Boy Birthdays

I love girly things and often feel like little boys get the raw end of the deal when it comes to cool stuff. I have vowed to try and make cool boy stuff and not lame pastel blue and yellow things. (no offense to people who like that). I have 2 little boys in my life that I adore who both happened to be named Brock.

This year I got to do both of their birthday cakes! B-Rock and his sister Jodie are my Nousins (Nephew/Niece Cousins) you might remember his little sister's giant birthday cupcake! B-rock turned 3 and is into all things rock-n-roll and motorcycles so they had a Harley flame birthday party for him.

The bottom cake is Chocolate with Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting and the top cake is Strawberry with Vanilla Cream Cheese. It didn't turn out like my original plan, but it was worth hearing B-rock say excitedly "Look at my FIRE cake!"

Now Brock #2 or Boogie as I call him is the smartest kid I've ever known. Boogie turned 2 and adores Thomas the Tank Engine, especially the runaway kite movie. This is the first time ever that a cake turned out exactly like I planned it. I wanted the cake to look like the scenery from the movie so that when the train went around it would look just right. It was awesome to have the train chugging along around the bottom of the cake. Because I love Boogie's mom so much I let her have vanilla and chocolate cake instead of making her choose something more exciting, but I think it still tasted pretty well.

*All the details on both cakes were made out of candy clay...the kids apparently love eating it. I'm heading into my busy season at my "REAL" job, but I have a few awesome weddings coming up so hopefully I'll have time to post!

Finally!

I finally have time to update. Wow it's been a busy, busy time. I have a lot of pics to post coming up in the next few weeks, some from all the way back in January. But first, I want to welcome spring by reviewing a cupcake shop from Sunny California. I finally took a grown up vacation and spent a week enjoying the sunshine, sand, books, fresh fruit, camping, friends and laughing at the crazies on Hollywood blvd.

If you've never been to Hollywood, it's worth a visit to laugh at all the people dressed up as batman or barney or count how many spiderman's you'll see. While strolling along we stumbled upon the Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store which happened to be hosting a Mad Hatter cupcake tea party! We didn't have time to stay for the event but decided we better try some cupcakes. Within the Disney store they have a branch of Yummy Cupcakes which offered 6 flavors (I think.) We tried Peanut-butter cup, Chocolate Chocolate, Vanilla and Red Velvet. I'm a pretty tough judge on cupcakes but I really only have two criteria that they should meet.

1) Moist, Fluffy cake

2) Frosting that isn't outrageously sweet

Four different people sampled each one and I made them rank each one. Here are the general thoughts.

PB cup: Liked the PB in the middle, cake was kind of dry. Overall not a bad cake. (Personally it tasted nothing like a PB cup so it should just be called PB chocolate or something.)

Chocolate: Wow, Chocolate overload. Even those of us who like chocolate thought it was a little strong. Cake was pretty good, also had a fudge filling. Not bad, not great. (Personally I liked the frosting on this one the best, the texture was really smooth and there wasn't too much of it.)

Vanilla: One person ranked it #1 but everybody else ranked it last. I think Walmart makes a better vanilla cupcake than this.

Red Velvet: Overall this was the best out of the bunch. Cake was still a little dry but overall not too shabby for mass produced cupcakes. The cream cheese frosting was pretty good but not great.

If you are looking for average cupcakes this is the place for you. That sounds harsher than I mean it. But really there was nothing too spectacular about the cupcakes except that you could get them on Hollywood blvd. But hey, this is just my opinion.

Friday 2 for 1

It's Friday so I'll leave you over the weekend with two sweet cakes. This first one was for a girls night get together with some of my favorite gals, (even though I wasn't able to attend). They let me run with whatever I wanted, however, it had to have chocolate! So, they got a chocolate cake filled with chocolate chip cookie dough, a light whipped topping and adorned with chocolate dipped strawberries. If that doesn't scream girls night, I don't know what does!
Next up was a baby shower cake for a surprise baby shower. It was such a joy to be a part of the party. The mom to be is a dear friend and this baby is a Miracle. Can't wait til the little gal gets here! The cake is chocolate filled with oreo mousse and covered in chocolate ganache. The decorations are made out of candy clay as are the flowers. Candy clay is really easy to make you should try it sometime!

