Flyin Cupcake!

Apple Shaped Cake Pops

2011-09-25T11:30:00.000-04:00

Well its that time of year again. The kids are heading back to school and to after school sporting activities and back on a full weekly schedule. Some Moms cry happy tears because they finally get a relief from summer entertaining while some other moms cry tears of sadness because they miss their babies. I am the mom that BAKES! I will bake for teachers, the football team, the cheerleading team, anybody that wants or needs sweets. I am the mom for that. This year my baby is starting high school and knowing she loves my cupcake pops I told her I was going to be making apple cupcake pops to pass out to her teachers. If you have a teenager, you can imagine the horrific look on my daughters face when I said that. Because she is my baby, I already knew what her reaction was going to be. I did get my laugh for the day. I made the apple cupcake pops but instead of passing them out to her teachers we gave them to the cheerleaders.

These pops were so easy to make. The only hard part was finding the leaves to place on top. We eventually decided to use green Mike and Ikes. I thought they worked pretty well.

1 box of cake mix - any flavor (I used vanilla. I wanted it to look like the inside of an apple)
¾ tub of ready made frosting - any flavor (I used vanilla)
24 lollipop sticks
1 bag of red candy melts
Styrofoam block or 2x4 with holes drilled in it to hold the dipped cake balls
24 chocolate dipped pretzel sticks
24 green Mike and Ike

Make and bake cake according to box directions.
When cake is completely cooled crumble the entire cake into a bowl.
Mix ¾ tub of ready made frosting into the crumbled cake (you might just have to roll your sleeves up and dig in with your hands). Most recipes call for the entire tub, but I think it is too moist.
When cake and frosting is moist and mixed, shape into 1 inch balls.
Place cake balls on a greased cookie sheet.
Put a lollipop stick in each cake ball and place in refrigerator until firm.
Once cake balls are firm, lightly pinch the bottom of the cake ball where the stick is attached to form the shape of an apple.
Indent the top of the ball to form the shape of where the stem will be going.
If cake balls have gotten soft, place back in refrigerator until firm again.
Melt the candy melts in a double boiler.
When the cake balls are firm dip them in the melted candy melts.
Shake excess off and place in the Styrofoam or wooden holder.
Take a chocolate dipped pretzel and place in the top indention.
Take a Mike and Ike and place it crooked next to the pretzel stick on the top of the apple.
Stand back and Say “AWWWW”.
Repeat dipping process until all the cake balls are dipped and decorated.
I had a stem and leaf helper during the dipping process because it can get pretty messy.

Walforf-Astoria Red Cake Recipe

2011-07-29T13:32:00.001-04:00

thecupcakerecipes.com

A friend of mine recently baked me some red velvet cupcakes. I was told it was a recipe their mother made and that she was a VERY good cook. I thought the cupcakes were delicious! The recipe they used was a Waldorf-Astoria recipe. What I find most interesting about the original Waldorf-Astoria recipe is that it does not include the most popular cream cheese frosting that everyone so often uses, but a cooked creamy custard-like frosting. HEAVEN! Had I not tasted this frosting I would have just skimmed over any frosting recipes that ever said the word "cook" and/or the word "flour".

The true origin of the Red Velvet cake is a mystery. One of the more popular stories involving this chocolate cake was believed to be around 1959, when a woman dining at the elegant Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City was served the dessert. She was so pleased with this early Red Velvet Cake that she asked for the recipe. The kitchen obliged to her request, but she found out later she was charged $100 (or $200, depending on the version of the story) for the recipe itself. To get her revenge on the NYC Hotel, she shared the kitchen’s Red Velvet Cake recipe in the form of chain letters, which she sent to hundreds of individuals, therefore exposing the “secret” and exploding the popularity of and demand for the Red Velvet Cake as a birthday cake and elegant dessert.

James Beard's 1972 reference American Cookery describes three red velvet cakes varying in the amounts of shortening and butter. All use red food coloring, but the reaction of acidic vinegar and buttermilk tends to better reveal the red anthocyanin in the cocoa. Before more alkaline "Dutch Processed" cocoa was widely available, the red color would have been more pronounced. This natural tinting may have been the source for the name "Red Velvet" as well as "Devil's Food" and similar names for chocolate cakes While foods were rationed during World War II, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the color of their cakes. Boiled grated beets or beet baby food are found in some red velvet cake recipes, where they also serve to retain moisture.

In Canada the cake was a well-known dessert in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton's department store chain in the 1940s and 1950s. Promoted as an exclusive Eaton's recipe, with employees who knew the recipe sworn to silence, many mistakenly believed the cake to be the invention of the department store matriarch, Lady Eaton.

A resurgence in the popularity of this cake is partly attributed to the 1989 film Steel Magnolias in which the groom's cake (a southern tradition) is a red velvet cake made in the shape of an armadillo.

WALDORF-ASTORIA RED CAKE
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar (DC cupcakes uses cider vinegar)
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon baking soda
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
1.Cream together the shortening, sugar, and eggs.

2.Make a paste with food coloring and cocoa. Add to shortening mixture.

3.Add salt and buttermilk to mixture.

4.Next add flour, vanilla, vinegar, and baking soda in that order. Mix.

5.Bake for 30 mins. at 350 degrees in two 8" rnd greased cake pans. Let cool.

6.Frosting: Cook 5 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk until thick, and then cool.

7.Cream together 1 cup confect. sugar, 1 cup butter and 1 tsp. vanilla 'til fluffy. Add to flour mixture.

8.Cut layers of cake in half lengthwise. Spread frosting on each half layer. Stack and frost over all.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 287 Total Fat: 15.4g Cholesterol: 47mg

Almost Heaven Desserts Review

2011-07-25T08:27:00.000-04:00

I couldn't find any cupcake shops on my google search but a few bakeries popped up. I chose Almost Heaven Desserts for my review. If it wasn't for wanting to put West Virginia on my blog map, I probably wouldn't have stopped here. I called this bakery and asked if they had any cupcakes. They said they did. I then asked what flavors they had? They said chocolate and vanilla. I was looking for something more exotic but hey a cupcake is a cupcake!

The shop is on the corner in downtown Bridgeport, WV. They mostly specialize in cheese cakes. We ordered one of each flavor.

The vanilla cupcake had a raspberry filling and a light whipped cream frosting with sprinkles. Great frosting! Great filling! Terrible dry flavorless cupcake!

The chocolate cupcake was filled with a chocolate ganache. Again, great frosting, great filling. Terrible, dry and flavorless cupcake.

I was happy to have finally taste a cupcake frosted with a light whipped cream frosting for a change rather than the creamy sugar frosting that I have been tasting lately at.

If you are passing through Bridgeport, WV you should definately stop at Almost Heaven Desserts and try their cheesecake and coffee.

The Cupcake Collection Review

2011-07-19T09:28:00.000-04:00

Midway through our trip and our cupcake stops we were racing the clock, traffic, and a massive storm which was fast approaching to get to The Cupcake Collection Store before they closed at 5:30pm. We arrived about 5:10pm. We found this place on a quiet side street. This shop was a cute little house. There were two smiling boys working behind the counter. There was one person in front of us ordering, which gave us plenty of time to pick a cupcake we wanted. By the time we finished our order there was a line of customers leading out the door. Not because the counter boys were slow, but because everyone was making the mad dash to get their cupcake fix before the storm hits. We chose a strawberry cheesecake, wedding cake, and sweet potato cupcake.

Strawberry Cheesecake A super moist, fresh and flavorful cupcake with the perfect amount of frosting to make a perfect light and refreshing treat.

Wedding Cake Not a favorite with me. The cake seemed dry and crumbly and the frosting was super sweet and just not pleasant

Sweet Potato: My absolute favorite! I am not a carrot cake or spice cake fan but this cupcake was WOW! Very good with the just the right amount of frosting to top it off. I would highly reccommend this cupcake to anyone that visits this place!

Gigi's Cupcake Review

2011-07-18T15:23:00.000-04:00

Gigi's Cupcakes was not origionally on my cupcake sailing list, but the origional cupcake shop Muddy's Bake Shop was closed today. After screaming with Tammy (Our GPS voice. It was decited that we are changing the voice of Tammy to Army Sargent for the duration of our trip) for the last hour while driving through the city, I had to make our stop in Memphis, TN worth while.

I think I read somewhere that Gigi's cupcakes is a chain cupcake shop. In any case, this shop was bright and inviting and the cupcakes had enourmous mounds of frosting on the cupcakes. There were about 10 different flavors to choose from. All flavors looked delicious!

We ordered a Strawberry Shortcake, an Orange Dreamsicle, and a Texas Chocolate cupcake.

Strawberry Shortcake was by far the best tasting cupcake out of the trio. This cupcake had a nice strawberry flavor and was very moist. The frosting was a whipped sugar buttercream (there was way too much frosting on the cupcake). I was surprised that there wasn't a real strawberry on top but rather just a piped one. At $3.00 a cupcake, I think a fresh strawberry would have been more appropriate.

Orange Dreamsicle was suggested by the girl behind the counter as a favorite to try because it tasted like the dream pop ice cream. This cupcake was light fluffy and fresh. It had a hint of orange flavor in the cake as well as the enourmous mound of sugar buttercream frosting on top. Unfortunately the cupcake just didn't quite have the bursting flavor of the dreamsicle.

Texas Chocolate I honestly don't know why I had to try another chocolate cupcake. I already had my fill of sugar sweet chocolate from the last cupcake shop. I just did not like the frosting on this cupcake, it reminded me of the whipped frosting you can buy at the grocery store. The actual cupcake itself was freash and chocolatey and moist. This cupcake did not give me the big Texas taste that I was hoping for.

Now on to Nashville!

Cupcakes on Kavanaugh Review

2011-07-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

Cupcakes on Kavanaugh in Little Rock, AR was our first stop along our roadtrip.

A very cute shop with only 6 different flavors to choose from. I asked the counter girl what the daily special was and she responded. "We are open today that is what is special". I wasn't quite sure how to take that. We arrived about a half hour after they opened so I knew we were going to get fresh cupcakes.

We ordered a Red Velvet, A salted Caramel, and a Chocolate Chocolate Cupcake.

Red Velvet: Super moist cake not as chocolatey as I had hoped but it still had a good taste. The frosting was so sweet you could barely taste the cream cheese in it. I like sweet but this was too sweet.

Salted Caramel: This cupcake is probably the best salted caramel cupcake I have tasted so far. Very moist and flavorful. Again, the frosting was too super sweet for me, but you could at least taste the caramel and the salt. Would have been perfect if the frosting was more buttercream than sugarcream.

Chocolate Chocolate: Super rich chocolate tasting and super moist cupcake. A very good cupcake. The chocolate buttercream frosting was just too sweet as with all the other cupcakes.

If you are one that loves super sweet frosting on your cupcakes this would be the perfect cupcake shop for you.

Driving vs. Flying Cupcake Adventure Reviews

2011-07-17T09:56:00.001-04:00

My motto is why drive when I can fly!

