Strawberry and Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcake

Laura: I visited my friend Justine in Berkeley last weekend!  She had been eyeing cheesecake cupcakes as a baking project for a while, so we made them.  And then decided to jointly post about them!

Green Tea Layer Cake with Lemon Honey Ombre Buttercream

Green Tea Layer Cake with Lemon Honey Ombre Buttercream

I have to admit, last time I had green tea cake, I was not a fan.  My husband (then boyfriend) and I were visiting a friend who was studying abroad in Japan over our spring break (this was back in college).  We were staying in this strange hotel over a mall/supermarket, and for reasons I don't remember, we decided to eat every Japanese baked good and sweet from that supermarket.

For dinner.

Baking Experiment! Rolled Sugar Cookies with Varying Flours

Rolled sugar cookies with different flours: cake (pink), all-purpose (blue), and whole wheat pastry (green).

I'm a bit of a nerd, and part of what fascinates me about baking is the chemistry.  Bread goes into the oven elastic-y, sticky, and unpleasantly chewy, and comes out soft, pocketed with air holes, and delicious.  Despite a year of chemistry in high school, and another year in college, I can't explain why this happens.

Coconut Cream Mini Pies & How To Make Pie Crust Flowers

Coconut Cream Mini Pies

I have a deep, dark secret: I don't like coconut.  So, why am I making coconut cream pies?  My husband loves them, and I had never made them before, which means a new challenge for me!  I decided to miniaturize these because my husband would be the only one eating them, and he can only eat so much coconut cream pie.