Cupcake Disaster!!! Major food craft fail

Today I baked and baked and baked!!!  Mom and Dad are coming tomorrow morning for a visit.  She's not been feeling so well lately, but when I mentioned to her today that we could have a little tea party when she came over, I saw her light up and get back that twinkle in her eye. 

So in honor of Mom's visit I made pumpkin cupcakes...and they turned out Beautifully - that's not the cupcake fail Im talking about....and I'll share those in a future post.

Last night I watched an episode of Cupcake Girls.  They were trying to decide on new flavors to offer in their stores and settled on what they said were - totally to die for french toast cupcakes.  Intriguing....so I googled and found a similar recipe....here's where the failure begins....

I must tell you that I'm alot like Grandma Campbell when it comes to everything creative. She didn't like using a recipe...or a pattern....or having anyone tell her what to do or how to make it.  She wanted to learn on her own, in her own way, accept her failures and celebrate her successes.  And then I come along to follow right in her footsteps....though I did follow the recipe...I want to learn on my own...develop my own style...and
so ...at times...I have to accept the failure....

I have NO CLUE what happened in the making of this recipe....and here's the disclaimer...
cupcakes were injured in the making of this picture....

 My idea was to make these adorable mini-cupcakes for girls night out.....but.....ummm....well...enuf said...

Dana so kindly said "don't throw them away...the dog will eat them..."...but the reality is..their not even fit for the dog...seriously!

 So ...I googled what did I do wrong....and I came up with...the baking temp was wrong...the baking powder is old...I live in high altitude...which I dont...... and Grandma's words keep ringing in my ear...."try and try again"...and so I did....I mixed up another batch...just as carefully as I "thought" I did before....'cept this time..I made big cupcakes....and VIOLA!! SUCCESS!!! Slightly domed...no muffin tops...WHEW!!! But I still don't know what went wrong.

Now add a little yummy maple syrup frosting.......and they look like this!!!!...

And they were sooooo good too!!!

Stay tuned - I'll post the recipe next!