{If you get my song reference you’re my new favorite person.}
It’s Pin Party time again! {Here’s Pin Party #1}
Wanna play? Leave a link to an image or post you want pinned/re-pinned! Be sure to visit Lindsay’s pin party for lots of ideas and inspiration.
Need some foodie pinspiration? Lindsay’s throwing a pin party! Here are some of my favorite pin-worthy recipes. Feel free to link to yours in the comments.
Oh and follow me on Pinterest! 
Creme de Menthe Brownie Balls: Chocolaty, minty, and just happen to be vegan.
Mojito Pina Colada Cupcakes: The flavors of a mojito and a pina colada all crammed into a delicious gluten free cupcake. Feel free to sub AP or whole wheat flour if gluten free doesn’t float your boat.
Broiled Grapefruit A fun way to squeeze some extra fruit into your diet with this healthier dessert alternative.
Smoothie Shortcuts Smoothies are great but sometimes you just don’t have the time to get all those ingredients together. These make it super simple to start your day off on the right foot.
Homemade Iced Coffee I’m a HUGE iced coffee fan. Putting leftover coffee in the fridge just doesn’t cut it. Try this simple approach and you’re at home iced coffee will forever be changed for the better.
Salted Caramel Shortbread: A vegan version of the beloved Millionaire’s Shortbread. So, so good.
Cinnamon rolls are my downfall. I love them. Obsessed. I have a million versions. These are some of my favorite. {Hint: make them the night before then pop them in the oven the next morning for an easy and delicious breakfast.}
Chocolate Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls
Ok now I’m hungry. What are some of your favorite Pin-worthy recipes?
This first birthday cake recipe is a great first cake for baby – it’s gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free {sweetened only with pear juice}. Works great for cupcakes too, which make the perfect size for a tiny smash cake!
Tuesday my little boy turned 1. Due to an onslaught of January birthdays we’re not celebrating with a party quite yet, but we couldn’t resist a mini cupcake smashing session on the actual day of this big milestone.
Of course that means we needed a first birthday cake!
I was a little unsettled with the idea of loading my baby up with sugar just for the sake of this tradition, but I didn’t want to be that mom. You know the one. The one that refuses to give her kid sugar or anything bad for them, and then they go crazy when mom’s not looking.
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Well he’s obviously a little young for the backlash part of that scenario, but I still didn’t want to make a big thing about it. I know one day of sugar isn’t going to hurt him, but I still didn’t feel good about going crazy with it, especially given his poor sleep habits and the food allergies he’s already dealing with.
You’d be surprised what comes up when you Google “sugar free” cupcake {or anything}—> a whole lot of recipes that are anything but sugar free. I found things loaded with honey, syrup, and chocolate, all labeled “sugar free”. Umm not so much. Sugar was the least of my worries anyways, given I needed to come up with a first birthday cake recipe that was also gluten free and dairy free.
So I did what I do best: got to experimenting in the kitchen to find a compromise- something that wouldn’t deprive him of the first birthday cake experience, but also wouldn’t be bad for him. I think I succeeded.
I probably could have gotten away with not sweetening these at all, but I wanted them to be family friendly- delicious for everyone. Instead of refined sugar, I used 100% fruit juice reduced to enhance the sweetness. It was the perfect bit of sweet plus a little bit of tang from the fruit. I made the first batch with apple & pear juice; the second with apple & pineapple juice, which gave the cupcakes a nice little twist, especially when paired with the coconut frosting. Feel free to experiment with other juices if you try these- I think pomegranate and orange would be delicious!
Baby Approved Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
For the Frosting
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
Bring 1 cup of 100% no sugar added fruit juice to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat but maintain a boil until juice reduces to a little more than 1/4 cup {it’s ok if you have extra}. Reserve 1 Tbsp for frosting.
Combine all ingredients and stir to combine. Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes. Makes 12 cupcakes, or 16 smaller cupcakes.
For the Frosting
Chill a can of full fat coconut in the fridge overnight.
Once chilled, turn the can upside and open it. Scrape out the solidified coconut cream from the top of the can.
Place coconut cream in a chilled mixing bowl and whip on high until starts to turn creamy. Pour in 1 Tbsp of reduced fruit juice. Continue to whip on high until smooth and fluffy.
Frost cupcakes once cooled.
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Now I can’t wait to get started on the cake for his first birthday party- it’s going to be awesome!
[Tweet “First birthday cake recipe – low-sugar, gluten-free, and baby-friendly!”]
Did you have a smash cake for your baby’s first birthday?
Click here for more Gluten Free Dairy Free Recipes that won’t leave you trapped in the kitchen for hours or hunting down a million bizarre ingredients.
Or cocktails IN cupcakes.
I really did have good intentions.
I was planning on making a tropical fruit salad infused with mint and lime, but the mint kept screaming “make me into a cupcake”.
I had to listen.
So instead of tangy fruit cocktails alongside some real cocktails, I had cupcakes.
Clearly I made a good decision here.
I couldn’t decide which cocktail I was inspired by more: the pina colada or the mojito.
So naturally I channelled both.
Pineapple juice & shredded coconut, meet lime and mint. I believe you’ll get along just swell.
Yeah, I’d say it’s a pretty good match.
Mojito Pina Colada Cupcakes
These vegan, gluten-free cupcakes pack a punch of flavor you wouldn’t expect- tropical hints of pineapple and coconut along with the zing of mint and lime.
If you’re not gluten-free, simply sub the flour, starch, and guar gum for 2 cups all purpose flour.
