I'm going to do this to this.
Super excited for a new challenge. I don't expect to win, but I do expect to learn a lot. Just to compete with some real talent out there is reason enough to enter!
Oh, and Wilful and I are going to have a facebake-off with Caramel Cake, inspired by my favorite book, The Help. Wil read the book and loved it to, and wanted Caramel Cake just as much as I did after reading it. If you have read the book, you'll know why we're obsessed with this cake! Read it!
Monch.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Time Management
These past couple of weeks have flown by. That said, I have to remind myself that time always moves at the same pace. Life is what speeds up and slows down. So, as life happened at lightening speed, I realized I needed to get a better grip on my time management skills.
First there was JoAnna's wedding. I offered to make mini cupcakes for her rehearsal dinner. I asked that we keep it to two flavors, considering the guest count was roughly 35 and I could bake two sets of 48 cupcakes with relative ease. JoAnna loved the idea, but had one condition: no chocolate. Arg. First off, I like chocolate, it's the best. Second, it keeps longer, which means I can make it the day before. I just have a hard time making white and yellow cakes the day before because I know how much they dry out; they're still delicious, but I know in my heart they tasted better yesterday. But, the bride wants what the bride wants and I didn't object. She decided on lemon cake w/ raspberry buttercream, and coconut cake w/ coconut cream cheese garnished with sweetened coconut , and I decided I would make them the day before anyway. Self-rebellion feels so good sometimes.
The night before the rehearsal, she and Sara came over to finish up wedding favors while I baked. They showed up at about 6pm, but before we could get to work, we had to pick up all the booze for the wedding. Then we had to go to Safeway to get what they didn't have at Costco. It took much longer than expected. We got home around 8:30 and I realized I had no mini baking cups. So all I could do was make the buttercream and cream cheese frostings, and as I watched the girls make favors, I concluded I was not in the mood to do anything crafty with paper and bows and candy, so I had a stroke of genius and toasted a bunch of coconut for garnish on the mini coconut cupcakes. Originally I was just going to use regular old coconut, but as the smell filled the house with warm happiness, I knew I made the right last minute choice.
The day of the rehearsal, I made all the cupcakes. I kept running out of things and can't remember what, but it was a race to the finish. I ran to meet the bride and groom for a mani/pedi, and barely made it back in time to curl my hair and put on makeup. I really wanted to find a cute new dress to wear but there was no time, NONE! Everybody seemed to be running behind that day. Sara and I showed up late to the rehearsal, and the bride and groom even later.
Finally it was time for dinner and I got to show off my mini cupcakes. Everybody loved them, especially the coconut. But unfortunately, I was so rushed, I did not even get a chance to take a photo, and neither did anybody else. Tear.
JoAnna's wedding coming and going was so bittersweet. I had so much fun helping her with her plans, throwing parties and doing girly things with my best friends. But I also felt relieved to have life go back to normal, slow down, and have time to enjoy the things I missed, such as gardening, lazy Saturdays and going to the beach.
Then I realized Deema's shower was coming up, and I committed to making the cake.. the weekend after JoAnna's wedding! Ah! I was excited to do it, but just a little burnt out. I thought I had the wedding stuff behind me, ha.
Deema never expected me to bake and thanked me a million times over for even agreeing to do it. She is one of my biggest fans and I love her and baking so much, baking her shower cake could never feel like a chore. It was just the lack of time and energy on my end that slowed me down.
Once again I spent a Friday night in baking. Which is not a problem, in fact, it's amazing, but friends just sometimes don't get it.. oh well. I had Ashley over for dinner that night. We talked until about 9 and I was like, ah, I have to bake! She was excited to watch. I busted out my square pan for the first time evar. Guest count was 25 so I went for a 12" pan. I didn't really know what I was doing, but hoped that one recipe of white cake would do the job for one 12" layer. It ended up being fine, although just a little short- each layer was 1" which meant I'd have a 3" cake. I made note to learn pan size to batter ratio better- really need to work on getting a 4" tall cake!!
