Piped

This past week I have not gotten to bed before midnight. Which is not normal for me, at all. Since I was a child and my mother sent me to bed at 7 (up until I was 12), I have always craved being in bed by 10, or earlier if possible. Fall is my favorite season because when the clocks change, it gets darker earlier, and I feel better about slipping into bed at 9.. sometimes 8:45.

But no, this week I was up late every single night, and I still feel drained. Some of it may have been my obsession with finding the perfect vanilla cupcake. I really am obsessed! A couple of weeks ago, I stacked my vanilla and chocolate cupcakes up next to those from Sprinkles and Kara's, and had Brad do a taste test. He preferred my chocolate (as did I), but he liked Kara's vanilla the best, and mine came in 2nd. It was nice to know I wasn't last, but I still wanted to be the best. So I tried out another recipe that seemed promising and substituted a couple of things to make it my own. The result was a TURRABLE crumbly mess, which reminded me of a Vanilla Moon disaster sawdust cupcake I tasted last year. I knew my substitutions didn't have much to do with it, the recipe was a mess from the start. I'm learning more about the science of baking and the importance of ratios, and lets just say this recipe was very unscientific.

I wasn't too upset with the taste of the cupcake because I'm trying not to eat so much anyway, so I set about to decorating. I've been having fun piping and tried out a flowery design, similar to the one on the chocolate cake. They came out pretty cute, WAY cuter in person. I still need a new camera.

Tonight I modified a bit of the vanilla recipe I had used during the taste test, and they came out pretty good. Though, I've learned I usually can't tell how they taste until the following day. I think hanging out in the kitchen with the smells does something to my taste buds. I had a lot of fun piping these ones.. and again they look super cute in person.



I should probably teach myself to pipe something other than flowers! Oh, leaves. I have those down :)

In other no sleep/non related news, our kitty Fiona had a terrible week. It began Wednesday night when she skipped dinner and cuddled with me and Brad on the couch after we had dinner- normally she is getting into trouble, rummaging in the sink, or tormenting a bug at that time in the evening. As she curled up next to us, she was breathing heavy and sniffing the air, but nothing was there. She seemed a little tired but fine the following morning, however, according to Brad, she threw up. By the evening we got more worried as we realized she still hadn't eaten and was acting lethargic. We took her temperature and it was on the high side of normal. I called the emergency vet and they recommended we run blood tests. $400 later, we learned she had an extremely high white blood cell count, about 3x the 'high normal', and was very dehydrated. All signs pointed to infection, so they pumped her with liquids under her skin to hydrate her and bring down her rising fever, and sent me home with antibiotics (clavamox). By the next day, she didn't seem to be improving. I googled her symptoms and read very similar stories that pointed toward FIP, a fatal disease, and I cried for our baby girl (at work, no less). I came home to our anorexic kitty and force fed her gerber baby food (chicken). She was not happy. She kept hiding in dark corners or falling asleep in random places, like the laundry basket, which was filled with books and toiletries, not nice warm fluffy clothes. I ran out and bought every kind of wet food I could find, even kitten formula, to see if she would eat any. I got home and Brad and I laid out a huge kitty buffet for her, and the only thing she would eat out of the intial 6 options was Friskies Chicken in Gravy Fine Cuts, but she mostly just licked the gravy. We feed her expensive cat food normally, and after all that, of course she takes after her father and prefers the cheap stuff. We were so happy to see her eat, even a little. I set her up with food in our room and showed her where it was, and at 1:30am when I heard the sounds of licking, I couldn't have been happier when I saw her at her food plate munching on some Friskies. I messaged Brad and he rejoiced, I might have heard his excitement all the way from La Honda! She is doing much better today, eating real chicken breast along with her Friskies, and back to a few of her old tricks, like licking jeepers, chasing the laser, and talking to us. We are so relieved she is on the mend! She is actually on my lap right now demanding pets (by gently biting my finger and swinging it over her head with her paw). And now she is on my shoulder like a parrot kneading and biting my pony tail.

