Tiramisu, I miss you!

     Okay, I will admit that I am not a very big fan of tiramisu, solely because I have had it numerous times and every single time they never taste the same; texture, taste, consistency, etc. So I'm always very weary when it comes to this interesting delicacy. However, I always wondered how it would taste in smaller, personal portions like, oh I don't know, cupcakes.
     I think, the one thing that sold me on this experiment was the use of coffee grounds. Instead of using instant espresso, I used Turkish coffee, which doesn't dissolve like the instant stuff. The extra oomph of the coffee flavor really did it for me. They were light snacks, and by light I mean the taste, not the calorie count =)
     My dad, who is an avid coffee drinker inhaled these, along with my lovely friend Lara, who has quite the palate for coffee. I'd say these were a hit from the get go, so I'm happy.

It's Party Time!

     Sad-ish story for this one. Back in March I left home to try and make a new start on life on the East Coast. I got accepted into graduate school and was ready to start, but leaving home was the worst part. My friends, the sweethearts that they are, decided to throw me a going away party and ALL of my friends showed up. I was humbled and overjoyed to see everyone make the trip out to my friends house and celebrate my last big party with them.
     Everyone brought something to the party. We had spirits, beer, cheese platters, chips, sodas, veggie platters, and of course, I had to make my signature mark and bring cupcakes for everyone to enjoy. I made these Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes for the night and I was surprised by how fast they went. I was also surprised to find out that a lot of my friends didn't like banana flavored anything, so you can imagine how shocked, and proud, I was to see that these cupcakes were devoured before the night was over.
     The leaving was hard, I'm not going to lie. Being away from home and starting over with no friends and family in the area was even more hard. But, the entire time, there was something in the back of my mind constantly nagging me. I didn't feel comfortable with going to grad school, with moving, the whole nine yards. One night, while pondering if I made the right choice or not, I realized I hadn't. I have been obsessing over cupcakes for a long time now and a dream of mine, since I was a kid, was to have my own bakery. The epiphany hit me like a brick. The next morning I called my mom and told her that I was coming home, that I didn't want to go to grad school, at least not yet, and that I wanted to pursue my dream of having my very own cupcake shop; and so I did.
     Limani Cupcakes is just starting. I'm working out of my lovely kitchen right now, but soon, with all your help, we will move out to our own location! We are taking cupcake orders now, and no matter which state or location you place it from, we deliver! So don't hesitate to send that email or make that phone call. We can't wait to get going!

A Tribute with Some Tang

     Happy Birthday! It was my fiance's birthday yesterday; he turned 22 (and if you, dear reader, share the same birthday, then a very happy birthday to you too!) I woke up yesterday thinking I have to bake him something he's going to appreciate so I came up with this combination.
     My fiance's favorite dessert on the planet is lemon meringue pie. His favorite band in the world is 30 Seconds to Mars. So, having said that, I decided to combine the two. I made him lemon meringue cupcakes (and the meringue turned out wonderful; I'm quite proud of myself) and shaped the cakes into the band's symbol, the triad. Sadly I had to use two trays because they wouldn't all fit onto one and you could tell the edges were separated. But all in all they turned out wonderful. I squeezed the meringue all over the tops of the cakes and spread them around lightly so they would actually stick together and also look nice. (Meringues are usually just dolloped on top of the cakes, not spread)
     The cakes had a tiny hint of lemon and the gooey yumminess on the inside complimented the cake beautifully. Everyone was happy with these cakes! And so was the birthday boy =)

Starbucks Has Come to the Kitchen!