By the time I was done with the first layer and cleaning up, it was 11pm. I had an early morning so I opted to go to bed. I started baking again at 9am. I didn't have a square cake board, anything to put it in for carrying, or even a gift for Deema. I don't know what I was thinking. I baked the second layer, made the strawberry buttercream, chopped up some fresh strawberries for the filling, and ran out of the house to pick up the things I needed. I got back home at 12 and the shower was set to start in an hour. ACK!!! I cut the board, frosted the first layer, made a "stabilized" whip cream for the filling, threw on the strawberries, added the second layer, whipped out a crumb coat, and threw the cake in the fridge to harden a bit while I did my hair and makeup. Came back to work on the cake and I was completely flustered. I had 10 minutes until the party started and the damn corners of the cake would not stay frosted. The bar stool was in my way so I shoved it as hard as I could and it hit the wall slightly. Brad began telling Jeepers and Fiona that "Mean Colleen" was here and to watch out. Looking back it was funny but I had to use all my mental strength to ignore him while I struggled. He reminded me that this happens a lot- me frosting at the 11th hour, which of course only made me more upset. But I'm glad he pointed it out because it is true and something I definitely need to work on. Baking is not much fun when you're in a rush.
Due to the lack of time, the decor came out elementary. I'd say I'm embarrassed but that wouldn't help anything. However, please note the pointy umbrella, funky short sleeved wedding gown, sad little gifts, and size 18 ring. They are pretty hilarious.
In the end, I produced a square foot of delicious white cake w/ whipped cream and fresh strawberries frosted with a supreme strawberry buttercream, decorated to unperfection. I'm still happy because this really was about the process... and boy did I learn! As we cut into the cake at the shower, we all discovered that stabilized whip cream is quite the opposite of stable. The layers split apart so it looked like each person had two slices of cake, haha! This is the second time Rose Levy Berenbaum has failed me, so she gets only one more chance before I sell her book on Amazon.
With weddings officially behind me, and a lack of enthusiasm for the next Iron Cupcake (alcohol theme), I have so many options for my next baking adventure! I'd like to work more on the square cakes and really study the steps of baking so I can plan better for my next event.
First there was JoAnna's wedding. I offered to make mini cupcakes for her rehearsal dinner. I asked that we keep it to two flavors, considering the guest count was roughly 35 and I could bake two sets of 48 cupcakes with relative ease. JoAnna loved the idea, but had one condition: no chocolate. Arg. First off, I like chocolate, it's the best. Second, it keeps longer, which means I can make it the day before. I just have a hard time making white and yellow cakes the day before because I know how much they dry out; they're still delicious, but I know in my heart they tasted better yesterday. But, the bride wants what the bride wants and I didn't object. She decided on lemon cake w/ raspberry buttercream, and coconut cake w/ coconut cream cheese garnished with sweetened coconut , and I decided I would make them the day before anyway. Self-rebellion feels so good sometimes.
The night before the rehearsal, she and Sara came over to finish up wedding favors while I baked. They showed up at about 6pm, but before we could get to work, we had to pick up all the booze for the wedding. Then we had to go to Safeway to get what they didn't have at Costco. It took much longer than expected. We got home around 8:30 and I realized I had no mini baking cups. So all I could do was make the buttercream and cream cheese frostings, and as I watched the girls make favors, I concluded I was not in the mood to do anything crafty with paper and bows and candy, so I had a stroke of genius and toasted a bunch of coconut for garnish on the mini coconut cupcakes. Originally I was just going to use regular old coconut, but as the smell filled the house with warm happiness, I knew I made the right last minute choice.
The day of the rehearsal, I made all the cupcakes. I kept running out of things and can't remember what, but it was a race to the finish. I ran to meet the bride and groom for a mani/pedi, and barely made it back in time to curl my hair and put on makeup. I really wanted to find a cute new dress to wear but there was no time, NONE! Everybody seemed to be running behind that day. Sara and I showed up late to the rehearsal, and the bride and groom even later.
Finally it was time for dinner and I got to show off my mini cupcakes. Everybody loved them, especially the coconut. But unfortunately, I was so rushed, I did not even get a chance to take a photo, and neither did anybody else. Tear.
JoAnna's wedding coming and going was so bittersweet. I had so much fun helping her with her plans, throwing parties and doing girly things with my best friends. But I also felt relieved to have life go back to normal, slow down, and have time to enjoy the things I missed, such as gardening, lazy Saturdays and going to the beach.
Then I realized Deema's shower was coming up, and I committed to making the cake.. the weekend after JoAnna's wedding! Ah! I was excited to do it, but just a little burnt out. I thought I had the wedding stuff behind me, ha.
Deema never expected me to bake and thanked me a million times over for even agreeing to do it. She is one of my biggest fans and I love her and baking so much, baking her shower cake could never feel like a chore. It was just the lack of time and energy on my end that slowed me down.
Once again I spent a Friday night in baking. Which is not a problem, in fact, it's amazing, but friends just sometimes don't get it.. oh well. I had Ashley over for dinner that night. We talked until about 9 and I was like, ah, I have to bake! She was excited to watch. I busted out my square pan for the first time evar. Guest count was 25 so I went for a 12" pan. I didn't really know what I was doing, but hoped that one recipe of white cake would do the job for one 12" layer. It ended up being fine, although just a little short- each layer was 1" which meant I'd have a 3" cake. I made note to learn pan size to batter ratio better- really need to work on getting a 4" tall cake!!
By the time I was done with the first layer and cleaning up, it was 11pm. I had an early morning so I opted to go to bed. I started baking again at 9am. I didn't have a square cake board, anything to put it in for carrying, or even a gift for Deema. I don't know what I was thinking. I baked the second layer, made the strawberry buttercream, chopped up some fresh strawberries for the filling, and ran out of the house to pick up the things I needed. I got back home at 12 and the shower was set to start in an hour. ACK!!! I cut the board, frosted the first layer, made a "stabilized" whip cream for the filling, threw on the strawberries, added the second layer, whipped out a crumb coat, and threw the cake in the fridge to harden a bit while I did my hair and makeup. Came back to work on the cake and I was completely flustered. I had 10 minutes until the party started and the damn corners of the cake would not stay frosted. The bar stool was in my way so I shoved it as hard as I could and it hit the wall slightly. Brad began telling Jeepers and Fiona that "Mean Colleen" was here and to watch out. Looking back it was funny but I had to use all my mental strength to ignore him while I struggled. He reminded me that this happens a lot- me frosting at the 11th hour, which of course only made me more upset. But I'm glad he pointed it out because it is true and something I definitely need to work on. Baking is not much fun when you're in a rush.
Due to the lack of time, the decor came out elementary. I'd say I'm embarrassed but that wouldn't help anything. However, please note the pointy umbrella, funky short sleeved wedding gown, sad little gifts, and size 18 ring. They are pretty hilarious.
In the end, I produced a square foot of delicious white cake w/ whipped cream and fresh strawberries frosted with a supreme strawberry buttercream, decorated to unperfection. I'm still happy because this really was about the process... and boy did I learn! As we cut into the cake at the shower, we all discovered that stabilized whip cream is quite the opposite of stable. The layers split apart so it looked like each person had two slices of cake, haha! This is the second time Rose Levy Berenbaum has failed me, so she gets only one more chance before I sell her book on Amazon.
With weddings officially behind me, and a lack of enthusiasm for the next Iron Cupcake (alcohol theme), I have so many options for my next baking adventure! I'd like to work more on the square cakes and really study the steps of baking so I can plan better for my next event.
a square foot of cake:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
1st Place!!!!!!!!!!!
It finally happened! I won first place at Iron Cupcake! Challenge: Berries!
The win meant a lot to me because raspberry happens to be my favorite fruit, and the cupcake I made is my personal favorite cake/buttercream/filling combination. Okay, my favorite homemade cake.. I still love funfetti just as much :)
It's no secret that my favorite thing is chocolate and raspberry. I don't know when I discovered this, but I do know I fell in love with Brad our first Valentine's day together when he presented me with an entire pound of See's chocolate raspberry truffles and buttercreams. I ate the entire thing on my own. Suddenly I knew what people meant.. love hurts.
The cake I used for this challenge is a modified chocolate cake recipe I found deep in the interwebs, perfected after several fails in California, and one in the land of enchantment (high altitude). Willful, please do email me for what I believe is the final edition of that chocolate cake. The buttercream is your basic swiss meringue with my own special method of adding raspberry. First I need to add that, yes, swiss meringue is wonderful, but no, it's not always the best choice or more sophisticated. I find it to be a great topping for certain cupcakes but definitely not all. This cupcake, however, cries for it. I think the raspberry takes to it so well because the lack of sweetness in the buttercream allows that special tang we all know and love about raspberries to really shine through. The final component I used was a raspberry filling. The raspberry filling I use is just plain amazing, in my biased opinion. It's basic as can be, but also my secret weapon so I cannot share the recipe, just know it is the punchiest of all punches and will knock you out. Willful probably has the recipe though.. roomies share everything! Except lime green holey tongas...
