Summer of Cupcakes #8 & #9

Well I didn't get to #10...and really #8 & #9 were the same cake just different icings, but they were still delicious! Very Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing and strawberry drizzle or filling. I decided I liked the filling better so that each cupcake received the same amount. These are going over really well that I made them for another occasion and received high remarks about them. I made them with homemade whipped topping the third go around and they were delicious. I still think the strawberry icing tastes the best to get the "very strawberry" taste.

Very Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting in Pale Pink and Pale Green with "6" flags for a birthday party

An order of #4 cookies for a birthday party at school for a little girl turning 4.

Summer of Cupcakes #7

These cupcakes were specially ordered by my best friend for her birthday dinner with family. They are Mint Chocolate Chip with Chocolate Ganache filling, Mint Icing, and Ghirardelli Mint Chocolate Pieces crumbled on top...in Jumbo size green liners. They were pretty amazing. I tried a new recipe for the chocolate cake that was less difficult...here's the secret...Hershey's Chocolate Cake recipe. Yeah...I'm that original. I looked and looked on the internet for variations and different recipes but people kept commenting on Hershey's recipe...and since I use Hershey's cocoa I figured they must know how to make a good cake and I was right. It was super moist and delicious...even 3 days later.

I'm hosting a jewelry party next Tuesday so I will have #8 posted by mid-next week...still deciding on the flavor. I haven't made anything with coconut yet! Only 3 cupcakes left to do before the end of summer!

Summer of Cupcakes #6

Yesterday I decided I would make blackberry cupcakes, but when I got to the store they were out! So my backup plan was to make blueberry cupcakes. They turned out so good. I refrigerated these over night with blueberry preserve filling, fresh whipped cream topping, and garnished with sugared blueberries. I used jumbo dark purple cupcake liners...I love making jumbo size! I took a few to the ZTA luncheon today -- the last one of the summer. I will be taking the rest to family members... this recipe made 16 Jumbo size cupcakes so I have around 10 left to get rid of. I give these 5 stars because they were so moist and delicious without being too sweet. I think they could also be eaten for breakfast because they are light. Only 4 more left in the summer of cupcakes challenge!!! Next up: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes on Saturday!  

Summer of Cupcakes #5

Half way to the goal...and there are how many weeks left before the summer ends?!? I made Chocolate - Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes with Chocolate Cheesecake Icing filling and Chocolate Shavings on top. This was my first go at chocolate shavings so the beginning was a little rough until I got the hang of it. I would rank these with 5 stars...they were pretty fabulous. I did them in the jumbo size since I needed less than 15...12 for the event and 3 for home ;)

My chandelier cupcake holder made another grand appearance at the ZTA Alumnae Wine Tasting event last weekend. Next week I will be making Peach Cupcakes with Fresh Whipped Topping for a luncheon and Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes for my BFF's birthday dinner. That will be 7! I may have to do some "Zeta Turquoise Cupcakes" for recruitment weekend in two weeks if I have time between running around...Sorority Recruitment...It's one my favorite time of the year.

Party time:





http://whipperberry.com/2011/08/friday-flair-who-i-am-with-melissa-kellie-from-icing-designs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Whipperberry+%28WhipperBerry%29

Summer of Cupcakes #4

Today I am hosting the second "Zeta Crew" luncheon of the summer and I will be bringing these delicious cupcakes: Chocolate Peanut Butter with Chocolate Drizzle and a Reeses on top! I think these will go over well with the Zeta Lunch Crew Ladies. I did however cheat this time! I could not find a few of the ingredients to make the chocolate cake and the items were a bit on the expensive side...I need to go to a bakery shop and find these fine ingredients. So I made Dunkin Hines and it tastes amazing...love cake in the box. I have been trying to do everything homeade this summer but I couldn't this time. The icing is 100% homemade and Oh So Good!! The recipe was a lot! I packed on probably twice as much icing on each cupcake and still had leftovers...so I put it in a a Tupperware dish and will save it for dipping apple slices in later :) yum! Also...take notice in the quality of the picture because I got a new camera!! I'm so excited to be able to post quality pictures now! I needed a new camera before Baby #2 arrived so I am practicing with it on my cupcakes.