Yes Cupcakes get you dance partners!

My older sister had a birthday recently and we decided to celebrate by taking her dancing! By dancing I mean good 'ole Texas two-steppin. If you are ever in the area, check out Southern Junction. The only problem was that all our guy dance partners bailed on us so we were left at the mercy of whoever was brave enough to ask. Sister wanted cherry cobbler for her birthday, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to keep cherry cobbler warm and serve it at Southern Junction. So, sister said, "can't you just make cherry cobbler cupcakes?" Of course I can. Haha. So, I whipped up a brown sugar cake with a cherry pie center, crumble topping and Vanilla whipped frosting. There were probably 500 dancers at the Junction and at least half of them were eyeballing the cupcakes. But one brave cowboy did more than stare, he walked right up to me and said, "Whose birthday is it?" I pointed at my sister, then he said, "how could I get one of those cupcakes?" I said, "oh you can just have one! But, It'd be awesome if you took my sister out for a spin on the floor, haha." He said, "Deal." Took her out for a dance and said, "I'll be back for more cupcakes." And he definitely came back again. So, the moral of this story: If you are going dancing but don't have any solid dance partners lined up just bake some cupcakes and watch the guys line up!

Heart or Guitar pick, you decide?

I keep saying, "I don't do cakes" and yet here I am again posting a cake. Let's be honest, I like to challenge myself every once in awhile! And by challenge I mean, I like to make myself cry while trying to cover a cake. Cupcakes are so much more forgiving! Anyway, this is a Fender guitar pick cake for one of our best-ies Rob. He's a great musician and a greater friend. We even call him cousin Rob from time to time. His friends kept wondering why I made him a heart cake, but seriously....you take a look at the inspiration and then tell me if it resembles a guitar pick. I realize it's large but there were like 30 people at the party. Next time I'll make 30 tiny guitar picks.

New Year, New Cakes...

I'm so ready for 2010....I really want it to be different than 2009. I have a ton of goals and I plan to make good on them. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up the blog the way I want to, and it might branch out a little into some healthier venues!
Some sweet friends of mine asked me to do a cake for their son's 1st birthday. He is such a cutie and smiles a lot! They are about to move to Germany and continue to multiply themselves so that people will embrace truth. I can't wait to see their pictures of him going after the smash cake! They got a red velvet cake for the adults with cream cheese frosting and Candy Clay decorations (i hate fondant). And vanilla cake with vanilla cream cheese for the birthday boy!

Frosting!

It never fails that I end up with little tubs of leftover frosting scattered throughout my fridge. I've pondered time and again what exactly to do with the tubs and I think I've finally found an acceptable solution. Cookies on Crack! At least that's what it feels like to me. I have a confession....even though I'm a cupcake baker, I am addicted to cookies. Which is why I limit how often I bake them. It just so happens that my need to find a use for extra frosting coincided with a charge to bake cookies for a Christmas Caroling party! So, Here you go Christmas Cookies on Crack! Peppermint Chocolate Ganache sandwiched between two peppermint butter cookies and Eggnog Cream sandwiched between Molasses cookies....more to come on Cookie Crack flavors in the future!

Nousins...

Nousins= Nephew/Niece Cousins, this is what I call my 1st cousins kids. They are the closest thing to a Nephew and a Niece I have in my life. They call me Tickle and I like that. So for each of their birthdays I put the mixer into high gear and try to give them something they would love. Now, I have to say for the little ladies 1st birthday I was so excited to get to do something so girly and fun! And I learned a few things in the process:
1. The Giant Cupcake pan takes forever to bake and the cake comes out pretty dense.
2. Covering the bottom in Candy clay instead of Fondant (I hate Fondant) was perfect.
3. Simple often turns out cuter than elaborate.
4. Ms. little lady is much better at cake demolition than her older brother was on his 1st birthday!
5. It doesn't matter how much sleep I lose trying to make their cakes perfect, I love my Nousins!

Stay tuned, Big brother is turning 3 in January and I'm determined to make the coolest cake/cupcakes ever!

Get the Campfire Burnin!

For the past few years a group of our dear friends have gotten together to go camping. We sing songs, talk about life and eat way too many S'mores! This weekend is camping weekend! So in honor of the festivities I thought I would leave you with a treat: S'more Cupcakes. Graham cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache and Toasted Marshmallow fluff. Best if eaten warm! I hope you have a great weekend...Soon I'm thinking about posting a few recipes, maybe even some non-cupcake related. Much Love!