Anyway, I never attempted this combo in a cupcake before, only in cakes. I tested out my plan on Deema's birthday and it came out so well, I decided not to change anything for Iron Cupcake. I think what really helped was my executive decision to use the raspberry filling in a way most people don't in this competition. Instead of coring out the already miniature cupcake and filling it, I skipped that. Why? Because these cupcakes are shared between four people (blasphemy!) and reducing the amount of cake by that much can really put you in a bad situation when it comes judging time. A lot of judges focus on the cake flavor and if it's not there.. good luck. So instead, I made a dam of buttercream around the edge of the cupcake and filled it with a pool of raspberry filling, then piped more buttercream on top to cover the pool. I toped each one with 1/2 of a raspberry and piped a little green leaf next to it.
At Leland, JoAnna and I had to come up with a name for my little squirts, and it was not easy.
Me: I wanted to name them "Devil's Lady" but they're too cute for that
JoAnna: Yeah they're so tea-cakey
Me: Yeah, I was thinking, "summer at grandma's"
JoAnna: that sounds like torture
Me: HAHA. Okay, "if the devil had a baby..."
JoAnna: What's your obsession with the devil!?! oh, god.. because it's devil's food..
Me: (defeated) oh.. yeah (hysterically laughing) that's embarrassing!
JoAnna: Tea with the Queen?
Me: What does that have to do with berries?
JoAnna: Oh! Queen of Hearts, because the middle is raspberry!
Me: Done.
There were 15 contestants and only a couple of stand outs. I liked one that was peanut butter and jelly; even though the use of berries was questionable, it was still pretty good. I also really liked a strawberry margarita cupcake that was super cute with big sugar crystals sprinkled on top to look like salt. Two people made mini cheesecakes, which I didn't really understand because I was under the impression we were making cupcakes. They were both delicious, but also a stretch. My friends and I joked that for the next competition (alcohol), whoever it is that likes to push the envelope would probably make a jello shot. HA!
Winner announcements came and 3rd place went to a cheesecake maker, second place & most creative to the fabooo strawberry margarita, and first place to me! The announcer got my first name out and suddenly I felt a breeze as loud guttural screams were flying in my direction from the mouths of Brooke, Nicole, and JoAnna. I was in such shock I didn't know what to do.. so I made my way up to the front and accepted my prize shyly. Amid the claps and continued screaming from my fan club, I heard a booming voice yell, "WHICH CUPCAKE!!!!!! WHICH CUPCAAAAAKKE!!" and I said, "#1, #1... number ONE!" As loud as I could, which apparently didn't translate well. It must have appeared I was cheering myself on, when I was really just shouting the actual number of my cupcake, which was the first of fifteen contestants. I get a good chuckle thinking about this. I'm the last person on the planet to toot my own horn, although I think I'm beginning to get a bit better at it in my old age ;)
So there you have it! I WON! So crazy!
Thanks for reading!!!!
Crazy Piper:
Queens of my Heart!
The win meant a lot to me because raspberry happens to be my favorite fruit, and the cupcake I made is my personal favorite cake/buttercream/filling combination. Okay, my favorite homemade cake.. I still love funfetti just as much :)
It's no secret that my favorite thing is chocolate and raspberry. I don't know when I discovered this, but I do know I fell in love with Brad our first Valentine's day together when he presented me with an entire pound of See's chocolate raspberry truffles and buttercreams. I ate the entire thing on my own. Suddenly I knew what people meant.. love hurts.
The cake I used for this challenge is a modified chocolate cake recipe I found deep in the interwebs, perfected after several fails in California, and one in the land of enchantment (high altitude). Willful, please do email me for what I believe is the final edition of that chocolate cake. The buttercream is your basic swiss meringue with my own special method of adding raspberry. First I need to add that, yes, swiss meringue is wonderful, but no, it's not always the best choice or more sophisticated. I find it to be a great topping for certain cupcakes but definitely not all. This cupcake, however, cries for it. I think the raspberry takes to it so well because the lack of sweetness in the buttercream allows that special tang we all know and love about raspberries to really shine through. The final component I used was a raspberry filling. The raspberry filling I use is just plain amazing, in my biased opinion. It's basic as can be, but also my secret weapon so I cannot share the recipe, just know it is the punchiest of all punches and will knock you out. Willful probably has the recipe though.. roomies share everything! Except lime green holey tongas...
