beautydetermined

Eat them by the SPOONFULS for BREAKFAST with coffee!

Just kidding but this is a true morning happening.

MAKE CAKE POPS!  Since I core out the middle of my cupcakes for fillers, I typically have bowls full of cake bits.  I hate to throw anything away, so instead of munching on it like I normally do… I saved it to make cakepops last week one evening after work.

Depending on my frosting recipes, I usually have a little bit of icing leftover as well.  Besides last week, I’ve only make cakepops once before…

Sorry for the blurry pictures, my poor camera is starting to show its age and has trouble with up-close pictures. These cakepops were vanilla/strawberry cake coated in milk chocolate and topped with a little marshmallow fondant oval embossed with a “R” for Becca’s Bridal Shower party favors last summer. Delicious and super cute!

The cakepop process is lengthy with several steps, so I haven’t really had the urge to make them again until last week.

I wasn’t worried about making sure the cakepops were super smooth or looked exceptionally pretty since I really just wanted to whip up some new flavor combos.

I tried tons of different flavors and labeled them all, so I knew exactly what was being devoured.

Cookies and cream cake with the cookies and cream frosting dipped in white chocolate and coated in crushed oreos.  

Chocolate cake with cookies and cream frosting dipped in dark chocolate and coated in crushed oreos.

Mint cookies and cream cake with mint chocolate cookies and cream frosting dipped in dark chocolate and coated with crushed mint oreos.  

Guinness cake with Bailey’s buttercream frosting and dipped in dark chocolate lightly flavored with Jameson.

Green Velvet cake with cream cheese buttercream icing and dipped into white chocolate.

No, this isn’t a dream.  It’s my baking reality and I need you to participate by eating these sweets, so I don’t become a cupcake hippopotamus.

Ekk, green! So cute!

I sent these babies to Earth Fare with Tyler for his employees. Wisdom, don’t be angry… I have to share the love. Tyler’s team work their tushies off too!

And look at the sweet note they sent back with T:

Earth Fare Brier Creek, you made my day!

XOXO

I don’t lie! I’m starting to dream about Cookies and Cream cakes chasing after me, while I run my Cookies and Cream butt off.

I had another 4 dozen order go out the other day for these favorites. Bakers, if you haven’t tried a cookies and cream recipe… you must attempt to make these this weekend!

First take your favorite vanilla recipe… maybe one with more egg whites versus full-eggs, so you have a whiter cake… add a cup or two of chopped cookies and cream (oreos, etc) and bake away. Take your favorite buttercream base frosting and add a cup or two of crushed oreos. Your preference on how much cookie to add! I love a little extra in both. Just make sure to CRUSH the cookies for the frosting especially if you’re planning to pipe.

Don’t forget the marshmallow filling! I use a recipe that doesn’t involve shortening… 

… you know I don’t like that greasy fake stuff.

So, what are the other cupcakes?

Apple Cider Spice with a homemade apple puree filling and topped with an apple cider spice buttercream.  Heaven in your mouth.  These are quickly becoming a new favorite recipe request.

My basic vanilla cupcakes for the simple cupcake eaters in life! Sometimes folks just like an easy bite of sweetness that isn’t too complicated.

YUM!

When you share a cupcake, you share love. Bake a cookies and cream cake and be sure to invite over your favorites.

Love and cupcakes to you all…

xoxo

I was thrilled when one of my friends and old co-workers, Coralee Rogers requested cupcakes for her daughter, Theresa’s Hunger Games theme birthday party. I was freaking a little bit, because I wasn’t sure if I’d finish the book with my busy work schedule and personal life.

Since Hunger Games just premiered last week, I didn’t really have anything visual to use as a guideline for the toppers. SO, good thing I have my trusty free personal baking assistant to fill in and help me with some ideas. 

Here were my basic thoughts for toppers… girl on fire, district 12, the pink lady, mocking jays, blood, peeta, arrows, death… now, how do you get those on a cupcake?

