Different Flavors

The last two days I've been coming up with ideas for different flavors of cupcakes.  Some sound amazing and other sound kind of strange.  I'm willing try all flavors once so we'll see once we start testing the new ideas what happens.  I've had request for certain flavors more then others.  Chocolate seems to still hold out as the winner for favorite flavor.  I have a request for mint, apple, pumpkin and of course lots of chocolate!  As we create we'll taste and figure it out.  Hopefully mixing some flavors will come out amazing and not go straight to the trash! 

Cookies

I've been working on cookies for the last couple of days.  The rainbow cookies I made came out nice. For me a little to dry but that's an easy fix.  Next time around I'll fix that.  Right now I'm in the mist of trying biscotti and it's coming along. I have two recipes and one failed.  The second try is in the oven right now. I'm crossing my fingers that this comes out better!  Watch for pictures!

Orange Cupcakes!

Today was a fun day filled with Orange Cupcakes.  Yes Orange Cupcakes!  Nice just in color but in taste too!  For some reason these cupcakes came out great on the first try.  I think I've gotten used to three or four batches before things go right.  The only thing I'd change is the color. I need to get it a little less red and a little more orange.  However, the flavor is there!

I have to say I must give props to Wilton because they make the best pans! I love have they have extended ends so it's like a handle.  No longer do you take the chance of the pot holder destroying your cupcake as you pull out the tray!  As you can see those are way too red and need to be more orange!

This was the finished cupcake with a chocolate topping and some pretty orange sprinkles.  This is a cupcake that can pull off any topping because the cupcake itself taste so good. 




Frosting and more!

I worked on a chocolate frosting today that will hopefully make eating my cupcakes even more fun!  I made the frosting and let it chill.  We all gave it a taste and the taste is there but it's still not perfect.  It needs to be a little better before I put it on a cupcake.  I will work on that this week and get that right.  My next cupcake is going to be an orange flavor. Not exactly sure where I'm going with it or how it will turn out.  This one is going to be created from the bottom up.  Everyone know what a basic cupcake is but now I will turn that basic cupcake into something more.  Not too sweet, not too orange but smooth and light.  Orange Flavor Cupcake here I come!

Craft Fair and Red Velvet Cupcakes

Thought I'd put up a photo or two of the craft fair we did however I took photos of just the crafts and not the food. I don't know what I was thinking!

As you can see we had racks that got decorated later on with the cupcakes ,cheesecake and cannolis. You can sort of see the cupcakes in the back there. This craft fair was not the greatest and I wish some crafts would have sold!  I sold two pieces for a grand total of $2.00   however the food moved fast! 

Which brings me to today's attempt at Red Velvet Cupcakes. We have a winner.  This cupcake taste really great and looks nice and red too.

There you have it. Not one size but two.  It's now time to move on and start on the frosting!  I'm off to make a chocolate, vanilla and cream cheese frosting!

Sunday is a thinking day......

Yesterday cupcakes were handed out for free to people that I hope will become my customers in the very near future.  It was like having a large taste testing day from people that i didn't know!  The results were great.  Not only were cupcakes handed out, there was also cheesecake,cannoli and fruit tarts.  We had great reviews for all the products except one lady told me that my cupcakes were too dry for her.  Out of 7 dozen cupcakes given out -I only had one person tell me a negative. She said she loved the flavor but likes them super moist.  I feel that was an amazing day for my cupcakes.

It's now Sunday and I'm watching football (KC vs IND -only because it's the only game on our TV) and thinking about tomorrow.  Tomorrow brings with it my new recipe of red velvet cupcakes.  Oh these red velvet cupcakes -- I will conquer this one this week.  I will be calling on my taste testers this week!

While working on red velvet I shall be coming up with my own icing.  Chocolate and Vanilla to start off. Not too sweet, not to rock hard and it must taste great!

Off to think about icing!!!

Baking machine.......

Tonight I will start baking cupcakes to give away as free samples at a swapmeet over the weekend.  I think about 6 or 7 dozen will have to do.  I don't know if I could make much more then that!  lol I'll start after dinner.  Still need to get to the store for some more flour! 

I want to do some more crafting also to put out on the table.  Cupcake picks and wrappers.......maybe a few other odds and ends.  It is a craft fair after all.

The Final Cupcake!

