Red Velvet Cake Bites*

These cake bites (via Bakerella) are quite possibly the greatest achievement in cake since the cupcake. Yes, they're that amazing.

Want to make new pals? Make your parents forget about that "intimate gathering" with 56 of your closest friends you held while they were out of town last week? Make these. People will worship at your feet.

While my attempt to make them was certainly not as pretty, they we're scrumptious. Be warned: the cute little bite factor will fool you into eating five. Or seven. Believe me, I know -wallows in self guilt-.

*Bakerella actually calls these Red Velvet Cake Balls. I just have a weird qualm about eating desserts associated with the word "balls".I blame it all on this EPIC SNL skit I was traumatized by as a small child:

Lime Raspberry Mousse Cupcakes with Basil Cream Filling (minus the basil cream)

Last week, I embarked on quite an adventure making these little cups of deliciousness (I got the recipe from the extremely lovely and inspiring cupcake bakeshop by Chockylit). First, there was the hunt for raspberries in my local Whole Foods (apparently, if you don't get there by 2 in the afternoon, the raspberry monster comes and buys them all), which resulted in me turning to the frozen version. Then, there seemed to be no basil in sight (I really wish someone told me from the start that basil isn't store with all the other herbs. Instead, it has it's own little basket near the ...apples).



I then managed to fail at making simple syrup, not once, but twice. Actually, I don't think I ever succeeded because when I added the the syrup to the whipped cream, it turned out looking more like egg salad -sigh-. It tasted horrible, and, thus, ended up in the garbage disposal. The raspberry mousse tasted alright, but didn't look anything like the loveliness perched atop the original cupcakes -another sigh-.



After reading the cupcakes needed another flavor component, I did, however, manage to create a magnificent recipe for lime cake. I simply added 2 tablespoons of lime juice and some zest and took away 2 tablespoons of milk. I will most definitely make the cake part again.



Overall, I'm absolutely sure I did something wrong with the mousses. But, hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Right?

WARNING:Do not scroll down if susceptible to cravings.

I plan to make this in the upcoming week. Hopefully the results will be as appetizing as this looks(fingers crossed)!