When I told my brother I couldn't meet him for lunch because I was baking cupcakes from scratch, his response--after laughing for a few seconds--was "Good luck with that." I've had my fair share of baking misfortunes. Once, my oatmeal raisin cookies tasted like fried catfish. Another time, I iced an angel food cake inside the pan, not knowing that the cake has to be flipped onto a platter before frosting.
So in the past, my failures have far outweighed my successes. But then, I've never baked from scratch before. Betty Crocker mixes must be unlucky, because my first batch of homemade cupcakes (ever!) was a shining success. I started the weekend with three dozen cupcakes and have two left. Two!
I used Smitten Kitchen's sour cream chocolate cake recipe topped with old-fashioned buttercream icing, both found via Manda Cooks, one of my favorite cooking blogs that happens to be written by a fellow former Teen Vogue intern.
So with graduation behind me and a batch of homemade baked goods under my