Anyway, I know it isn't baking related but I wanted to post this for any hypochondriacs like me, who might someday in the future google their kitty's symptoms and come across this blog. I wish your kitty well!!!!!!!!!

Okay I'm officially a dweeb. Good night!

Oh Yeah!

I am pretty forgetful.. and I get lazy from time to time. It's a bad combo.

This Christmas and for my birthday, I received so many baking gifts and I totally forgot to blog about them. I might have even forgotten to thank people! Shame, shame.

Brad bought me two vintage kitchen aid stand mixers, cupcake earrings, and had a stamp customer made for my "bakery". Edith bought me an awesome baking/recipe book, and I have read the entire cake section a couple of times now.. lots of good ideas! Molly and Ivan gave me a cute decorating book and lots of baking accessories, as did a number of other friends. Willful located a cupcake shaped soap and shipped it all the way to Cali in a box full of other fun stuff. Yesterday somebody even gave me cupcake key covers.. I am decked out! Thank you EVERYBODY for the fantastic and fun gifties!!

In other news, I have been trying to think of a name for my "bakery" which I would prefer to call a cakery because let's get real, I cannot make a croissant or eclair to save my life. I really love "Collie Flour" for the sentimental and personal touch, but people have been telling me it sounds too much like a vegetable and is confusing. I love the simplicity of the name "Sprinkles", but everything like that is taken. I thought I was a genius when I thought up "In the Mix" but there is a cupcakery in Connecticut with that name. I tried to think back to my first baking curiosity, that armadillo red velvet cake... then I realized "Magnolia" is VERY much taken. Hahaha. What I'm saying is.. think of some ideas for me! I am in the process of getting ready to start selling my stuff legally- meaning I will be baking in a licensed kitchen, but I need a business name first. I would loooove your help :D

Here is a cake I mentioned in a previous post. It's just chocolate chocolate with more chocolate. I ran out of... chocolate frosting (the lighter one), so it looks a little thin in the photo, and oddly shiny. I felt inspired and piped some flowers and they came out pretty nice. I think I really like piping and would love to learn more and incorporate it into more of my cakes/cupcakes. It's a lot of work but with the effort in the end.

I actually did get to witness the slice of cake in a bowl of milk.. it was amazing. And it was a good thing I ran out of the frosting.. the cake was so rich, the thin layer really did work perfectly with it. I am on my wedding diet but ate a huge piece! Another coworker, who doesn't usually eat anything during the day, took two pieces. That's the best.. when people enjoy something I made. Fortunately, it happens more often than not.

For next time, I will try to remember to tell you about a taste test I recently did with Brad- my cupcakes against Kara's and Sprinkles.. oh my! Good thing Sibby's weren't there.. they would have beaten all of us :/

New Year, New Challenges

We haven't talked since last year, and already a lot has happened! I have some fun stuff in the works and have baked a bit in the meantime :)

My good friend, who happens to have a strange part-time obsession with Shakira, had a Shakira themed birthday party and I signed up for dessert. Initially I had imagined something latin-american and chocolatey. Like a chocolate chili spice cupcake, or chocolate cinnamon. But then I realized I have a sick obsession with chocolate cupcakes and really shouldn't put that on anybody, especially on their birthday. So I went for a dulce de leche inspired creation.

I made a vanilla-cinnamon cake with homemade toffee bits baked in. I frosted it with a creamy buttercream and garnished with finely chopped toffee and a fondant flower, because for some unknown reason, the birthday girl loves fondant. I didn't go for traditional dulce de leche because I didn't have the time.. boo hoo. But it came out really great! The toffee in the middle melted down and stayed melted even after it cooled, so it was more of a caramel in the end, and the toffee on top was crunchy good. You might also notice I busted out the illegal dragees. I just love them so much I want to use them all the time!

I had a long weekend and a fun opportunity to make a bunch of different cuppies. It was a lot of work but totally worth it. Below you'll find vanilla-vanilla, chocolate peanut butter, chocolate-chocolate, strawberry lemonade w/ cream cheese frosting, and meyer lemon with meyer lemon cream cheese, and my all time favorite, chocolate raspberry rapture. It was a good opportunity to take a photo of my work, but my stinkin camera is just junk. Brad's usually takes better ones, but his is out for repair. So enjoy the blurry loveliness!

