Baking cupcakes is normal...right?

I'm the daughter of an incredible cook. I try hard to be similar and cook her recipes for friends, but...it never seems to be the same. I've never been huge into baking but I stumbled across a website called "Ming Makes Cupcakes" and I fell completely in love. Truth is, I found this recipe over three weeks ago and I've been wanting to try them but instead pushed it off until now. 

Are you hungry yet?

Here's a few tips for those new (or experienced....) bakers out there that want to get frisky with these delicious cakes.

First: What the hell is confectioners sugar? I searched for at least ten extra minutes at the store thinking "my goodness, isn't this the baking aisle? Wouldn't they put all the sugar in this aisle?". After a few minutes of endlessly searching and learning towards giving up, I pulled out my trusty smart phone and googled it. Now, some of you may be laughing hysterically at this point...but I had no idea that it was really just powdered sugar. (Yeah, I have a college degree....)

Second: Cream of Coconut is NOT Coconut Milk. In fact, many of you readers may have no idea where you could find Cream of Coconut. I had to find it in my local Co-Op, and surpringsly- it was next to Margarita mix. Thankfully, I didn't follow my suggestion of "I think Coconut Milk should work" because it's not the same. Hardly even close. It had the consistency of bacon fat but smells pretty good. 

Third: I've never made "meringue" before, so when the recipe started to call for "stiff peaks", I got a little nervous. TIP: Use an electric mixer. It works sooooo much better.

Fourth: The frosting was the easiest part, but it called for Espresso powder. I didn't take the time into purchasing espresso powder because of my Espressemante Illy Machine I received from my brother and sister in law, so I used a single shot of oh-so-delicious espresso. 

Fifth: If you don't like sponge cake, don't make this. 

All in all, they turned out pretty good! 

So, you may be wondering: Is this a blog about cupcakes? And, well, my answer is "not really." I'm probably going to attempt a few cupcake recipes, or extravagant dinners paired with my favorite Idaho Wines. But really, this blog is about creating my new "normal". I didn't intend to write for people to read, but I'm doing it more for myself. 

My next question is: any taste testers?