Anyway, I never attempted this combo in a cupcake before, only in cakes. I tested out my plan on Deema's birthday and it came out so well, I decided not to change anything for Iron Cupcake. I think what really helped was my executive decision to use the raspberry filling in a way most people don't in this competition. Instead of coring out the already miniature cupcake and filling it, I skipped that. Why? Because these cupcakes are shared between four people (blasphemy!) and reducing the amount of cake by that much can really put you in a bad situation when it comes judging time. A lot of judges focus on the cake flavor and if it's not there.. good luck. So instead, I made a dam of buttercream around the edge of the cupcake and filled it with a pool of raspberry filling, then piped more buttercream on top to cover the pool. I toped each one with 1/2 of a raspberry and piped a little green leaf next to it.
At Leland, JoAnna and I had to come up with a name for my little squirts, and it was not easy.
Me: I wanted to name them "Devil's Lady" but they're too cute for that
JoAnna: Yeah they're so tea-cakey
Me: Yeah, I was thinking, "summer at grandma's"
JoAnna: that sounds like torture
Me: HAHA. Okay, "if the devil had a baby..."
JoAnna: What's your obsession with the devil!?! oh, god.. because it's devil's food..
Me: (defeated) oh.. yeah (hysterically laughing) that's embarrassing!
JoAnna: Tea with the Queen?
Me: What does that have to do with berries?
JoAnna: Oh! Queen of Hearts, because the middle is raspberry!
Me: Done.
There were 15 contestants and only a couple of stand outs. I liked one that was peanut butter and jelly; even though the use of berries was questionable, it was still pretty good. I also really liked a strawberry margarita cupcake that was super cute with big sugar crystals sprinkled on top to look like salt. Two people made mini cheesecakes, which I didn't really understand because I was under the impression we were making cupcakes. They were both delicious, but also a stretch. My friends and I joked that for the next competition (alcohol), whoever it is that likes to push the envelope would probably make a jello shot. HA!
Winner announcements came and 3rd place went to a cheesecake maker, second place & most creative to the fabooo strawberry margarita, and first place to me! The announcer got my first name out and suddenly I felt a breeze as loud guttural screams were flying in my direction from the mouths of Brooke, Nicole, and JoAnna. I was in such shock I didn't know what to do.. so I made my way up to the front and accepted my prize shyly. Amid the claps and continued screaming from my fan club, I heard a booming voice yell, "WHICH CUPCAKE!!!!!! WHICH CUPCAAAAAKKE!!" and I said, "#1, #1... number ONE!" As loud as I could, which apparently didn't translate well. It must have appeared I was cheering myself on, when I was really just shouting the actual number of my cupcake, which was the first of fifteen contestants. I get a good chuckle thinking about this. I'm the last person on the planet to toot my own horn, although I think I'm beginning to get a bit better at it in my old age ;)
So there you have it! I WON! So crazy!
Thanks for reading!!!!
Raspberry Pools:
Crazy Piper:
Queens of my Heart!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Babies Shower.. again!
Edith and Joe are having triplets. It makes sense for them to have multiple showers.. three babies, 3x the fun! This time around, I attended as a guest. When I got the invite, I asked if I could contribute anything and the hostess said, "sure! what can you bring?" And of course.. I said, "CAKE!" and of course, she said, "we have two cakes already! feel free to bring more though!" HA!!! So I settled on mini cupcakes, which everyone loves, especially kids, and there would be plenty of those little creatures at the shower ;)
Edith likes chocolate, and Joe likes vanilla. Easy! I made 24 of each variety in mini cupcake form. I wanted to decorate all baby-style but it just didn't happen for me due to time restrictions, so I went with sprinkles and m&ms. They came out pretty cute! And as suspected, the kids gobbled them up. I saw one in particular go back 3 times and run outside with them.
view of the vanilla:
I had some left over cupcakes which I frosted up using the frosting I had just made and some others I had still fresh in the fridge. What to do with them? I had a few options:
-Eat them (yes, no, yes, no! help!)