1. Its free (for airline employees)
2. It's faster (if you don't get bumped because flights are full).

However, there are some things in life that cannot be left to chance. Wedding's and births are two of them. They do not wait for your flight to arrive (well maybe if you are the one getting married they might but definitely not babies). Because of the definites and indefinites, we are trekking 26 hours from West Texas through Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and onto Clarksburg, WV for a family wedding. I did not agree to this trip without kicking and screaming as the driver of this trip is a certified road conqueror. If the last trip to Clarksburg, WV took 27.2 hours he is on a mission to conquer the trip in 26.5 hours (I think he may even bought some adult diapers for us). So to appease this road trip whiner, the driver offered me some kryptonite. He proposed I pick out some cupcake places along the way for my cupcake reviews. Hot diggity dog! I strategically planned the road trip to stop at 5 cupcake places. Trust me, if time permitted I would have picked many more! So many cupcake shops, so little time!

1. Cupcakes on Kavanaugh, Little Rock, AK

2. Muddy's Bake Shop, Memphis, TN

3. Cupcake Collection, Nashville, TN

4. Gigi's Cupcakes, Bowling Green, KY

5. Baby Cakes, Lexington, KY

So if you have been to any of these places I would love to get your advice on what is their best cupcake!

Keep an eye out for my reviews!

Key Lime and Coconut Cupcake Recipe

2011-07-07T16:36:00.000-04:00

This 4th of july I found myself away from friends and family so what better way to comfort myself than to bake cupcakes! Since I was also away from my kitchen, I decided to try and bake in a non-bakers kitchen (the only kitchen that was available). This was a kitchen with 1 bowl, 1 cupcake tin, and 1 wooden spoon. Seriously! Off to the market I went for the basics to bake my little masterpieces. I realized when I got back that there wasn't even an electric mixer in this kitchen, not even a hand held electric mixer! I was up for the challenge of hand mixing my little creations. I mean how hard can it be right? Wrong! This kitchen will be getting an electric mixer for Christmas!

I decided to bake a Key Lime and Coconut cupcake with a Coconut Cream Cheese frosting. I found the recipe from the food network website. I bought fresh key limes instead of the juice. I was raised fresh is best. I had to hand squeeze about a billion little key limes to make the 2/3 cup full. Key limes are about half the size of a regular lime but packed with twice the pucker power.

The recipe warned that the key lime juice will curdle the batter. But with continued mixing, the batter becomes thick with a creamy texture. Just like the recipe said the batter curdled and then became thick and creamy. By this time my arm was getting a good workout and I haven't even started the cream cheese frosting!

The cupcakes were cooled. The frosting was whipped. My arms were now rubber. It was now time to frost my little pretties. Being the queen of innovation, I was again creative with how I was going to frost them. Remember this kitchen doesn't have a baker. It did, however, have many useful items. I am not a big fan of slathering frosting on with a knife so I looked around for items that had a similar opening as a frosting tip. I found a 12oz plastic water bottle with a hole a little bigger then the frosting tip I usually use I cut about 2 inches off the top of the water bottle and I also found plastic baggies so I cut a corner off the plastic bag. I put my water bottle top tip snuggly in the newly cut corner of the plastic baggie (it was sandwich sized) and filled with frosting. Worked like a charm!

Key Lime Coconut Cupcake Recipe
For the cake:
2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups natural sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2 tsp. coconut extract
2/3 cup key lime juice, either from real key limes or bottled. .

For the icing:
2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (16 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. coconut extract

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides then add the key lime juice. Beat for another minute. Stop the mixer.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Add coconut. Mix until combined. Fill the cupcake liners to

the 2/3-level with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes for full-size They’re done when a toothpick comes out clean or spongy to the touch. Cool to room temperature.

While the cakes cool, make the icing. Mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and coconut extract on low speed until the sugar incorporates, then whip for about 3 minutes. Pipe frosting on each cupcake and garnish.

I can't say that this Key Lime and Coconut cupcake Recipe is a blue ribbon recipe, but they were very flavorful. They had a different texture. A cross between a cheese cake and a cupcake. But definitely reminds you of the awesome key lime pies that are so popular in Florida. You have not tasted the ultimate key lime pie until you have tasted it in Florida!

I know I am critical on some of my cupcake shop reviews. Know that I am also critical of my own fresh baked cupcakes. Nothing upsets me more than a cupcake shop charging gourmet prices for a cut corners cost saving cupcake. I know that the ultimate goal of a cupcake shop is to maximize profits but some shops go too far.

Abby Girl Sweets Cupcake Review

2011-07-01T11:32:00.010-04:00

If you googled best cupcakes in Cincinnati, Abby Girl Sweets should be the first name on the search!

A friend of mine knew I was going to be in the cincinnati area and knew I wanted to do a cupcake review so they brought me a cupcake from this cupcake shop.

From the moment I opened the cupcake box and picked up the cupcake, I knew I was in for a real treat!

First, it was a chocolate peanut butter cup cupcake (MY FAVORITE)!

Second, just by the touch of the cupcake I knew it was very fresh and very moist.

I was totally blown away by how awesome this cupcake tasted. Everything about this chocolate peanut butter cup cupcake was exactly what I look for in a cupcake. It was moist and not crumbly. You could taste the chocolate in the cupcake. You had the full peanutty taste of peanut butter in the frosting. The sugar in the frosting enhanced the peanut butter flavor rather than over bear the peanut butter flavor.

It has been a long, long time since I was blown away by the flavor of a cupcake. I think the last time was the Mexican Vanilla cupcake at Suzy Beez in Houston, Tx. I went back to Suzy Beez's cupcake shop 3 times over the course of a year trying to get that cupcake again and they never had it available.

I would definitely recommend Abby Girl Sweets to anyone I know in search of awesome cupcakes in the Cincinnate area!

I cannot wait to go back to Cincinnati to visit the store myself and have a cupcake tasting party!

Manna Cafe Cupcake Review

2011-06-29T11:13:00.015-04:00

I decided to share my love of cupcakes with my longtime friend and her family on a recent visit to Cincinnati, Ohio. To do our Cincinnnati cupcake review, we chose a cupcake cafe close to my friend's house. Manna Cupcake Cafe is about 40 minutes outside the City of Cincinnati. It is located in a cute country town right next to a train station.

Manna Cafe Cupcakes had seven different cupcake varieties and three different sizes. The flavors were; vanilla raspberry filled, bon bon chocolate filled with chocolate ganache, monkey cinnamon, red velvet, chocolate and vanilla their special cupcake of the day was a key lime. Because we wanted to try one of each we opted for all minis except for the key lime which wasn't offeren in a mini size.

Everyone agreed all the mini cupcakes were on very dry side.

We all liked the key lime and the raspberry so much we decided to try the medium size in hopes that the cupcake was a little more moist. Much to our taste bud's delight the medium size cupcake in several flavors were more moist than the minis of the same flavor. The frosting on most of the cupcakes were on the sweeter side but not so bad that you felt like you were eating a spoonful of sugar sweet.

Out of all 8 of us cupcake tasters we all decided that the 2 best cupcakes for our cupcake review from Mannas Cupcake Cafe were:

The Raspberry Filled Cupcake

The sugared raspberry on top tasted perfect

The Key Lime Cupcake

Just the right tart and sweet combination

Both of the frostings on these two cupcakes were very light and fluffy and not nearly as sugary as the other cupcakes.

The owner of Mannas was very friendly and informative on all her cupcake.

Cupcakes, Charleston, SC Review

2011-06-28T11:03:00.000-04:00

http://www.freshcupcakes.com/

I found this cute cupcake shop on my way back to the bus stop after my downtown charleston excursion. When I entered the shop, it reminded me of an ice cream parlor, pretty pastel colors painted the shop. I especially loved the big selection of cute cupcake T-shirt and other cupcake items like coffee mugs and pink spatulas. Their display had about 9 different flavors. They also had signs advertising mini and mega cupcakes, but I didn't see any. I didn't read up on this shop's reviews so I asked the cupcake counter girl what was her favorite. She said as everyone says.."Red Velvet is the most popular, and the orange cremecicle is very good." I ordered a orange cremecicle and a cinnamon swirl to change things up. The cupcakes we're just over $3 a piece. My first taste went to the orange cremecicle as I had made my own batch once and they we're so yummy. I tasted the frosting first. The frosting was an overpowering thick sweet sugar frosting with a hint of orange flavoring. One small taste was all I needed. The cupcake tasted like a dry poundcake with a barely recognizable orange flavor. I then tried the cinna$on swirl, this time I tried the cupcake first. This cupcake was definitely more moist, but it tasted exactly like the orange poundcake cupcake but with a hint of cinnamon and the frosting tasted exactly like the orange sugar sweet frosting except with a hint of cinnamon. I know many people love sugar sweet frosting especially southerners they have, as we all know, perfected sweet tea. I just prefer a light fluffy frosting.

Baked House Bakery Review

2011-06-27T23:19:00.000-04:00

Today I had a layover in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. With a few hours to kill I decided to put Charleston on my map of Cupcake Shop Reviews. When I google mapped "cupcakes" Baked House Bakery showed up on the map. When I arrived at Baked House Bakery, the bakery was very warm and welcoming. There were several cakes on display as well as various other baked goods. There were only 3 flavors of cupcakes to choose from and 1 flavor was in the refrigerated display case. I ordered a salted caramel which was at room temperature and a lemon cupcake which was in the refrigerated display. I wanted to eat dinner before I ate my cupcakes so I took them to go. The cupcakes were priced around $3.00 each. I walked for about 15 minutes. The temperature outside was near 90. When I finally got a chance to taste the cupcakes, the frosting on the salted caramel had melted. The lemon cupcake was still intact. The salted caramel cupcake was moist and although the frosting was a watery mess it still tasted pretty good. Not sure if I would classify it as a salted caramel but it was very tasty. The lemon cupcake frosting was light, fluffy and just the perfect amount of sweetness. Unfortunately the cupcake itself was very dry. I do not think this cupcake was fresh. I do believe that had this cupcake been fresh it would have been quite tastey.

4th of July Cupcakes!

2011-06-22T17:47:00.002-04:00

4th of July Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting topped with a Marshmallow Fondant Star

The 4th of July is right around the corner! Today is my last day off before I begin my commute back to Virginia to start a 6 day trip. My son was quite upset he was not allowed to chow on the Chocolate Whiskey cupcakes I made the other day, so to make it up to him, I made his favorite Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

You would never know from the looks of the landscape (flat as a pancake) here in west Texas that this is a high altitude area. We are 3700 ft above sea level. I have never had to bake in a high altitude kitchen before. The last few batches I have made have been crumbly and never "popped" out of the tin. I did some reading and found out that when you are baking in high altitude places you need to make a few minor adjustments.
http://www.pillsburybaking.com/bakers_corner/high_altitude_baking.aspx has a chart of adjustments. I really didn't think minor adjustments would make that big of a deal but seeing is believing!

Popped Red Velvet Cupcakes

This is the Red Velvet recipe I followed (makes 1 dozen):

For the Cupcake:

1 ¼ Flour

¾ c sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 T cocoa powder

¾ cup oil

½ c buttermilk

1 large egg

2 T red food coloring

½ tsp cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line pans with cupcake papers.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled (I just used 1 full ice cream scoop per regular sized cupcake and its perfect). Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:
8oz cream cheese (room temperature)
1 stick butter (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c confectionery sugar
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.
Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated.
Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

I made a batch of marshmallow fondant about a year ago. I remember that although it was extremely messy it was fairly easy. Marshmallow fondant tastes like those orange circus peanuts we used to eat as a kid. This was the recipe I followed: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

I knew what I wanted my cupcakes to look like but for the life of me I couldn't find a single small star out of the over 200 cookie cutters I had. My son and I went off to the local Walmart in search of a small single star cookie cutter. Unfortunately where we live the local Walmart has a very limited selection of anything you might need. So as any great baker, I improvised! I went to the toy section in search of maybe a play-doh cutter. No luck with that BUT I did find another alternative! Worked like a charm.

