glorious treats: sweet heart cupcakes

Valentine’s Day is just four weeks away, so what better time to share this super cute idea from Glorious Treats?  It was love at first sight when I first spotted these creative cupcakes.


The base of these ‘cakes is a simple chocolate cupcake recipe.  Glory, the creator of these beautiful treats, used a Maraschino Cherry frosting, but you could also use any of your favorite light colored frostings and add a drop or two of food coloring to tint it pink.  Head on over to her post for the full recipe and assembly instructions.  I plan on making a version of these soon and will share my results.  Hopefully they turn out just as lovely 🙂

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happy new year!

Have a life-changing, world-shaping, wonderful, purposeful, awe-inspiring, incredible, fantastic, magnificent, extraordinary, blessed, thrilling, blissful, grace-filled, jubilant, delicious, unbelievable, astonishing, mind-blowing, spectacular, and ridiculously HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

images via 1, 2, 3

eggnog cheesecake.

There’s not much to say about this recipe except O M G!  If you like eggnog, you will love this cheesecake!  It’s so creamy and has a wonderful consistency.  Seriously, this is one of the best cheesecakes I’ve made.  Make sure you follow the instructions exactly- especially the part about using a food processor for the cream cheese.  It makes a world of difference!

sneak peek: holiday treats.

I was busy this weekend, can you tell? 🙂  Thought I’d give you all a peek at what I was up to…I’ll be featuring a recipe a day this week so stay tuned!

christmas cake pop & cupcake inspiration.

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A little inspiration to perk up your Tuesday morning.  These treats are almost too cute to eat!

frosted sugar cookies.

(festive Christmas cookies)

(pre frosting)

(hard at work-excuse the  mess! 🙂 )

(all images by jetsetbarbie)

Something about the holidays brings on a craving for sugar cookies.  I generally don’t love to make them but come December I start itching for the soft, sugary+buttery goodness of a freshly baked and frosted sugar cookie.  I use the same recipes for the cookie and frosting every year- they are virtually foolproof  and produce yummy results every time.  So why don’t I make them more often?  I am too impatient!  I hate waiting around for the dough to chill (overnight is best) and I am not a skilled decorator.  My cookies tend to look like a 5 year old made them but I’m okay with it 😉  Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie?

♫♪ it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas ♫♪

Just a few personal pics from around the city that we’ve taken the last week or so…it’s so magical around here this time of year! I hope it’s just as lovely wherever you are 🙂

(photos by jetsetbarbie)

hide your kids: krampus is coming!

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(personal photo from a Krampus mask stand at Karlsplatz)

Christmas time is often referred to as “the most wonderful time of the year.”  However, in Austria (and other parts of Europe), the holiday season would not be complete without a creepy and scary tradition known as Krampustag.  Krampus is a mythical figure that resembles the devil or some other demon that accompanies St. Nicholas to punish ill-behaved children.  Just take a look at some of the pics above and you”ll realize that Krampus does not mess around.  Scary, right?!  Many villages and small towns still celebrate this dark custom with adults dressing as demons and traveling through streets with torches, whips and chains.  My fiancé’s mom says she still has nightmares about this holiday tradition and it’s easy to understand why!  You can read more about the holiday here and here.

Want to celebrate Krampus day in a less scary way this year?

(send postcards  to family and friends)

(bring cake pops by Karin D. to your next holiday party)