Mummy Cupcakes

I haven't done many fun baking projects lately and it had been a while since I had whipped together some buttercream and played with fondant. So, I became a bit inspired over the pre-Halloween weekend.  Last year, I made ghost cupcakes for a friend's halloween party. This year, I thought I'd try these mummy cupcakes.

 I made white chocolate fondant again. While it was pretty simple to knead it together and roll it out, the time intensive part was in cutting all the "bandage" strips and making the mummy faces. 

I made devil's food chocolate cupcakes, vanilla buttercream for the base, some candy eyes and then all the cute little white chocolate bandage strips to make the mummy faces.

They don't look very scary at all, but they're fun to unravel and eat.

Lime Mascarpone Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

This is my kind of jello. I have never much cared for actual Jell-O growing up and have always preferred more creamy gelatin desserts like this panna cotta. I was locked up inside one weekend this past summer when we had a hurricane rolling through, so I decided to make an amazing dinner for Miss A and I along with this yummy dessert. 

The recipe called for pouring it into small champagne glasses. But, I much prefer the look of the panna cotta displayed on its own outside of the confines of a glass. I've had all kinds of little stainless steel molds, so I tried a few different ones.  The one that worked the best is the small brioche mold.

I love mascarpone cheese. It just looks so velvety.

This was the mascarpone-gelatin mixture with some grated lime peel.

I filled up the molds and ended up having to use one glass. Then, they chilled for the afternoon while we watched the storm brew outside.

My final product all speckled with grated lime peel.

I made the warm raspberry sauce to pour over the panna cotta and it was a perfect combination of cold and warm on a stormy day.

Recipe for Lime Mascarpone Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

From Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

6 T. fresh lime juice, divided

1 1/2 t. grated lime peel

1 t. unflavored gelatin

1 1/4 cups whipping cream, divided

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1 T. butter

1 1/2 6-ounce containers raspberries (about 2 cups)

1 lime

Directions:

Combine 1/4 cup juice and peel in small saucepan; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup cream to gelatin mixture; stir over low heat just until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat.

Whisk mascarpone and 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl; gradually whisk in remaining 1 cup cream until smooth. Whisk gelatin mixture into cream mixture. Pour into 6 widemouthed Champagne glasses, small wineglasses or small molds. Chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight. If you used tin molds, run the outside under warm water (but not hot) and turn them out on the plate.

Sauce:

Stir remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1/4 cup sugar, and butter in large skillet over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Cool 2 minutes. Fold in berries; spoon over desserts. Grate peel from 1 lime directly over desserts.