This baking session worked out great! Happy holiday baking!

Cupcake Prescription: Chocolate Whiskey Cupcake topped with Whiskey Buttercream Frosting

2011-06-21T00:15:00.000-04:00

I have a kindle. I absolutely love my kindle. I do not leave home without my kindle. My kindle is my best friend. While waiting in Denver for my flight home after an extremely rough week at work, I was experimenting with all the gadgets that my kindle offered. I decided to do a search on cupcake blogs. I found a cupcake blog called Sugar Loco. Sugar Loco was talking about a unique cupcake called Biramisu created by a Chef Tony Mantuano from Downtown Disney. It is like a Tiramisu dessert but made with beer. I decided the first time I looked at the recipe that this was a cupcake challenge for me. My only problem was I could not find a single can of beer for the recipe. I loathe Guiness beer and the only way to buy beer in this city is by the 6 pack. I guess I am too cheap to buy a 6 pack for just one beer that was needed for the recipe. So I did some research and found another recipe for a Chocolate Whiskey Cupcake topped with a Whiskey Buttercream Frosting. HELLO! Sounded like the perfect backup cupcake to me!

Chocolate Whiskey Cupcake topped with a Whiskey Buttercream Frosting

CHOCOLATE WHISKEY CUPCAKE
for the cupcake
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs

For the whiskey simple syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 T whiskey

For the Frosting
1/2 cup butter
2 cup powder sugar
3 T whiskey
8 oz cream cheese

Directions:
to make cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine the cocoa powder and strong coffee in a small bowl whisk until mixture is smooth. Set aside and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, whisk the sour cream and vanilla extract.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Stir together wit a fork to combine: set aside

In the bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes). Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
s
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients and cocoa mixture. begin and end with dry ingredients. Beach each addition just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the simple syrup, combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixtrue is warm and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the whiskey. Set aside and let cool until ready to use.

To make frosting, combine butter, sugar, whiskey and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

Once cupcakes are cooked and cooled, poke holes in each cupcake (10 each). Brush each cupcake with the whiskey simple syrup and then top with the whiskey buttercream frosting. Dust with cocoa powder.

These cupcakes taste better the longer they sit and the whiskey is absorbed into the cupcake.

I'M BACK! AND BAKING WITH A VENGENCE - BEWARE OF THE EMOTIONAL BAKER!

2011-06-12T18:27:00.000-04:00

I don't even know where to begin! I can't believe it has been almost 6 months since my last post. I am definately back and back to blogging with a vengance about my cupcake adventures!

Just recently Tony and I went to London (for the weekend). It was awesome. First class will definately spoil you! During our visit we found a cupcake shop called Hummingbird Bakery that I had read about in a travel magazine. Unfortunately the shop was closed. We did taste some cupcakes across the street at a coffee shop, but they were not even worthy of a blog mention.

Last week the temperature in West Texas reached triple digits for the 3rd week in a row. With the help of my daughter we put up our little above ground pool to cool off. When the pool was filled and ready to go, we invited another friend over for some summertime fun! Lizzie and Baily were foolin around and flipped the George Washington hair doos! Now who hasn't done that back in the day!!! Which reminded me of other nostalgic things during my summers as a kid.

Summertime George Washingtons!

How about the endless commercials of Bill Cosby and his pudding pops (do they even make them anymore?). How about the summer picinics with Jello Poke Cakes? That memory inspired me to make my first cupcake in about 6 months. A vanilla cupcake poked with strawberry jello!

Vanilla Cupcake poked with Strawberry Jello topped with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I baked a basic Vanilla Cream Cupcake Cake:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 T vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 325. Mix sugar, oil, and sour cream. Add eggs one at at time beating till mixed before adding next one. Add vanilla. In seperate bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, whisk until mixed. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking make a batch of Jello Strawberry jello according to package directions.
After the cupcakes are done and cooled, poke holes in the cupcakes with a toothpick (around 10 holes per cupcake). Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the cupcakes with the jello mixture. Saturating each cupcake with jello. Place cupcakes in refrigerator until cold. Top cupcakes with favorite buttercream frosting and add garnishes.

Polka Dot Cupcakes Review

2011-02-20T11:45:00.001-05:00

Tony and I took my son to Austin to the popular Oasis Restaurant for lunch. After a beautiful lunch we visited the city of Austin where Tony went to the University of Texas. We found this very, very small cupcake shop. The picture on the website must be in some panoramic view because this shop was VERY small. There were 4 people in the store and I think it reached it's capacity. They had about 6 cupcake flavors to choose from.I ordered a chocolate peanut butter, honey chai (tasted like gingerbread w/cream cheese), chocolate strawberry and red velvet...I thought the cupcakes had good flavor but tony complained of a funny after taste..most likely from either too much baking soda or baking powder.

More Cupcakes in Chicago IL Review

2011-01-19T19:20:00.021-05:00

If you google "best cupcakes in Chicago", More Cupcakes pops up. I visited this cupcake shop on a very cold day in Chicago. I wanted to sit in the cupcake shop with a warm cup of coffee and savor every bite of my cupcake. That was what I wanted to do, instead, I had to take my cupcake elsewhere because More cupcake has no tables to sit at. I do believe there might have been a standing bar though. This place was a nice clean neutral decorated shop very similar to Sprinkles and Craves. The big difference was that Sprinkles and Craves have at least 5-10 people frosting and decorating their cupcakes at all hours. More cupcakes only had the girl at the front counter who had to take orders, answer phones, and handle anything else that was thrown her way. Through it all, the More Cupcake counter girl was a real trooper.

The inside of More Cupcakes

I ordered the Salted Caramel cupcake (I keep hoping that I have missed the salted caramel flavor boat because I have not yet tasted anything even close to the infamous salted caramel flavor that everyone keeps raving about at any cupcake shop) and a Chocolate Caramel cupcake. I am glad I ordered two because if I would have based my review solely on the dry day old Salted Caramel cupcake (the carmel filling inside the cupcake was good) with a tasteless frosting(I kinda think they forgot to add sugar), I most likely wouldn't have even consider a do over at More Cupcakes, but then there is the Chocolate Caramel cupcake, which was the total opposite of the Salted Caramel cupcake. The chocolate Caramel cupcake was super moist and dense (a thick stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth cupcake. My favorite!) with a gooey caramel filling. You just can't go wrong with a filled cupcake. The girl behind the counter said most of More cupcakes are filled. The frosting was smooth and rich and not too sweet.

More Cupcake wedding tier....I'm going to make my own wedding tier...if I ever get married again!

I think next time I am home longer than 24 hours I am going set up the cupcake lab and start searching recipes for my ultimate Salted Carmel cupcake. My only problem is, I don't know what a salted carmel cupcake is suppose to taste like! Does anyone have a place that makes a to die for Salted Carmel caupcake? I remember in the beginning of my cupcake quest thinking what is the big deal about a red velvet cupcake? I have tasted a big deal Red Velvet and can appreciate popular cupcake flavor phases. So now I am out to find the big deal Salted Carmel cupcake.

Cake Love Review

2011-01-07T10:07:00.034-05:00

Our time in the DC area is more precious now since our jobs have taken us away from the area ( I actually enjoy the time away but miss the area's cupcakes). Today was a rare day that Tony and I were together in the DC area and what better thing to do than go sight seeing and cupcake tasting! I had read a few years ago somewhere that CakeLove won some cupcake contest beating Baked and Wired. After tasting Baked and Wired cupcakes early on in my cupcake tasting I was skeptical. Baked and Wired cupcakes are delicious. Tony and I arrived at the Campbell Street location around 2:00PM. We skipped lunch to save our taste buds for serious cupcake tasting. When we arrived at CakeLove there were about a dozen different flavors available. Tony ordered a chocolate lemon coconut and because I read on Yelp that the salted carmel was the best, I ordered the salted caramel. I was looking forward to sitting down in the shop with a cup of coffee and eating my cupcake. When I looked at the coffee pots on display, I changed my mind. The coffee looked like it hadn't been brewed since the morning and the pots looked like they hadn't been cleaned in months (a few tablesspoons of salt, a few tablespoons of lemon juice, fill pot with ice and swirl. In a matter of seconds you have a sparkling clean coffee pot).

Chocolate Lemon Coconut
Salted Caramel

A bit disapointed we sat at our table and right before we opened our box of cupcakes we noticed several signs displayed around the store "eat cupcakes at room temperature". We thought the sign meant that if you took the cupcakes home and put them in the refrigerator to let them thaw first. When we opened the box and attempted to eat the cupcakes we JUST bought, we realize that the sign really meant when you bought them "fresh" from the store. These cupcakes were hard as a rock cold! Sort of frozen. Who goes to a bakery and "waits" for something to thaw? We decided not to make this trip a total bust, packed up our cupcakes and headed to lunch, hoping our cupcakes will be thawed by the time we finish eating lunch. An hour later, our cupcakes sitting at room temperature (like the sign said), they were still not thawed. When they were thawed enough to eat, the taste and texture was disappointing. The cupcakes were dry, I'm sure that if these cupcakes were not ever frozen or chilled, they might have been tasty. The frosting on the chocolate coconut was not memorable and the lemon dollop on top took over the taste of the barely there coconut. The salted caramel (I just don't get the whole salted caramel craze) was a basic vanilla cupcake with a basic vanilla butter cream with a drizzle of caramel and a few bites with a hint of salt in them.

I honestly do not like to leave negative reviews. I think that any person who opens a cupcake shop rocks! I wish them all the luck in the world and I would love to give them as much positive exposure as possible. However, if a cupcake shop is going to charge gourmet prices the cupcakes, the cupcake shop better deliver gourmet cupcakes. I am tired of spending good money on a "gourmet" cupcake that tastes like generic supermarket cupcakes.

Curbside Cupcake Review

2011-01-06T17:45:00.001-05:00

I found this mobile cupcakery from searching "cupcake" on facebook one day. We happened to be in DC checking out CakeLove and thought how cool would it be to track down this cupcake truck! So, I checked out their latest status on facebook. Their status said they were at Union Station on 1st. We drove in circles for over 35 minutes trying to find the pink Curbside Cupcake truck and just when we were about to give up, we saw a flash of pink driving down a road. Guess what? They were heading our way! We pulled over for them to pass and then we followed them all the way to their next stop which was the Navy Yard.

