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) 



German Chocolate Butter-Pecan filled!

So for my boyfriend of 3 years bday I wanted to make him cupcakes! And before I get too ahead of myself, let me just say that I have found an AWESOME recipe site for the idea opening of: “If it can be a dessert or drink flavor, then it can be a cupcake flavor!” Here is the site:

http://annies-eats.net/category/dessert/cupcakes/

http://annies-eats.net/2010/07/07/double-chocolate-raspberry-cupcakes/

So looking through the recipes of this site, my boyfriend, Adam, wanted German chocolate cupcakes. I have never made that recipe (homemade anyways) and my goodness it was a fun challenge. SO much butter was used (including frosting and filling-3.5 sticks!). The filling was a butter-pecan base (original recipe calls for pecan and coconut but he didn’t want coconut), and the frosting was yummy (which turned out more like icing, was RICH in flavor)! I only did about half of the cupcakes with filling and here are some pictures on how it was done:

And prior to decorating them, I have found a cupcake stand idea via www.pinterest.com on how to make a stand from stove top burner covers and a candle stick! So here is how it would look glued together with regular and mini-cupcakes!

The cupcakes are REALLY REALLY rich in chocolate and the filling was yummy-I have a good amount leftover so I’m thinking… pecan pie filling?

All the cats and chicks can get their kicks at the hop!

So we all love those themed-parties! And of course there are cupcakes that go with them! I have a friend whose work is throwing a 50’s style themed-party. They wanted me to create 50’s style cupcakes: 2 cute, but simple designs. We came up with these:

“Shakes” and “Rock n Roll notes”

The shakes are chocolate flavored in foil liners (to go with the glass look), whipped frosting, a cherry on top and a pretzel stick for the “straw”.





The rock n roll notes are just your basic spread style of bright pink frosting (bright pink and bright turquoise were popular colors at the diner back then.) with black colored frosting, and mini-Oreos for the note part.

We were going to try the Oreos as records but they just didn’t turn out right. Now you can also use almond bark to create guitars (and red licorice for the strings), “cat-eyes” style sunglasses, poodle skirts, etc. You can display them on a checkered-style fabric too. Show me your ideas if you develop any!

Lions and Tigers and Wolves OH MY!

I have been longing to do animal themed cupcakes and finally my chance came when my creativity class decided to visit The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keensburg, CO. This place is exactly as said: a COMPLETELY non-profited organization wild animal sanctuary. More great info (and how you fellow animal-lovers can help) is here: www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/

I decided to create wild animal themed cupcakes! I did my Hershey’s chocolate recipe and a vanilla recipe from the book. (I suggest less flour and add French vanilla pudding mix-non prepared next time). I also have discovered that being in a higher elevation; I have to cook my cupcakes less than the time-suggested.

 I got the animals from what my fellow classmates’ favorite animals: Hippo, Jaguar, Lion, Tiger, and Wolf. 

Hippo: Purple frosting and purple colored almond bark with nerd for the ears, eyes, and nostrils poking their head out of the water.

Jaguar: Yellow frosting, spots (left over from the hippos), almond bark (or white frosting) mouth with heart runt nose, pink triangle formed starburst ears, and orange runt eyes.

Lion: Yellow frosting, orange hair, using a ziplock bag and “hair technique”, heart shaped nose, nerd eyes and orange runt ears.

Tiger: “teal” colored almond bark (not suggested again-texture didn’t turn out right), orange face, m&m ears, runt eyes and nose, and black swirls for stripes.

Wolf: My friend wanted green wolves, so using the idea from the book, I took a mini-cupcake and placed it on top of a regular cupcake (upside down and cut a “V” shape out of the middle to form the mouth (you can do cone shape for more of a “howl” mouth). I used starburst for the ears (shape) and inside of mouth. Then I did the “grass” technique and started from the outside and worked my way up the cupcake. After that, I used white frosting (same technique) for the teeth, and nerds for the eyes and nostrils.

These turned out awesome but I know with time they can improve and look even more professional! J

Breakfast Cupcakes--1st set

I’m currently taking a class about managing and finding my creativity. I told the class about my cupcakes (and this blog of course) and they are more than happy for me to bring cupcakes to class! I was so excited to hear this that I brought breakfast themed cupcakes (and received extra credit too)! I found the recipe through this site (therefore giving them credit for the recipe):

http://weelicious.com/2010/08/11/breakfast-cupcakes/  I read comments on what others did and I added more peanut butter than requested (and some reviews I received said I should add chocolate chips next time). They turned out amazing! Coming out of the oven they smelled and kind of looked like Peanut Butter cookies! The frosting I used was a Wilton brand with Nutella mixed in. I would like to add more Nutella next time. (Nutella is a hazelnut spread with skim milk and coca-all natural and super yummy!) Then I topped them with French vanilla flavored granola. They were definitely a success. I saved a few from the batch because one of my quality testers wants to create a Bavarian cream one with a chocolate glaze on top-genius!

CUPCAKE STORE ITEMS UPDATE:

I discovered more items to have in my future store: 2 more cupcake holder designs, a cupcake decorated reusable bag, a cupcake cup, and some cupcake themed sandwiches bags! Please feel free to comment if you find anymore great item ideas.

Take me out to the ball game. . .

 Every year for the past 3, I attended the Colorado Rockies game. (And so far they have won all the games I attended so it was worth it.)

This year was also my first year to not only enjoy the game, but to have a drink as well! So I was also thinking that prior to the game, why not make some cupcakes themed to this?! I made my Hershey’s chocolate ones. I used purple colored frosting with a swirl, and created “CR” and baseballs to top the cupcakes off with. I created these with the white almond bark, melted it down in a zip lock bag, tiny snip off the corner, and drew circles and filled them in for the baseballs. I cut up the red twizzlers and put them in there for the red stitching. Then I drew up the “CR” to represent the Rockies logo. 

Overall, these turned out amazing! Plus, I bought a new frosting tool that is much easier and less messy (which will work for the big jobs!) O and I almost forgot to mention: I have officially begun obtaining things for my future cupcake store! These are it: a “Sweet Treats” display tray, and a cupcake holder (which will be great for retail merchandise).

Knee Deep in the Water Somewhere

So this would be a great idea for beach party, summer themes, or anyone who loves the beach and is having a beach-themed birthday party.

BEACH-THEMED cupcakes!

I only did a few ideas (only had 8 cupcakes to work with). The flavors are the same as the previous post and the frosting is the same too (even same color!) This idea came out of the book and they had a “shark” beach theme. I didn’t have Twinkies so I’ll have to make sharks later.

What I did instead was a life preservative, floater with fishes, palm trees, a lawn chair and the sun.  The L.P. was airhead stretched out into a circle and twizzlers red stripes on it. Floaters were 2 starbursts molded into the “gumdrop” shape (book originally used gumdrops for floaters and mini-doughnuts for LP) and then a pretzel stick slowly pushed through them. The fishes were random runt’s candies because I didn’t have either the gummy fishes or goldfishes. The palm trees are pretzels and green twizzlers with orange runt coconuts. The sand is the ritz crackers again. The lawn chair is pretzels and a blue airhead. The sun is airhead and banana runts (some say it could be an octopus).