Test Batch: Raspberry-filled chocolate cupcakes

This batch was a test batch (nothing wrong with those!). One of my friends wants to have this flavor of cupcakes for her birthday (next Tuesday) so when I found the recipe my quality tester said I should make a test batch; luckily I did. The recipe is a chocolate-coffee based that “makes 24-28 cupcakes”.

When I did the batch, I came up with: 24 regular and 36 mini!!! Everything ended up being made from scratch! (Even the pureeing of the raspberry filling!)

The recipe I used was taken from: http://annies-eats.net/2010/07/07/double-chocolate-raspberry-cupcakes/

I used Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” frosting instead of theirs though. But for next batch, I’ll use the Hershey’s chocolate recipe (moister than this one—even though this one wasn’t dry).

Halo Theme Birthday Cake

Every now and then I do a cake instead of cupcakes—this is ok for me! So this time around I was asked by my first paying client to create a Halo themed cupcake for her son’s 12^th birthday!  So not being a player myself, I began researching photos and ideas. I came across a fondant version of “Master Chief” with his gun pointing it at the “Happy Birthday”. Volia! I found my idea!

Now I’m not the best with fondant right now so I decided an alternative route: my almond bark and candy wafers you melt down and mold into what ever you desire. I drew the master chief (and did pretty well for just looking at the inspired design) and taped wax paper over it, melted the candy wafers and chocolate into separate bags and began creating. I started outlining first; to achieve this properly, the tinier the slit at the corner of your bag, the finer the line. As I worked my way through the character, I filled in the shapes. When I was finished, I did a tiny bit of white almond bark for the gun and mask. His mask is yellow and I got creative and did yellow nerds over the white. After I was done I set him in the fridge.

Now the cake flavor was yellow and I used the white whipped frosting. The background was going to be black with a sun (like on the cover of the Halo Reach game). The coloring of the sun worked out great; the black turned out purple. So I had to rush out and buy some already black frosting in a tube. It worked and did its job thankfully! After doing the background, I placed Master Chief on top and wrote in the appropriate wording. It was a success and looked awesome!

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!

We are all out there: the comic book/character nerds! So when I say this, there are popular characters that enter your mind: Superman, Flash, Hulk, X-men, and of course BATMAN! What is it about these characters that we grew to love them so much? The costume? The name? The story behind them? Their super powers? Well all these are a yes. But one superhero in particular has no super powers; just an AWESOME suit and AWESOME vehicles! It is the one the only, our Dark Knight Batman a. k. a. Bruce Wayne. We know him originally from the DC comic book series; along with is sidekick Robin and popular villains such as: Riddler, Two-face, Joker and Harleyquinn, and Penguin.  Then the popular TV series came with Adam West as our beloved hero. And beginning in the 1980’s, they began creating a series of movies about Batman and his encounters with his villains. It was these first few movies that helped a fan come about…

Ironically, his fan’s birthday was approaching and I have wanted to do a comic book hero cupcake theme for awhile; opportunity struck! This fan just happened to have a favorite quote by Batman: "It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” I have to agree with the quote and the power of it. It truly describes Batman and how he was.

My stencil-I apologize for the picture
out of focus; I didn't use my normal camera.

This  theme was slightly a challenge: 1. Not a frosting fan 2. I’m not a pre-cut picture fan (These are those plastic photo decals you commonly see in cupcakes at your local grocery store. Easy: yes Fun: maybe Unique: NO) So as I was thinking of how to go about this, I remember a stencil idea from the book! So basically I cut out the batman logo out of wax paper and reinforced it with masking tape. The measurement was the diameter of the cupcakes. I used the Hershey’s chocolate recipe (honestly it’s moist EVERYTIME and it’s always a hit!) and a silver foil lining (I would have used either blue or yellow to go with the Batman color theme but was unable to obtain any).

 After the cupcakes had cooled, I placed the stencil over a cupcake (which was on a cookie sheet because things were about to get messy!), and sprinkled powdered sugar over and around the stencil. It’s important that the cupcakes are cooled so that the sugar doesn’t disappear and that the stencil doesn’t stick to them. Also, make sure the tips of the ears and wings are down so no room is under them or the stencil won’t work properly. And VOLIA! I created Batman cupcakes!

Nautical Theme for a Bachelorette Party

So I love doing themed cupcakes! And I have already done a beach/summer themed one true, but I did a nautical theme this time around! The theme was created for a Bachelorette Party for the Bride’s “Last Sail”; and we (her invited guests) were the BridesMATEs! (How fun huh?) The designs followed the patterns for the favors at the party:

"M" over a heart (the "M" represented the last name she was taking)

Sailboats and Goldfishes (we ate those like crazy during our game session)

Anchors

The flavor was going to be unique…like the bride! I had to discuss with her what her favorite flavors were for any type of desserts (because as I recently discovered, ANY flavor could become a cupcake!). After much debate and talk, we decided to make her: Caramel Frappachino flavored! (She’s kind of a starbucks addict! J) They were a success ( I personally found them a tad bit dry) but I didn’t instant coffee like the recipe said. I’ll have to try that for next time.

Bon Voyage to Singlehood! (Bride in the middle)