Summer of Cupcakes #3

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes! I am not one to love white cake but this white cake was Delicious! Although not as good the next day... I need to find a better way to store them. Anyway, it called for almond extract in the cake but I wish I would have used key lime extract or juice because almond and key lime do not exactly go together. Sorry I forgot to take a picture!! It was a white cake with the center removed and filled with Key Lime "stuff" and a homemade whipped topping. The batch made 24 big ones! So I took them to two different events that were back-to-back. For the second event I realized I did not have enough whipped topping and I had a lot of the Key Lime "stuff" left over so I combined them and Blake said they were much better that way and tasted more "key limish". He even said he would pay $2 a cupcake for them which is saying a lot. So another cupcake scratched off the list for The Summer of Cupcakes! Next up: Chocolate-Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes!

Summer of Cupcakes #2

I made these cupcakes for a brunch this past weekend. They are homemade shortcakes with homemade whipped topping and fresh cut strawberries. They turned out so good! I think I can say these are perfection!

Cupcake #1 of the Summer

You know I thought making everything from scratch would take longer but it really doesn't and it does taste different...in a good way. I made a mistake by not buying the right flour but I went with what I had and they still turned out great...a little lighter than I am used to but still really good. My taste tester group said they were "really good" so if I actually used the right flour (smack on the head!) they could have been better than "really good" (the goal is: "Best I've Ever Had"). I made traditional birthday cupcakes with a butter cake and chocolate frosting. The recipe said it would make 24 but it only made 15! Which is fine with me since I only needed 10. Some of them were really big so I could have stretched it to 18, but not 24. Also, I love, love, love frosting and used almost all of it so I would definitely have to double the recipe for a bigger party. We had our luncheon at a mexican restaurant so I captured some tortilla chips in the background. Zeta Tau Alpha is all about pink ribbons for breast cancer, strawberries, and crowns ;)

Summer of Cupcakes

This summer I want to finish start my business plan for my boutique I want to open in a few years. I know a few years seems far off to start on it but I am a planner and will be absolutely crushed if it fails so it has to be perfect :) I started on it a little bit when I realized I should probably figure out what cupcakes I will be making first. So this is the summer of cupcakes! I want to have 10 perfect cupcakes completed by the end of the summer - they will be my top 10. I have a bunch of parties and luncheons to attend this summer so I thought...make those people my taste testing groups. It will be pretty hard seeing as I will be baking at at least 1-2 nights out of the week to complete my top 10 list but it will be worth it and I can check off that part of the business plan. Bailey loves to help with the mixer so she will be my helper spoon licker.

Summer of Cupcakes
1. Traditional Birthday Cupcakes - June 9th ZTA Alumnae Lunch Crew
2. Strawberry Shortcake - June 18th ZTA Alumnae Brunch
3. Coconut Cream Cupcakes - Father's Day
4. Key Lime Cupcakes - June 30th ZTA Recs Meeting
5. Lemon Ice Box - July 14th ZTA Alumnae Lunch Crew
6. Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes - July 30th Wine Tasting Night
7. Peaches & Cream Cupcakes - August 11th ZTA Alumnae Lunch Crew
8. Mint Chocolate Chip - Amanda's Birthday
9. Red Velvet Cupcakes - Alabama Football Kickoff
10. ??? Still deciding on this one ???

Baby Shower Project

I have been very busy the past few weeks getting ready for my good friend's baby shower. I made 2 bibs, two diaper cakes, "D" & "I" painted letters, 2 little stuffed elephants, 4 dozens cupcakes, 23 blue and pink elephants with "S" on them (forgot to take pictures!), some fabulous strawberry limeade punch, and a wooden green elephant to hang on the door. Here are my creations for her shower!

Cupcake tower - flowers in blue and pink

I designed this cupcake tower based on the napkins used for this baby shower. The mother-to-be is waiting to find out what she is having so the napkins had bright blue, bright pink, and bright green on them. I was hesitant to try out fondant because 1. It doesn't taste good 2. It can be expensive 3. time...since I am teaching myself, I don't have time to make mistakes or practice a lot. So I did some research on fondant and found that a lot of people love using marshmallow fondant because 1. It tastes better 2. It is cheap to make 3. EASY!

So here are the pictures of my first cupcake tower:

Inside of cake: Chocolate icing

23 cupcakes: butter/yellow cake with cream cheese icing & marshmallow fondant flowers

Top of tower: (2) 6 inch yellow cake with cream cheese icing & marshmallow fondant flowers & bright green ribbon

Cupcake Tower

Me with my first cupcake tower!