Right now I have a chocolate cake cooling and it's probably about ready to be frosted. The birthday girl likes to put her chocolate cake in a bowl of milk and eat it that way. Pretty interesting! I cannot wait to see it in person.

I can't wait for a FUN year ahead!

xo

p.s. get used to bad grammar and spelling errors, I'm too lazy to check for those things. I'd rather be baking :)

Silver Balls and the Nutty Torte

I did not think I would be posting again in 2010 but I realized I forgot to wish you a Merry Christmas! And what better way to do so than with a post about balls and nuts... all baking related, I assure you!

A while back I caught wind that the shiny balls I always loved on holiday cookies and fancy cakes are actually outlawed in California (I also learned their proper name is actually "dragee"). I cannot find any law to prove this, but I trust my fellow bakers on the interwebs. Apparently these shiny balls can be dangerous because they contain trace amounts of silver which the food and drug administration has deemed non-edible, and a good-for-nothing lawyer actually got the state to ban the poor little things. In other states, the FDA requires dragee makers to label their balls "for decoration only" which apparently wasn't enough for mr. party pooper. Perhaps he is a vampire.. we will never know.

I acquired some of these balls in Italy last September and vowed only to use them on special occasions. Christmas seemed special enough for me! I made a red velvet cake and placed a few on top to give it a festive, classic holiday look. I had to explain the balls to my guests, and next time I probably won't do that because the word "illegal" doesn't really help sell baked goods.. unless you're running a fakery.


I also made Martha's Linzertorte for our lady's secret santa gift exchange. The recipe called for hazelnuts and almonds in the crust and a raspberry jam filling. I used my flavorite raspberry jam recipe (not Martha's) and it came out tasting fab. It was my first time making a torte AND working with hazelnuts, and I was super pleased with the outcome:

I also got some good news today that Iron Cupcake SF was featured on Cupcakes Take the Cake and I got a shout out as the winner! My blog was linked and I got about 100 hits in one day (that's a lot for me!!) What an awesome Christmas gift and exciting way to end the year!

Iron Cupcake December CHAMPION!

Last night was the Iron Cupcake SF grand finale of the year. Baker's were invited to bake their signature cupcake a.k.a. the cupcake they are known for- a very special treat because normally we have to bake something related to a theme or key ingredient. We were promised fabulous prizes and exciting announcements about the challenges coming in the new year. I had skipped a few of the more recent challenges but made it a point to attend this highly publicized annual extravaganza.

I arrived with little time to spare but fortunately got one of the prettier tiered trays which was very large and shiny. I baked my signature raspberry chocolate cupcake- my favorite cupcake on the planet and a recipe I can pretty much call my own: chocolate cake with a punchy raspberry filling, raspberry buttercream, and topped with a dark chocolate dipped raspberry. I named it "Chocolate Raspberry Rapture"- this photo does not capture much of the chocolate half of the raspberry, but you get the idea: I was positioned at #12 out of 16, not bad considering my tardiness. As soon as I was identified as a baker, the organizers told me I had to wear a santa hat and kindly let me pick my color- I chose an emerald blue* number and placed it on my head like a beret because let's face it, I have an enormous dome and that hat was not fitting properly.

My crew arrived shortly after I did and we had a good time chatting and laughing which helped to cut the nerves. I could tell I had some stiff competition.. I was surrounded by a bunch of bakers who brought the best of their best to the table.. and they were all easily identified with their Santa hats on:
Tasting was, as always, a TON of fun. A lot of people come up with cute ideas for decoration, and flavor ideas that never cease to surprise me. I liked the wreath decorations the best, and was most excited to try the chocolate fig and apple cupcake that shimmered curiously (front). Some girls even took the "signature" quite literally and piped their names with frosting and chocolate!:

However, after tasting, there was a clear winner, and my girls and I weren't shy about sharing our opinion!
Our opinions didn't matter much unless we voted. Brooke and Jean were on it when the text in polls opened:

