Cupcake Wars

There is a long story that goes into this .. but long story short, I can't bake.  Never really been able to .. never really had the desire to .. and cake mix cakes were passable (at best) .. but they were passable and I'm  not a cake fan so it was a real non-issue.

See the Capt'n was the baker of the house .. and since I never actually actively offered a cake, I never had to bake one.  His birthday cakes were .. ok.  I learned years later he started asking for nothing special (just a yellow cake with chocolate frosting) because the first few were .. little more than edible.  My banana bread (the only thing I consistently wanted/attempted to make) came out flat at least 3/4 of the time.

This wasn't a big deal until I met the Capt'n .. or more importantly .. until I had a baby.  All of a sudden .. maybe it was the overdose of Cupcake Wars I partook in this summer .. or the fact that they made it look ridiculously easy .. or the hormones .. but man, I wanted to BAKE .. nay, I NEEDED to BAKE.

So, my mom got me a cupcake book .. and away I went:

1 - Vanilla Bean Cupcakes (simple right) Under then Overcooked

2 - Root-beer Cupcakes tasted of ... Ginger?

3 - Brownie Cupcakes .. the flat & dry -bastards

(photo depicts actual cupcake failure - do not try this at home)

4 -  Brownie Cupcakes ... flat & less dry but still dry - I blame the recipe


And I was out.  Done with cupcakes .. I swore them off.  Eff that.

But then, you know me .. or you should by now .. I'm just the tinyest bit competitive.  I.will.get.my.revenge.

*****

Update: As of two days ago ... I DID IT!  I make banana bread ... and IT WAS GOOD IS GONE! Now, once is hardly enough to statistically prove that I can, in fact, pull it together in the kitchen .. and it will likely be a while before I get daring and try cupcakes again .. but .. progress is progress and .. and the Capt'n cringes when ever anyone on reality TV says .. (tear) I'm SO proud of myself (tear).