"I Want This Forever" - Salted Caramel Buttercream

I live in an amazing part of Seattle. Three miles south, I've got ethnic food nirvana in White Center (Rat City), three miles north, the International District. To the east, there's a little mecca of Mexican food. Pho abounds, and I have my pick of dozens of Asian and South American grocery stores. We're also within "spitting distance" to a couple of awesome bakeries, and 2 amazing local ice cream shops, Husky Deli, and Full Tilt.

This story has to do with Full Tilt - at least it's role in introducing me to salted caramel. I've been exposed to salted caramel, but have always been hesitant to take the leap, even though I really love the marriage of sweet and salty. While trying to decide what I wanted for lunch, I stumbled across Full Tilt's website and noticed that on that very day, they were hosting a hip-hop show AND giving away free scoops! I read some reviews and heard they had a mean Mexican chocolate ice cream. I convinced Pitchfork that we should go there on the way home from Viva Mexico. Boy was it crowded! They've got pinball, and even if we had quarters, we couldn't have played, it was that packed. The music was grooving and everyone was having a good time.

We redeemed our free scoop tickets, I got the Mexican chocolate and Pitchfork got the -you guessed it- salted caramel. I batted my luscious lashes and I said, "IloveyoucanItasteyouricecream?" Over the sounds of hip hop, he didn't hear me, so I said it again, louder, "ILOVEYOUCANITASTEYOURICECREAM?" Eventually, he heard me and I had my first proper taste of something salted caramel. And I fell in love. I decided then and there that I would make chocolate salted caramel cupcakes for Pitchfork. And if a few fell into my mouth, well, accidents happen.

I took a few, along with some PB Hi-Hats (coming in a future post) RoachyPooh and Filthy J's house where they were participating in their girl-geek game to get a few opinions. After all, pretty much all the ladies I'd kill for were in that room, and I'd probably take a bullet for Filthy J, so I could expect them to be totally honest. Unfortunately, they were all pretty much in a sugar overload from gaming the whole weekend and eating some of The Historian's Dreamy Lemon Chiffon, so...

However, I had built the salted caramel up enough that RoachyPooh ran right into the kitchen and grabbed one. After her first bite, she said, "Mmmm... I want this forever". It made me happy, because I felt the same way!

Cake Mix Hack # 1 - Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Alright- I love "from scratch" cooking just as much as the next girl who loves "from scratch" cooking, but sometimes I just want to take the easy way out.

Every once in a while on a Sunday, one of my old roommates from PlymouthHaus, RoachyPooh, and I plan a big potluck style meal for some of our friends. We call it Soul Food Sunday, and it's a tradition going all the way back to when we lived together. RoachyPooh is one of my very best friends, and my favorite person to be in the kitchen with. Funny thing, though- She didn't like me when we first met. How could that be?!? Well, we've gotten over that, and I am sooooo glad.

In case you're wondering, here she is with a basket of her AMAZING Heirloom Fried Chicken:

 Isn't she adorable?

Anyway, since we were having soul food, I decided I was making some biscuits and gravy, which you may recall is one of my specialties, but what about my newest obsession, cupcakes? I wanted to keep them in general  the southern food theme, but I didn't want to make Red Velvet. I mean, it's good and all, but in my opinion, a bit overrated. Maybe I just haven't had any really good red velvet cake?

Then it hit me, Strawberry Lemonade. Perhaps that's not very southern, but to my northwestern sensibilities, it seems like it would be very Virginian. Which is in the south, right? After looking about the interwebz for the perfect recipe, I found this one at Cafe Zupas, which intrigued me, both for the soda pop, and the cake-mix hack. I feel like a renegade when I refuse to use the directions on the box!

If you've looked at the recipe, you'll no doubt notice there is no strawberry to be found. That was easy, though, I just swapped the lemon-lime soda for some Nesbitt's Strawberry. YUM!

Take a gander at the finished product - pretty!