BAM!

And, how about that Mocking Jay? You can’t have a Hunger Games cupcake without it!

These were painstakingly difficult to make, but I basically squealed from the rooftop when I finished…

…now, THAT’S how you make a Hunger Games cupcake!  

But, wait! See the arrows to the right of the cupcakes above? Cool, right? I stuck them through the mounds of icing then piped a feathery icing end. I really wanted to stick feathers on the ends, but figured no one would want to pick fuzzies out of their mouth while trying to enjoy that chocolate goodness.

I’ve had some great questions come out of these cupcakes, since they created quite an awesome stir… so I thought I’d share…

“How did you make the marshmallow fondant gold and shimmery?”

I made a yellow fondant, created my mocking jays… then used a little bit of Wilton’s Gold Pearl Dust. I just took a little powder in a small bowl and added a few drops of vanilla extract and water to help the powder stick to the fondant when brushing it on.

Pearl dust is so much fun! You can find lots of colors too!

“Where did you find the molds for the Hunger Game cupcake toppers?”

No molds just my little hands and OCD visual eyes. If I was using basic chocolate as a topper, I could have probably used molds, but why do that when I’m able to work with fondant.

I was blessed with a talent in art and design… and used to work with clay mediums. A good marshmallow fondant is very similar to playing with clay!

“How did you have time to make those?”

Good question. I don’t really know. I basically just set aside a few hours every night to make my deadline for a special birthday girl!

All together now at the Roger’s House! Tyler dropped the cupcakes off for me in Wake Forest that evening, since I was working super late in Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

Tyler said that when he pulled up, there was a huge group of kids waiting for him on the front lawn!  They were eagerly awaiting the Hunger Game birthday cupcakes!  LOVE.

My heart was full that day knowing Theresa and her friends were SO excited for their cupcakes and that I could help make their day so special.

Thank you again Coralee for inviting me to be a part of Theresa’s birthday celebrations. Your compliments and feedback were more than appreciated and I’m thrilled that the group loved my toppers and buttercream frostings! 

My motto for the week: “Winning means fame and fortune… losing means certain death. The Hunger Cupcake Games have begun!”

xoxo

Get excited! Easter Cupcake Samplers on their way! Perfect timing to share some sweets with your loved ones for the upcoming holiday weekend.

-Easter Bunny Cupcakes! Coconut cupcakes with a coconut cream filling topped with a whipped buttercream icing and dipped in coconut.
-Black Forest Chocolate Cupcakes! Chocolate cake with a cherry puree and a whipped buttercream frosting topped with a festive Easter marshmallow fondant topper.
-Hot Cross Bun Cupcakes! Cinnamon swirl vanilla cake with raisins frosted with a buttercream icing and topped with an Easter marshmallow fondant topper.
*Don’t like raisins? Let me know!

$12 for a half-dozen (and for any additional half dozen orders take off $2 on each additional order for a bulk discount).

Pick-up on Saturday, April 7th from 12-5pm at my house. Need cupcakes or cake on Easter Sunday? Let me know, I’m open to baking samplers that morning as well. St. Patrick’s Day was a double-baking day and very convenient for everyone, so I’m happy to accommodate.

Need delivery arrangements OR cake/cupcakes for a future occasion? Let me know! I’d love to help out. Thank you for thinking about me!

xoxo

*Picture is from All Things Cupcake blog, where I get lots of ideas!  http://www.allthingscupcake.com/2009/04/07/easter-cupcake-decorating-ideas-pictures/

Phew! I never thought I’d make it through the past 7 days. What a whirlwind. I baked over 24 dozen cupcakes and had the most insane work week. Yes, 24 dozen… I was showering last night and started thinking… and counting…

Huh, so that’s why I felt like a freight truck hit me?

