Girl Scout Brownie to Junior Bridging Cupcake

Cupcakes made for Girl Scout Bridging Party to celebrating Bridging from Brownie to Junior. They are Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with with Vanilla Buttercream tinted in green and Chocolate Buttercream . The rainbow is Airheads Xtremes Sweetly Sour Candy Belts.

Margarita Cupcake

Found this Magarita Cupcake Recipe which is perfect desert for an adult only Tiki Party.

Ingredients

【Cupcake】
Butter - 1 cup, softened
Sugar - 1 to 1.5 cup
Eggs - 3 large
Lime - juice of 3 limes, plus zest of 1 lime
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tsp
All-purpose flour - 2 Cups
Cornstarch - 3 TBSP
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/2 Cup
【Frosting】
Butter, softened - 1 Cup
Powdered sugar - 5 Cups
Fresh lime juice - 1/4 Cup
Tequila - 1/4 Cup
Coarse salt, for garnish
Lime zest, for garnish
Small lime wedges, for garnish

Yields: 18

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin pans with cupcake liners. In a large bowl using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lime juice and zest and vanilla and mix until combined.
2. In another large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating until just combined. Pour in milk and mix until fully incorporated. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter.
3. Bake until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into center of each cupcake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter, half of powdered sugar, lime juice, and tequila until light and fluffy. Add remaining powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
5. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Garnish with coarse salt, lime zest, and lime wedges and a cut decorative straw before serving.

Ocean Margarita Jello Shots

Made for a Tiki party. Strong stuff.

Ingredients

Lime juice - 2/3 cup

Water - 1/3 cup
Unflavored gelatin - 2 envelopes
Agave tequila silver - 3/4 cup 

Blue curacao - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 TBSP

Large crystal sugar for garnish, if desired

Steps

1. Pour lime juice, sweetener and water in a saucepan, sprinkle with gelatin. Allow gelatin to soak for a few minutes.
2. Heat over very low heat until gelatin is dissolved, stirring constantly (approximately 5 minutes).
3. Remove from heat, stir in tequila and blue cuacao.
4. Pour into glass container or molds. Refrigerate until fully set (several hours or overnight).

5. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Succulent Garden

This is Green Tea Chiffon Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting.

Stained Glass Jello

Ingredients

Jello mixture - 6 (3 oz) boxes of flavored gelatin (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
Gelatin - 2 envelopes
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can (14 oz)
Water

Steps

1. Follow instructions on back of gelatin packages and make each color of gelatin. Allow to set in fridge until firm.

2. Cut each color of gelatin into small cubes (about 1/2″ square) and place in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick baking spray.

3. In a large bowl, sprinkle two envelopes of unflavored gelatin into 1/2 a cup of cold water. Allow to soften and dissolve for about 5 minutes, then whisk in 1 1/2 cups boiling water and the condensed milk. Stir and allow to cool completely. Once cool, pour the mixture over the colored gelatin cubes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours or overnight.

4. Then cut gelatin into squares. For easiest slicing, use a very sharp knife dipped in very hot water.

Can also try different color combinations.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road Cupcake (Wizard of Oz)

Cupcakes made for Wizard of Oz themed camp. They are Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with with Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. The brick road and flowers are made with rolled marshmallow fondant.

Suzhou Style Braised Duck (苏式酱鸭)

Sweet and juicy duck!

Ingredients

Duck - 1, about 3 pounds
Sea salt - enough to rub the whole duck
【Braising】

Oil - 1 tsp

Soy sauce - 4 TBSP

Rock sugar - 1/4 cup, about 50 g

Cinnamon Stick - 1 stick, about 5 g

Star Anise - a couple pieces, about 3 g

Cloves - 5 pieces
Red yeast rice powder - 1 TBSP
Green onion - a bunch, about 30 g

Ginger - about 30 g

Cooking wine - 4 TBSP

Salt - optional

【Serving Sauce】

Red yeast rice power - 1 TBSP

Rock sugar - 1/4 cup, about 50 g

Cooking wine - 1 TBSP

Ginger - about 20 g

Steps

1. Rinse the duck and rub it all over with sea salt, both inside and outside. Shake off any excessive salt, and let it rest for minimum 2 hours.

2. Put duck in a cooking pot filled with water. Cook until the water is boiling. Take out the duck and pat it dry with paper towel.

3. Empty the cooking pot and put the duck back to the cooking pot.

4. Put a sauce pan on medium heat, add cooking oil, then add rock sugar,  when the sugar starts to brown, add hot water. Then pour the sugar water in the cooking pot. Add all the ingredients for the braise.

5. Turn on high heat to bring the content of the cooking pot to boiling point, and then turn to medium heat. Keep turning the duck during the process until the duck is fully cooked, about 60 minutes.

6. Take out duck and let it cool.

7. To make the sauce, scoop 2 cup of the braising sauce from the cooking pot to a smaller sauce pan, add ingredients for the serving sauce, simmer until it because thick sauce. Pour the sauce over duck.

8. When the duck is cool. Cut and serve.