More Practice with Real People!

Today I completed an order for my first repeat customer. She contacted me for another bridal shower and ordered 120 mini cupcakes... I was so excited! Repeat business AND a lot of cupcakes to play with. This lady is very laid back and only gave me her color scheme to go by: lavender, lilac, and lime. AWESOME colors, but I didn't know what to do about decorations. I looked up the color scheme online and most people who throw parties in that scheme use a lot of floral decor, so I decided on piped flowers.
Lilac was not an easy color to achieve.. it is bright and dark at the same time. I panic when I see a ton of food color going into my buttercream and I'm not getting the color I'm going for. This happened with my lilac color, which I added to my already naturally pink raspberry buttercream. I stopped adding color when I felt I was not getting a lot of bang for the amount of food color I put in; taste over appearance, I always say. And they looked cute enough not to worry to much.

My lime was also not very punchy.. which is what you need when using it with lilac and lavender. But again, I couldn't justify adding a half a bottle of food color so I kept it simple. It did pop nicely on the purples, though.

(the camera didn't capture the green very well above) I try to decorate each flavor in one consistent design. Two cupcake flavors were filled, so I couldn't get too fancy on them. With minis, I do not carve out the center of the cupcake to make room for filling- it just takes too much cake out of an already tiny cupcake. So I dam up some filling on top and then pipe over it. On those flavors, I had to keep the decor simple. But on the plain vanilla, I had a little fun with my lavender color and piped pretty flowers:

It's hard to maintain a color scheme that doesn't include brown when you have a chocolate frosting. But I did my best to make it work.

And I'm SO EXCITED to finally have packaging and labels! It's neat to pretend I am official and use professional packaging and cute labels. Initially I was worried about these because it seemed hard to get the cupcakes out once they were in. I was actually almost in a complete panic about it, but then Brad came home from work. I explained my distress and he immediately turned into a salesman and explained how neat the package is because if you push the bottom up, the cupcake pops up for easy access. I almost cried with relief. He is such a good man! Especially during a freak out!! <3

So, there you have it. 120 cupcakes. It doesn't look like it though, right? Amazing how they all fit into those neat little packages!

Happy Easter!!

Wow

It's been another month and I have been so busy! Between the wedding, work, and baking, there's not a whole lot of time for writing. Plus, the sun is playing hide and seek and when it comes out on the weekend, I use the opportunity to sit and read in the sunshine. I just got through reading one of my new favorites, The Shadow of the Wind and am in the middle of the first Sookie Stackhouse novel Dead Until Dark and a completely different selection, The Forgotten Garden- both very good in their own ways. I never knew Sookie was such a trashy read! Love it.

As far as baking.. it's been off the hook. So far in this past month I have completed three orders- a baby shower, cupcakes for teacher appreciation week, and a kids birthday party- all with custom decorations. All together that was 12 dozen cupcakes. I have a 120 mini cupcake order coming up this weekend for a bridal shower, and a multi-tiered fondant covered cake order the weekend after that for another baby shower. There are two other orders in May in addition to a bridal show where I'll be passing out freebies alongside a Stella & Dot stylist as a ploy to get people to her booth.

All this baking has been a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I'm looking forward to my "launch" in the fall and becoming official. So far I'm having a lot of fun working through all the little things that need to be in order before my little side business is legit- what kind of containers to use for the cupcakes, what my business cards and labels should look like, how I will market myself, how much I need to produce in order to make a profit, where I will set up shop, etc. I've already run through a lot of this and have learned tons about what works and what doesn't. One of the more exciting things has been using my winnings from the Iron Cupcake championship in December to fund my new business account. It's all the money I have and I'm not touching it! Ha. Silly the things we hold on to.

So, I am just super grateful for all the practice business I've been getting from friends and friends of friends. Things are really looking good for a fall launch. Yay for side businesses!
Here are some photos to enjoy (or not):

Wedding Cake Testing (sprinkles will not be included):

Birthday Party Cupcakes:

Dr Seuss cake test (cat in the hat hat):

Children's Literature Themed Baby Shower:

Oh.. So Long 2.0

Okay that email you got.. well, it was the result of a fat finger. I hit what I thought was shift, and it turned out to be enter, and those of you on my email list got a blog that was started a month ago and being edited tonight. Hope you enjoyed!

I have been super preoccupied over the last month with some exciting things, such as the prospect of being on television(fail), working with a caterer and event planner(tbd), and booking new client(s). I have also been planning our wedding, which is one of the most insane jobs I have ever undertaken. I never wanted a big wedding and all the exciting things that come with it, but that's what I'm planning because I am thoroughly wrapped up in the "once in a lifetime" mindset. Things I never thought I'd care about: flowers, colors, chair placement... yeah, they are important now. I have a lot going on this year and sadly, the blog took a back burner for a minute. But I'm baaack. For now!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made up my own recipe for red velvet cupcakes and they came out delarcious. I was very impressed with myself and cannot wait to make them again. Lots of people loved them and I got one piece of feedback suggesting they were chewy, and I'm excited to investigate this. I still think they were major winners.

The biggest undertaking of the month was when Willful visited and we did a test run of my wedding cake. 12", 10". 8". 6" alternating tiers of chocolate raspberry and lemon poppy seed... ohhh my (or as Edith would say, "such a white person's cake"). We ran out of buddacream and my decorating skillz we lacking, but the lemon curd Willful made for the lemon poppy seed tiers was to die for. She was elbow deep in lemons all day and it paid off.

To be completely honest, my lack of ability to smooth buttercream had me in a fit of rage, and I can remember clearly when Willful said, "I don't know what to say when you get like this." It remains one of Brad's favorite quotes of all time. Obviously, I "get like this" a lot.. I will admit it and it's not something I am proud of. So the fact that I had sane Willful and months of practice ahead of me made me feel so much better. I immediately did research on smoothing swiss meringue buttercream and tested out my skills the following weekend on a 12" round. The result: near perfection. I even took the opportunity to bake a less dense version of the lemon poppy seed cake and it came out great- and there weren't as many lemons involved! Score. The coworkers devoured both versions.. but again, they'll eat anything.

This past weekend I worked on a new strawberry cupcake recipe and it came out yumz. Fresh strawberries in the batter=longer baking time, but they come out moist and delicious. I had some swiss buddacream so I topped it with that, but I definitely believe cream cheese frosting is the way to go. Cream cheese frosting is the way to go on anything, though!

Next up: epic cupcake order and my baby chister's butterscotch birthday cake (in the same day!!)
Help.

Oh.. So Long

No time. Teasers only.

Last week I made up my own recipe for red velvet cupcakes and they came out great... delarcious. Seriously, I might be half genius :P

Last weekend Willful was in town and we did a test run of my wedding cake. 12", 10". 8". 6" alternating tiers of chocolate raspberry and lemon poppyseed... ohhh my (or as Edith would say, "such a white person's cake"). We ran out of buddacream and my decorating skillz we lacking, but the lemon curd Willful made for the lemon poppyseed tiers was to die for. She was elbow deep in lemons all day and it paid off.

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 :)