Red Bull is jamming this month. We’re up against huge numbers from last March, but North Carolina’s nightlife is returning. Yay! NC State’s run in the NCAA Tournament helped Raleigh’s sales… and only if Carolina and Duke were still in.  Here’s to the last week of Red Bull sales for March!

Onto the cupcakes! I never had a chance to post my St. Patrick’s Day cupcake sampler results from last weekend, so let’s recap.

Guinness Chocolate cupcakes with a Jameson ganache filling and Bailey’s buttercream frosting drizzled with the Jameson ganache.  Amazing.

Green Velvet cupcakes with dark chocolate ganache filling and cream cheese/buttercream icing topped with a four leaf clover marshmallow fondant topper.  Classic red velvet with a twist!

Mint cookies and cream cupcake with a minty marshmallow filling frosted with a dark chocolate mint cookies and cream buttercream topped with a Cool Mint Oreo!  One of the most decadent, rich cupcakes I’ve ever had in my whole life.  

Since last weekend was an intense baking and work weekend as well. I had a recurring assembly line on my kitchen table over the entire weekend.  

Green Velvet cupcakes with their dark chocolate ganache filling!

Mint Cookies and Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with their minty marshmallow filling! I wasn’t able to take TOO many pictures this past week, since my time was limited.

“Luck of the Irish” Cupcake Samplers ready to go!

So festive and fun! I definitely recommend some sort of Guinness chocolate cupcake recipes to all the bakers out there. I was nervous about using beer and liquor, since I have had plenty of desserts with both and have never really been WOW-ed by any of them… 

until now!  

I boiled a cup of Guinness on the stove to add into my go-to dark chocolate batter and I ended up with the most moist cupcakes ever.  They had a wonderful nutty chocolate taste with the added Guinness and set the St. Patrick’s theme for the weekend!

Adding Jameson to my everyday dark chocolate ganache recipe added a perfect hint of flavor to the cake… as well as a nice surprise for when you bit into that amazing little cupcake.

Ahh, and what’s a Guinness/Jameson cupcake without a little Bailey’s? Irish Car Bomb cupcakes anyone?

Yes, please. 

I’m very thankful for all of the orders last weekend! I had some new customers which was really exciting for me and was able to try out some awesome new recipes. I’m so glad that I started making monthly samplers!

Enjoy the last week of March 2012!

xoxo

What? It’s Monday night? Where did the weekend go?

Friday = worked in Winston-Salem until 2pm, visited accounts in Elon and Mebane, stopped by the RDU office, and arrived home by 6pm to prep for a full-blown baking weekend!

Saturday = baked St. Patrick’s Day sampler cupcakes, ran 12.7 miles by 9:30 am, met a co-worker to give him an order for one of his accounts that I brought back from Winston-Salem on Friday, baked more cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day and a customized order, drove out to Greensboro with Julie to visit a few Red Bull accounts, Hayden & Nancy, then more cupcakes and an awesome friend’s house for dinner.  

Sunday = baked St. Patrick’s Day sampler cupcakes, watched my alma mater NC State make it to the Sweet 16, sold all orders, caught up with bills, cleaned (sort of), cooked, watched Carolina beat the hell of Creightown, and dinner with the Mitschs!

Yay, I saw lots of favorite people!  They kept me going and I was sure to shower, so I didn’t have icing in my ears… just my shoes.  I really just contemplated wearing my pretty hand-made apron (by Rachel’s awesome Mom) all weekend, but I figured Julie would kick me out of her car, Becca would have laughed, and Jessie would surely have personally taken it off.

Check out Saturday’s cupcakes!  I’ll post about St. Patrick’s later, but I wanted to once again… show you Salted Caramel Chocolate and Cookies and Cream cupcakes for the 3rd time in a week! Funny, right? I had another order for Saturday! My caramel sauce is perfection now! Thank you again Liz!

With this batch, I decided to add a little extra caramel in the cupcake and frosting instead of drizzling on the top, which tended to make a sticky mess in the bakery boxes.  

