Apple Pie and Brown Sugar Cupcakes

I did a lot of baking this weekend. It was the first time I attempted to make pie crust from scratch, and was pleased to find that it wasn't as difficult as I thought. I paired a pie crust recipe with the filling from an apple pie recipe on Allrecipes.com.

My second project was Brown Sugar Pound Cupcakes from MarthaStewart.com. They were easy to make and got rave reviews at work. These cupcakes smelled amazing too - like warm brown sugar.

Martha Stewart's Tiramisu Cupcakes

Martha Stewart is promoting a new book about cupcakes. I caught the recipe for her Tiramisu Cupcakes on her show the other day and decided to give them a try. I had a difficult time finding a vanilla bean at the grocery, so I used a teaspoon of vanilla instead. When piercing the top of the cooled cupcakes with a fork, be sure to press the fork down as far as possible. The coffee syrup will not reach all the way through the cupcake. They turned out well!