Good Press

I got this 12-cup silicone muffin "tin" for Christmas 2007 and hadn't played with it until recently. I was making zucchini bread and got the idea to scoop some of the batter into these molds. The result was adorable. Tonight, when I needed birthday cupcakes for a church meeting, I decided red velvet batter would make pretty cake flowers. Because I couldn't top them with the traditional cream cheese frosting (you wouldn't be able to tell what the flowers are), I mixed up a simple powdered sugar glaze and dribbled it over the cooled cakes. I displayed them on my Wilton cupcake stand. The flower silicone mold is by Pampered Chef. I don't buy (or ask for) all the kitschy tools but it's fun to have some little indulgences so I can do something special once in a while.

I'm trying to encourage the women and men of my church to sign up to bring sweet treats on Sunday morning for the coffee bar instead of the same kind soul (not me) buying doughnuts or whatever every week. It hasn't quite caught on yet. But today was my Sunday to bring the treats and boy was I swamped with work, work-related traveling and helping my mom. Still, feeling like I needed to be a good example, I whipped up something I already had on hand. It is easy -- 20 minutes start to finish. In fact, it baked while I was in the shower. And I thought it was pretty yummy -- a couple of other people said so, too. Here is my fuss-free formula: 1 package of Jiffy corn muffin mix 1 egg 1/3 cup milk red raspberry jam Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin tin that yields 24 mini muffins. Prepare the muffin mix according to package directions but scoop the batter into 24 minimuffin tins, Filling them half full. Drop a scant 1/4 teaspoon raspberry jam into the middle of the batt...