The science of baking

So if baking really is a science then baking with an infant at your feet is rocket science. It is raining today and not the "oh isn't it lkovely to get a bit of rain to break up the heat" kind of rain. It is really coming down. I had every intention of brining Austin to teh library for sing-a-long but he fell asleep so we baked instead...well I baked and he limbed my kitchen. Things went a little like this:

Huge crash- tupperware is all over the floor.

Cry- Austin is trying to get into the lazy susan

Bang- Austin is beating the dishwasher with his dishes

Big bang- Austin is beating the dishwasher with a wooden spoon and laughing about it.

I started out with the Cherry and Almond Teacakes (p.93) only I didn't have any kirsch so I used amaretto instead. I had bough some cherries for Austin and realized that I had to use them up. Some went to cherry puree to get mixed in yogurt and the rest to my cupcakes. I managed to get through the mixing of ingredients without too much trouble. Austin was loudly banging on a bowl with a wooden spoon (he redirected his enthusiasm from the dishwasher). I tried to tidy up while the batter 'rested' (one of these days I would like to get some rest) but realized that I was fighting a lost battle with a 9 month old. SO I spooned up the batter (why didn't Martha's peeps just put the cherries in the tins and then add the batter? I made such a mess with this one!) and then put the little man down for a nap while the cakes baked.

So I had about an hour...little guy is asleep, now was the perfect opportunity to clean my kitchen, so logically I made a batch of Carrot Cupcakes. There are lots of carrots in the batter and it smelled heavenly. They are out of the oven cooling and at some point in the very near future I'm going to make the cream cheese frosting to go on top of these...but for now I'm going to go back to playing with Austin, who is up from his nap, and letting him destroy my house for his own adventures!