Cupcakes by Post

Oh heyyy!


Didn't see you there, goodlookin'.

Guess I was too busy being fabulous and domestic. In costume. Because you know I love one.

So... here's the thing. I've not been blogging very much of late. You've gotten about a video a month, which is nice, but that's not enough. I'd like to make the "I'll do better" promise, but I don't want to make promises I may or may not keep.

What ~can~ I do though? I can dress up in a fancy costume and do the damn thing right for you kiddos.

Let's get to it, shall we?


I baked you something. In mason jars. Because I wanted to mail it.

I wanted to mail cupcakes and I'd heard that sending cupcakes in mason jars keeps them fresh and unsquished for travel. I found many blogs that advocated baking the cupcakes sans liners and stuffing one or two into mason jars with icing. Buuut... I didn't want to do the baking and stuffing... I just wanted to do the baking.

With a twist. With a cookie on the bottom.

And that's exactly what I did.


I started by making up a batch of snickerdoodle cookie dough and dropping one small ball of dough (probably a rounded tablespoon size) into each of the greased mason jars.


Then I used my clean fingers to smoosh the dough ball out flat(ish).

Next... I made up a batch of gingerbread pear cake and poured a heaping 1/4 cup of batter on top of each of the cookies. (Not pictured... I'm not used to blogging anymore, apparently.)


The jars went into a 350 degree oven for a hot minute. Well... it was hot... but actually quite a lot of minutes. I just kept checking them until they were done. I'd say about 20 minutes, but don't trust me on that; I'd hate to burn your cuppycakes.

And voila... the hard work was done. Because the glass was in the oven too, the whole situation took longer to cool than normal paper liner cupcakes. It makes sense... but that doesn't mean I have to like it.


When the cookie-bottomed cupcakes were finally cool, I made up a lemon cream cheese buttercream and iced those suckers.


I spent some time crafting and these cuties were ready to go. Literally... ready to travel.

So how'd they turn out?

Well. My test group gave the mason jar, cookie-bottomed cupcakes rave reviews. They appreciated the spiciness of the gingerbread pear cake and the sweetness of the snickerdoodle base. The cream cheese icing was carefully made for my audience (a special one who likes cake more than icing) to be more creamy and refreshing than sugary and tooth-achey. The test group thought that was a good choice.

How did they travel?

BEAUTIFULLY.

First of all, they do this:


Cupcakes. With cookie bottoms. In mason jars. Going for a trip in the car.

Second, they passed the Blizzard test. Worried about how they'd fair in transit, I flipped one over on my counter for a couple of days.


I took this picture on Day 2. (Lighting be damned! Hopefully you can tell that neither the icing or the cake have budged.)

Finally, they mail well too. I packed them with care in a box full of newspaper and covered in brown paper and packing tape. They turned up without a scratch and no worse for the wear.

And just to see what I was subjecting my recipient to, I didn't eat my cupcake until she got hers.


And... omg, it was amazing.

Pictured above is one perfect bite. Snickerdoodle bottom (a cookie/cake hybrid thanks to the moisture of the cake batter that seals it off before baking), gingerbread pear cake (UM. Yes.), and light lemon cream cheese icing.

The whole experience - start to finish - was lovely. My taste-testers, my long distance recipient, and I all agreed the combination was delicious. The mason jars provided security, interest, and southern charm. And I managed to sneak back into my little ol' blog with a BANG.

I'm okay with all of this.


Until next time, dears.

Do be good.