Peanutbutter Engagement

This Fall one of my dearest friends, got engaged and her sneaky Fiance let us help surprise her! My sisters and I got to keep her busy while he decorated her house and prepared to ask her to be his wifey. I haven't been this excited for a couple to wed in a long time, they bring out the best in each other and cause each other to want to know Jesus more. Ms. C is a so full of life and fun, you can't help but be in a good mood around her. And Mr. P is charming, laid back and willing to have a good time where ever he is. Both of these people are dear to my heart because they have purposed themselves to seek the Lord above all else and are intending for their marriage to image Christ's love for his people. I am Blessed get to see a tiny bit of this!
On to the cake! Ms. C is in love with rich desserts, and would eat PB Cup Cupcakes if I made them every day (i Think). So in the excitement of Mr. P's request for Ms. C's hand in marriage a Peanutbutter Chocolate cake was in order. Chocolate cake filled with Peanutbutter Fudge and covered in Rich Chocolate Ganache. After the engagement we (the Meeker Gals) arrived at the door with cake in hand, singing, "Going to the Chapel." It was so fun! Can't wait till the Bridal Showers, oh the cupcakes we will have!

California Cupcake!

I have never been to Cali. but I hope to remedy this in the near future. My friend Sarah and her husband Matt just moved out to Pasadena and I miss them a lot. However, it's given me a good excuse to find out what Pasadena has to offer in the way of cupcakes, so I know where to spend my time when I arrive for my visit! I sent Sarah and Matt on a mission to find out about Dots Cupcakes and here is Sarah's review:

"Checked out that cupcake place you sent me to. I love that you sent me on a “mission.”

Anyway, it was small and cute and a little oriental woman took Matt and my order. We asked her which ones were the best and she said the red velvet is a favorite and then some others. I got a red velvet and Matt got something like a chocolate peanut butter cup thing. They were both very good! Moist and very tasteful. I’d go back.

Also, as we were leaving several different types of people went into the store.

4 out of 5 stars. (5 if it had been your store)

-Sarah"

So there you go, Good Cupcakes in Pasadena, spread the word. And thanks Sarah for the review!

Cupcakes and a movie

Don't you wish they served cupcakes at the movies? I know I do! Next time you have friends over to host a movie night serve up some of these Salty Popcorn Cupcakes! My oldest sister loves salty and sweet. Every time we go to the movies she gets a bag of popcorn and dumps a bag of M&M's on top. And I have to admit, it tastes so good! So this cupcake is inspired by her for her. Sweet caramel cake with milk chocolate ganache frosting then topped with salty popcorn. Try adding some popcorn to your favorite cupcakes for a nice surprise. Just make sure you serve them pretty quick so the popcorn doesn't get stale.

Flavors! Flavors!

One of my favorite pies is from Furr's Cafeteria: Millionaire Pie! When I was younger I couldn't even begin to tell you what was actually in it, all I knew is that the custard was so sweet it crunched in your teeth and the crust was buttery delicious and to top it all off the whipped cream had a secret concoction of pineapples, nuts and we sometimes thought coconut. So in honor of this great desert, I finally got around to making a Millionaire Cupcake: Butter cake filled with custard and topped with pineapple nut cream. Folks around here are hesitant to try it but love it once they do!
Also on the menu today: Strawberry Margarita, it's got real Margarita in the cake and the frosting and of course rimmed in pink sugar. These were for a Bridal shower, I'm sure they had one great fiesta!

