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Community Corner

Cupcakes and Pizza

Inspiration from one Mom to another

Foodies need other foodies. Often when I am in a slump, I'll turn to a friend for some fresh ideas. And here are a couple of new sweet favorites I tracked down after being inspired by a visit to a local coffeehouse.

Cupcake Love

I wasn't planning on eating it. I even forgot it was in the backseat. But when I arrived early to pick up my daughters from school, I was famished. It was 2:30 p.m., and I hadn't been home to eat lunch. As I was debating if I had enough time to make it to the deli and back before school dismissed, I spied a glimmer of bright green out of the corner of my eye. I turned and sitting on its little paper plate was my son's cupcake from the morning. It had been a bribe to keep him quiet while I had a meeting at the Blue Z Coffeehouse. He had nibbled a bite from the edge, but otherwise the large cupcake was still intact.

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The shamrock green frosting didn't particularly appeal to me, but I was desperate. I'll just try a bite, I thought. And though it took only a few milliseconds for the flavor to register in my brain, it took even less time for me to inhale this gloriously delicious tiny cake. Even with the edges a little crunchy from its time riding in the car, this was unequivocally the best cupcake that has ever passed my lips. And I have had more than my share. It was better than, dare I say it, Crumbs' Devil Dog version. Better than Sprinkles' Black and White. And if you've never heard of Crumbs or Sprinkles, you've been deprived.

But you're in luck because not only can I tell you where to buy this tasty treat (at our local Blue Z), but I can share the recipe as well. And it comes from a third cupcake mecca, Magnolia Bakery in Manhattan. Cake is usually a vehicle for the frosting, but this cake could stand alone and be just as delectable.

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Click here for the cupcake recipe and here for Tasty Kitchen's frosting recipe, a buttercream that is light and not too sweet.

S'mores Pizza

Occasionally, I'm a fun mom. And maybe it's because I was in a delirious haze of exhaustion, but one day years ago I started a new tradition in our family: Backwards Night. There are many variations of this idea, such as wearing your pajamas backwards or eating breakfast for dinner, but my kids only care about our kind. They get to eat dessert before dinner. We don't do this often, but when I unexpectedly announce that it's Backwards Night, they come running and set the table with lightning speed.

And the other night was no exception. I don't even think these slices made it to the set table, they were that good. Last week, I interviewed the baker at the Blue Z Coffeehouse and took photos of her s'more brownies. Then I sampled her egg, bacon and cheese pizza. And it must have been some kind of food destiny that just two days later I ran across this recipe while at the hair salon. I actually photographed the recipe using my phone, thinking that surely the current magazine would not have the recipe online yet. (I was wrong; click here for the recipe.)

Sometimes the simplest ingredients that you've tasted a million times before can come together in a new extraordinary way. And that's exactly what happened. When I bit into the slice, I tasted the crisp fluffiness of the pizza dough first, then the delicate crunch of the toasted marshmallows blended with the silkiness of the melted dark chocolate and sweet graham cracker crumbs. S'mores will never be the same in our house.

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