One year later

A year ago today I made my grades to go to my dream school.

And here I am a year later, full of new experiences, new friends, personal growth, new knowledge, but most of all a new understanding of myself in the world.

Not to mention a complete inability to do the same face and look cute (I tried).  Must have been all the adrenaline that allowed me to make that face a year ago.

Here's to another year!

June Re-Cap

Can you believe it's July 2nd already?  I sure can't!  Part of me feels like summer is going by too fast, yet I still have so much time left.  Crazy.  Anyway, here are some of the highlights of this past (fun and super busy) month.

The month began with crazy amounts of studying in order to get ready for my Italian grammar exam!

Then progressed to days spent enjoying coffee at my favorite cafe and going to my university gym...

...while I searched for those ever elusive boxes.

In the midst of all this I took a day trip to London...

...where I ate plenty of macarons...

...and bought plenty of chocolate.

I've also consumed my weight in iced soy lattes (though I learnt to be careful when ordering them in American Starbucks!).

I even made myself some decent meals in my teeny tiny hall kitchen!

I lived in disarray while packing up my room before coming home for the summer.

All that packing and disarray made me want  to pull my hair out.

But I made it home to enjoy a croissant at my favorite bakery.

I made some intensely peanut-buttery peanut butter cups for my dad for father's day.

Though we also spent a nice day out together.

I didn't go to Le Pain Quotidien nearly enough (though did manage to go on two different continents!).

Certainly managed to get my (mostly vegan) bake on!

I tried, and loved, bubble tea.

Hope everyone had a great June!  Here's to an awesome July!!

Un Bacione,

Emilia

Cupcakes Take Two

Another Friday, another cupcake post!  Up this week we have one crumbs inspired beauty and one Emilia flavor creation.  The crumbs edition was cookies and cream (my favorite) and my personal concoction was with jam and granola.  I call it, the 'New House' cupcake because as of today I'm renting a house.  Oh yeah.

The cupcake recipe was, again, my favorite vegan one.  I wanted chocolate cake for the cookies and cream one, so I used a little less flour and added in some coco powder.  For flour, I used whole wheat pastry flour and sugar was brown sugar.

Now the frostings were all my own creations this week.

Cookies and Cream Frosting
1 tbsp (plus a wee bit more) Coconut Butter
1 tsp Agave syrup
splash of vanilla
Chocolate Cookie Crumbs (I used these in chocolate)

Combine the coconut butter, agave and vanilla in a bowl.  Stir until combined.  Add in some chocolate cookie crumbs, save the rest for decorating the top.

To create the New Home cupcake, I used blueberry jam and threw on some Ezekiel cereal.  This combination of flavors worked really well and got me thinking about creating a peanut butter and jelly cupcake, it might be coming soon!

Both cupcakes were also filled.  The cookies and cream one had some chocolate cookie crumbs with a little coconut butter (not frosting), while the New House cupcake was filled with a mixture of jelly and cereal.  Look here for a tutorial about filling cupcakes.

I think the cupcakes this week were even better than last week!  I loved the idea of the cappuccino cupcake, but the buttercream just didn't work out for me.  The almond butter frosting also didn't really sit well with me.  This week, the coconut butter frosting turned out perfectly and the jelly imparted a really nice sweetness, though not cloying.  I'd definitely suggest making these cupcakes!

What is your favorite cupcake?  Do you prefer store-bought or homemade?

Un Bacione,

Emilia