeeze of lime

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass with sugared rim.

To turn this into a French Pear Martini serve in a brandy or wine glass and top with champagne.

I love these martini glasses! They keep your martini perfectly chilled while you eat and talk about people. You can get some like them here.


I'll be sharing lots of martini recipes. Lots. Cause I like them. Lots.

Next time: Salted caramel martinis!

French Press Coffee

I can't get enough coffee. Or espresso. Or things that have coffee and espresso in them. Or even just smell like they might. You get the point. I have more gadgets to make coffee than one person should. Especially considering my husband doesn't even drink coffee. Yes, there is something wrong with him and no he doesn't know what he is missing.

This is my coffee shrine.

The one piece of equipment I do not own is a drip coffee maker. For regular coffee I use a french press. Coffee made this way will retain all of its essential oils rather than having them trapped in the paper filter. The result is a smoother, more flavorful coffee. Is it a little more trouble than a drip coffee maker? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. Will it make you a better person? Probably. Will it make you better than your friends drinking regular drip coffee? Definitely.

First the coffee. Keeping open bags in the freezer will help keep it fresh. I know it looks like I only have coffee in there, but don't worry, I have vodka as well. Some people insist the grind should be much larger for a french press. However, I have found that the filter on mine is quite fine and the grinds do not seep into my coffee no matter what grind I use. This is the model I have from Williams-Sonoma. And my favorite coffee of the moment is the Leche Quemada from Melissa Guerra.

Second you will need to boil water. On the stove, in the microwave, doesn't matter. Luckily I have a very handy, very awesome electric kettle. It was worth getting married just to receive this gift.  It has special settings for different kinds of teas and, yes my friends, it has a french press setting. What's the difference? Well different teas are best steeped at slightly different temperatures. French press coffee is best just below boiling, around 200 degrees. So after boiling your water let it sit off the heat for a few seconds and it should be fine.

Place the coffee grounds in the french press. Use a ratio of 2 tablespoons of coffee to each 6 oz. of water.

Pour the water over the grounds and stir contents. Then place the plunger on top with the vents closed. It will just sit on top of the coffee/water mixture.

Steep for about 4 minutes.

Then turn the vents to the open position and depress the plunger. This will push all the grounds to the bottom and filter the coffee. 

Then pour yourself a cup of happiness.

I hope you will consider adding a french press to your coffee arsenal! You may be thinking why go to so much trouble when you can just press a button and get coffee? Well why drink filtered water when you can just drink out of the dog's bowl? I guess because it's better. So just give in.