team usa

I have to admit, I love the Summer Olympics. I am totally a sucker for every single last bit of Olympic coverage- from the family sob stories, to the pre/post game coverage, to the incredibly feats of strength, speed, and stamina of the Olympic athletes. In summers past I have been away at camp and I was never able to watch the entire two weeks of wonderfulness, but this summer I was watching the Olympics in full force. I couldn't be a bigger fan of team USA-there is something so exciting about athletes putting their all into representing your country. I made sure to tune into all of the events from the crazy (decathlon), to the graceful (gymnastics), to the extreme (Olympic marathon), to the plain weird (doubles synchronized swimming?!). The most amazing part of it all, is that no matter the extreme or crazy levels of the event, every single athlete really puts in their all to achieve greatness. Whether it was making a PR (personal record), breaking an Olympic record or a world record, achieving a great milestone for a country, or winning a gold medal, there were so many special moments in this summer's Olympics.

From day one at the opening ceremonies, I was hooked. One of my friends hosted an Olympic-themed dinner at her apartment. So many countries were represented by the incredible amounts of food that were made by all of the guests. Team France showed up in baked brie, Team Greece represented in Greek salad, Team Mexico was represented in black bean burgers, Team Israel represented by bourekas, and the list goes on. I volunteered for Team USA and opted for making dessert (shocking, I know!)

decorations courtesy of 1 amazing teacher's students!

I chose to make red, white, and blue fruit salad, with blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream. I also decided to make red velvet cupcakes with red, white, and blue cream cheese frosting--what could be more American than that?! Needless to say, they were super delicious and represented team USA very well. They were a great asset to the opening ceremonies, and definitely set the tone for the rest of the Olympics for the USA! While I'm sad that they're over, there's always another games in four years--See you in Rio!!

go america!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix (regular ap flour will work here too)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups canola oil
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 tbsp red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

amazing red batter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder
With your electric mixer on medium speed, mix together the sugar and oil until combined
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully mixed into the batter
Mix in the food coloring and vanilla, scraping down the sides to fully combine
Reduce the mixer to low and add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients
In a small bowl, stir the baking soda and vinegar together
Add to the batter and mix for 10 seconds
Scrape down the sides and pour batter 3/4 of the way into 24 lined cupcake tins
Bake for about 20 minutes and allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting

baked in silver...

but with gold medal taste!

12 oz softened cream cheese
8 oz (2 sticks) softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
blue and red food coloring (color to your preference)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together on high until smooth
Add the sugar in small batches at a low speed until fully combined
Mix frosting on high until light and fluffy
Add food coloring as you like (a few drops should do the trick if you separate it into smaller batches to dye!)
Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!!

beautiful and delicious!

see ya in Rio!!