I was actually THANKED just for adding the extra caramel in the cake part!  :)

Ahh and my most popular recipe to date!  Cookies and Cream with marshmallow filling and Cookies and Cream buttercream icing.  Folks can’t get enough!

What did YOU bake this weekend?

Yes, I baked more delicious, mouth-watering cupcakes this week.  After my Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate and Cookies and Cream cupcakes Facebook status and blog post on Monday… I picked up another order for 4 dozen cupcakes!  

Do you know what this meant?

Another chance to perfect my amazing sea salt caramel sauce.  

Mission completed.  I didn’t even want to give this batch up.  I may have cried a little as every bit of light brown sugary amaziness was poured into the center of scrumptious chocolate cupcakes.  

Amaziness isn’t a word?  Too bad… it is now.

Yummers!  Definitely my favorite bakery item of the month!  I also made a few St. Patrick’s Day toppers for this order as they were in spirit for the “Luck of the Irish”…

Did you know that I have lots of Irish in me?  Just don’t pinch me… or try and kiss me unless you’re Tyler (or of course, Ryan Reynolds).  

I’ll wear my green on Saturday!  I promise!  I also have Polish and German decent, but definitely a nice percentage of Irish running through my blood.  No one can quite figure out my mix when they look at me.

It’s like when people look at Beans… 

“What kind of breed is she?  Great Dane?  Boxer?  What awesome blue eyes!”

Same effect, but I’m not Beans.

Ok, back to cup of the cakesssss… All packaged and ready to be delivered:

Not only did I make the Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate and Cookies & Cream cupcakes, but also Dark Chocolate with Dark Chocolate buttercream frosting for those that enjoy an uncomplicated cupcake flavor.

I am very grateful for the support and love!  I’m super excited about all the orders coming in and can’t wait to share my amazing creations with people I love… and new people to love!  I really enjoy every minute of baking… learning about the art of baking… and of course it follows suit with the industry I’m already successful in.  Go Red Bull!  Be sure to get your Sugar Free on this weekend…

… and Irish-theme cupcakes!

XOXO

Did someone say sea salt, caramel, ganache, and chocolate?  

Yes, please.

So, funny story… I’m really not a big fan of caramel these days. I drank so many Starbucks Frappuccino Caramel Lights in college that I may have overdosed at some point. I’ve never liked soda, didn’t start drinking coffee until my later years in college, and didn’t try an energy drink until a Red Bull in 2008 when I started working for Wisdom Beverage. I’m really not sure how I even got through my early years in college. The only thing I would really drink so I could stay up late for papers and study sessions were those damn ice frappucccinos with a green straw.  

Thank goodness, my taste buds are slowly dying and I’m able to open my palette to the better things in life like COFFEE.

Therefore, caramel was one thing that I haven’t really mess with it much while baking.  I’ve made caramel chocolate turtles before, but that required a thermometer and lots of attention…

SO, for whatever reason on Sunday…

I decided to tackle my dislike and fear of caramel. I made my own caramel sauce… a salted caramel sauce!  

Super easy and absolutely amazing. I recommend that everyone has a little mason jar ready to go at home in their pantry. Ice cream topper! Drizzled over cheesecake!  Added to coffee!   

Again, this is why I run and eat lots of protein and salads during the week.

Simple ingredients - water, sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, butter, and sea salt for a salted caramel sauce!  I would love to use a vanilla bean next time for a stronger flavor, but I was totally in love with this new creation. Wouldn’t it make a great Christmas present? Teacher’s present? I love homemade gifts!

I had 5 dozen orders of a mix of salted caramel chocolate cupcakes (filled with salted caramel and topped with a salted caramel buttercream frosting drizzled in caramel sauce and ganache) and cookies and cream (yes! again! crazy, right?)  Luckily enough, I had a few more people order cupcakes on Monday and sold them all after work except for a half dozen.