I was so excited that we found Curbside Cupcake that as soon as they stopped I jumped out of my car and ran to the truck order window and waited for them to open it (I don't know why I thought they would be just as excited to see me as I was to see them). When the window finally dropped down and opened I was greeted by sourpuss 1. He didn't even say hello! He just looked at me like are you going to order or what? I was a little taken back but I eventually spoke up and asked for a carrot cake, a pumpkin walnut (the facebook posts said they were the best) and at the last minute I ordered a red velvet cupcake. Sourpuss 1 took my $9.00 cash (there is a minimum of a $15.00 charge for credit cards) and said I needed to go to the next window to pick up the cupcakes. The next window was closed so I waited for the window panel to lower down and open up. Guess who I saw behind that window? Sourpuss 2! Again, no hello, no smile, nothing. He pulled out a paper bag and put my "gourmet" cupcakes in the brown paper bag. I felt like I was paying for overpriced donuts by the way they were packaged. I have visited many cupcake shops and none of them packaged their cupcakes in a brown paper bag, even at the grocery stores, they do not package cupcakes in a plain old paper bag. However, the gentleman behind me in line ordered a half dozen cupcakes and they were packaged in a clear plastic container. I guess I just didn't spend enough money.

Now, for the cupcake taste....one word...WOW. We started with the carrot cupcake. The cupcake frosting was all messed up from the paper, but this cupcake's taste and frosting flavor was perfect. The cupcake was moist and the frosting was a great tasting cream cheese frosting. Next, was the pumpkin walnut. Again, the cupcake was perfect. Moist, very flavorful but the frosting on this cupcake was less desirable. The frosting on this cupcake was a sugary buttercream. We took the sugary mess off the cupcake and enjoyed this perfect cupcake without any frosting. It was "yum!" This cupcake would have been dreamy if the same frosting was used on it as the carrot cupcake. Last, but certainly not least was the red velvet topped with the same sugary mess as the pumpkin walnut. The taste and density of this red velvet cupcake is one of my favorites. The chocolate flavor really comes out when you savor the flavor of this cupcake. I have to say the Curbside red velvet cupcake (cupcake only) is one of my top 3 best tasting cupcakes. Their choice of frosting on this cupcake has got to go or tone it down. The frosting should accent a cupcake not weigh it down.

Magnolia Bakery Review

2011-01-02T10:49:00.002-05:00

Tony and my adventure to New York city for New Year's Eve to see the ball drop was ALMOST a total bust. I say almost because even though we didn't get to even get a peek at the ball, we did get a cupcake fix. When we arrived at NY Penn Station at 9pm the roads anywhere near Time Square were already blocked off. We heard from a local that you could get a glimpse from central park and 7th Ave. We walked 10 blocks to central park and seen a massive mob forming in front of 7th ave. We decided to bypass viewing the ball at this point and head over to Magnolias for a sweet night cap. Once at Magnolias, there was not a big selection to choose from. In fact, there were red velvet, carrot, and caramel. There were brownies, bars, and other sweet treats available though. We ordered a red velvet, a peanut butter bar, and a coconut bar. When we got to the register the charge was $6.45. I was like WOW for a cupcake and 2 bars? That's pretty cheap! UNTIL I opened the box on our train ride home. Tony and I hopped on the last train out of the city before the ball dropped. We had the train car pretty much to ourselves. It was a nice sweet relaxing ride. We opened the Magnolia box and found only the red velvet cupcake and the peanut butter bar. The coconut bar was missing. Tony was devistated, being the good woman I am, I gave him the chocolate Rockette that was on top of the red velvet cupcake. The red velvet cupcake itself was dry, but the frosting was very good. The peanut butter bar was delicious fresh peanut butter tasting and not sickening sweet. We would have loved to have tasted the coconut bar. On our next trip we will stop by again and hopefully Magnolia's will have a bigger cupcake selection and get our order correct.

Red Velvet cupcake and Peanut Butter Bar

Cuppy's and Beans Review

2010-12-31T10:23:00.000-05:00

Since I am never home to bake cupcakes, I might as do the next best thing! Eat cupcakes! Tony and I decided we were going to venture to New York City to watch the ball drop for New Years. So, for our snack during our 4 hour drive we stopped by Dulles Town Center (again) to pick up Sweetz Bakery Competitor's cupcakes for a cupcake showdown. We were greeted by a snowhat wearing, Jamaican sounding guy named Zach (he wasn't really Jamaican but we got that warm welcoming Jamaican feeling just talking with him..Hey maun!). Tony ordered the chocolate coconut and I ordered the chocolate ganache. Tony really liked the taste of the chocolate coconut cupcake. The vanilla frosting was not too sweet and it had a nice amount of coconut mixed in. However, we both thought the chocolate cupcake was a little dry. The chocolate ganache cupcake was also dry. The ganache was a bit more thick that I am used to. I must admit it was at the end of the night when we ordered these cupcakes, but I do believe the cupcakes were more than a day old (the chocolate ganache cupcake anyway). If I had to choose a place based on character and friendliness, I would pick Cuppy and Beans, but taste goes to Sweetz Bakery.

Sweetz Bakery review

2010-12-27T18:10:00.000-05:00

I was walking through the Dulles Town Center today watching all the after Christmas shoppers and I remembered there was a cupcake kiosk in the food court. Tony and I had visited them once before but it was so long ago that I had forgotten which flavors we ordered. Sweetz Bakery had a nice variety of cupcakes and a good selection of gluten and dairy free ones too. They have a huge selection to pick from on their online ordering list on their website. All the neatly lined rows of individually packaged cupcakes looked delicious and flavor combinations sounded so good. I was greeted by a smiling, friendly girl. I asked her what her favorite one was and she immediately said "the chocolate peppermint". I am not a big fan of peppermint but, she seemed pretty confident about her choice. I decided to take her word and order the chocolate peppermint. The chocolate cupcake was very moist. It had a vanilla buttercream frosting, topped with crushed peppermint. The frosting could have had a hint of peppermint in it. I couldn't tell if I was tasting the frosting or the crushed peppermint. The frosting was delicious either way. I have to admit I was afraid the peppermint was going to take over the entire cupcake but it didn't. The crushed peppermint was mixed with crushed candy melts I think. That made all the difference in the world. It was a perfect combination. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was even a cream filling inside the cupcake as well. The chocolate cupcake was so moist it really didn't need a filling. Sweetz also has a really neat cupcake club that you can order a dozen of cupcakes each month to be delivered to a loved one. They have a 3, 6, and 12 month program. I thinks its a great concept. The only downfall is that it's local delivery only. If you are ever in the area I would definitely recommend you to stop by and grab a cupcake to go along with your starbucks coffee

Sweetz Bakery
Chocolate Peppermint

Craves 2nd review!

2010-12-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

Tony and I were driving around the streets of Houston looking for...I forget what we were looking for BUT we discovered another Crave's location in the Houston area. The first Crave's we went to it was the Uptown location. This time we visited the West University location. I'm very glad we did! Tony ordered the key lime (he was very upset they did not have his coconut (we went on a Tuesday - they only make coconut cupcakes on Sunday, Monday, and Friday...Our luck!) and I ordered the chocolate peanut butter (I really liked the chocolate chips inside the cupcake). We didn't feel rushed to make a choice and the counter girl was helpful in answering all of our questions. Both cupcakes were moist and tasty. We had a very different experience at the West University location than from our first visit at the Uptown location.

Cake Balls

2010-12-14T19:51:00.002-05:00

This year for Christmas we made about 10 different types of cookies to send out to our friends and neighbors. I also sent a big brightly decorated Christmas care package to my son (his first year in college - I'm so proud of him). I asked him what his favorite cookie was and he said without hesitation "those cake ball thingys" So if you haven't seen or heard of these so-easy-to-make delicious treats I have given you the no fail recipe. My 14 year old daughter makes them for her friends all the time.

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/cakepoplady/4205440877/

Cake Balls

1 (18.25 ounce) package cake mix (any flavor)

1 (16 ounce) container prepared frosting (any flavor)

Melting candy coating or almond bark (any color)

Make cake according to directions, in a 9X13 pan. Let cool .

Tear up cake and put in a bowl. Add 3/4 tub of store bought frosting.

(chocolate w/ chocolate, white w/ white, etc.) Be creative.

Mix cake & frosting until evenly mixed.

Make the balls with your hands and place on wax paper. Place in freezer until almost frozen firm

Melt candies or almond bark in medium sized bowl in the microwave or on a double boiler.

Dip cakeballs into melted bark & set on wax paper to dry.

Philly Cupcake review!

2010-12-10T19:20:00.018-05:00

Wow! I cannot believe it's been 3 months since my last post. My time has been stretched due to my job and my relocation. I am happy to say I have the cupcake bug again! Tony and I went to Philadelphia for a day trip to see who has the better cheese steak in Philly - Geno's or Pat's. After stuffing our bellies with cheese steaks (we preferred Geno's-not only because of taste but because of the atmosphere), we prowled around for a perfect Philadelphia cupcake. We accidentally found this cute corner cupcake shop. Philly Cupcake, 1132 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 P: 215-625-4888. Philly Cupcake was more of a quaint Paris cupcake boutique. It was very girly girl! They had antique glass hutches cases with shelves of gourmet cupcakes. Tony opted for a more pricier coconut snowman holiday cupcake ($5.00). I opted for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Massacre cupcake ($4.25). We really did not mind spending a little bit extra for a cupcake that not only looks delicious but tastes how you expect it to taste. These are not the actual pictures of the cupcakes but they look pretty close to the cupcakes we ordered.

Cupcake Tasting in Chicago!

2010-09-26T21:29:00.001-04:00

Bleeding Heart Bakery

Tony and I were in Chicago for a 20 hour layover. I grabbed my computer and found 6 shops (Bleeding Heart, Molly's Cupcakes, another shop that is now a yogurt shop, Swirlz Cupcakes, and More Cupcakes) that were close to public transportation. I mapped out our route and off we went! After an hour long train ride and bus ride. We walked into Bleeding Hearts Bakery, which could possibly pass for a tatoo parlor. This place was really cool. I was welcomed by a friendly girl behind the counter. After looking at all their brownies and cookies and all sorts of sinful desserts, I asked the girl what flavors they had because none of the cupcakes were labeled. They all looked delicous, but I couldn't tell what flavor each one was. I then asked her what her favorite flavor was.

Bleeding Heart's Red Velvet and Veruca Salt

She said without hesitating "Veruca Salt". Taking her opinion, I ordered the Veruca Salt and a Red Velvet cupcake. The Red Velvet was moist and flavorful. The Veruca Salt on the other hand was a bit on the dry side. One of the bites I took had so much salt in it I almost spilled the glass of milk in my efforts to wash the salty taste away. The Veruca Salt cupcake was just a different tasting cupcake that I wasn't used to. Very nice atmosphere and lots of other goodies to choose from. Our second stop turned out to be a yogurt shop (I should have checked the website before I put it on my cupcake list).

Molly's Cupcakes

From that shop, we headed to Molly's Cupcakes. Molly's Cupcakes was such a cute shop. They had real swings to sit in at their bar and a designated sprinkle station. All their cupcakes were labeled and looked exceptionally delicious. There were lots of people buzzing behind the counter and people were constantly coming in the shop. It was so hard to decide what cupcakes to get. We ended up getting a Mint Chocolate cupcake and a Tiramasu Cupcake. We first dug into the Mint Chocolate cupcake. One word "WOW"! We were blown away by the texture and taste. All we kept saying is MMMmmmMM, oh yea, MMMmmm. I hope we weren't moaning too loud! Then we tasted the Tiramasu. Again "OH WOW"! We had never tasted a Tiramasu. I am so glad we had our first one at Molly's Cupcakes.