-Save them for Brad (who loves eating them and then getting mad at me after the fact)
-Give them to friends (didn't want to leave anyone out)
-Bring them to work (see description for brad)
-Give them to my one dear referrer
-Give them to Brad's dad for father's day
I went with the last two options. The lady who has referred me all the business I've gotten this year deserved a thank you. So I packed up 11 extra in a cute box and brought them to her daughter to give to her. She was ecstatic. <3
I packed up the remaining and brought them to Brad's dad on my way to the shower. He loved them. I knew I made the right choices :)
Edith likes chocolate, and Joe likes vanilla. Easy! I made 24 of each variety in mini cupcake form. I wanted to decorate all baby-style but it just didn't happen for me due to time restrictions, so I went with sprinkles and m&ms. They came out pretty cute! And as suspected, the kids gobbled them up. I saw one in particular go back 3 times and run outside with them.
view of the chocolate:
view of the vanilla:
-Eat them (yes, no, yes, no! help!)
-Save them for Brad (who loves eating them and then getting mad at me after the fact)
-Give them to friends (didn't want to leave anyone out)
-Bring them to work (see description for brad)
-Give them to my one dear referrer
-Give them to Brad's dad for father's day
I went with the last two options. The lady who has referred me all the business I've gotten this year deserved a thank you. So I packed up 11 extra in a cute box and brought them to her daughter to give to her. She was ecstatic. <3
I packed up the remaining and brought them to Brad's dad on my way to the shower. He loved them. I knew I made the right choices :)
some the "leftovers" I brought to lady and brad's dad:
Monday, June 21, 2010
Deema's Birfdaiz
Wow! I am so behind on my blogging. I bake so much I just don't have time to catch up here! Divide and conquer...
Last week was my coworker Deema's birthday. She's getting married later this year and like many brides, imagines she is suddenly going to pack it on. Hello.. it's called marriage, not pregnancy! So that left me with only one option for her birthday treat: mini cupcakes. She likes my light fruity cakes and buttercreams, so I knew it would be a berry occasion. But I just don't like making mini white cupcakes because it's a dry fest disaster unless you can make and serve the day of (and I'm done waking up at 5am to bake for the time being). But Deema is not only wonderful, she is also is so selfless, she let me use her birthday practice for the upcoming iron cupcake, for which I plan to make chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream and raspberry filling. It happens to be my specialty cake but I haven't had the opportunity to make it in mini form yet.
Everything went really well. I have a secret weapon for the filling which I will not publicly announce because I'm a narcissist and imagine some of my competition is watching me. ;) But chances are if you know me, you already know my plan. You also know that the raspberry filling I make is the bomb explosive! I will be making extras so please do let me know if you would like one on or before June 28.
Back to the birthday. I had a lot of frosting left over from the bridal shower order, so I was able to top my cupcakes with cream cheese and peanut butter as well. I also had some raspberry secret sauce left over and added it to some cream cheese.. yyyuuuuum! I put those frostings atop some regular cupcakes for the more daring coworkers I have. I happen to know one person went back for seconds and nearly thirds- if there had been any left. People really love the peanut butter frosting. It's almost scary. Email me if you would like a recipe :)
Thanks, friends, for reading!!
Cream Cheese & Peanut Butter w/ Decorations:
Raspberry/Choco (prelim decor, will change)
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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.
vanilla w/ milk chocolate buttercream:
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:
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Salvateenie Shower
My former Spanish teacher and good friend Edith is expecting triplets with her husband Joe. They're calling the identical twin boys and girl the "Salvateenies," a cute nickname derived from their last names. They have real names picked out, of course :) I'm still in shock about the whole thing, but Edith and Joe are as cool as cucumbers.. which I'm sure bodes well for them and their soon to be exciting family life!
So, JoAnna and I decided to throw a "former students" shower at a tapas bar in SF. JoAnna took the lead on everything and came up with a wonderful "peas in a pod" theme. I wasn't sure what was left to do, so I offerred to make dessert. Yay! Fun!!!
I knew Edith likes chocolate. I knew the theme was peas in a pod. I knew I had a chocolate frosting recipe I had been wanting to try. I also had a craving for peanut butter m&ms. And it all came together.. chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting topped with three peas in a pod! Haha.
I used fondant for the pods, a medium I'm still not very good or patient with. The peas, aka m&ms, were a little large. I rolled and cut some green fondant and then shaped them into pods around three m&ms- two of the same color and one different, to signify the three little babays. Well, they came out looking like m&ms in canoes or m&ms in a green jacket. And they were huge! They took up the whole cupcake! Shame on me for craving peanut butter m&ms.. they're so large! But so delicious...
The good news is, nobody seemed to care. They were scarfed down, and three were left for my little Salvateenies to enjoy at home later, via mom, of course :)
Baby Cakes:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