I even donated cupcakes to Mom Dean’s American Heart Bake Sale at work in Wilson! She emailed me today and said that as soon as the word was out about cupcakes… there was a mad dash to the break room. So cute!

The salted caramel frosting may be my absolute favorite right now, which is so strange, because I really haven’t liked caramel in years, BUT there’s something WAY yummier with the sauce being homemade. Tons more flavor!

Yay for cupcake orders! Thank you everyone for the support. I couldn’t do this without your love for butter and sugar… and me.  

P.S. Make a salted caramel sauce this weekend.

xoxo

On Saturday morning around 5 am, my kitchen smelled of Oreo’s, baking cupcakes, and peanut butter frosting.  Perfect sides for coffee of course!  I skipped my 6 mile run (my down week), which completely disheartened me, but deep down knew that I would make it up this week and of course, I had a very important afternoon date…  Olivia’s 1st Birthday Party! 

On a side note, I’m struggling with my personal time right now… trying and desperately wanting to make time for family and friends, my husband, running, reading, errands, cleaning, WHILE baking every weekend and working a full-time job (that is underway one of the busiest months of the year).  The lack of sleep is catching up, especially on the weekends now that I’m really starting to log longer running distances and take on bigger bakery projects.  

Oh well!  Baked goods are awesome and I love every minute!  Too bad I can’t have another day in the week.

So, let’s talk about all the yummy creations from Saturday!  Besides making my favorite thing… ganache… I was able to make another cake this month!  Everyone orders cupcakes, so I never really have the opportunity to put together a full cake.  

Luckily enough, Amanda wanted a small one for Olivia and I was super excited to decorate a WHOLE cake.  Originally, we had planned for her to SMASH her cake, but everyone decided at the party it was too pretty for an adorable 1 year-old to destroy within seconds.

For the cupcakes, I made dark chocolate cake with a dark chocolate raspberry ganache filling topped with a dark chocolate raspberry frosting, chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting sprinkled with salted peanuts, and cookies & cream cupcakes with marshmallow filling topped with a cookies & cream buttercream frosting.  Valentine’s Day samplers were KEY for future orders!  Crazy, right?

I’m loving bubbles right now and thought that they would go nicely with The Little Mermaid cake for Olivia!  I cut out different sizes and delicately placed them on the cookies and cream cupcakes.  I really wanted the little Oreo’s on top as well. They become perfectly mushy after a few hours of sitting on the buttercream and are an absolute necessity in the success of this cupcake.

I also wanted a few little “1”s for the birthday girl!  You can’t have a 1 year-old’s celebration without them.  The colors and bubbles matched Ariel and her cake perfectly!

Ekk, so cute!  I loved being able to set up the cake and cupcakes for the party.  I was able to get a GREAT picture and put it together as imagined.  It’s funny… most times when people order cupcakes, I never see them put together and just hope for the best!

As most of you probably know… I’m a little OCD when it comes to merchandising and visual things.

Olivia’s cake was a cookies and cream cake as well!  Sweet birthday girl was apprehensive at first, but as soon as Grandpa gave her a taste of the icing…

GAME ON!  

Ohh, we got it now!  So cute.  Cupcakes for life!  Here comes another future pro!

Happy Birthday to one of the sweetest little babies out there!  Thank you for giving me baby fever… even when you pout that bottom lip.

I love you and your mama very much.  Thank you for inviting me to part of your special day!

xoxo

Wouldn’t this be fun to make?  And, doesn’t this get you excited for SUN?  I’ve been craving 95 degree sunny days all week and I think I actually have Winter blues for the first time in my life.  

I know… I’m crazy, but I love Summer as I get older!  I used to despise sweat… but NOT anymore.  

Yum, I would devour this cake just because it looks so pretty.  

Source: marthastewart.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

Ekk, and I definitely know someone who would LOVE an Owl Cupcake Cake…

Source: familyfun.go.com via Jenifer on Pinterest

I’m dying over the baby owls surrounding the big cake!

