Writers bloc

Featuring super sized cupcakes with big bold flavors and and chock full of sports motifs, this book will definitely draw the men into the kitchen. The photographs are beautiful and the directions are easy. Purists might take issue with the measuring technique (using the same cup for both wet and dry ingredients). The recipes will make either 12 supersized cakes or 16 regular sized. The flavor combos are bold with many featuring alcohol– rum raisin,mojito, beer.

But the real proof is in the proveribial pudding. So far I have made four of the recipes with mixed results. The red velvet “Defense Defense” was delish, good cocoa flavor and a vivid red color. The Jack Daniels spiked cream cheese frosting definitely enhanced the cupcake. The” Rum and Coke” cupcake was tasty, almost like a sponge cake. The “Wake-Up Call”, a chocolate expresso cupcake was a delight. The coffee complimented the chocolate and the texture was nice. The “Serious Coffee Buttercream” made it a mocha explosion. The “Triple Play,” a chocolate cupcake with a chocolate ganache was a total disaster. The cupcake had a weird texture, kind of like eating a drying sponge. The flavor was flat despite use of copious amounts of high quality chocolate.

The amount of frosting generated bythese recipes is excessive. I found that halving the frosting recipe helped. I did not like the last chapter which relied on boxed cake mixes. No I am not a semi homemade type of girl. I would have preferred the baking tips been presented in all one area rather than scattered throughout the book. Some of them, like the substitutions for cake flour, were difficult to locate.

This is a basic book but lots of lfun. The flavors are interestiing and assertive and a good waya to lure the men into the kitchen.