I walked around to take some photos and realized I never took one of my display. I arrived in time to notice only my large display cupcake remained.. but all the minis had been gobbled up. Shortly after this photo, one of the girls in the background stole the large cupcake.. which was sad and a fabulous compliment all at once:

The polls closed and we all sat around and waited to hear the winners. I was nervous because although I knew mine was delicious, my last experience with text in voting didn't go so well.. I didn't place at all- a hard knock coming off a 3-in-a-row winning streak. But this time around, we were allowed to vote for three different winners, so I felt better that at least one of those three votes each person sent in included my cupcake. As the winners were announced one by one, my girls and I all started to get a little more anxious. Brooke had lowered herself into a nervous crouch and swayed to and fro while the 1st place prizes were announced. As soon as first place was announced and my name and cupcake number came out of the announcer's mouth, the girls all screamed like banshees and I noticed Brooke was steadily elevating her scream along with her stance. I tried to hand her my camera for photos but she was caught in the moment, so I let it ride and excitedly made my way up to the front of the room to collect my prizes. Cameras flashed and people congratulated me.. it was one of those moments that don't seem real and nothing you do is free of the cheese that comes along with winning a prize you worked so hard for. I posed with my winnings, which included a custom glass plate hand made by local artists. I was so excited to also win cash I couldn't resist trying to count it immediately:


But then I realized I needed to calm down so I took a more tame photo for the grandchildren to see someday:


It really has been a wonderful year for me and baking. Winning the final Iron Cupcake of 2010 was a huge boost and motivation for me. I cannot wait to set some new goals in 2011 and see them realized!!

Thanks for reading.. see you next year!

*a typo too hilarious to cut out.. i did indeed mean to write "sapphire blue"

Non-flat Christmas Cookies!!

It's the holiday season! Which means more baking than "normal." And I love it!

I had a few friends to visit this past weekend and I was excited to give them all a little bit of home baked goodness as holiday gifts. I decided on cookies because they are easy to transport and share.. and.. I like cookies. Especially the ones I chose to bake: raspberry thumbprint cookies and chocolate chip.

I made raspberry thumbprint cookies last Christmas for coworkers and the came out more like raspberry frisbees. One coworker even asked, as serious as can be, if they were pancakes. She had never seen such a flat cookie and didn't know what to make of it. Needless to say, this year I did some more research. The first thing I learned was to refrigerate the dough after the cookies are shaped, thumbprinted, and filled with jam. The second thing I learned was thumbs should be avoided.. actually, a chapstick cap used in place of a thumb to make the necessary indents was the recommendation that seemed to be most popular. These two news flashes helped me make some of the most perfect looking razzthumb cookies I have ever encountered:

check out these molds!!

yes, we do look fab!

As I mentioned, I also made some chocolate chip cookies. A while back, I had that flat cookie dilemma. I realized shortly after my whole ramblog (rambling blog) that my problem was the butter. I have my little tricks and forgot this one, whoops. But all is well now that I remember. I would tell you, but I'd have to $collect$, you understand. And hurrah! Not so flat this time around!

Okay they look pretty flat in the photo, but trust me, there were nothing like the pankcakes and crispy discs I served up over the past year. I need to start writing this stuff down! Oh wait.. tee hee, I am!

Tomorrow, get ready for the big win blog!!!

Cupcakes for Jailbirds

Everybody could use a cupcake.. friends, coworkers, bratty kids, even the ladies in county jail. Tomorrow, I will be donating cupcakes to the county jail's women's facility. I'm not sure how many birds are locked up, but I made 72 cupcakes especially for them.. two dozen each of chocolate chocolate, vanilla vanilla, and red velvet cream cheese. The cupcakes and the ladies will be attending a holiday party of sorts, but not me. I will be in my own private jail, aka work, all day. I will sit back and think of all the crimes they may or may not have committed and imagine them eating my little creations. I'm hoping a few have mullets. I'm hoping more than a few smile and remember that the holidays are as much about eating cupcakes as they are about giving your very best to fellow community members- no matter who they are.

Vanilla & Chocolate


Chocolate & Red Velvet