King cupcakes

The other day, my friend asked me to make cupcakes for her company, King.  I've made King cupcakes before, but those were of the Mardi Gras variety. These are different. These are for the company's IPO! We all know King for its games, most famously, Candy Crush Saga. It's super fun and addicting. I've been thinking about making Candy Crush cupcakes, so this is a good introduction for me.

I made one dozen vanilla gluten free cupcakes, topped with yellow frosting, orange sprinkles, and the King logo. I thought they turned out quite well! And everyone at the company loved them.

To make the logos, I used yellow candy melts to pipe the design. I first printed out a scaled version of the logo, then placed it under a sheet of wax paper so I could trace it. Worked like a charm, once I got the candy melts to the proper consistency. While it was still wet, I sprinkled orange sanding sugar on top, since the company's colors are orange and yellow. Then I let them dry, and placed them on top of each cupcake.

To make the cupcakes gluten free, I used Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour. I found it at Whole Foods! It was super easy, and really is a cup for cup substitute. The consistency of the batter is a little different, but the end result is still light and fluffy.

This was a fun challenge and I got to practice my piping skills. Maybe now I'll be inspired to tackle a more complex cupcake. Or maybe I'll just go back to playing Candy Crush.

Cupcakes for the Oscars

Last night were the Oscars, and we were invited to a viewing party at a friend's house. I of course offered to bring something sweet. So I made caramel popcorn from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, and these super cute cupcakes.

I got the idea from Amy Atlas, whose party ideas are amazing. And since I love black licorice, it was easy! Red velvet cupcakes, topped with cream cheese frosting and gold sprinkles, with a licorice wheel on top to resemble a film reel. They were a big hit at the party!

Cake Pops and Sprinkles

After donating the 800 cake pops a few months ago, I got a few calls to make more, but this time, I got paid!

These pops were for a last minute event, so I had less than 48 hours to get these together. The order was for 200 pops though, so it didn't quite take as long.

While prepping to make the pops, I set out my big tub of nonpareil sprinkles so I could easily access it when I needed. Well, a swift jab of the elbow and the sprinkles went flying!

It was so pretty I had to take a picture :) Fortunately, I was able to save most of them, but I was finding little colored balls on the floor for a while after that.


Anyways, finished the cake pops on time and delivered them. It gets easier and easier every time I do them, and I usually learn new tips and techniques too with more practice. Fun!

800 Cake Pops!

Recently, I was asked to donate a certificate for cupcakes to a charity auction. The event was for the Bal Swan school here, where my friend's son attends. It's a yearly event, and they raise tons of money. So of course, I was happy to donate my services for a good cause!


I also inquired about desserts for the event, and offered to make cake pops and balls to have out in dishes for everyone to munch on throughout the evening. Since they expected about 500 people to attend, they asked for 800 pops and balls, a mixture of both. So I got dipping!


It was a fun project, although time consuming and exhausting. I did everything in stages, first baking the cakes, then forming the balls, then dipping and decorating, all while bopping to the music of the 80s.
They turned out great! I did half pops, half balls, both chocolate and vanilla with lots of fun sprinkles. And everyone said how wonderful they were at the ball. It was a great experience for me, and great exposure to a new community. Although I'd rather not see a cake pop for a while :)

PS- speaking of cake pops, I hear Starbucks has them now, 3 different flavors. Must try them out!

Cake Pops

So, I wanted to practice making more cake pops, to perfect my technique. I had leftover cake and frosting from the threadcakes challenge, so I used that. It was only the tops of the cakes that I cut off to level them, and it made over 50 cake pops!
The cake was a few days old, which I think made it better to work with. Last time I tried this, I used fresh cake and it was too soft and it fell apart. I also let the mixture sit in the fridge overnight once I added the frosting.I rolled up all the little balls, froze them, and then started to melt the coating.
I had some vanilla candy coating leftover, but I couldn't get it to the right consistency. It was way too thick, and the balls I tried to dip in it just fell apart. Maybe it's the brand, I got it at the grocery store, it's some no-name generic stuff.So the next day I went out and got Wilton candy melts. These worked great! Nice, smooth consistency, great for dipping. Will have to use those from now on.So I added the sticks, and got to dipping, about 12 at a time. The candy re-melted great after each batch.
For the decorations, I had brought back Smarties from Canada a few weeks ago and wanted to use them. These are not what Americans think of as Smarties, these are more like M&Ms, but better! They are slightly flatter and have a thicker candy shell, and come in fun different colors. I loved them as a kid, and they're still great!

I added a Smartie on top of each pop, as well as a ring of colored sprinkles around it. When I look at them all together, they kind of look like eyes! but the wrong colors of course.
Then I wrapped each one in a little bag and twist tie, so they wouldn't rub up against each other. Plus, it's super cute, like they are really lollipops.

Anyways, I was very pleased how they turned out, super cute! I still need practice getting the coating smooth over the cake, but sprinkles can always cover up any flaws :)

Cupcake Challenge #8- Chocolate Malted cupcakes with vanilla frosting

Chocolate malted cupcakes with fluffy vanilla frosting. I've never made anything with malted flavor before, because I don't really like it. Although I know chocolate and malted are a classic flavor combination, because my husband used to make chocolate malted milk a lot, back in the day :) These cupcakes rose quite high, with a nice domed top. Sometimes chocolate cupcakes tend to over-rise and then deflate in the middle, but these didn't. The batter was very runny, which made it difficult to scoop into the tins. This was due to the use of oil instead of butter. The recipe called for 1 cup of sour cream as well, but I only had a half cup. It didn't seem to make a big difference. Sour cream is often used in chocolate recipes to add tang and moisture, since they tend to dry out more than vanilla does.

Here they are out of the oven, not too dark chocolate, just enough.

And here's the final result, frosted and sprinkled. I thought chocolate sprinkles were an appropriate topping. The frosting is just your typical vanilla buttercream. Although, I used only 2 sticks of butter instead of 3, and had the perfect amount of frosting for 27 cupcakes.


These were a new recipe for me, and I'm glad to have tried it. The malted powder mixed with milk didn't smell very good to me, but I assume that's how it's supposed to smell. Now I have a whole contained of malted milk powder and no other use for it! Didn't try these, gonna get opinions from other people.
Next up is tiramisu cupcakes! I have made these before, using my own recipe. Let's see how Martha's stacks up!

Mini cupcakes

I recently made these cute mini cupcakes for a bridal shower. They're simple, just vanilla with vanilla or chocolate frosting, with little hearts sprinkles. Simple and Sweet! They didn't last long :) Who knew that you could tame a Bridezilla with cupcakes?







Then I had some left over, so I used red white and blue sprinkles for a patriotic spin on the same cupcakes. Just as tasty!