Blueberry Pie Day

So Monday was National Blueberry Pie Day. Who knew there were so many food holidays? It inspired me to make blueberry pie cupcakes, although I wasn't able to actually make them until the next day.

I recently bought a new cookbook, Trophy Cupcakes & Parties, from Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle. Although I've never been to their bakery, I've been a fan for a while. Since they have a recipe in the book for blueberry pie cupcakes, I could try a new recipe while celebrating a food holiday. Two in one!

This is a multiple step recipe with many components. Pie crust, blueberry pie filling, vanilla cupcakes and vanilla frosting. Fortunately, I had leftover pie dough in the fridge, so I just rolled it out and baked it. I also had blueberries in the freezer, so I used those for the filling.

Their vanilla cupcake recipe is different, there's a lot more sugar in it than I'm used to. The texture of the cupcakes was a little unusual. It took longer for them to bake, they were pretty raw in the middle for a while. There's also a disk of baked pie crust at the bottom of each cupcake, before you pour in the batter.

The frosting recipe was even more unusual. 6 sticks of butter!!!! I didn't have that much butter so I halved the recipe and it was the perfect amount to frost 24 cupcakes.

Cupcakes baked, cored, filled and frosted! I of course turned to my taste-tester, Jason, to bite into the first one. The crust and filling were perfect. I'm still not pleased with the texture of the cupcake, and the frosting is super rich. It was so warm in my house that I had to chill them or the frosting would melt.

Overall, a fun challenge, but I think I'll stick to my tried and true vanilla cupcake recipe in the future.

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.

A non-cupcake challenge: eclairs!

My new favorite show is Martha Bakes, where the great MS bakes 3 different things all using one base recipe. After watching her show on choux pastry, I was so inspired I made it the very next day.

Choux pastry is a cooked dough that when baked, puffs up hollow inside so you can fill it with yummy things. It sounds terribly complicated but was truly easy to do.

I made both eclairs and cream puffs, the only difference being the shape. They were filled with a vanilla pastry cream and dipped in an espresso glaze. Yum! Everything was easy to make and assemble, although a bit time consuming.


After making the dough on the stovetop, I transferred it to a piping bag and piped out long strips and round circles, for eclairs and puffs.

When they came out of the oven all puffy and golden, I literally squealed with delight! It's always uncertain when baking something for the first time, and I couldn't believe they came out perfect the first time. I opened one up to see if they were indeed hollow, and they were! So I naturally had to eat the one I cut into :)
They were filled with vanilla pastry cream, which was then lightened with whipped cream, to make a truly heavenly filling. It was quite easy to fill them, just poke the tip of the piping bag in, and there you go! They're already hollow anyways.


After filling, the tops were dipped in a decadent espresso glaze. The glaze was just powdered sugar, milk and espresso powder. Yum! It smelled amazing.


Once complete, the pastries looked all professional and pretty! I still almost can't believe that I made them. It seems that they should be in the case of a French bakery in Paris, not in my kitchen :)

Now, for the taste: they were delicious! I hardly ever eat what I bake, but I could not resist. Soft and light, creamy and airy. How can something so decadent still be so light?

I had leftover pastry cream and glaze, so the next day I made another batch of pastry and used it all up. They were gobbled up quickly! Thanks Martha for inspiring me to try something new!

Birthday Cupcakes

After donating the cake pops, I got a few clients for cupcakes! Both ordered 2 dozen for birthdays last weekend. I had so much fun making these.


First up was a little girl's birthday. She wanted all pink and purple cupcakes. Her mom was planning an art-themed party, so I made various hues of pink and purple, and topped each with glitter.
At the party, when I delivered the cupcakes, I arranged them on a wooden artist's palette for the centerpiece. They looked so cute!


The second order was the winner of the auction at the ball. She wanted cupcakes for her daughter's birthday, but this girl was all grown up. See, grown ups love cupcakes too! I did one dozen red velvet and one dozen chocolate, both with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. Yum!


