Bollywood Birthday

My good friend Gayatri chose to ring her 30th year in style - Bollywood style that is.  There were wild colors, singing, and of course dancing!  If we couldn't be in Mumbai, then a private room at a bar in Seattle was the next best thing.

To make Gayatri's birthday cupcakes extra special, she kindly let me raid her spice cabinet.  We mixed up a yummy combination of cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger in milk, folding that into a basic yellow cake recipe.  And voila! Chai cupcakes with a cinnamon buttercream finish.  For those less adventurous folks, we also offered chocolate.  Hot pink and yellow were wrapped up in gold for a finishing touch.

The cupcakes were decorated with gold sparkly swirls or fondant paisley.  If only we could have added saris!

No Bollywood party is complete without singing and no birthday party is complete without karaoke.

Birthday girl trades a drink for a cupcake.

Still not enough Bollywood?  If you travels ever take you to India, the New York Times can give you hints on how to find your way to a Bollywood set!

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Welcome 2012

Now that the champagne fog has lifted, confetti has been been tossed in the trash, and 2011 swept under the rug, the new year comes down to your resolutions.  I don't mean old hat resolutions you recycle year after year in the hopes of actually achieving them one day - I mean the ones that you are excited about, the ones you yearn to accomplish and cannot wait to get out there and conquer.

One of my resolutions this year is to spend more time on the things that make me happy.  Well when the weather is gray and the chill goes straight thru all 12 layers you have on - what is better than staying inside and baking? Yep, pretty much nothing.

So in the spirit of toasting the new year, I cooked up some yummy, bubbly cupcakes filled to the brim with champagne and bites of pear.

Bubbly Pear Cupcakes

2 ¾ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 sticks of butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 firm, ripe pears (peeled, cored & grated)

1 cup champagne

 

Frosting:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tbsp champagne (can increase as long as not too runny)

Preheat oven to 350°

In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until well mixed and airy.  Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding next one.  Slowly add in flour mixture, mixing until fully incorporated.  Stir in vanilla and champagne, followed by pears.

Bake for about 16 minutes (begin checking after 12 min).

Frosting:

Mix cream cheese and butter together.  Add powdered sugar and whip until smooth.  Add champagne and more sugar if necessary.

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