     Behold! Starbucks has found it's way into my kitchen in the form of a delicious, mouthwatering, cupcake! This creation, with it's fantastic looks, surprisingly wasn't all that hard to make. These are the coffee lover's favorite, as has been described by my best friend and my mother in law, both of whom are avid coffee drinkers. These, my dear friends, are the Chocolate Caramel Cappuccino Cupcakes; made with my favorite Turkish coffee.
     Once my cupcake making binge started again, after I finally semi-settled down, I decided to come back with a bang, and that I have royally accomplished. Dinner for the night these cupcakes were made for fish, for those who like seafood, and burgers, for those like me who prefer their beef. Dinner went well, with the theme of the table being assigning everyone to a Disney character. The outcomes were quite entertaining and, ironically, quite spot on. My youngest sister-in-law has been dubbed Aboo from Aladdin: her boyfriend, Iago the annoying pestering parrot: her older sister, Raja the tiger: my fiance as Genie: me as Jasmine (because I look like her, not because I'm princess): my dad as The Sultan: and my best friend as Jafar, because he gets irritated quite easily. Oddly enough, we couldn't find an Aladdin, which I'm okay with. I like the idea that I'm dating Genie :) I get whatever I want! Hehe
     There's something about baking cupcakes that just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, and no it's the because cupcakes have that texture. Even though sometimes it hurts my back and I get frustrated sometimes because it takes longer than expected, I always enjoy every minute of it. My dream is to one day be able to do nothing but bake these delicacies every day for the numerous orders that come in. So, if any of you beautiful people out there want any of the ones that I've posted or you have a certain flavor in mind and want it delivered to your door, please email me and I will make your tummies very happy!

Have a great day everyone!

anichakiryan@gmail.com
   

Did Someone Say Boston?

     Well, hello! If you're a Boston anything fan, you might appreciate these. Staying in a house, and marrying into a family of Red Sox fans, my fingers were twisted, in a sense, to bake these. Grandma is leaving for Maine for the next half the year and we all decided to have a Memorial Weekend/Goodbye dinner for her. My contribution, as always to any dinner or gathering, is sweets. Knowing Grandma is from Maine and a Boston anything fan, I made these especially for her.
     I made yet another rookie mistake, and didn't actually cut one of these babies in half so you can see their gooey insides. They're filled with yummy gooey goodness. And in case you haven't figured out what I've made, what with the chocolate on top, the gooey center and the yellow cake on the bottom, they're Boston Cream Cupcakes! Apparently, the new family favorite among the crowd here. I'm actually quite shocked after making my S'mores cupcakes a few years back, that were inhaled within a matter of minutes. These went just as fast, and, by the older crowd to say the least.
     I'm on a cupcake spree as of late, trying out new ideas, playing around with ingredients and what not. Let's see what I think of next! Something to keep us going, I would imagine.

Champagne for Everyone!

     I know, I know, it's been a while. *Sigh*. Life got in the way, what with moving and possible grad school, only to have things change and realize life wants me back home. BUT, that doesn't mean I have stopped creating these beauties! The first part of the move entailed going to Ohio to see my fiance's family, from his dad's side. So off I went. While there, I had to make some time to bake something; I was itching for my kitchen fix. (Jeez, I sound like a drug addict, only luckily, my drug is the kitchen.) Anyways, I left the "children" downstairs to continue playing on the Xbox, which I have to admit was a little hard for me to let go of as well, but nonetheless, I ventured off into this unknown kitchen and got settled in.
     Since this is not the kind of kitchen I'm used to, I had a few errands to run before I good actually get started. Once all the necessary supplies were readily available, I dove in head first into making another concoction. The mother of the household really wanted to try these so I decided this would be my gift to them for letting us come over almost every day and spend time with their electronics :)
     I will admit though, I made these same cupcakes again a couple weeks later, when I had access to a baker's kitchen, and the icing turned out perfect. The icing you see in this picture was the first attempt, and with a hand mixer with no whisk attachment. *Sigh, again*. The cake, however, turned out just fine, and you can definitely taste the yummy champagne. For whatever ungodly reason, I forgot to take a picture of the better batch to post, so you're just going to have to use your imagination on how could whisked icing would look on these gorgeous, pink ladies!

Let the Games Begin!

     It's SuperBowl Sunday! Yay! (I think.) See, I don't really care about the sport. In fact, I don't watch, follow, have any connection to sports at all, so today is really just about hanging out with good friends and good company and having a good time. But just because I don't like the sport, or the event, doesn't mean I can't get into the feeling of game day, so I made these =).
     The day started off with taking my friend to the wonderful wizarding store that is everything Harry Potter. I was a little shocked that she didn't even know this place existed, being a big HP fan and all. But, nonetheless, we had a wonderful couple hours perusing what is supposed to Diagon Alley. Yes, the place might be small in size, but there is a lot to take in. I decided that this would be the perfect time to get a little something special for my bear, what with Valentine's Day coming up and all. Since I know he's going to be reading this I can't say what it is I got him =). I, on the other hand, got myself a cute little necklace that says "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" on one side, and when flipped over it reads, "Mischief Managed". Seems fitting for someone like me ;).
     Purchases made and in the bags, we headed back to my house to make some awesome cupcakes for the  next day festivities. I tried a little something different with the batter this time and I think I may have just found the trick to making some yummy spongy cupcakes! (I'm excited!) But, of course, as all things go, a little more experimenting is needed to get it just right. That being said, it's off to get ready for the party...er, game!