Molly's Mint Chocolate Cupcake

We practically rolled out of Molly's Cupcakes. We were so stuffed! I still had 2 more stops on my map! Swirlz was next on my list and during our painful walk, we decided to make it our last. When we arrived at Swirlz we were immediatly welcomed by an enthusiastic guy behind the counter with his also enthusiastic co-worker (They could easily pass for cheerleaders..("Give me an S give me a W give me an I give me an R give me an L give me a Z SWIRLZS woohhooo") The guy's name was Jamie or James (We were so tired and stuffed I'm surprised I remembered even that) and the girl's name was Laurie or Lauren. Jamie or James was so incredibly helpful. He totally went out of his way to help me decide which cupcake to pick. He described each cupcake as if they all were his favorite. Laurie or Lauren was also extremely helpful. She helped me narrow my decision down to 4 cupcakes and assured me she would pack them so careful that they would make it home unharmed. There was no way I could have eaten another crumb at that moment. I chose Key Lime, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Lemon Berry, and Red Velvet. All were made with a buttercream and were buttermilk cakes. When we got back to the hotel after our 20 minute bus ride and our hour train ride and hotel shuttle ride I opened the cupcake bag and as Lauren or Laurie promised they were all intact and still perfect looking. We couldn't eat another cupcake until the following afternoon. The frosting on the Key Lime tasted like butter and I didn't taste any of the tartness of the Key Lime until I bit into the cupcake. The Chocolate Peanut Butter was moist and had the perfect peanut butter taste in the frosting that I love. My favorite of the 4 cupcakes was the Lemon Berry which was vegan. My only complaint was the berry filling, it tasted like grape jelly. The Red Velvet was moist and tasty. They were all very good. I so cannot wait to go back to Chicago. I will definately be stopping by Molly's Cupcakes for their Peach Cobbler cupcake and venture to More Cupcakes.

The Gloater and His Heiny Cupcake

2010-09-23T22:54:00.000-04:00

Tony's Red Velvet

After we received our very mixed reviews from Julius and his friends in regards to my Red Velvet and Boston Cream cupcakes, Tony decided he was going to come up with a new and improved recipe for my beloved Red Velvet cupcakes. I pulled out yet again all my baking stuff from my neatly packed moving boxes and began following his drill sargent-like instructions. Twenty minutes later, out came a dozen of beautiful red velvet cupcakes. As they were cooling, I snuck a bite from one that was still very warm. I realized at that moment, I would now be listening to Tony gloat for the next few hours, or maybe days or even weeks about how his special recipe is THE recipe of our future cupcake corner shop. I waited till they were completely cooled and then frosted them with the cream cheese frosting that Tony also came up with (we are still perfecting this recipe). I reluctantly handed Tony his prized creation and waited for IT to begin. I believe the gloating began the moment he touched the cupcake. I admit that it was a damn good cupcake and I will pay dearly for admitting it, but it is what it is as they say. Now that I have baked Tony's recipe, I now had a platter full of beautiful red velvet cupcakes and no one to eat them because I was leaving on a 4 day trip. I packed those babies up and off to the airport I went to pass them out to all my Air Wisconsin friends. On the way to the airport Tony just had to take a picture of his prized cupcake on the dash of his jeep. Doesn't it look like a heiny? I was walking into the terminal pulling my rollerboard in one hand and holding an armful of neatly frosted cupcakes in the other. From the look on the people passing by you would have thought I was holding the Holy Grail. Peoples faces just lit up upon seeing the cupcakes. A TSA agent even asked me if they were from DC Cupcakes. That was totally way cool. I reluctantly said "no" and offered him one before sending the cupcakes through the x-ray machine. He accepted and said they were awesome. I made my way to my gate and handed off my box of treasures to one of my friends and in less than 2 minutes they were gone. I now have new guinea pigs!

If I have a will...I will find a way!

2010-09-19T21:53:00.001-04:00

It's Sunday evening, after being on home reserve for yet another day, I am climbing the walls. All my baking supplies are packed except for the basic wooden spoon and cupcake tin. I decided to go for it and make our new friend Julius and his coworkers the cupcakes I promised them. I pulled out my Red Velvet and my Boston Cream recipes and began making my babies. I can honestly say these cupcakes are totally homemade being hand-stirred and everything (I didn't dig out my mixer until I got to the frosting). Half way through my baking adventure, I thought I would text Julius and let him know that tomorrow would be his lucky cupcake day! He texted me back and said he was at the Redskins game (lucky dawg). If only the Redskins would have gotten that field goal and won! Then my cupcakes would have been the frosting on the cupcake day for them!

Red Velvet

SOUTHERN RED VELVET
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Fill cupcake pans with papers. Fill 2/3 full. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool completely.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Boston Cream Cupcake

I will post the Boston Cream in the near future.

Mom's Apple Pie Bakery Visit

2010-09-17T23:00:00.002-04:00

We stopped here on our way to a casino in West Virginia (why Tony thought that bringing a girl with the WORST luck in the world to a casino would actually bring him luck is beyond me). Although this is a pie shop, the yelp reviews said they had cupcakes. Before we entered the shop, we could already smell a wonderful aroma. Inside, we saw rows of pies and piles of cookies and 1 tiny row of cupcakes. I first ordered buckeyes...because as you know I am a chocolate peanut butter fanatic and of course, Tony ordered a coconut macaroon. I also ordered a piece of Texas cake since we are moving to Texas, I thought I should know how a Texas cake should taste. As we were checking out we seen Mexican wedding cookies so we ordered one of them for good luck.

As soon as we got in the car I took a picture of the cupcake and the buckeye.

Chocolate Cupcake

The cupcake looked like a supermarket cupcake with the bright orange frosting and store bought fall sprinkles. When I bit into it the frosting crunched (not a good sign)! I then peeled back the cupcake paper and broke off a piece of the cake. The cupcake was well past it's prime as well as were the Texas (which was the size and weight of a brick seriously) and the mexican wedding cookie. All three ended up in the trash with just a small taste bite taken out of them.

Buckeye

The buckeye, on the other hand, was a different story (ya just can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter). The peanut butter was perfectly sweetened and was dipped in just the right amount of sweet chocolate. Even though it wasn't a cupcake, it rates high on the taste scale as well as the macaroon did.

The people working there were very friendly and helpful and the place smelled absolutely wonderful! We will stop by again and maybe try a slice of pie and of course stock up on buckeyes and coconut macaroons.

Bad Service in Syracuse, NY

2010-09-12T22:20:00.003-04:00

Tony and I came here on the second overnight of my 4 day trip. We stopped by this place to check out their cupcakes (only because it was across the street from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. I didn't even yelp a cupcake place today). When we walked into Mimi's Bakery and Cafe, we could almost hear the lady behind the counter grunt "oh great another customer" we should have walked right out the door right then and there, but I thought she could be having a bad moment. We soon realized, no she was just plain rude we asked a her few questions about some of her pastries and cupcakses and she gave us a snippy answer each time. We quickly ordered 2 cupcakes and walked out the door. When we opened our bag, the lady had put my cupcake in the bag upside down totally ruining the cupcake. Save your money and take your business to someone that actually appreciates it.

We went to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que for dinner. Awesome food! We will visit again on my next overnight.

Canadian Cupcakes!

2010-09-11T17:40:00.000-04:00

Isobel's Cupcakes Storefront

Since my cupcake pans are packed up and ready for the move, I am suffering from baking cupcake withdrawal. The day I decide to have a garage sale, I get a call from crew scheduling sending me on a 4 day trip. Starting with the first overnight in Ottowa, Canada! Last time I was in Ottowa I search the general area for cupcakes but could only find pastries. This overnight was a very long overnight. I brought Tony along to keep me entertained (or visa versa). I yelped cupcakes again and found a place...about a mile and a half away from the hotel. I am too cheap to get a cab and would prefer to walk anyway. Tony on the other hand would rather cab it anytime, anyplace, or anywhere. I won, but not without a price. The entire time we were walking Tony entertained me with the reasons why we should try to hail a cab. His whining was quite comical. We finally arrived at Isobel's Cupcakes. It was a cute little house on the corner. Inside there were two rows of cupcakes neatly organized and well labeled. There were about 12 different flavors. On the wall there were decorated sugar cookies and on the counter there were miscellaneous brownies and sweet treats. I must have been totally impressed because I bought 6 cupcakes. I never buy 6. Tony also bought a homemade toasted coconut marshmallow. It was very good.

Toasted Coconut Marshmallow

I am sad to say that the impressive store and display were the only things impressive about this place. The cupcakes were very dry and the frosting was made with shortening. I did like the fillings. The strawberry filling in the strawberry shortcake, the lemon curd in the lemon cupcake.

Lemon Curd, Strawberry Shortcake, Expresso, Cappachino, Coconut Lime, Chocolate Ganache

Of the 6 cupcakes we ordered the coconut lime was the best. It had a coconut frosting with a cream filling similar to a canoli filling but unfortunately the cupcake was past it's prime and was very dry as all 6 cupcakes were. I can't wait till winter comes in Ottowa and I can skate my way to a cupcake shop!

SuzyBeez Cakez n Sweetz

2010-09-09T19:13:00.000-04:00

I honestly was going to try and stay away from cupcake shopping during our recent visit to Houston in our quest to find a place to live. I only had one day and I had to stay focused! As you can see I am not very good at staying focused. We were stopped at a red street light and after looking at what seemed like the 100th place to live, the SuzyBeez sign just seemed to have had this neon glow to it (it was 2 in the afternoon) and I know I just heard this cupcake shop call out my name (for those of you who don't know me - I am legally deaf). We did a "right turn Clyde" move (we squealed the tires and everything in our little rental car) into the parking lot of SuzyBeez. The shop was nice and bright with a cute little bee signature symbol. A friendly gentleman behind the counter described their cupcake shop process and that they have four flavors they keep on a regular basis and the other flavors are special flavors. I must have looked tired and confused because the man offered his cupcake suggestion (I'm so glad he did!). He said the Mexican Vanilla Cream is phenomenal (I think that was the name I was so tired I didn't even get to take a picture). How can you go wrong when the owner offers his personal favorite, so I ordered his special vanilla, cookies n creme, and a tres vanilla cupcake. They also had cake truffles. We ordered two truffles (they tasted ok, but I will stick to cupcakes). I am so conflicted with this review. The customer service was great, the shop was very cute, but I have issues with the cupcakes. Of the three cupcakes we ordered we got one was just so so, one that was so stale if I dropped it on a tile floor it would have cracked the tile, and one that was so *&%@$# off the chart good, on a scale of 1 - 10 this cupcake was a 15.

The awesome of awesome cupcake was the owners suggested Mexican vanilla cream cupcake (I think that is what it was called), this cupcake will haunt me! It was so good and I don't even like vanilla cupcakes! It had a creamy filling that I had never tasted before. The frosting was just the perfect fluff of sweetness topped with what I believe was white chocolate. You must try this cupcake! I must go back and eat this cupcake!

The bad cupcake was the tres vanilla cupcake. I don't know if it was just because I had just tasted the most perfect vanilla cupcake or what, but this cupcake was just blah, it really didn't have a memorable flavor it was just a plain vanilla cupcake to me.

