Sunday, December 6, 2009

The Fanciest Cupcakes I've Ever Tasted

This weekend, I was overjoyed to attend a Cupcake Tasting at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common, with some of my very best friends. We sampled some of the most delicious cupcakes ever while sipping tea, marveling at the beautiful holiday decorations, and listening to Christmas songs being played on a grand piano right there in the restaurant.


From bottom left to top right: New England Caramel Apple, Boston Cream Pie, Chocolate Peppermint Patty-Cake (which was my favorite!), Eggnog, and Gingerbread Spice.



It was absolutely fabulous, and I'm so grateful for all the girls who attended.

For Birthday Girl, Julia!

Autumn turned busy very quickly!
Thankfully, there's always time for cupcakes :)

In November, I had the privilege of making birthday cupcakes for
my friend Lauren's daughter, Julia.
The theme: pink teddy bears!

Vanilla cakes with strawberry frosting.
I made the little teddy bears with a candy mold.

Lauren sent me the following pictures...
I'm so glad the girls (and the Birthday Girl, especially) enjoyed the cakes!








Wishing Julia a very, very sweet year :)

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Ahh, Autumn!

It has been a busy couple of months! Thankfully, I've been able to slow down on this rainy Saturday afternoon, relax in my pajamas, and bake some autumn-inspired cupcakes! Ahhh, autumn!


This morning, I made pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream-cheese frosting. I'm especially proud of myself because these cakes are HOMEMADE and FROM SCRATCH!
I'm sorry, friends, but I have to admit that sometimes I use a cake mix or a can of frosting when I'm pressed for time. It's ghastly, I know.
But not today! Today, I woke up at 7:30am to prep! I measured out every teaspoon of nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon, and ginger that this recipe required! I messily spooned pumpkin puree into measuring cups! I felt like a chemist, adding the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together, and then carefully adding eggs and then the buttermilk and vanilla extract -- just a little bit at a time -- until the batter was the perfect consistency. Then, as the cakes were cookin', I whipped up the frosting with cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, and maple syrup. Sticky sweet and scrumptious!

I'm pretty proud of these cakes. They came out delicious, and my family really enjoyed them. Also, I made them without a stand mixer! I beat and whisked these cakes together with my little, ol' electric hand-mixer and my own brute strength!!! A real labor of love!

Here's wishing I could share the aroma of these little treats with you, too!

Why, yes, I'm bilingual...

Uno

Dos

Tres

A little experiment...

For Crisp's birthday at the end of August, I decided to experiment with FONDANT!

I'd never tried to cover a cake, or decorate, with fondant before. I hadn't even touched the stuff, or read much about it. Everything that I know about fondant, I've learned from watching cake shows on TV: Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Amazing Wedding Cakes, Ultimate Cake Off, etc.

Since I'm such a novice, I bought pre-made fondant, made by Wilton. I spent almost an hour reading the included instructions. Then, I whipped up a cake, got out my rolling pin, and commenced in making a HUGE mess in the kitchen AND dining room...




Here is the end result:

Not bad for a first-timer, right?! :)

Friday, July 17, 2009

Cookout Cakes


My aunt Heleena is having a big 50th birthday party cookout
in Maine this weekend.


I thought that these little cheeseburger cupcakes would be
a perfect treat to bring along!



They were so fun to make, and I think they are pretty cute!



They consist of vanilla cupcake "buns,"
brownie "patties,"
red, yellow, and green icing as the condiments and lettuce,
and sesame seeds on top!



I got the idea from Bakerella.



On the side? Sugar cookie fries!



Hopefully, this "happy meal" will make for a happy birthday for my aunt!

Monday, July 13, 2009

In Celebration of...

...a day off from work!
What better to do on a random, lovely Monday when you don't have to go to work?
Make a cake!
Specifically, a vanilla cake with milk chocolate frosting and strawberry icing:

I could use a little more practice with my decorative icing...
but it's still a cute li'l cake, right? :P

 
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