I thought we would head into the kitchen today and talk baking for a minute.  Lately, I have been on the hunt for some lower calorie desserts that don’t use artificial sweeteners.  We’ve been enjoying frozen fruit bars, yogurts, and fresh fruit after dinner.  However, I get a little edgy when I’m deprived of chocolate for too long.  In the interest of avoiding a total brownie/cupcake binge, I’ve been experimenting with some healthier alternatives so I can indulge a little.

Enter: Bethenny Frankel’s Low Fat Fudge Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Bethenny (or the Real Housewives NYC fame) has a bunch of baked good recipes on her web-site (not to mention breakfasts, lunches, and dinners).  Whether you like her or not (and I do), it’s tough to argue with a chocolate muffin.  I made the recipe as described here with one change: I did not have any oat flour, so I substituted whole wheat flour instead.  The muffins are egg and dairy free and sweetened with applesauce and 1/2 a cup of sugar in the raw.  I was a little nervous that the whole wheat flour might mess up the recipe, but the muffins turned out fine.  I think the oat flour might have made for a moister muffin, but I was pretty pleased with the results.

I really liked them, but I think the chocolate chips are key.  The muffin by itself might be a little bland.  Next time, I’ll experiment with the oat flour and a nicer unsweetened cocoa.  (I used Hershey’s.)

According to one of the comments on her site, someone did the calorie count and they total in at around 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of sugar, which doesn’t seem bad for a dense, large muffin.  I’m thinking of freezing the rest and pulling them out for a sweet treat after dinner.

They are not the prettiest muffins I’ve ever made, but everything looks better on a cake plate.

I’m really curious to try this chocolate cake with peanut butter glaze next.

Today, I am inside and sewing, sewing, sewing.  Of course, this has me daydreaming about being outside in the shade — preferably on a hammock — with lemonade right out of a jar.  I took a peek in the fridge and realized I might just have the ingredients for a single serving of raspberry lemonade.  Maybe I can press my face up against the window and pretend…

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Hope you find a nice, shady spot — if that’s your thing.

Last week, we celebrated my husband’s birthday.  All he really wants is chocolate mousse, but I decided to get some extra “good wife points” and dropped off some cupcakes at his workplace.  The cupcakes are Italian Cream Cake with coconut and cream cheese frosting.

Normally, I just slather the frosting on with a knife.  If I’m feeling really lazy, I find that you can get pretty good frosting coverage just shoving your cupcake into the bowl.

However, that didn’t really seem work-appropriate.  So this time, I dug out my pastry bag and star-shaped tip and piped the frosting on for a little extra flair.  Every now and then, I find it’s a good idea to actually use some of the fancy baking supplies that I won’t let my husband get rid of — you know, just to show that I really need them.

Some of you know this already, but my husband and I have a pretty wacky sense of humor.  I knew I needed something funny to put on top.  I went to my favorite local cake shop and found these weird (and, let’s face it, somewhat scary) cats and dogs.  You can’t quite tell in this photo, but that schnauzer has red eyes.  Seriously.  Creepy.

They were a hit, and sadly, they are all gone.  Until next year!

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend.  Mine was busy.  So busy, in fact, that I was looking forward to Monday just so I could sit still for a bit.

I wanted to share some pictures of these incredible fondant sculptures my sister made for one of her bakery clients.  She hasn’t posted the pictures of the whole cake assembled, but each of these characters is a work of art in itself.  It’s hard for me to pick a favorite.  Maybe the white rabbit – no, the caterpillar – I don’t know. You can see more pictures (including the adorable doorknob cookies!) on her blog .

She somehow managed to create all of these last week plus another cake plus a special project with me.  I think she must have clones.  (Rebecca, do you have clones?  If so, you need to ‘fess up because I need some too.)

These pictures make me want to throw an Alice in Wonderland party so badly.  I had an Alice birthday party a few years ago complete with rabbit hole tunnel, but I want to go back and do it all over again — this time with cakes and cookies.

Hope your week is off to a good start.

The changing seasons always get me thinking about the kitchen.  After a sunny weekend outside, my picnic obsession continues.  This picture is from Martha Stewart Weddings Summer 2006, and I just love these retro dresses, blackberry-raspberry tarts tied up with string, and adorable picnic tables.  I have a special picnic date coming up (in June, best to plan ahead), so I think this is the perfect inspiration.

I have been trying to be more conscious of the foods we are eating, which always means more time looking at recipes and day-dreaming about yummy summery foods.  (A lot of times this leads me to ponder the unhealthy recipes I crave too, but eventually we get back to fresh summer fruits.)  These are the links that have me excited:

• Butterbeer, pumpkin juice, and the “big feast” - This preview of some of the foods from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando has me drooling.  I think it’s a pretty extraordinary kind of magic that J.K. Rowling can create such intense cravings for foods that we’ve never tasted before.  Really, really hope to get there one day.  Yum.
• This easy recipe substitution for sweetened condensed milk saved me recently.  I was a little skeptical at first, but my dessert turned out great.  I love that this is made without preservatives and was easy to make with things I had on hand.
• Tonight, I’m making broccoli cheddar soup courtesy of Susan Branch. Everything I’ve ever made that was a Susan recipe turns out great.  (Like cinnamon ice cream!)  I think she understands comfort and entertaining better than anyone.  If you haven’t signed up for her newsletters (and the idea of making real homemade chicken stock makes you smile), you should.  It’s the only newsletter I get in my e-mail inbox that feels more like a note from a friend than a marketing announcement.

Ok, I better get started on that soup.  Hope you have a wonderful dinner, too.