The ugly cupcake (not ugly looking just ugly tasting), this cupcake must have been lost for about 3 days (stiff happens). I'm sure that this cupcake would have been tasty had I bought it the day it was made. I knew this was not a newborn cupcake the moment I peeled back the cupcake paper. This cupcake looked beautiful with its swirled oreo cream frosting. There was even a half of an oreo cookie in the cupcake.

Even though 2 of the 3 cupcakes did not meet my expectations, I will definitely be going back to Suzybeez for the hypnotic vanilla cupcake in the near future.

Nostalgia and Lavendar Moon Cupcakery Visits

2010-09-07T23:05:00.003-04:00

It was Labor Day weekend and Tony and I were looking for something to do on a beautiful weekend day. Off to Annapolis, MD we went to see all the new "plebes" as Tony calls them. The "plebes" are the new freshmen at the Annapolis Naval Academy. They can be seen a mile away dressed in their bright whites walking among all the proud parents and the awe inspired tourists along with the dog walking locals. We are not much for crowds, but the weather was just too beautiful to pass up. After our blue crab dinner and our dessert of a handipped ice cream we walked to main street and noticed a cupcake shop tucked inside another building. It almost looked like an ice cream shop. Nostalgia Cupcake shop was an ice cream looking shop with eight or so different cupcakes to pick from. I chose (as always) the chocolate peanut butter cupcake and Tony chose (as always) chocolate coconut. Because we were so full from dinner and dessert, we saved our petite sweet treats for a late night treat. On our drive home from Annapolis, MD, we ran into traffic on I95 so we made a detour into Alexandria, VA. to kill some time and we Yelped "cupcakes" and found Lavender Moon Cupcakery. Lavender Moon is a cute little baby doll style cupcake shop. It had a big front empty room with one little table and in the back room there was a little glass covered table with an assortment of about 6 or 7 different flavors of cupcakes. The names all sounded so delicious I couldn't just pick 2. I chose (Tony stayed in the car as parking is a nightmare in this area) S'mores, Pina Colada, Belgium Chocolate, Mexican Chocolate. After we left Lavender Moon, we decided to drive to Gravelly Point Park in Arlington, VA to watch the jets land at DCA and enjoy the afternoon weather. Even though I am around airplanes all day long, I still am awe struck at the massive pieces of metal flying in the air and enjoy the afternoon weather while nibbling on our sweet treats. We sat at a picnic table next to a cyclist named Julius who was also enjoying the view. Somehow or another we struck up a conversation and we found out he and his colleagues like cupcakes, so Tony volunteered Julius and his colleagues to be my new cupcake tasting guinea pigs. I will be making them Red Velvet and Boston Creme. Wish me luck!

Lavender Moon Cupcakes

Lavender Moon cupcake taste review: The S'mores, Belgium Chocolate, and the Mexican Chocolate cupcake all tasted the same. They were average tasting cupcakes with a very commercial sugary tasting frosting, other than the different toppings on top of the frosting, we couldn't tell the difference from each cupcake. We were not impressed with the taste. The Pina Colada tasted like an angel food cake with a coconut frosting sprinkled with coconut, nothing wow about it.

Nostalgia Cupcakes

Nostalgia Cupcake shop: The Chocolate Peanut Butter was very rich and chocolatey, with a very rich tasting ganache that tasted just the way I like it. Tony's Chocolate Coconut cupcake had the perfect amount of coconut flavor in the fluffy frosting. Tony is not a fan of chocolate but he did say the cupcake was very good. The pictures were takin after we arrived at the picnic table so they aren't picture perfect, but they tasted awesome!

Crave vs Sprinkles Cupcake war in Houston, TX

2010-09-02T20:58:00.014-04:00

On my quest of job and apartment hunting in Houston to relocate...we of course I just HAD to check out the local cupcake shops! My yelp locator said there were 2 cupcake shops worth visiting; Sprinkles and Crave. I was very excited to be going to one of the original Sprinkle cupcake shops. We plugged in the address in my niftly little Tom Tom and we drove...around and around and around we drove. We had a difficult time finding the little cursive sprinkle sign in the middle of a massive building still under construction. On the wall before we entered the shop were 3 tv screens viewing the original owner on various shows. Once inside, we were surprised at how small the area was. The actual customer ordering areas was about as big as walk-in closet. The decor of the shop was brown, very brown with an occasional splash of color spots. I suppose that represents "sprinkles". There was a large window of cupcakes each marked with wooden pegs of their flavor. We chose Red Velvet, Chocolate Coconut, and Chocolate Marshmallow. The Girls behind the counter were very friendly and made a point to say my name at least 3 times in like 2 minutes (Can I see some ID April? Here are your cupcakes April. Have a nice day April!). Seriously 3 times in 2 minutes.

Crave Cupcakes

Our next stop was Crave. Crave was only a few blocks away from Sprinkles and appeared to be brighter in atmosphere and in color (key word "appeared"). The girls behind the counter were very friendly. Let me rephrase that, extremely friendly. We wanted to just stand there and marvel at all the cute cupcakes, decorations and busy bee workers making cupcakes, but we had 3 girls each asking us incessively if we needed help, or what could they get us or do we need help choosing a flavor. I'm glad they were friendly, but we really felt rushed. We ordered; Red Velvet, Lemon, Nutella, Chocolate Creme, and a coffee. Crave was very cute, bright and open. The coffee was pretty good too. We took our cupcakes home and began our cupcake war! Based on appearance, both cupcakes from both shops had the same appearance; very simple, with a spot of candy on top and both shops charged the same price for the same sized cupcakes. Craves won the originality only because their candy spot had a shape of a sunbeam mixer on top. I have a sunbeam mixer but have been wanting a kitchen-aid mixer for like FOREVER. I have been telling Tony that I need a kitchen-aid mixer (everybody on Cupcake Wars has them!) to make cupcakes. Craves use a sunbeam mixer as their signature decoration and in fact uses a sunbeam mixer to make their actual cupcakes totally blowing my chances of getting a kitchen-aid mixer any time in the near future. Thank you, Craves! Now on to the most important part of our Houston cupcake wars! Taste! I would have bet money that Crave was going to win and that I was going to get to say the Cupcake War's infamous words "I was just under-whelmed" about Sprinkle Cupcakes. I couldn't have been more wrong and the queen of cupcakes can shove a cupcake in my mouth because their cupcakes were AWESOME! The Red Velvet was super moist with a bright red color, the Chocolate Coconut was chocolatey. The frosting was not too sweet and had just the right amount of coconut on top. The Chocolate Marshmallow had a very dark chocolatey taste with the perfect amount of filling covered with a rich chocolate ganache. All 3 of Sprinkles cupcakes were "Wow" cupcakes. Crave Cupcakes on the other hand were all "underwhelming". The Red Velvet cupcake was not very red and could not be differentiated from the chocolate cupcake other than by the frosting. The Lemon cupcake was sugar-shock sweet and could not be tolerated after the first bite. The Nutella cupcake tasted like a bland coffee cake. I was so wanting Crave to beat Sprinkles, but Sprinkles hands down won the taste part our Houston cupcake war! The final part of our Houston cupcake war is the cupcake shop's appearance and welcoming factor. Both cupcake shops employees were equally friendly and informative, but Crave was brighter and more welcoming. I have to say even though Crave won the presentation (only by a candy impression) and shop appearance, Sprinkles won the taste portion by a landslide, and taste will bring us back to a cupcake shop faster than any presentation or shop decor. So, the winner of our Houston cupcake war is: SPRINKLES!

Sprinkle Cupcakes

Did Somebody say BACON?

2010-08-31T11:00:00.076-04:00

I don't know why I wanted to do this cupcake, I suppose because it is 7:00 in the morning. I had tasted an experminental maple cupcake a few years ago from Cupcake Heaven in Haymarket, VA but it really didn't have the big bacon flavor that I was looking for. I am now craving a cupcake that taste will like pancakes, bacon, and whipped cream. So, what I came up with was a Maple Bacon cupcake with Apple Filling and a Maple whipped cream topping. Tony was the official taste tester. He put on his best French Cupcake War tester opinion hat and (he can actually speak French) said...."You said you wanted a big bacon flavor, I don't taste it. I just don't taste the bacon at all. The apple flavor takes over the entire cupcake. The cupcake tastes good and I like it but I don't taste the bacon". Wow, I was crushed. I put 1/2 cup of bacon in the cupcake mix and bacon grease. Maybe the bacon needs to be doubled. The density of the cupcake was good and I really like the apple filling. The two lessons I learned from this baking experience are; one, that I have a tendency to overfill the cupcakes making them sink back in the middle therefore destroying the edibility of the cupcake and two, if all the cupcake spots are not filled with batter in the pan it will cause uneven baking in the other cupcakes. I am so proud of the cupcakes that sacrifice themselves to teach me to be a better cupcake baker!

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Makes 10 / 350F oven

1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon of bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)
1 egg
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/4 cup of self rising flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
tiny tiny pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of minced bacon, cooked and drained

1) Cook some bacon in a fry pan. Reserve the drippings and place in the fridge to solidify. Mince 1/2 a cup of the bacon.

2) Cream butter and solidified bacon fat 'till light and creamy. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined.

3) Add the egg and beat.

4) Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.

5) Add some of the flour and mix, then some of the milk, then continue to alternate the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in the bacon. Taste and add more maple syrup, flour, or milk if needed for desired taste. Keep in mind the maple frosting is very sweet, and to add in very small increments for alterations as maple syrup in large amounts can break a cake batter.

6) Scoop into cupcake papers and bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes for even baking. Once cooled scoop out middle and add diced apple pie filling.

Maple Syrup Frosting
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 cup of powdered sugar for thickness

Whip whipping cream in cold metal or glass bowl until thick, slowly add maple syrup and powdered sugar to desired thickness and sweetness.

Good luck and let me know if you are the ultimate baconator cupcake maker!

Asian Inspirations

2010-08-29T18:29:00.000-04:00

Banh Mi

Today we went to Little Saigon or China City. The place is a mini Asian city in Falls Church. You can find anything and everything Asian there. Tony and I like to go there for sandwiches called Banh mi. I love Cilantro and this sandwich is loaded with it. We also get a sweet pork bun (which never makes it out of the store before it's eaten) and my daughters favorite coconut bun which inspired me to attempt to make a vanilla bean cupcake with the same filling that is inside the coconut bun. I found the perfect vanilla bean cream cupcake Recipe.

Coconut Bun

Vanilla Cream Cupcake

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

Cream Sugar and eggs in a bowl, add sour cream, oil, and vanilla. In a seperate bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. add to creamed sugar mixture and combine.

I found the recipe for the coconut bun and made the filling.

Coconut Bun Filling

1 1/3 cups coconut flakes

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted

1 large egg yolk

Process coconut and sugar in blender or food processor until very fine. Turn into small bowl.

Stir in margarine and egg yolk until paste-like consistency. After I filled the cups 1/2 full with the cupcake batter, I made a small ball (like a jawbreaker size) and placed it in the center of each cupcake, depending on how full each cup was after the coconut filling, I put a dollop of additional batter to cover filling if space was available before I placed them in the oven. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until center comes out clean with a toothpick.

Coconut and Vanilla Bean Whipped Frosting
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons cream cheese
5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup whipped cream
1 tablespoons coconut extract
1/2 canilla bean scraped
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar, and beat to combine. Add whipping cream, coconut extract and vanilla bean, beat until well combined.

