Bridal Shower Cupcake Order.. you want how many?!

Two weeks! It's been that long since I've blogged, shame shame. I have been having fun and keeping busy. First was JoAnna's bachelorette weekend in Guerneville, which was fabulous in so many ways. Then it was back to work.. boo.

Mid week I did a test run of lemon cupcakes for my upcoming order, and didn't have time to blog. They came out okay, but the frosting was questionable. I used a Berenbaum recipe that is naturally yellow due to the use of egg yolks. The process is a little involved, but not worse than swiss meringue buttercream. And the results are equally silky smooth and melt in your mouth delicious. But the butter ratio is so incredibly off. It tasted like lemon butter. Everyone seemed to like them but I did have a couple comments about them being super buttery. Which is what test runs are for! I made note to use 1/3 less butter next time.

So I felt super prepared for my upcoming cupcake order of 108 mini cupcakes for a bridal shower:
-2 dozen red velvet w/ cream cheese
-1.5 dozen chocolate w/ peanut butter frosting
-2 dozen chocolate w/ vanilla buttercream
-2 dozen vanilla w/ milk chocolate buttercream
-1.5 dozen lemon w/ lemon buttercream

THEN the week before the order was due, the lady came back to me saying her friend wanted a dozen of each flavor she ordered, adding 60 cupcakes to the order! 168 cupcakes! Whoah no!!!

I sucked it up.. it was all I could do. I told myself I can bake 48 at a time, no biggie. Saturday night I began the baking marathon that needed to be completed by noon the next day when the lady would come pick them up. I started with the chocolate and red velvet, because I know they keep longer. Mid baking, I had a slight kitchen catastrophe w/ my chocolate mixture I was cooling in the freezer. The bowl hit the edge of the freezer on the way out and it flew out of my hand, sending liquid chocolate everywhere. I was sad and frustrated, but of course, I am me, so I started to panic. Why? Oh, not because I had a huge mess to clean up, or because I had to remake the chocolate mixture. No.. I panicked because it looked like a scene out of Dexter, only with chocolate. I felt like a serial baker trying to get the chocolate out of every crevice and worried that Brad would find the evidence and analyze the spatter patterns when I got home. It was ridiculous. Colleen=spaz.

After the Dexter scene, I was super tired and decided only to make the cream cheese frosting. I made way too much so I had extra. I went to bed with 78/168 cupcakes baked, and only 36 out of those frosted. Bad plan.

Woke up at 6:30 the next morning and began baking again. Everything went to plan but time was running out, and fast. I scrambled to get all the frostings done, washed the same dishes about a million times, and at 11:27, I went into crackhead mode. Like those bakers on Food Network's Challenge show.. I just cranked it out. The decorations came out less than desirable, but still cute, I think. I only got a few shots of the cupcakes because there was literally no time. I threw all the dirty dishes in our god-sent second kitchen sink in the wash room, wiped down the counters, tidied up the living room, threw on a pair of jeans and a clean top, put eyeliner on, and combed my hair (had been wearing booty shorts, a tank, and an apron all morning). I was seriously running in my own house trying to get everything done. Oh yeah and it was 90 degrees out.

The lady showed up right on time at 12 noon, looking super polished and ready for the Bridal Shower she was hosting. She said the cupcakes were cute but she had a confession to make about her friend. I started to freak out inside... WHAT could it BE!!!!!!!! She told me her friend meant to only order 1 dozen, with a few of each flavor. Lady misinterpreted but didn't want to tell me last minute, so she let me bake the extra 48 and she would pay for them. I sighed in relief and actually thought it was kind of funny. That poor friend probably thought we were all going around thinking she was some kind of glutton who could down 60 cupcakes on her own.

Overall, I am really happy with how everything turned out. Next time I'll make the frostings ahead of time, because they keep for longer. I will still bake the morning of, especially for minis because they dry out super fast. I had some sitting in my cupboard and they were all dried up by last night. Might have helped if I covered them.. but still. Nobody wants a day old cupcake. We want moist!!! And moist we shall get.

red velvet and lemon:

vanilla w/ milk chocolate buttercream:

chocolate w/ peanut butter and chocolate w/ vanilla: