Happy Sweating

The Honeymooners.
Just like marriage, not quite the fairytale you thought
it was gonna be, but pretty damn good!

It's July, muggy, sweaty, hot July. Some people may say it's too hot, but let's remember back to the snowy cold month of December. Quit complaining. I actually love December. Yes, it's usually freezing cold and snowy, but there is the warmth of Christmas, my son was born in December and my wedding anniversary is also in December.

This year will be lucky number eight for me and my husband. Yes lucky. Lucky one of us hasn't killed the other by now. All kidding aside, we made it to eight with two wonderful, annoying at times, children, our own roof over our heads and too many blessings to list. I must say, we are pretty damn lucky.

You may wonder why anyone would choose to get married in December. One simple word, sweat. Yes, I said sweat. Anyone that knows Jasen, knows that the guy sweats, a lot. Jasen demanded, no insisted, that we get married in December so that he would not be sweating in his tuxedo. This statement truly came from an unmarried man because any married man knows that it could be negative 30 outside and you are still going to be sweating the day you get married. Since I already knew I was going to take charge of this wedding planning and I was going to get everything I wanted for that big day, I felt that I could give him this one thing. I agreed to December, for the sole reason of sweat.

The big day came. The moment of truth. Here we go. The bridal march is playing. I'm coming down aisle with my father. Jasen is standing on the alter, smiling. My dad gives my hand to Jasen and there it is, sweat, right there in the middle of December. It didn't matter. We said our I do's. We had a beautiful reception. We went on our honeymoon. More sweat.

We went to Riviera Maya in Mexico and it was amazing! I packed everything I thought I would need there. I had a little suitcase dedicated just to shoes. Every girl knows, you can never have too many shoes. Jasen thought I was nuts, which I am, but there was one thing I packed that we will both remember as our honeymoon and it was the spray and lotion from Bath and Body Works in the scent of Coconut Lime Verbena. It is and will be one of my very favorite scents because it will always remind me of our honeymoon.

Coconut Lime Verbena just screams tropical vacation. It really does, so what could be better in the middle of a hot July in Chicago? You got it coconut lime cupcakes!

I am going to admit that I was slightly intimidated by this because I have never really made a cake from scratch. No box mix here. How the heck do you even start? Me being the internet queen, that's where I went. I have come across an awesome baking blog recently, www.mycakeschool.com. You can pay to join and have exclusive access, but I have been frequenting the free blog section and I love it.

This is where I found the recipe for a Lime Cake with Lemon Lime Frosting. I immediately thought of Coconut Lime Verbena and decided to change the frosting to a coconut frosting. I made cupcakes because I am taking them to a party and lets face it, it is just easier to eat a cupcake than a slice of cake. I also embarked on making my own frosting. I envisioned a lovely light and fluffy puff of frosting atop of these little cupcakes. In my head, they were gorgeous. In the mixing bowl, the frosting was a disaster.

I told you all that I would post things, even if they didn't turn out quite like I thought they would and this is one of those times. My light and fluffy puff frosting in my head was actually a thick goo. I added all sorts of stuff to thicken it to become a fluffy puff. No deal. So here I am with this goo and I have to take them to a party. Oh well! Frost those babies. Put them in the fridge and pray for a miracle and a sign that says, eat these fast or they are going to melt.

We haven't gone to the party yet. No one has tasted them yet, so I can't really tell you if they were failures. Although they do not look like what I thought they would, they are still presentable, so I guess at least that is a win. Hopefully they will be great and no one at the party will know otherwise, unless they read this blog.

Here is what I did:
Lime Cake
2 1/2 cups regular white flour
2 cups regular granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
12 TBS unsalted butter, soft

Look at how he
does it with his
little pinkies all up!

3/4 cup lime juice, I used fresh squeezed, thanks to the brawn of the family, Jasen. It took about a bag of limes.
3/4 cup sour cream, I used the light and
the zest of one lime

The Enforcer. Look out limes!
I'll lay the smack down.

Set the oven to 350. This will not rise like cake normally does, even though you fill the cupcakes high.

Pretty full and they did not rise
like normal cupcakes.

In a bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and whisk these until blended.

I told ya! I'm not lyin here folks.

Now, you could make a cake and divide it into two eight inch pans, but I did cupcakes and I used paper liners. I filled them pretty far up. I baked them for 18 minutes, until the cake testing stick came out clean. I let them cool in the pan for five minutes and them let them finish cooling on wracks.

Does this look light and
fluffy to you?
Me neither.

Now for the frosting. That f'ing frosting. I thought I could make it better by adding some things, like I normally do, but I was wrong. Yes, I was wrong, so here is the recipe that was provided. Follow it. Let me know if it works.

Coconut Frosting-remember this was for an entire cake, which is A LOT of frosting. You could probably half this and be good for cupcakes.
2lbs confectioners sugar
2 sticks of unsalted butter, soft
1/2 tsp popcorn salt, which I learned is finer so it dissolves a lot better
1/4 cup milk

Oh yeah, it makes a big
sugary mess too.

1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp coconut extract

Beat the butter and add the sugar gradually. I find that putting it through the sifter makes it better. Then add the milk and the flavorings, mix. Then beat on high for 6-8 minutes. It says if it is too thick to add more milk a tiny bit at a time. As you already know, mine was not thick, it was goo.

ahhhh, sweet toasted coconut.
You make me want a frappi!

I topped these with toasted coconut flakes, which I learned how to do today. Simple. Get a cookie sheet. Heat the oven to 350. Spread the flakes onto the sheet. Bake for 3- 5 minutes. Check it, it's a fast bake. Let cool. Not all of the flakes will be brown. It's ok.

So there you have it. The Honeymooner Cupcakes or for all of those that didn't get married in December because of sweat can call them Put the Lime in the Coconut and Shake It All Around Cakes.
Happy eating, happy sweating in the middle of July or December, whatever as long as it's happy.

Love you J.