And check this one out?  Perfect for a little boy’s birthday and you know I’m loving the detail.

Source: flickr.com via Sherry on Pinterest

I love the colors on this cupcake cake!  Reminds me of my Rainbow-Brite and My Little Pony days.

Source: karenscakeshoppe.com via Susan on Pinterest

Alrighty, so who is ordering one?  I need to make a Cupcake Cake PRONTO.

Sweet dreams, I think I have my Pinterest fix for the week… xoxo

CAKE!  Birthday cake… birthday cake… 

People, get your minds out of the gutter.

Scary.

Happy Happy Happy Birthday Tyler James!  On top of baking Cookies and Cream cupcakes with Cars toppers… I also had a special BIRTHDAY CAKE to make for my hubby!  We had a few friends coming over to watch the Duke and Carolina game, while celebrating over food, cake, and drinks with Tyler.

Everyone’s requesting Cookies and Cream cake with marshmallow filling these days, so why not make it into a yummy cake for Tyler?

First, after my two layers were baked and cooled - I sliced off one of the mounds of my two layers, so I could put the top on…

Which Tyler promptly ate…

Nom Nom!

For a second, I was very excited that I had a little extra cake to make CAKE POPS.  

I thought wrong.  Silly me.

Ok, back to the real cake!  I piped a border on my bottom layer and filled it with marshmallow filling.

I literally had seconds to decorate the cake after I filled it to somehow surprise him.  I sent Tyler to the grocery store for the hundredth time that morning, so I could get this bad boy iced.  

Yes, I know… bad wife… it was his birthday… but NOT really… it was his birthday-eve.

And, of course I really wasn’t ready to put down the piping bag, so I quickly drew some fun spirals on the side of the cake…

Yummers!  Poor cake didn’t have a chance!  It was gone by midnight.  

Happy Birthday Tyler!  Hope you had a great day!  Love you!

xoxo

I did it! I survived only having one evening and a wee-early morning to make Cars theme-cupcake toppers. Work was super busy this week leaving me extra paperwork in the evenings and no extra time for cupcake creativity. Tyler’s birthday weekend plans were also under way and we had a whole house to clean before Saturday.

So before I reveal these ROCKING Cars cupcakes, let me say that… I LOVE TOWMATER! We used to have a love/hate relationship since my first interaction with him last summer when I made a cake for one of Mom’s work friends:

… and despite the fact that this cake looked fantastic when finished it almost made me break down!

Not being a Mom OR even a regular babysitter results in me having NO CLUE what exactly Dora is… Cars… Bubble Guppies, etc. So, on top of me always saying YES to things that I may not realize what I’m getting myself into… can easily cause me great stress. I know I create my own problems, however I like to think that I come from a PLACE of YES and that “I’ll figure it out!”, but…

Who cares!

I’m going to continue saying YES like a crazy person, because this cake turned out amazing! Granted, I needed my Mom to save the day and help me with his mouth. I was ready to leave tear-stains on the blue fondant as I desperately tried to figure out his teeth. Mom came in with a fresh look and applied his smile perfectly.

Little can I say, Towmater and I were very happy to be re-united on top of fabulous Cookies and Cream cupcakes with marshmallow filling this weekend.  Jeff Piper one of my awesome softball team members from my first co-ed Cary league messaged me earlier last week about making these cupcakes for his daughter, Halle turning 4! I was SO excited to take on this project and loved being part of his family’s special celebration. 

I knew these had to be awesome and I couldn’t disappoint the Piper Family, so I put my heart and sleep into them!

Friday night’s work! Route 66 signs, tires with treads, McQueen, and her thunder bolts underway!

YAWN! After going to bed super late on Friday… I was up before the sun on Saturday finishing the rest of my Cars toppers and baking 2 dozen cupcakes.

Towmater has arrived at the Dean House!  I created a tie-dye fondant for him to create the rusted blue tow-truck appearance.