The result was not what I was hoping for (I really don't know what I was hoping for). but it was something different. Tony is the coconut contisseur and he said it was very good. Maybe I am just being over critical of myself. If you try this cupcake please give me your feed back. Now off to play tennis and get my butt kicked by Tony.

Another Home Reserve Day...Another Cupcake Shop

2010-08-29T16:52:00.001-04:00

Today we tried Natalia's Elegant Creations. The decor of this little restaurant is so warm and inviting (If I ever have a cupcake place, I would want it decorated just like this one). We tried the vanilla cupcake and a red velvet cupcake. I must say we were so disappointed. The red velvet was more brown in color rather than the more modern red. If my eyes were closed when I tasted it I would have said it was a vanilla cupcake. The red velvet was very moist and the cream cheese frosting was very heavy. The Vanilla cupcake was very dry and not appealing after the first bite. However, the vanilla cupcake was topped with a delicious whipped cream frosting. I am sure that if this cupcake was fresh it would have tasted much better. Our visit was at the end of the day so we will give this place another try and maybe even try a sandwich and a specialty coffee.

On our way home we stopped by Wegman's to get some cupcake baking items and we walked by the bakery and noticed a few cupcakes. I swore I wouldn't ever buy grocery store cupcakes. But, come on, this is WEGMANS can it really be classified as a grocery store! so I cheated and bought 2 cupcakes a strawberry vanilla and chocolate peanut butter.

They looked real good. We tasted the vanilla strawberry and it was moist and tasty. The frosting was a whipped cream and had a hint of strawberry. It was very tasty. The Chocolate peanut butter was light and fluffy. The frosting again was a whipped topping with a hint of peanut butter. A chocolate peanut butters dream. They were everything we expected coming from Wegman's, they tasted nothing like a grocery store cupcake and at $2.00 a cupcake the price was the cheapest from ALL the gourmet shops and tasted great if not better then some of the overpriced delights.

Cupcake Sailing!

2010-08-28T21:37:00.002-04:00

So we were sitting at home waiting for crew scheduling to call me out for a flight and Tony said "let's go cupcake sailing!" Ya know like garage sailing but instead of prowling for garage sails we were gonna prowl for cupcake shops! OK. Tony didn't really say that, he kinda said it in his own manly-macho way. Sort of like "yo, lets go eat some cupcakes!" I said "I'm so there, let's go!" Our first stop was Edibles Incredible in Reston, VA. Based on the Yelp reviews that I read, I decided to get a Lemon cupcake and Tony ordered an Almond Joy cupcake. The lemon cupcake was huge compared to the almond joy cupcake but both were priced at a hefty $3.95 each. Also as a Yelp review warned us, we were watching the counter girl eagerly trying to package our 2 cupcakes in a fancy ribbon and a Chinese box so we kindly interrupted her and asked to carry our cupcakes out of the store as to not be charged an additional "packaging fee" to the already hard to swallow hefty cupcake price. The lemon cupcake was flavorful and moist. The lemon frosting was little to be desired for but the delicious cupcake made up for the frosting's short comings. Tony's cupcake on the other hand looked deflated and tasted very dry. The coconut flavor that you associate an Almond Joy with was non existent other than in the few coconut flakes on top.

Our next cupcake shop stop was Bakeshop, Arlington, VA. Although this shop did not have a big selection of cupcakes (there was about 7 flavors to choose from), all the cupcakes looked delicious. I ordered a red velvet (I was still looking for THE perfect red velvet) and Tony ordered a Chocolate Toffee Crunch. The price per cupcake was $2.50 and they were packaged in cute individual boxes. This red velvet is probably the BEST tasting red velvet I have tasted so far! This cupcake was moist, bright red in color, and had nice soft chocolate flavor. The frosting was a light fluffy whipped cream frosting. I was expecting a cream cheese frosting but the whipped frosting was pleasantly different. The Chocolate Toffee Crunch cupcake was flavorful, moist, chocolaty and very tasty as well. This cupcake also had a whipped cream frosting. If you do not like sweet frosting this cupcake shop would be the best place for you to go.

Our next and last cupcake shop of the day was Best Buns Bread Company, Arlington, VA. Based on the name of the shop you can guess that cupcakes are not their specialty. So much so that when we got there the selection was very slim, so slim that there was only one flavor to pick from, Chocolate Peanut Butter. Can you guess which cupcake we picked? The cupcake was jumbo sized and priced at $2.95. The chocolate cupcake was moist and chocolaty however, the peanut butter frosting tasted chalky. I think that this shop has the potential to have tasty cupcakes when the selection is available (there were placards, but no cupcakes). I would have been curious to taste their red velvet. Next time we have dinner at Sweet Water, we will stop by Best Buns Bread Company again to see if they have different cupcakes available.

Cupcake Therapy

2010-08-25T22:26:00.002-04:00

The past few weeks have been crazy. I spent a much needed week in Texas with my kids, I got to see my oldest off to college (he will be getting cupcake care packages soon), and on my only day off in the next 12 days, I went on a wasted trip to Milwaukee in the hopes of getting transferred to Houston to be closer to my kids (only to find out they no longer operate out of Houston). So I thought today would be a good day for CUPCAKE THERAPY!! Recently I found a recipe on another blog acupfullofcake@blogspot.com of a delicious looking Oreo Cupcake. I loved the cupcake but I didn't like the frosting. I don't know if it was the merengue or what but I just expected a thicker richer frosting. Next time I make it I will use a basic buttercream frosting. This is my mini version of the original recipe.

Best Chocolate Cupcakes Ever

Makes 12-16

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
½ cup whole milk
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled (cooled for about 15 min make sure it’s still melted though don’t want it to harden back up)
1/4 cup water, heated to boiling (have a kettle of water on the stove boiling)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg room temp
1 tablespoons vinegar (not wine vinegar)
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 package of Oreo cookies

Instructions

This can be done with a stand mixer or by hand with a hand mixer or whisk but it is more of a 2 bowl method than one if going the hand mixing route. Preheat oven to 350F with rack in the center. Place paper baking cups in regular sized muffin tins, spray lightly with cooking spray. Carefully twist off one side of the oreo and place the half with the cream filling down, filling side up in the bottom of each liner.
Whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt) in a large bowl. In a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer whisk eggs till slightly thickened and a pale color. Add in the milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar and whisk/beat well. Add in the melted and cooled chocolate and whisk/beat until combined well. Either add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients OR the wet into the flour and mix just to combine. Add in the boiling water and mix again just to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and free of crumbs or the cupcake tops bounce back when lightly pressed. Mine baked for 18 minutes. Let cool for 5 min in pans and then remove carefully to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting. This frosting is a basic buttercream frosting with oreo crumbs added.

Oreo Crumb Buttercream Frosting
Makes enough frosting for 12-16 cupcakes
Ingredients

1 cup shortening
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Oreo Crumbs (make sure fine crumbs and no large pieces)

Directions
In a mixing bowl, cream shortening until fluffy. Add sugar, and continue creaming until well blended. Add salt, vanilla, whipping cream. Blend on low until moistened. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy. Fold in crumbs until blended.

My Visit to Fluffy Thoughts Cakes

2010-08-13T18:20:00.000-04:00

Tony and I stopped by this cute little cupcake shop while running a few errands in the area. We usually buy an assortment of cupcakes to see if each store has a "signature" cupcake. However, we have been making quite a few stops recently with each stop running at least $15.00 a pop not only leaving us very unsatisfied but also a little light in the checkbook. So, today we decided to only choose one cupcake each. I chose a red velvet (I am still looking for the "aha" moment or the "aha" red velvet cupcake) and Tony chose a german chocolate cupcake (only because it had a huge dollop of coconut on top). When the girl handed us the cupcakes we immediately noticed how fresh they were (they passed our squishy test). Both cupcakes we were tasty. We did think that the frosting tasted similar to that of the frosting you would buy in the cake section of a grocery store (I can remember eating this frosting by the spoonfuls straight out of the tubs on a bad PMS day). All in all, this shop was all a shop should be. We will definately be visiting again when we are back in the area.

My Visit To Crumbs Bake Shop

2010-08-12T13:38:00.001-04:00

I found this cute little shop on my 10 block walk to Carlos Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. I had read the Yelp reviews and they were 50 / 50. The shop was very neat and the cupcakes were clearly marked. The music was upbeat and the staff were friendly. I ordered the peanut butter cup cupcake. This cupcake just looked too good to pass up. WHAT? $3.50 for a cupcake?? Are they serious? This cupcake must be made out of imported chocolate and range free chicken eggs!! I bought the cupcake anyway (thinking to myself..this better be worth it). I open my overpriced cupcake and took off one of the peanut butter cup sections that decorated the top. After my first taste of the peanut butter cup, I knew this cupcake will be dissappointing. The peanut butter cup wasn't a good quality it wasn't even a Reese peanut butter cup! I have to say the chocolate cupcake by itself was not all that bad. The frosting was way too sweet. Talk about sugar shock! I felt like I was just eating pure sugar. The cupcake was filled with the same sugary frosting. Totally ruined the cupcake. I think had a lighter fluffier frosting been used, this cupcake could have been edible. Very disappointed.

Cupcake Frosting Tips

2010-08-12T13:19:00.001-04:00

I finally found the cupcake decorating tips that give the cupcakes the big POOF! I went to Michaels and all they had was a # 12 which clearly was not big enough. So Tony suggested Williams and Sonoma (he doesn't do malls or chick flicks, but he does like my cupcakes). We went to the Williams and Sonoma store in the hoity toity mall on the way back from our trip to DC. We found a set of six decorating tips for $18.50 (ouch). This small fortune for pieces of metal was more than I was willing to spend. I only wanted one tip. As I was walking out of the store without the tips, Tony said, "you did not drag me in this gawd awful mall for nothing" and handed me $20. Woo Hoo! So for you Tony, I made you my very first cupcake with my overpriced, poofy decorator tip.

My Visit to Carlos Bakery

2010-08-11T13:35:00.004-04:00

My sweet few moments at Carlos Bakery will be a memory I will never forget. It cost me $19.50 for a round trip ticket to and from my hotel, a 10 block walk (I got off at the wrong stop), and $8.50 for my prized pastries!

I arrived at Carlos Bakery at about 8:00 am on a hot humid Wednesday morning. There was already a line of about 50 or so people (they open at 7:00 am). Everyone in line seemed to be in good spirits as we all waited excitedly to enter the maroon and gold bakery. A father and daughter left the bakery all bouncy and bubbly with their white box secured with the red and white striped string. The father announced to all that was waiting that Buddy was in the bakery. We all seemed to smile a little wider with excitement. As I waited patiently in line (everyone in line had to wait on the far side of the sidewalk to let the locals pass by). I noticed a homeless man walk up to the bakery door, open it and spoke to the doorman. He then closed the door, and stood outside to the side of the door. What happened next blew my mind. A few minutes later, the doorman opened the door and handed the homeless man a cup of coffee (I am thinking OMG!). Here we are at a now famous bakery that has just opened its doors for the day and already they have a waiting line of an hour or so long and the establishment still takes the time to help the less fortunate. How awesome is that! I was truly blessed by the simple moment of what I had just witnessed. Once inside, the bakery is a very cozy place that can pack in about 30 people.