I enjoyed making these orders, and am looking forward to doing more!

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!

Vanilla frosting taste test challenge

Yesterday was National Vanilla Cupcake Day. I have been wanting to try out a few different frostings lately, so this was the perfect opportunity.

I made 68 mini vanilla cupcakes and 3 different kinds of vanilla frosting.

First up was 7 minute frosting. I halved the recipe so I wouldn't end up with tons leftover. This frosting is made of egg whites and a cooked sugar syrup. It wasn't too hard, it just took a while to get the sugar syrup up to the right temperature.

The frosting is super fluffy and white, almost like marshmallow. I mounded it on top of the cupcakes and used some festive fall sprinkles.


Second was traditional American buttercream. This is the easiest to make, with only butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

I tinted it purple to distinguish from the other frostings. This is the frosting I use most often, as it is easy to make and use. It can be too sweet for some, since there's usually 4-5 cups of powdered sugar in it. I also added a tiny squeeze of lemon juice.


Last was swiss merengue buttercream. This is the trickiest to make, although it was a lot easier than in the past. This is made with a warmed egg white and sugar mix, which is beaten to stiff peaks, and then butter (4 sticks!) is added in gradually. I usually have trouble with this frosting, but it was perfect this time. After adding the butter, it looks all goopy and wrong, but you just beat it like crazy for a few minutes and it's perfectly fluffy and smooth.

I tinted this pink. It's much less sweet, but richer than other frosting. When Jason tasted it, he said it tasted fattier, and that's due to the pound of butter. This is also a recipe that I can easily adapt to be sugar-free.

Anyhoo, took these to be tasted this morning. The 7 minute frosting had flopped overnight, so I knew that wasn't going to get good reviews. I think most people like the american buttercream, which is good, since it's easier and cheaper to make than the swiss merengue buttercream. I'm glad to know that I can produce any of these frostings rather easily.

Lego Cupcakes- again!

I was asked once more to make Lego cupcakes for the launch of Lego Universe, a new online game made by my husband's company, NetDevil. I made 5 dozen cupcakes for the launch party today.

I love making special themed cupcakes like these. Having made Lego cupcakes once before, I already knew how to make the bricks out of fondant. This time, I decided to make the 2x2 bricks, because apparently they are more common than the 3x2s that I made last time. I also made them in 3 different colors, red, yellow and blue.


I made the bricks one day, and the cupcakes the next. I made 2 dozen vanilla, 2 dozen red velvet, and one dozen chocolate, all with vanilla frosting. I tinted the frosting red, yellow and blue, to coordinate with the bricks.


I also tried to different decorating technique with the frosting. Using different tips for each color, I piped stars and dots all over the cupcakes. So cute! The stars kind of remind me of flowers, like hydrangeas. I then placed different colored Legos on each cupcake.


I was really pleased the way these turned out. I delivered them to the office early in the morning, in time for the launch party. They had also gotten a cake with the logo on it, and my cupcakes surrounded the cake. It was a great setup.

Although I can't imagine eating cupcakes at 8am, I'm sure everyone will enjoy them.

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 :)

Threadcakes Feather Cake

So, I got it together and entered the Threadcakes contest this year. It's a contest where you make a cake inspired by the Threadless Tshirt designs. I chose carefully, and entered a feather cake. Check out the link! http://www.threadcakes.com/entries/view/932 I made the feathers out of gumpaste, which is an edible sugar dough. You roll it out like a pie dough, then I cut out the feathers individually using a cookie cutter. Then I embossed a vein and cut notches into the side of each one. Then, I hand painted them with food coloring to get the look I needed. That took forever. Fortunately, gumpaste can stay covered for about a week. Plus, it needs time to dry, so it gets hard.Then I made the cakes, my trusty vanilla recipe. 2 8 inch layers and 2 6 inch layers. Yum! Then I made 2 batches of vanilla frosting. Once I had leveled the cakes, I frosted them and let them chill for a while. Then the fun part, fondant!

