Go Ravens

I love NFL football.


I love the Baltimore Ravens.

I will watch any NFL game, regardless of who's playing, in such a state of concentration that if my house were to catch on fire, I wouldn't even notice. (*Note to friends and family: if you have any bad news to impart, this would be the time to do it.)

I play in two football pools every week. (Sometimes I even win. Mostly I don't.)

I love tailgating.

But if you look at any cookbook or cooking magazine for tailgating recipes, 9 times out of 10 when it comes to dessert you will find that tailgate spreads, which can be really quite elaborate, usually are no more inspired than offering brownies, or chocolate chip cookies. Yawwwwn.... And I get it with the brownies: they are small and compact, fit in the hand, aren't messy, and are loaded with chocolate, which appeals to both men and women. Of course chocolate chip cookies are everybody's default dessert - tried and true, more or less foolproof (except I've had some seriously bad chocolate chip cookies because people burn them on the bottom, but this seems to bother me and nobody else). But! Isn't there something a little more inspired for the new football season?

With these thoughts in mind, and on this the first Sunday of the new football season, I made Ravens cupcakes. Based upon a recipe from the Hello! Cupcake cookbook, these are not at all hard to do, although the assembly technique takes a little practice. With patience and perseverence, you can make these cupcakes for your favorite team (assuming they're a bird-based team, like the Cardinals, the Eagles, the Falcons, etc) on the first try.

Baltimore Ravens Cupcakes

for the cupcakes:

2 + 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 tsp. Baldwin's vanilla

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 c. granulated sugar

3 large eggs

(or, if you are a cheater, use your favorite boxed cake mix)

Preheat oven to 350 and line 24 cupcake wells with liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the milk, oil, and vanilla in a separate bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar in an electric mixer, until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the mixer's speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat just until all is blended together.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350 until done (15-2o minutes.) Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

To make the Ravens:

12 mini-doughnuts

2 cans vanilla frosting (or make your own, in 2 batches)

24 doughnut holes

1 can chocolate frosting (or make your own)

chocolate wafer cookies

12 yellow Starburst candies

48 mini chocolate chips

1. Spread vanilla icing on the tops of the cupcakes. (I tinted mine purple for the Ravens, but you could make the icing any color you choose, or leave it white.)

2. Cut the mini doughnuts in half and place a half doughnut, cut side down, on top of each cupcake.

3. Place a small spoonful of icing in the middle of the doughnut hole, and place a mini doughnut on top.

4. Spread icing in a "collar" around the "neck" of the Raven, filling in the gaps between the Raven's "shoulders" and neck as much as possible. The smoother you can make the head-and-neck assembly, the better your ultimate Raven will look. Any bumps or imperfections in this stage will carry through when you coat the Raven with the melted icing.

5. Place the cupcakes in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. This is an essential step, as you need things to harden up before you dip the cupcakes into the melted icing. All the icing you're using on these cupcakes serves as the glue that will hold the assemblage together.

6. Cut the chocolate wafer cookies into wings. Using a sharp knife, make 2 parallel cuts in each chocolate cookie 1/2" in from the opposite side. (Merely bisecting the cookie will result in wings that are too big in proportion to the cupcake, so you will essentially be cutting the center out of the cookie.) Trim 1/4" from the top of each wing to make a flat "shoulder." Set the wings aside.

7. Unwrap the Starburst candies and cut them in half diagonally. Set the wings and beaks aside for later assembly.

8. Spoon the canned chocolate icing into a microwave-safe bowl and soften it for about 35 seconds, stirring every 10 seconds to be sure the consistency is right. When the icing is ready for dipping, it should be runny and roughly the consistency of Elmer's glue; when you dip a spoon into the icing, it should easily run back into the bowl.

9. Grab the cupcakes by their liners and dip them into the chocolate icing. Allow excess to run back into the bowl and invert the cupcakes immediately onto a wire rack to firm up. (Use a deep bowl for dipping, to make sure that the icing will come up far enough on the cupcake to cover it from head to the flat top of the cupcake. I found a Pyrex measuring cup to be the best for the job.)

10. Press the wings firmly into the sides of the cupcakes. (Depending on how quickly you work, you may need to add a bead of chocolate icing to "glue" the wings to the bodies.)

11. Press the beaks firmly into the heads of the cupcakes.

12. Spoon vanilla icing into a bag and, using a small tip, pipe 2 round dots of white icing onto the cupcakes' heads to make the eyes. Push a small, mini chocolate chip into the center of each white dot, pointed end in. Allow the cupcakes to solidify completely.

13. If you know your favorite players' jersey numbers, pipe them onto the front of the cupcakes.

Go Ravens.