As I was drooling over all the pastries to pick from, I was blessed yet again by another simple moment. Madeline Castano, Buddy's sister was behind the counter helping with all the orders. Now this bakery is busting at the seams with customers and everyone behind the counter is rushing around helping everyone as quickly as they humanly can. I noticed a bunch of kids asking Madeline a zillion questions about the bakery and Buddy. Madeline was filling a customer's order and answering the children's questions as best she could. I didn't hear any of the questions, but I noticed Madeline had finished the customer's order and walk over to the children and their family and took the time to sign autographs and take pictures with them. She talked with them as if they were the only customer in the store. They had her undivided attention. All this took only a matter of moments but was a simple act of kindness that this family will never forget and neither will I. Such a gift this visit was and I hadn't even tasted my prized cannoli purchase! Even if the cannoli doesn't meet my taste bud expectations (I have no doubt that it will be delicious!), I wouldn't have traded this last hour and a half of blessings in for any cupcake or Italian pastry. I knew from the first episode of Cake Boss that the Valastro family were very special and now I know why. I wish them years of happiness and success.

Cupcake Withdrawl

2010-08-10T17:44:00.000-04:00

I am on day 3 of a 4 day trip for work and I can honestly say, I am suffering from cupcake withdrawal. I have gone 3 days without baking a single cupcake or eating a cupcake (the not eating part is probably a good thing since my belly is starting to form a swirl similar to the swirl on top of a cupcake). I did go to Barnes and Noble and drooled over all cupcake books they had there that I couldn't afford to buy. Tomorrow will be my day though! I am overnighting in Newark, NJ and I am going to make the trek to (can you hear the sound of angelic music) Carlos Bakery! It will take me 2 buses, a train, AND a mile of walking to get there. The effort will be so worth it. I want one of EVERYTHING!

How perfect is this! Buddy and his family on Oprah now as I right this! Oprah made the comment, "can you believe all these people want to watch you make cakes!" We don't watch just for the cakes (they are pretty awesome though) we watch Buddy and his family with all their family drama and comradery. I don't think the show would be what it is today without them.

My Visit to Baked and Wired

2010-08-07T19:40:00.000-04:00

After Tony and I visited the nationally televised Georgetown Cupcakes, we just had to try out their competitors Baked and Wired! So I drug Tony out yet again (I do not attempt to drive the maze of roads in DC) to find this cute little cupcake/coffee shop on a dead end street. We were very happy to see that there was no line extending out the door as with Georgetown Cupcakes. They were extremely busy but not overwhelmed. This place was exactly how I envisioned a little bakery/cafe and the cupcakes were jumbo sized with unique cupcake papers. We ordered 4 cupcakes:
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1. Chocolate Peanut Butter - A very moist cupcake with the perfect amount of peanut butter frosting, we gave this cupcake a 5 out of 5.

2. Lemon Blueberry - I don't remember ordering this cupcake, but I am not that upset because it actually was quite tasty. This cupcake had a ton of blueberries in it, but did not have a big blueberry taste. The frosting had a wow of a lemon taste. We gave this cupcake a 4.5 out of 5.

3. Carrot Cake - Again, another great tasting moist cupcake with bits of carrots and walnuts. The frosting was not overpowering or too sweet. We gave this cupcake a 5 out of 5.

4. Red Velvet - I am not sure if this was an old cupcake or what but the cupcake was very dry compared to all the others and it really did not have much of a flavor to it. The frosting was a very tasty cream cheese frosting with just the right amount. We gave this cupcake a 3 out of 5.

My ONLY complaint was that all the cupcakes were lined up at waist level and the labels were very hard to read making it very hard to stand back and ponder which cupcakes you would like to indulge in.

All in all...We believe Baked and Wired cupcakes HANDS DOWN beat Georgetown Cupcakes cupcakes.

I would seriously like to see a showdown between Georgetown Cupcakes and Baked and Wired!

My Visit to Georgetown Cupcakes

2010-08-06T10:17:00.111-04:00

I was so excited to visit the famous Georgetown Cupcakes! I couldn't wait to taste the much hyped and Washington Post's top cupcake pick...the Chocolate Ganache cupcake. Tony and I arrived in Georgetown around 7:30 pm on a rainy, humid and hot Thursday evening in August. We walked up to the corner of Georgetown Cupcakes and there was a line..a line out of the building and down the sidewalk of like 35 people! I couldn't believe it. I really should have expected it because all the comments and reviews I had read talked about waiting lines going out the door of the store. Tony hates waiting in lines, so we decided we would go have a light overpriced dinner of appetizers at J. Paul's (I love their soft pretzel basket) and wait till it was closer to when Georgetown cupcakes closed at 9:00 pm. in hopes of not having to wait in a long line. We headed back to Georgetown cupcakes around 8:50 pm and there was STILL a line, not as long as earlier but still a line! We only had to wait in line for like 15 minutes. We ordered a half dozen; Peanut Butter Swirl, Chocolate Ganache, Cherry Cheesecake, Key Lime, Coconut and Red Velvet. We rated them from best to worst.

1. Chocolate Ganache - The absolute best one out of the bunch. So rich, moist and chocolatey! Yum!

2. Peanut Butter Swirl - Same chocolate cupcake but with a peanut butter ... Heaven!

The 3 remaining we really didn't like at all...infact...all we needed was a bite out of each one and then we trashed them. We did take into consideration that it was the end of the night and that the cupcakes were most likely baked over 12 hours ago.

3. Cherry Cheesecake - Cheese cake part was very good but the rock hard graham cracker crumbs on the bottom could have chipped a tooth.

4. Red Velvet - Being a newby cupcake connoisseur ...I am not sure what a really good red velvet cupcake is suppose to taste like but I don't think this is it. The color was very red though.

5. Key Lime - It pretty much tasted like the recipe was not followed correctly. The frosting was nice and fluffy with a hint of key lime taste but too sweet for our tastes.

6. Coconut - Same cupcake as the key lime but with a funny coconut aftertaste in the frosting and so much coconut on top of the frosting to make even a coconut fanatic say "no thanks".

Even though my review of Georgetown Cupcakes was not as good as I anticipated. They have a super support group in town and DC loves them! I think they have a great reality show and look forward to watching them every Friday.

The Perfect PMS Cupcake

2010-08-05T16:22:00.000-04:00

Today I made a Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache. Heavenly!

This cupcake is so light and fluffy and rich, you can only eat 1. This was my first time I made chocolate ganache. I was very surprised at how easy it was. I watched a clip of the DC Georgetown gals whip up their 3 minute chocolate ganache before I began my ganache adventure.

Triple Citrus Cupcakes

2010-08-03T16:39:00.000-04:00

I was so excited to make these cupcakes! I am not much of a lemony-orangey type person, I am more of a chocolate peanut butter person. But these cupcakes were a nice change from the cupcakes I have been making lately. The recipe was fairly easy. They tasted absolutely wonderful! I only had to make one batch and they came out perfect! They were super moist and flavorful!

Red Velvet Surprise

2010-07-30T23:30:00.000-04:00

In my head of infinate bits of useless knowledge, I had heard years ago that red velvet was difficult to make so subconciously I steered clear of red velvet recipes. However, Red velvet cupcakes seems to be the flavor everyone talks about the most these days. I don't know where I have been hiding, but I actually never heard of red velvet until a few years ago when someone brought in a red velvet cake for a co-worker's birthday. I honestly didn't know what all the hype was about. The cake didn't taste all that great (must have been from a box). Then I tasted a red velvet cake from Cheesecake Factory. The Stephanie Red Velvet, YUM! Stephanie, the girl that created that lovely red towering cheese cake, was actually on an episode of Cupcake wars. The judges didn't seem impressed with her red velvet cupcake, but I tasted it and Cheesecake factory named a cheese cake after her recipe and we say it's "delish"! So today in honor of National Cheesecake Day and Stephanie's red velvet cheesecake! I have made a Red Velvet cupcake. I was suppose have made Triple Citrus, but that can wait. I looked over dozens of recipes and opted for one that called for buttermilk. I heard in an episode of DC cupcakes that they use cidar vinegar as their secret ingredient for their red velvet cupcake (I think they have several secret ingredients), so I changed the white vinegar to cider vinegar. I didn't pay attention to how the mixing of the indredients went together until it was too late. I thought it was the same as every other cake...cream the butter and sugar, sift non liquids, add eggs and you're done... not a red velvet. My first batch came out like chalky brillo pads. I think my problem was I didn't follow the recipe and put it together the correct way. Batch # 2 I followed the recipe and the cupcake was YUM! It was not as red as I liked, but it was at least April edible..not April sellable, but April edible. Some recipes I have read called for an entire bottle of red food coloring. I am not so comfortable with that. I am not like a health freak, but the thought of an entire bottle of a red chemical...not so sure that is a good idea. but the other option I have read doesn't sound any better...beet juice. If I could use one of those Mr. Yuck face icon to post I would. I do think I will at least try beet juice. I like pickled egss...so maybe beet juice isn't such a bad idea.

Looks Can Be Very Deceiving!

2010-07-29T17:15:00.000-04:00

For my next cupcake, I wanted to bake a simple cupcake using some ingredients I already had in my pantry. One being baking cocoa. I decided I would bake a chocolate cupcake with chocolate butter-cream frosting. I found a recipe on a google search called "best chocolate cupcakes ever". When I try a new recipe I usually half the recipe because if the recipe doesn't work I didn't waste that much. I don't know if I didn't half the recipe right or if it was just a bad recipe. My cupcakes came out of the oven unpopped and they looked overdone. I attempted to redeem them by trying to make an awesome (keyword attempted) chocolate butter-cream frosting. Hoping they would be at least halfway edible so that my efforts were not all in vain. Unfortunately the chocolate butter-cream frosting recipe I chose which called for baking cocoa made the frosting taste like a cocoa chalky frosting. Unfortunately this batch only made it to the trash can. But I thought it took a nice picture.

I don't know if I had a cupcake troll in my kitchen to sabotage all my baking or what today but after my chocolate fiasco, I thought I would go the opposite direction and bake a batch of vanilla cupcakes. Again, I found another recipe on google that said "the best vanilla recipe" again the cupcakes did not pop up and this time they looked under baked. After a long day and two messed up batches I figured today was just not my baking day and called it a night.

New Cupcake Blogger!

2010-07-29T16:41:00.000-04:00

My first cupcake! Not really my first cupcake ever but my first blogging cupcake. I chose Tony's two favorite flavors, Pineapple and Coconut. I was just "OK" with the flavor of the pineapple cupcake. I think it needed to have more of a "wow" pineapple flavor. However, it was SO moist I didn't really mind the light pineapple flavor. I used a Dominican pineapple cake recipe. The coconut frosting had that "wow" flavor I was looking for. I toasted my own coconut in a frying pan on the stove. I think I had the flames up too high because I burned 2 batches before I had something that looked edible. I am a baking perfectionist so on a scale of 1-5 I give this cupcake a 4 for cupcake and a 5 for the coconut butter-cream frosting. Tony said the frosting was too sweet but he says everything is too sweet and since it's MY cupcake, I say it's perfect! On to my next cupcake creation!

Beginner Cupcake Blogger!

2010-07-29T15:43:00.001-04:00