Spice Cupcakes with Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

My blog.  It is definitely not at the top of the totem pole right now, obviously.

I have been busy:  four weddings in three weeks, my church's annual women's retreat, and then another wedding.  What is the deal with October?  I love all we are doing, but I really wish we could spread a little love onto September.  It was just plain awful!

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to New York last weekend, and it was wonderful. I didn't write about it last week, as I felt like a girl who met a really hot boy for the first time and was completely and irrationally gaga over him.  Because I was (irrationally gaga over my time there).  And I sounded pretty ridiculous in my brain.  For a lover of film, travelling to New York for the first time is like finally meeting a pen pal who you know so well and yet have never met face to face.  I was sad that it was a wee bit chilly the day of our outing into the city.  I had the perfect outfit planned which was in turn covered up with a bulky sweater. Would anyone would notice me?  Of course not. I just sensed that the eyes of one of the most fashionable cities in the world would look down on me from the heights of impossibly colossal buildings and spew my South Carolina swagger straight out.

Those Yankees can sniff out a drawl faster than you can say... well, something stereotypically southern.  And how I hate to stand out when I travel!

My two hours in the city were however trumped by my 2.5 days at West Point, preparing for the wedding of one of the most generous and kind girls in the world.  I will say more about it another time, when I can show you in pictures.

I have been back to my normal life for over a week now, baking and again knitting misshapen hats, doing a lot of hair and makeup, and loving on a family I left for 4 days and 3 whole nights.  Wow.

So as it has been awhile since I have tempted you with sweet treats, here is what has been smelling up my kitchen recently...

Spice Cupcakes with Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting.

And they were heavenly.  And in the words of a young woman who ate one, "they taste like October."

And I would have to agree.

Spice Cake

So here you go.  A recipe:

Spice Cake with Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 t baking soda
1.5 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
2 Tbsp. ground ginger
3/4 t kosher salt
3/4 c sour cream
1 stick of butter, completely softened
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350.  Prepare 2 cupcake tins with liners.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients (including sugars).  Add the sour cream and butter and beat on medium until they are fully incorporated. Add the eggs together and beat on medium until they are incorporated, and beat another 20 seconds or so.

Spoon batter into cups until they are somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes.  Pull out of tins immediately and cool on a rack.

Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
2 sticks butter softened, but still cool
1 block name-brand cream cheese, softened but still cool
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 t pure maple flavoring (or 1 T real maple syrup)
1 t vanilla extract or paste
3.5 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar on medium high for 3 minutes.  Scrape down the sides.  Add the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated, and then beat on medium high for another 2 minutes.  Add the extracts and mix until incorporated.

I sometimes add a bit of good ol' pancake syrup to this, as few Americans know how real maple tastes.  Just be sure you use a syrup made without high fructose corn syrup:)

Fall is here, despite our 88 degree weather.  Wedding stress aside, make some of these and bring some comforting warmth to your high-strung self.

Rachel Bee

A farewell to Facebook; for awhile, anyway.

Hello.  My name is Rachel Bee, and I am a Facebook addict.  It has been four minutes since I logged on last.

Actually, it has been a few hours.

I have almost exactly 300 friends.  I had many more than that, but last year I got so fed up with a few hundred people that I deleted them all.

And I got a few nasty emails.  I didn't realize I could simply "hide" people.  Oops.

Regardless, I am an addict because for the most part, I like Facebook.  Having lived in other parts of the world, I am able to keep up with people who I thought I would never see again.  I am able to browse through wedding pictures, receive pregnancy updates, and even get moment-by-moment notifications of childbirth.  It really is astounding.

But when I think about it, a girl who has the capacity for maybe 5 close friends should perhaps not be responsible for 300.  Every time I post something, I think- what if these 300 were in a room shoulder to shoulder?  What would I say?

How about (type, type, type...)?

No (delete, delete, delete).

OK.  This (type, type, type)?

Uh, nope (delete... you get it).

Such discretion didn't exist a year, or even six months, three months, or one month ago.  I am a girl wants to be governed by impulse.  As I have said before, I enjoy raising eyebrows.  Colossians 4:6 encourages us as Christians to let our words be full of grace, and seasoned with salt.  Paul doesn't encourage us to speak with garlic, seasoned with habanero pepper.

300 people, shoulder to shoulder.  What do I say?

I wish it was that simple.  As a Facebook addict, I am not only concerned with my own status updates, but I am also concerned with what other people have to say.  I love to laugh at the silliness of MBF.  The geniality and openness of BC is always heart-warming.  I enjoy getting weather updates from the other side of the world!  But then there are old clients who post pictures of new haircuts which I did not do.  There are political statements with which I simply do not agree.  There is a close friend who decided to go with another photographer other than my husband for family photos or an event.  There are very old friends who are attached to very painful memories and indiscretions.  There are cryptic statements that I am too paranoid to admit are not about me.

Am I mature enough to handle all of these darts and distractions?  I am mature enough to recognize that Facebook is nothing but a game?  Well, if it is a game, my husband would be the first to tell you that I do not like games.  I do not play cards, Scrabble, golf, video games, baseball or basketball.  I was asked to join a basketball team in Jr. High because of my attitude.  In three years, I played no more than 20 minutes, TOTAL.  Why?  Because I am NOT GOOD at games.  I lose every time.

I guess all of this is to say that I am done with Facebook for awhile.  I will continue to post my blog posts on my wall, so if you want to keep up with what I am doing or baking, you can do it here.  If you are a client who depends on Facebook for scheduling appointments, you can email through my website, www.rachelbiestman.com.  It is super easy!  If you are one of those people who enjoy commenting on my blog, you can do it here, on my blog.  And to encourage you to comment on the blog, I am offering...

A GIVEAWAY!

I am offering one delicious 10" cake, or one dozen cupcakes of choice to one lucky person in the continental United States.  That's right, I will ship the cake to you!  All you have to do is...

Tell me, what is your favorite cake flavor?

Comment on this post.

The winner will be chosen at random.

The winner doesn't have to immediately receive the cake.  He or she can wait for her birthday, a friend's birthday, office party, graduation, whatever.

The contest is closed at 12 AM July 4th.

Get me?

Alright.  Oh, geez.  Those recipes.  Tomorrow.  :)

Thanks for reading...

Rachel Bee