Cookies With a Secret

     I know this is not a picture of a cupcake. That being said, I wanted to remind you that although my passion lies in cupcake making, I love to bake all things sweet, and I mentioned in my first blog post that I will, from time to time, bake and post things other than my lovely cupcakes. I enjoy being a well rounded baker, and they say practice makes perfect so I practice. =)
     So, today turned out to be the second rainy day so far which meant for me, a day in the kitchen trying out some new recipes. My awesomely wonderful fiance bought me a book of recipes and I have been dying to try them out, and today I got my chance to pop it's maraschino cherry ;). And soon, I will make an awesome cheesecake so you're going to have to hold off on the drooling of that one. As for now, though, let the mindless outflow of dribble commence.
     After I woke up this morning, my mom decided she wanted to have a mother-daughter breakfast outing, so off we went to Denny's (literally right around the corner). We ordered our food and coffee, and tried to liven up our diner moment, we took their new quiz that they decided to make about their new coffee. So I'm on my phone asking my mom questions from the quiz that will determine her "beanzyme" level. We took this quiz three times. Her score was -25, which meant that she enjoys the lighter brew with some cream (which oddly enough she was drinking); my score was +25 which meant that I liked the darker roast, just plain old black (which I was, indeed, drinking); our combined score, after we took the quiz together with combined answers, was -5, which meant that we swing both ways and like both roasts of coffee. Other than this quiz being extremely freaky in it's accuracy of what either of us likes to drink, it was freakishly on point with how my mom and I work together as a team; we're two completely opposing people, but when we work together, we make a nice blend. (If you would like to take this ridiculous quiz the website is, http://www.dennysroastometer.com/).
     Now we have devoured our "wonderful" diner food, we headed over the market and bought some missing ingredients for the upcoming cheesecake, but of course being me, I forgot some things so that was put on hold. And because of my lovely forgetfulness (which my fiance can't stand) you now have this blog post about these awesome cookies! Now please, sit back, stare at screen and please, enjoy the picture! (Don't forget, if you ever want an order of any sweet and delicious concoction, feel free to email me!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies (made with a special secret)

Hipsters Bring the Rainbow Out

     So I went to a Hipster themed party at my friend's apartment over the weekend, and they had in mind that they were going  to/wanted to if they had the time, make rainbow cupcakes. I figured this would be a great opportunity to try something different and fun, and lo and behold, I was right!
     So after finally getting back to the apartment after grocery shopping and stuffing our faces with burritos, we got started with the baking. Mind you, it's a college student's apartment, so I was delegated with using just one ittsy bitty little corner, the rest stacked with pizza boxes waiting to be devoured and bottles upon bottles of yep, you guessed it, alcohol!
      The baking began, and took about an hour and a half, and out popped these beautiful babies. And, after being passed around and tasted by all the party guests (who don't know me at all so there is no biased opinion here) the verdict was, Amazing!

Rainbow cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Welcome to Limani!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my new blog! Here, I update everyone who is viewing to the next delicious concoction that I create. Limani Cupcakes is the place to come view your sweet tooth cravings from simple to extravagant, unique to generic, but no matter which way you cut it, they're all sweet cravings that will leave you licking your fingers clean and looking for the closest glass of milk.

The name, Limani, is taken from my favorite book series, the Dark Hunter series by New York Times #1 Best Selling Author, Sherrilyn Kenyon. Limani means a place of peace, where everyone and anyone is welcome, so long as you abide by the number one rule: Don't start nothin', there won't be nothin'.

Whenever I find the time, or when the mood strikes, or when an order comes through, I will post my latest creation. Please leave any and all comments and please, if you would like a cupcake, or two, or a dozen, please feel free to send in your order request. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!