Fondant is also a sugar dough, but it doesn't get hard like gum paste. I rolled it out and covered each cake, then stacked them. Pretty!

The I attached the feathers using royal icing, which is sugar and meringue powder and water. It's like glue. I kept adding more and more feathers until I couldn't add no more.

I took the cake to Jason's office so everyone could enjoy it. It was kinda sad to cut into it, but it actually cut nicely too. Everyone loved it, and ate it up in minutes. Sugar rush!

I took pictures of the whole process, to submit to the contest. So check out the link above and hope for the best!

Pro Cupcakes: Lego!

So, a friend of mine who's making a Lego video game asked me to make Lego cupcakes for a meeting today. So I racked my brain and came up with the following: red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, topped with individual Lego blocks made out of fondant. And the Lego logo, of course. (say that 5 times fast.... Lego logo Lego logo.......)

I made the bricks the night before, out of tinted fondant. They are edible, although not very tasty. This was rather time consuming, as I had to tint the fondant, cut out the bricks, then cut out the circles to go on top. 20 bricks, 6 circles each, that's.... 120 little circles! Then I attached them to the bricks with water and let them sit overnight. They turned out great I think!

Then I made the cupcakes, red velvet of course. I wanted very colorful cupcakes :)
I split a batch of frosting, and tinted half blue and half yellow. It was actually more like 2/3 yellow, but that's ok.Since I had 20 blocks and 24 cupcakes, I wanted the last 4 to be the Lego logo. I piped that with black frosting on yellow background. all in all, they turned out great!

When I delivered them to the office, everyone loved them. This was a great challenge, and I always forget how much I like working with fondant until I do it again. So thanks, Jordan, for the opportunity to show off my skills!

Martha Challenge #38- Boston Cream Cupcakes

So in honor of the upcoming Independence Day holiday, I wanted to do a themed cupcake, and figured Boston cream pie cupcakes were pretty good! Plus, I'm kinda into filled cupcakes right now.
These were quite time consuming to make. First you have to make the pastry cream which goes inside. I had never made pastry cream before, but it was easy, and smelled amazing. I kind of want to make more stuff with it. It's just eggs, milk, sugar and some cornstarch, all cooked together and then strained. It came out perfect, nice and thick. This would also make a good filling for a layer cake, or of course, eclairs.


While that was chilling, I made the cupcakes. These are light and fluffy, almost like a sponge cake, but not quite. A very simple vanilla cupcake, but so divine. I baked them in red and blue star liners to emphasize the theme :)


After they had cooled completely, I made a hole in each with an apple corer. Martha's version recommends cutting them in half and putting the filling in between, but I figured that would be too messy for transporting them. So I did it my way! The cakes were so spongy that after making the hole and taking out the insides, the holes kinda closed up again, so I had to scoop more cake out to have room for the cream.


So I filled them all with pastry cream, making sure to get enough in each cupcake, and replaced the tops I had removed. There were some scraps I ate too :)


Third step, I made the chocolate ganache topping. I love making ganache, it's super easy, very rich and delicious, and everyone loves chocolate! I use the darkest chocolate I can find usually, which this time was 72%. I generously spooned the ganache over the top of the cupcakes and spread it out. It was quite thick, probably because I used more chocolate than recommended.
To finish, a few red white and blue nonpareils sprinkled on top. Perfect!


I had to crack one of these open to test it out, and to see how the filling looked. I was rather pleased with the result, the filling was plentiful, and although it was similar in color to the cake, you can see the difference in texture.


One issue I had was that these need to be refrigerated before serving, and when I took one out of the fridge to cut it open, the cake itself wasn't as soft and spongy as before. I know that chilling cake dries it out, and that's exactly what happened here. I'd recommend letting these come to room temp for a few minutes before serving them, even if you chill them overnight.
All in all, a good recipe, and one I'll definitely keep on hand.