My 15th birthday

These are some of the desserts i made for my 15th birthday. Every year i do more, and more, and even MORE desserts! i cant wait until next year :)

What i made were devils food cupcakes (about 100 mini cupcakes!) topped with my special white-chocolate frosting, mini raspberry cheesecakes, a chocolate truffle tart, mini tartlets topped with raspberry granola-streusel, and, truffles rolled in white chocolate and cocoa powder.

The ones that went the fastest were the cupcakes and the cheesecakes!

my 14th birthday

These are the cupcakes i made for my 14th birthday (September, 2010).

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup warm (not boiling) water or milk
• 3/4 cup buttermilk OR 3/4 cup regular milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. line muffin tins with paper liners. In a bowl sift together dry ingredients (baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, flour, cocoa), mix until combined. Add eggs, warm water (or warm milk), buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 4 minutes. Fill muffin cups until 2/3-3/4 full (for mini cupcakes approximately 2-3 tablespoons and for regular sized muffins approximately 3-4 tablespoons). Bake large cupcakes for about 18-22 minutes, and for mini cupcakes 10-14 minutes. To tell when finished, insert a toothpick down the center of a cupcake. If it comes out moist, it is not yet finished, if it comes out dry your cupcakes are finished :)