Me, as told by Cupcakes

There are a lot of things I do in New York City, and there are a lot of things that seem to frequently happen to me in NYC. For instance, strangers seem to like giving me free stuff. Take last week: I went to a friend's fashion show and then to a cabaret bar after it. When leaving the bar, two guys came up to me and said they saw me at the show and liked my fashion. (Why, thank you!) They had an unopened bottle of wine that they didn't want to carry around for the rest of the night and thought they'd offer it to me. My friends who were with me confirmed that this kind of stuff only happens to me. Hmmm... (Too bad that when I was walking home with it I was looking at my blackberry and NOT the sidewalk and tripped and fell. I was fine, but the bottle of wine didn't do as well - it broke clear in half. Now there's a drunk sidewalk on Bleecker Street!)

Good thing cake mixes come in boxes.... A couple of months ago, a guy on the same floor in my apt was moving out. I bought a shelving unit from him and then he gave me 4 different types of organic cake mixes for free!I finally got around to using one. I decided to make special cupcakes with the organic chocolate cake mix. It calls for three eggs and once again, I saw a face in the cracked eggs. This time it had a mustache!

And, seeing it's me, this is how gracefully I poured the batter in the cupcake liners.

Oh, you say it's supposed to go IN the liners, not on them? Hmmmm....I will work on that.

For these special cupcakes I made buttercream frosting for the first time! It's not hard at all! Just a little messy....or at least, I was a little messy.

I also made chocolate toppings to go with the frosting. I was inspired by a cake I saw online that used chocolate bark/candy coating to make a bridge. I decided to make a couple of things with the chocolate.

AHEM.

Without further ado, here is a little bit about me, as told by cupcakes:

Erika Beth went to college for singing. She originally wanted to be a Broadway star, but her voice was too big and vibrato-y (or as she says, "more suited for opera.") She eventually got the hang of opera and currently sings in a lot of shows around the city.She also happens to sing in churches. Church is nothing new to her seeing she's a pastor's daughter. You know what they say about pastor's daughters... *AHEM!* Cupcakes...continue please!

Alright, alright. Well, obviously, she bakes. (Yeah, that's a cupcake on a cupcake.) She also loves to eat anything that is sugary (and it's an added bonus for her if it contains chocolate!)We also think she's crazy because she runs a lot. She claims it relieves stress and that she has always loved running. (Yep, she was a big time tom boy.) She averages about 20 miles a week. She has to burn off all these sweets somehow!

Through all these activities she still makes sure to hang out with friends. She says that lots of time the best fun is just sitting at a bar and chatting the night away. Yeah, yeah...whatever, lush.

*SCREECH* Whoa. These cupcakes sure are feisty! Here, let me finish this.

Put all of these things together and I'm a very happy girl (and a very busy one too.)

And of course, I can't forget that all these things happen in the greatest city in the world. :)

Now, time for a nap (seeing I think I'm developing voices in my head)!

Buttercream Frosting

1 stick softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Beat in the sugar and the vanilla. Pour in the milk. Frosting should be at a good texture, but feel free to add more milk to change the consistency of the frosting.

Chocolate Toppings

Draw a design on a piece of paper, or find a design online and print it out. Put a sheet of wax paper over the design, waxy part up. Melt the chocolate bark/candy coating and put it in a plastic piping bag (or, if you don't have one, put it in the end of a plastic sandwich bag and cut the tiniest hole at the corner.) Trace the lines while lightly squeezing the chocolate in the bag. Place in freezer for about a minute to solidify and then take out. It should easily slip off the wax paper.

Bake well and prosper!