2fer

Today you get two creations to think on. The connecting factors are that they both were taken to church activities and made out of whatever I happened to have in my kitchen. A little of this, a little of that, you know how it goes. The first is a Banana Choffee (yes I think I just made that word up) Cupcake. It's a soft Banana cake with mini, semi-sweet chocolate chips and toffee bits, topped off with smooth cream cheese, a drizzle of chocolate and sprinkle of toffee. If you want a rich banana cake this one is for you! Next up, Pumpkin Roll Crunch....All the rain over the weekend made us Texans seek the great indoors and gave me a chance to do some clean out the pantry baking. There are two things you should know about me and Pumpkin rolls:
1. This was my first attempt! I've been too scared to make them, but I had nowhere I had to be and pumpkin and eggs that needed to be used.
2. I love them so much, that I was once given one for Christmas.
A traditional Pumpkin Roll is laid out on powdered sugar right after it's baked so it doesn't stick to your towel when you roll it, but I wanted to try something with a little texture so I baked up some pecan streusel topping to replace the sugar. It turned out pretty good for my first attempt. I only had 4oz of cream cheese and 1 stick of butter so to make enough filling I also added about 1/2 cup of whipped cream. It gave the filling a light airy taste. I wish I would've taken a picture of it sliced, it looked so pretty! I think it went over pretty well with the church folk. Now that I've figure out how to roll cake, watch out My head is spinnin' with ideas!

Resolution

I resolve to post at least every time I have a new flavor or special decoration order. My full-time job is super busy during the summer so I feel like I'm finally where I have time to blog again. In honor of my job, I'd like to introduce you to my boss: Lance, I call him Shu, he calls me Pistol. He is a father to 4 hilarious kiddos, a visionary leader and knows almost every mascot for every High School in Texas. Shu likes yellow cake with chocolate frosting and I admit it's hard to beat, but for me it's too boring to name after my boss. [Side note: I refuse to make "yellow cake" Yellow is not a flavor it's a color. If you want yellow cake from my kitchen you better be ok with asking for butter cake.] For a guy as interesting as Shu, "yellow cake" just won't cut it. But you know what will? Whopper Cake! Moist Chocolate cake with chocolate malted whipped frosting and topped with the delicious Whopper. Shu says this is his favorite cupcake, I guess I know exactly what he'll want for his birthday.

My dad's birthday

My dad is the best father on earth. Really, I'm not just saying that because I'm biased. He is disciplined, loving and more than anything has led my mother and sisters in such a Godly manner all these years that I just appreciate how he has pointed us back to Jesus over and over again. And he turned 60 this year. We have never thrown him a birthday party where we invited other people outside the family, so we decided it was high time. I really wanted to do something special for the 70 party people we were having so I decided to go against my rule of not doing stacked cakes and make one just for him. The biggest element was the handmade belt buckle out of white chocolate candy clay, hand stamped and painted with edible sliver. I wish you could see it in person, I surprised myself with it. The cake is my dad's favorite: Chocolate with pecans and fudge frosting. Really it should just be called chocolate death, but I'd rather name it after my dad than death. So just ask for The Dad.

I love little ones.

My good friend has the cutest little girl and let me do her 1st year birthday which had a pink poodle theme, how cool is that! They had her party at a park on the windiest day ever, but the cupcakes survived. They are pink strawberry with very vanilla frosting. Some have dots and some have poodles. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Finally...

Finally, I have a second to update some cupcakes. Some are forever old. This first one I wanted to show you is a super easy way to put cute, tasty decorations on. I just melt down some white chocolate and line a cookie sheet with wax paper, spread out the melted chocolate on the sheet and let it just barely set up. Next take your favorite mini cookie cutter and stamp out as many as you want. Decorate and then top your cupcake. So fast, so cute.

Old stuff

I have been so cupcake and iGo busy that posting updates has taken forever. These cupcakes are from months ago. Made for all the boys and staff out at Miracle Farm. The first one is The Turtle: Chocolate cake with marshmallow butter cream frosting, caramel center with pecans and chocolate drizzle. Second up is Banana Puddin': Banana cake with Banana Cream Frosting and a Vanilla wafer. One of the new favorites.

Happy Birthday! Secrects Revealed

Well, it has been weeks since I have posted anything....seems like I go through stages like that. BUT, I have been working on a lot of things. Today I have a very special treat for you! One of my favorite people had her 18th birthday, and I was asked and given freedom to create a custom flavor and cupcake tower for her. Tex is a very unique girl and I wanted her cake to reflect that. So the super secret flavor I was testing at Valentines can now be revealed: Tex's Chocolate Passion. It's chocolate cake with passion tea ganache and marshmallow butter cream frosting. I had to take the pictures with my phone so they aren't the best, but hopefully you can get a glimpse of what the cakes looked like. The decorations are handmade out of candy clay (my new favorite alternative to fondant!)