Sugar High Baking

First and foremost, I want to congratulate my friend Nicole for an amazing job done on her first documentary film called “Losing LeBron.” The film is still being edited, but if you haven’t heard of it, you should do a little Google search and learn about it. I had the distinct honor of being among the first to view the film in its entirety this past weekend and to celebrate this most auspicious occasion, I wanted to bring her a little something to commerate the day.

Feeling slightly ambitious, I decided to try and make basketball cupcakes. A few disclaimers are warranted:

1. My microwave broke. Of course, it’s brand new (purchased in December 2011) and of course, it broke just days after we finally disposed of its predecessor. When I was picking out this particular microwave, my Mom said to me: “Don’t buy electronics right now because there is a rising moon in Mercury…” or something to that effect. She said that it wouldn’t work. I poo-poo’ed her astrological predication. Oops. Guess this means I am metling and tempering all of my chocolate the old fashion way.
2. I only had 1 hour and 30 minutes in which to bake, frost and decorate my cupcakes. I was rushing and they did not come out as clean as I would normally like.
3. Aren’t the first two enough!?

Ok – so for the basketballs. I went out and I purchased glazed donut holes (I couldn’t find original donut holes which would have been loads better). I then dyed a store bought white frosting orange and melted it down over a double-boiler (all the while wishing that I had that dang microwave…). I then double-dipped the glazed donut holes in the orange frosting and then put them in the freezer to harden. After they came out of the freezer (not hard enough, mind you…remember: I only had 90 minutes for this project!) – I popped each one on top of a frosted cupcake. I melted down some dark chocolate and poured it into a piping bag and created the basketball effect with some piped chocolate lines.

This is not my finest work and it is a messy first version, but I think the picture shows that with more time, a microwave and a steadier hand – these could be a really cute addition to any party with a basketball/sports theme! What do you think?