Ekk, those tires are ridiculous! I need tread like that on my Civic tires… then maybe I wouldn’t have flats all the time.

McQueen is ready to go! After I hit a good stopping point with my marshmallow fondant creations, I baked some yummy cupcakes filled with a marshmallow filling. Smack your Mama good Cookies and Cream cupcakes with an Oreo buttercream icing that is surprisingly NOT too sweet.

ALL TOGETHER NOW! 

Still obsessed with the tie-dye fondant, I made little “4” toppers just for the birthday girl.

I may love the tires more than Towmater.  Don’t tell him, it’s our secret.

I received the sweetest text message this morning from Jeff saying the cupcakes were a huge hit with the kids and adults!  Yay, Happy Birthday Halle!  I’m thankful to be a part of your special day and that Towmater and McQueen could be there with you.

XOXO… What’s next?

24 Cars-theme cupcakes coming up for tomorrow afternoon! Somehow I knew Towmater would return in my life. I’m super excited to start working on these tonight.  

To be continued…

XOXO

Sounds heavenly.  I’ll take 3 of each.  

Yay, for cupcake orders this week! I had another super early morning on Wednesday baking away like a crazy person. I had to be at the office by 8 am… meaning… 3 am wasn’t early enough. I won’t even tell you what time I started, but I had lots of orders waiting their eager customers’ mouths that evening.

I made my strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry buttercream icing and let me tell you… I can’t wait until May in North Carolina. Strawberry season! Those cupcakes are even more ridiculous with fresh berries. The flavor is incredible! I think this Spring I’ll buy a few extra cartons and freeze them, so I have super delicious berries all year.

Don’t you love the natural pink color of these strawberry cupcakes?

Chocolate with fluffy peanut butter frosting and sprinkled with salted peanuts was my other dozen ordered. Thankfully, I have a little frosting left that I plan to smear on chocolate graham crackers throughout the next few nights.  

Don’t judge people! I ran tonight and have a 10 mile run planned for Saturday morning. I eat salad, vegetables, fruit, and protein on a daily basis, but am not an advocate for cutting foods entirely out of your diet.  

It’s all about moderation and exercise!

I also baked Apple Cider Spice cupcakes! I perfected my recipe, filled the cake with a sweet apple filling (basically, I made applesauce from scratch and added a little extra sugar), then topped it with an apple buttercream spiked with cider and spices. THESE CUPCAKES ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD!

And, wanna know a secret? I used unsweetened applesauce in the cake instead of butter making them lower in fat too!

All together now! Cupcakes ready to go!

Yummers!  I can smell the peanut butter frosting now. 

Now the real question is… whose coming to clean my dishes?

Tracie and Kristy, I know you’re both DYING right now.

Sweet dreams everyone!

xoxo

So, I lied a little bit on Sunday… I wasn’t an absolute complete bum! I cleaned out my craft closet, started to organized my craft room from when the holidays took over, and made TRUFFLES! Yum!

Remember that dark chocolate raspberry ganache that I made for the Valentine’s Day Cupcake samplers? Delicious… pure heaven, right? I had a ridiculous amount left and since ganache freezes beautifully or if tightly sealed, lasts a couple of weeks in the fridge… I saved it for a rainy day.  

WELL, you can also turn extra ganache into chocolate TRUFFLES! I didn’t realize that it was the same basic recipe until I read someone’s baking blog this weekend. After a little research, I found tons of versions online and since mine was pretty simple (bittersweet chocolate, raspberry jam, heavy cream, pinch of salt) I rolled mine into little balls and dipped them into whatever I found in my kitchen.

Then I thought it would be fun to toast unsalted pistachios and melt a little white chocolate to try that combination together…

Ta-da! Truffles dipped in white chocolate, covered in pistachios and dried cranberries. The texture was addictive. Crunchy, salty bite on the outside… creamy chocolate in the middle. I ate 3 of those too.