Ingredients (serves 12)
For the Cupcakes
For the Frosting
Instructions
Prepare flax egg. Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients.
Chiffonade mint leaves into small pieces, mashing & bruising as you do so. Mix with lime juice and microwave for 10 seconds to release mint flavor.
In a mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients. Slowly mix in dry ingredients with mixer.
Fold in mint, lime & coconut.
Divide batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake for ~17 minutes at 350 degrees.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly before transferring cupcakes to cooling rack to cool completely.
While cupcakes are baking, prepare frosting so flavors can start to meld.
Combine coconut milk, lime juice, zest, and mint. Microwave for 10 seconds to release mint flavor.
Mix all frosting ingredients and beat on high speed until fluffy.
When cupcakes are completely cooled, brush tops with lime juice then top with frosting. Sprinkle with extra coconut and lime zest. Garnish with lime wedges and mint leaves.
What cocktail would you want to eat in cupcake form?
*If you want to know why I bothered making these delicious treats gluten-free AND vegan, read today’s post on tiny sneakers.
I’m a pretty casual and low maintenance kind of gal. When it comes to letting loose on the weekend, I’m easily satisfied by cracking opening a nice cold beer and kicking up my feet. Let’s be honest: I consider a beer in a bottle instead of a can “fancy”.
That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a nice glass or three of wine though. Especially if that glass of wine involves a good group of girlfriends and nonsense talk about absolutely nothing or anything.
When it comes to liquor, I usually opt out. The simple pleasure of opening a bottle or wine or popping the top on a beer suddenly becomes an effort of hunting down other ingredients and mixing a cocktail. To add to that, if you don’t know what you’re doing {read: me} it’s pretty easy to end up with something that tastes worse than cough medicine.
Ok, I’m not obsessed with drinking. So why all the talk? I taste tested Bacardi’s new Classic Cocktails Light this weekend!
The perfect answer for someone who doesn’t have a clue and could really care less about the effort it takes to make a drink that tastes any good. I knew it was meant to be when the two flavors they came out with happen to be my favorite: Mojito & Pina Colada. 
The cocktails come ready to drink: no mixing, no shaking, no stirring. Just pour over ice. Each 4 oz serving is only 95 calories. {That of course makes you think about how many calories are in a regular cocktail…”} They’re made with natural flavors, real juice, and pure cane sugar. So how do they taste? Pretty darn good. I’ll admit I was surprised; I didn’t put much faith in a pre-mixed, bottled cocktail, but I was wrong. Each was bursting with flavor and there was no mistaking that it was an alcoholic beverage. I’ve gone through all the trouble of making a mint-infused simple syrup to make an authentic mojito at home and trust me, this was way easy and yielded a significantly better outcome. Along with my sample of cocktails came a modern-themed “party pack”. I knew a party pack was on the way, but I was more than a little excited to see the signature orange circles of the CB2 logo on the side of the box sitting on my doorstep on arrival day. 
CB2 is the baby sister of Crate & Barrel. {The party pack contained a combination of items from both stores.} I might have let out an audible squeal of delight when I opened the box. Do these people know me or what? 
Chevron; teal; black & white; acrylic. Love, love, and love. The chevron candles and acrylic serving tray nearly made me jump for joy. Yeah, I know, things are really exciting over here. Other gems included a set of drink coasters emblazoned with the word “drink”. You know, in case you weren’t sure what they were for. Plus boldly striped cloth napkins and an assortment of differently shaped napkin rings. Metal toothpicks {?!?} and an ice bucket with tongs rounded out the package of goodies. 
Now all I had to do was throw a party. Err. Uh… This stuff is fancier than the paper plates and Solo cup style we usually have, so I had to think of a special occasion. We have a friend moving out of state soon, so we decided to have him and his girlfriend over for some farewell festivities. Having the ice bucket on the tray made easy to serve up some cocktails. Just ice & pour. The dip tray made the perfect serving dish for drink garnishes: fresh cut lime wedges, mint leaves, and shredded coconut. I should’ve tossed in a few pineapple wedges and fancy umbrellas. 
I used the fancy toothpicks to keep the garnishes on top of the glasses so we wouldn’t get a sip of mint leaf. After all: 
I mean, if the pros say so. 
Since I had mojitos and pina coladas on the brain I decided I’d keep the theme going as far as food. I figured a tropical fruit salad would be the perfect accompaniment to the “light” cocktails. It’s the dietitian in me coming out- balance, right? 
Wrong. Forget the fruit. Let’s have cupcakes. 
{Ok, I still made fruit salad. But who cares about that when there are cupcakes to be had?!} Pina Colada Mojito Cupcakes to be exact. What a mouthful. A delicious, tropical, minty mouthful. 
But this post is already 8 billion pages long. The recipe will have to wait until tomorrow. Yup, I’m a tease. 
And that indulgent-sounding cupcake recipe? It’s vegan and gluten-free. And yes, delicious. Excuse me while I go eat one more. And drink a mojito. 
BACARDÍ Classic Cocktails Light is a new line of low calorie, ready to serve cocktails. At less than 95 calories for a 4-ounce serving, BACARDÍ Classic Cocktails Light is available in Pina Colada and Mojito flavors and is made with natural flavors, real juice and pure cane sugar. Whether enjoying a favorite cocktail after a long day or throwing a party, BACARDÍ Classic Cocktails deliver classic cocktail taste that’s a hit with friends, won’t add inches to your waistline and won’t take all day to prepare. Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Bacardi via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Bacardi.
Join in the discussion about #BacardiCocktails on August 1st:
