In the Mood for Pink !

There are too many to be celebrated as the spring lazily crawls in to the city of Toronto. I feel like the fresh air of change the spring brings is a bit overwhelming. From the beds of white snow to the beds of lush green dotted everywhere with dandelions. From the head-to-toe wrapped walking people to the glowing skins proudly shown off by those same people. And most of all, the shift of our moods... in foods, colours, themes, spirits, and much more!

Lately I've been in the mood for the color pink :) The "me" who usually undermine pink as too girly and mushy, suddenly fall for this cheerful, heartwarming color. I haven't completely altered my favorite color from blue to pink though. The pink that I love the most are the ones that adorn the budding spring trees, in the park, in the woods, along the streets. Have you any idea what I'm talking about?

Crabapple trees and cherry blossoms to mention a couple.

Crabapple Flowers

Budding Cherry Blossoms

Beautiful blooms of Cherry Blossoms (Sakura)

They are so lovely and I'm attracted to them like bees are attracted to their fragrant nectars. This became literal when I suddenly decided to go by myself to a park where these crabapple trees flourish. When I arrived at the park called "Frank Faubert Woods", I was instantly awed by their prettiness. And it was a wonderful, refreshing park too, perfect for some daydreaming :p

After doing some research, I found out that there are quite a variety of crabapple trees, bearing fruits that range from green to red. As I've mentioned before, the flowers of these trees very much attracts lovely spring birds and insects such as hummingbird and honeybees. In fact, the red fruits that resemble currants are really high in pectin and very much suitable for making jelly and jam.

When I first saw these gorgeous trees, I was only attracted with its beauty. I didn't expect to find such multi-purpose tree :)

In this very same underrepresented part of GTA called Scarborough, there lies a healthy bunch of first-bloomed cherry blossoms. They are planted right in front of the Management Wing in U of T Scarborough Campus as a goodwill between Canadian and Japanese ambassadors. Their flowers are really pretty and this is the first time I've even seen cherry blossoms live!

To pair up this mood for pink, of course I tried creating a food filled with the spirits of pink. This carrot cupcake with pink and yellow icing is what I came up with. Well, you be the judge whether they compliment the spring.

This recipe can be found at Joy of Baking. However, I halved the recipe to serve the lesser crowd. Also, since I ran out of red food coloring, I decided to color the cream cheese frosting with strawberry jam. Although it did not really bring out the vibrant pink that I wanted, the icing spreads beautifully and still harden after cooling.

In my opinion, this is the perfect carrot cupcake! So moist, light, and not too dense! They are great for breakfast as they give you a very nutritious kick to start your day. In the halved recipe, I needed 5 small carrots that yielded into 9 medium cupcakes. Isn't that healthy? :)

Happy spring! And go outside more to enjoy the beautiful scenery offered by this wonderful season :)

Frank Faubert Woods