And to cap it off… I made a few more dark cocoa truffles, which were so simple, but ridiculously good… and of course, why not dunk a few in crushed oreos?

I ate 2 of those… and made sure to leave Tyler 1.  

I’m not sure if he got any others.  Oops.

This is why I run.

Love you all… sleep night. 

Yes, I have to do this too.  Sometimes when my back has had enough and I’m all out of energy… I take an evening off, which leads to another day of laziness, then day of depression until I snap myself out of it.  

I think this is one of the many reasons I enjoy a busy day, week, month… year and a jam-packed schedule. I AM SERIOUSLY DEPRESSED when I don’t do anything for even a few hours. Why can’t I just be?   

I managed to run errands this weekend, feed the furbabies, eat a lot, and submit blog posts. I barely did the dishes or even changed clothing. UGH. I don’t like couch weekends in PJs, but once in a blue moon I slip into this mode. I told Tyler that I was “off” this weekend and proceeded to (some what) disconnect cell phone wise, didn’t really want to do more than one thing at a time, and actually took several NAPS!

What’s a NAP?!

This past week was especially busy for me… a HUGE busy baking the weekend before… two 3 am mornings (Tuesday and Thursday) and a super busy week at Wisdom training a new manager, while trying to keep up with my daily responsibilities.  I was able to get in about a 6.5 mile speed/hill run where my Boston Marathon friend, Tracie cheered meon. Without her… I would have walked around mile 4. Thank you TTR for being there for me!  <3

Here here to a productive week! I’m looking forward to a good cup of coffee tomorrow morning with some protein and vitamins. SUN and 95 degree days… where are you??? 

xoxo

Cupcakes awaiting their AMAZING Bubble Guppies toppers!  Funny story first… this is how I took on this project…  I would like to think I said “Yes, I’ll figure it out” like a true entrepreneur… or crazy person…

One of my bosses, Charlie Suiter asked last week: “So would you make cupcakes for my daughter’s 2nd birthday?”

Me: “YES!  When do you need them?”

Charlie: “February 23rd.”

Me: “Sure!”

Charlie: “But it’s a Thursday and you have to work.”

Me: “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll get up at 3 or 4 am and rock it out all day. I promise.”

Charlie: “You’re crazy.”

Me: “I know… Sooo what do you want as toppers? Does Lila have a favorite show she watches? Cartoon characters?”

Charlie: “Bubber Guppies! Oh my God… could you make those? It’s actually Bubble Guppies on Nickelodeon, but that’s how she says it”

Me: “YES! What’s a Bubber Guppy??”

Of course I had NO clue what I was getting myself into until I went home that evening and started googling Bubber Guppies… Bubble Guppies…

and there they were…

I almost cried… 

but then, you KNOW I love a good challenge.

BAM!

After 2 evenings and 1 early wee-morning of working on these characters, I was pretty stinking proud of myself.

And, please don’t excuse this for cockiness!  I really was very amazed with myself that I still have this creativity in me.  I don’t create art pieces and custom work like I used to before a full-time job, bills, mortgage, awesome husband, working out (because I have to now), college, dogs, life… AND was so excited to be able to make these with my own huge little hands out of marshmallow fondant. Who said it was hard to work with?

Get out of town! 

Tyler’s text message that morning at 7:45am:  ”Babe! how did your cupcakes turn out?”

Me: “F*ing amazing!  I’ll email you.”

(and I even used a * in my text, so I didn’t break my New Year’s resolution)

How cute is that purple hair and pink star?  I love this show already!  I was like a kid on Christmas Day when I showed Charlie.  I was so excited to show him Lila’s cupcakes!

Charlie: “Damn Emily! I knew you would come through with them, but I wasn’t expecting THIS! Lila’s going to flip! You’re like a professional.”

:)

Happy Birthday Lila!  Hope she had a wonderful day… thank you Suiter Family for asking me to be part of her special celebration! I loved every minute!

xoxo