1 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in a separate bowl and set aside. (Note: I'm not as keen on salt beyond the barest flavor enhancement, so I use closer to teaspoon, but others have liked it with a bit more. So add salt to taste, up to teaspoon.) 3. To prevent the cake from getting too heavy from overmixing (which, I have learned-possibly the hard way-activates the gluten in the flour, creating cakes that are dense and, well, let's just say not the lightest or most moist; however, as paper weights, they're fabulous, not to mention, they smell real nice), use this trick I learned from my TV boyfriend, Bobby Flay: rather than using an electric mixer, whisk the dry ingredients (step 2) together by hand. In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and the melted butter, along with the eggs and molasses, all at the same time until just blended. Do not overwhisk. (Unless, of course, you're short a few sweet-smelling paper weights.) 4. Alternate adding water and the sifted flour and spice mix to the wet ingredients, whisking gently each time, until just blended. The batter should be smooth with a bit of a whipped texture from the eggs being whisked.

5. Divide the batter evenly into the 12 cups. Now, you know I hate doing this kind of math. So I will just tell you that I used an ice cream scoop, the kind with the squeezy handle (technical term alert!) and put a scoop in each cup. Using that method, instead of 12, my batches make about 15. Your batter mileage may vary.

6. Bake 1820 minutes. Cake should spring back to the touch, or you can use the clean toothpick test. Or both. Just don't burn them. I started checking around 15 minutes, but mine always took closer to 20.

7. Allow to cool in the pans, on wire racks, for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans, and let cool the rest of the way on wire racks before frosting. If you're like me, there might be one or two fewer cupcakes to frost by the time this important step is over. Of course, if you're a purist and dedicated baker, won't you want to do a taste test before diluting the pure gingerbread flavor with creamy rich frosting? See?-that's what I thought!

Cinnamon Mascarpone Frosting 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

cupbutter, at room temperature

teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cups powdered sugar

cup heavy cream

Cinnamon (ground fresh, if you have a grinder)

I tried many different versions of mascarpone frosting and discovered I really liked the ones that included butter, and the ones that included heavy cream, but couldn't find one that included all of it, so ... voila!-my own version. It might be a wee bit on the rich side. But then, isn't that frosting law?

1. Gently mix the cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar together. Make sure both cheese and butter are soft so you don't have to overblend to make it smooth. If you overblend, the mascarpone can curdle. (Again, I won't reveal exactly how it is I know this, but let's just say, I've heard rumors ... possibly emanating from my own kitchen.) 2. Whisk the cream until it holds a peak. Don't whisk until you get stiff peaks, as it will make the frosting a bit too frothy and whipped in texture.

3. Stir the whipped cream into the cheese and sugar mixture until just blended. It should be a smooth, thick, creamy frosting. If possible, use immediately. Otherwise, refrigerate, but bring back to room temperature to use later. You may want to stir slightly to regain the creamy texture. Again, don't overstir, as the cheese can still curdle.

4. Grind or sprinkle cinnamon on top of the frosting as desired. Keep refrigerated when not being devoured.

5. Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes 2 cups flour

cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sour cream

cup buttermilk

1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 30 muffin cups with paper liners. (Super cute paper liners, of course.) 2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, then set aside.

3. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. This takes about 5 minutes (which is like a light year in holding-an-electric-mixer-time, so set a timer).

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until assimilated. (Yes, I'm asking you to Borg your eggs.) 5. Mix in sour cream, buttermilk, food color and vanilla. (Note: Don't have buttermilk, or tired of getting this huge container for just a cup in a recipe? Just add 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice per cup of milk, stir, let sit for 5 minutes, then use as directed in recipe. Or get powdered buttermilk and use according to package directions-that's what I do!) 6. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just, you know, Borg'd. Do not overbeat (because, as we learned from our TV boyfriend, Bobby Flay, we don't want our gluten activated). Of course, if Bobby Flay wants to activate my gluten ... well ... that's another story.

7. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup full.

8. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until cupcakes reach clean toothpick doneness.

9. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans to cool the rest of the way before frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

cup ( stick) butter, softened

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 16-ounce box confectioners' (10x) sugar (approx. 3 cups)

1. Cream together the softened cream cheese and butter, the sour cream, and the vanilla until light and fluffy (approximately 34 minutes on medium speed).

2. Gradually blend in the powdered sugar until the frosting is smooth.

3. Frost the cupcakes, pour a tall, cold glass of milk ... and be prepared to have a Cupcake Moment. Just sayin'.

Can't wait to get back to Sugarberry Island and the Cupcake Club? You're in luck! Sweet Stuff will be in stores next month. Here's a taste to whet your appetite.

Later, she would blame the whole thing on the cupcakes. Riley glanced through the sparkling window panes of the hand-stained, sliding French panel doors to the extended, multileveled tigerwood deck-complete with stargazer pergola and red cedar soaking tub-straight into a pair of familiar, sober brown eyes. "I know that look," she called out, loud enough so he could hear her through the thermal, double-paned glass. "Don't mock. I can too do this." She turned her attention forward again and stared at the electronic panel of the Jog Master 3000. "I mean, how hard can it be?" A rhetorical question of course. Anyone, probably even the sunbathing mastiff, could figure out how to push a few buttons and-"Ooof!" The belt started moving under her feet. Really fast.

Really, really fast.

"Oh crap!" She grabbed the padded side bars, an instinctive move purely intended to keep from face planting on high-speed rubber, with little actual athleticism involved. Okay, not a drop of it, but if she could keep pace long enough to get her balance, she could relax the death grip of just one of her hands and smack-press, she meant press-the electronic panel of buttons on this very-very-expensive piece of leased equipment. At which point her ill-advised, unfortunate little adventure would end well.

Or at least without the local EMTs being called. Or a lengthy hospital stay. She was way too busy for stitches.

"Yeah," she gasped. "Piece of cake." She managed a smirk at the irony of that particular phrase, but quickly turned to full panic mode as she realized she wasn't exactly gaining ground. Rapidly losing it, in fact, along with what little breath she had. "Crap, crap, crap," she panted in rhythm with her running steps. It had only been a few minutes-three minutes and forty-four seconds, according to the oh-so-helpful digital display-and she was already perspiring. Okay, okay, sweating. She just wasn't sure if it was from the actual exertion, or the abject anxiety that she wasn't going to get out of this latest catastrophe in one piece.

Where were those big, strong Steinway delivery men when you needed them, anyway? Surely they could race right in and save her, in blazingly heroic, stud monkey fashion. She'd let them, too. Just because she prided herself on her total I-Am-Woman independence thing A.J. (After Jeremy) didn't mean she wasn't above a little Rapunzel fantasy now and again.

She'd been awaiting delivery of the elegant baby grand for over an hour. So, technically, it was all their fault. The baby grand in question was the final component, and the piece de re-sistance, of this particular staging event. With every other remaining detail attended to, she'd foolishly given in to the urge to run a test check-all right, play-with some of the toys she'd had installed. Once again, she had managed to get herself into a bit of a pickle.

Enough with the food analogies, Riles. Eight minutes, twenty-three seconds. At a dead run. The only way she could have ever pulled that off was if she were being chased by zombies. With machetes. And the world as she knew it would end if she didn't get to the edge of the dark, scary forest in time.

Instead, all she had her mastiff and his baleful stare. Not exactly adrenaline inducing.

Ten minutes, thirteen seconds. She was well past sweating and deep into red-faced overexertion. She glared back at Brutus, who kept faithful watch, but otherwise appeared unconcerned with his mistress's current distress. "No gravy on your kibble tonight," she called out. Well, in her mind, she called out. She was so winded it was all she could do to think the words. But her expression hopefully conveyed the message to her mutant, one hundred fifty pound mastiff.

He looked completely unmoved by her menacing glare. He knew she was a pushover. She'd taken him in as a rescue, hadn't she?