Back in the game

So I made cupcakes tonight for the first time in a few weeks. I made "2 ingredient pumpkin cupcakes". So far they have turned out amazing. And my frosting also turned out amazing. For the first time, my frosting is fluffy instead of runny. I finally figured out the trick. I added some cinnamon to it to give the frosting a little bit of a holiday flavor, but it turns out it didn't contribute much. Still very good though. Until next time....

Ooops!

I've neglected my blog for a while, sorry! So I made orange pineapple cupcakes, delicious. Black velvet for Corey's last day, delicious but sad. (Still missing you Core Core!) Friday is Treva's birthday. I'm making chocolate cake with a white chocolate inside, strawberry cream cheese frosting, topped with a strawberry and drizzled with chocolate ganache. So far, my most complicated cupcake, but I think it will be worth it and delicious! After Friday's batch, I won't be making cupcakes for about 2 weeks, which at that time, will be pumpkin cupcakes. :) Since I will now be working Saturdays, I am going to spoil my Saturday coworkers with cupcakes since I don't work much during the week. Until next time....

United Way Bake Sale!

I just finished making my cupcakes for the bake sale! Caramel apple cupcakes! I decorated some with sprinkles, some with pecans, and some just have caramel on them. The caramel is soaked into the cake a bit so hopefully that will help keep them moist. I ended up getting 3 dozen cupcakes out of the batch, it seems to be different every time, keeps me on my toes lol. To finish the cupcakes, I put them in little baggies and tied them with orange ribbon (for Halloween) with a little tag on it that says "Cupcakes with Care" in a pretty, curly font. I haven't tried one yet (I have a thing about odd numbers) but I have 6 set aside for my favorite people: Carla, Judi, Tracy, Diana, Lori, and one for myself. That list is in no particular order if any of you listed is reading this. :) Well it's about time for me to get to bed, it's late and I'm tired. Until next time....

Happy Birthday Amy!!

It's my sister's birthday today and tomorrow is her birthday lunch, so I made her cupcakes. I made lime cupcakes with lemonade buttercream frosting. To make the lime cake, I added 2 packets of lime jello into the mix. The jello mix also made the cupcakes green. :) As for the lemonade frosting, amazing decision. I dyed the frosting yellow. So now they look like Packer cupcakes! :) I've got 2 kinds of cupcakes to make next week, one for the bake sale and one for a Halloween treat contest. Until next time....

Got some good news today

So I came into work today and opened my email and saw something awesome! It was about a bake sale that we are having to raise money for the United Way. It said that they are looking for people to make stuff to sell! This got me super excited. I thought about it for a while and decided on the most presentable idea so far. I will be making Caramel Apple cupcakes. They will be adorable, since they will look like real caramel apples. I will be making an apple spice cake, made with applesauce - chunky, so that there are actual bits of apple in the cake - and green food coloring (that's the apple part). For the topping, instead of a frosting or icing, I will top them with caramel syrup. For some I will put sprinkles on, some I will put nuts on, and some will be just plain caramel. I will top them all with a toothpick to look like a caramel apple on a stick.

Since they are supposed to be "pre packaged" to sell, I'm gonna get some pretty bags, tie them up with some ribbon and put a tag on each one with the name of my future business (Cupcakes with Care) so that everyone knows whose cupcakes they're eating and want more when I make them. :)

Until next time....

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes

My chocolate cherry coke cupcakes went over very well. There were several people who had more than one cupcake. I've decided I will make this recipe the first in my book. Towards the end of the night, after all the leads and supervisors had at least 1 cupcake, I started handing them out to random agents. There were a few that looked like they needed one and many whose night I made just with the simple offer of a cupcake. The only feeling that beats the one I get while making the cupcakes is the one I get when I know I just made someone a little happier or someone's night a little better.

I'm going to start making my own recipes by altering the recipe below to suit the flavor I want to make. My sister, Amy, has a birthday on Saturday and her birthday lunch is on Sunday. She told me to surprise her with something that tastes good. I have an idea of what I will do, but I don't wanna put it on here in case she's reading. 

Next up after my sister's are Corey's. He requested red velvet, normally too simple for my style but it's a classic. His will be made for Halloween so naturally I will be making them festive. :) "Black" velvet with orange colored cream cheese frosting.

Following Corey's last day is Treva's birthday. Between Tracy, Diana, Krystal and I, we came up with the perfect cupcake for her. She said she wanted something chocolate and a surprise. We came up with a chocolate cake, white chocolate chips in the middle with a strawberry cream cheese frosting drizzled with caramel. The frosting will be made with pureed strawberries rather than artificial strawberry flavoring (which I hate). Artificial strawberry doesn't do justice to the real flavor of strawberries.  Sounds good, huh?

After Treva's birthday, there isn't a real reason to make cupcakes until Diana's birthday, therefore, I will make them for holidays! Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and I figure what better way to celebrate it than with pumpkin cupcakes? Unless someone has a better idea lol. I found a 2 ingredient recipe involving a can of pumpkin and a box of cake mix. Just mix the 2 together and bake! I of course will be adding some pumpkin pie spice to add some flavor to it. Topped with cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with some more spice and graham crackers, it sounds pretty perfect to me!

Then for Christmas I will be making 2 separate kinds. I will be making a gingerbread cake with cinnamon frosting and a chocolate chocolate chip/candy cane cake with whipped cream frosting drizzled with chocolate syrup and sprinkled with candy cane bits. I think I will buy a couple different kinds of candy canes to top the cupcakes with to make a little bit of a variety.

Diana's cupcakes will be simple. Chocolate cake with peanut butter chips and a peanut butter frosting. Sounds like my favorite candy: Reese's!

That's all I have scheduled for now but that could change... :) Until next time.....

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter (no substitutes)
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Waiting game

I'm currently waiting for my 2nd batch of cupcakes to cook. I've made the icing (pink colored amaretto flavored) and the 1st batch is cooling. This is exciting cuz they look sooooooo good! They are made-from-scratch chocolate with pie filling cherries and chocolate chips in the middle. The recipe said it would make 24 cupcakes. HA! I still have a half bowl full of batter. This will please my coworkers haha. And I won't run out and leave people out. This has been an absolute success so far.... I have successfully made a ginormous mess in my kitchen! :) It's worth it though. Gotta take the 2nd batch out of the oven. Until next time....