Once again my neighbors came through with the taste testing!  Tried out two more chocolate cupcake recipes today.  We have a winner!  Finally, my search for a great cupcake is done.  I now have a fantastic vanilla cupcake which I just can't get enough of and a great chocolate cupcake.  I will perfect the red velvet cupcake this week however I'm moving on to frosting!  There are so many to pick from and I'm not really sure which I like the best! 

The best part of today was a text I got asking if I can make a friend cupcakes.  Of course I can! 

Along with all this baking I've been crafting some items to go with the cupcakes.  Everyone needs accessories and guess what -- so do your cupcakes!  I'll be offering up some cupcake picks and cupcake wrappers to go with those yummy treats.  Just a little something extra to finish off the look of the cupcakes!

Eat your sweets!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today was filled with big fluffy Red Velvet Cupcakes.  Two batches to be exact.  Since I've never made a red velvet cupcake before I picked out a recipe from a very famous southern cook -who has a show on the food channel.  Well, I started bright and early this morning while my daughter was still at school.  Out came the flour, sugar and all the good stuff that goes into these cupcakes.  Turned up the heat on my fantastic oven to 350 and put on some tunes on my super old radio that has a tape deck. I mixed and mixed and thought this batch is finally ready.  In the oven it went to be baked.

The first batch was finally done about 20 minutes later.  Out they came to cool and first thing I noticed was these red velvet cupcakes had more of a pink tint to them.  Great maybe for a pink poodle party or a breast cancer awareness event but not for a red velvet cupcake.  With that I started on batch number two!

These came out a little more red this time around. However, still not great.  That's where a great old friend of mine comes into play.  My good old friend from Jersey sent me a tip and that tip will lead to batch number three tomorrow!  The red velvets that were made today were just fine however I'm looking for amazing.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to find just that - the most amazing red velvet cupcake.  Plus, on tomorrows list one more go around with chocolate cupcakes.  A friend sent me a recipe she uses and I think it might just help me out! 

Thank you to my friends and family that are so wonderful and don't mind helping me! Cupcakes for all! 

Remember to treat yourself to a sweet and be happy!

A Day Of Chocolate Cupcakes

Today was a day filled with chocolate!  Chocolate cupcakes that is!  I started out early this morning with the first batch and I made it up as I went along. That's what I do.  I make up the recipe or I fix a recipe to make it better.  I took the first batch used a certain chocolate and mixed away.  In the oven they went and 15 minutes later my husband and I were taste testing!  Not so bad for a first try.  Fluffy and had a great taste.  Not bad for the first go around. 

Well, then I thought what if I use a better chocolate instead of my first choice of chocolate.  Which then led to the second try at chocolate cupcakes.  Oh what a mess that was!  I have no idea what happen but those but they were not happy cupcakes.  Maybe I left something out or maybe it was just the new spin I put on the recipe.  Who knows.  What I do know is that those cupcakes went straight from the oven to the trash!

I wasn't going to let one failed cupcake attempt stop me. Along come try number three and some chocolate ganache to go with it.  Well at this point I didn't care if the cupcakes came out bad or amazing because that ganache was amazing!  Yummy.  Well, in went my third batch into my over worked oven and 15 min later my neighbors were over to be my taste testers! 

Dozens of cupcakes later and we have a cupcake we think is good enough to sell.  There will be one more go around with chocolate cupcakes after a friend sends me her recipe.  Then we'll have a real winner! 

Today's cupcake adventure was great.  Chocolate and cupcakes together -what can be better?  I'll tell you what can be better .............  tomorrows cupcake adventure!  I will be working on Red Velvet Cupcakes. Yum Yum Yum.  My husband will be first in line to make sure he gets a taste since he loves red velvet.   Come back around tomorrow to see how well my next baking adventure goes.

Stay happy - eat a sweet!

Vanilla Cupcakes Take Two............

Well the first batch came out very dense and not very cupcake like.  That's what I get for using a random recipe I found online.  I took the recipe and fixed it up.  I went ahead and made a second batch today with the fixed up recipe.  Those came out better. Not perfect but better.  These were way more fluffy and way more cupcake like!  Thanks to my very cool and amazing neighbors - I had myself some taste testers tonight. They were extremely helpful!  They were honest and totally cool about eating some cupcakes. LOL Little do they know I'll have the next batch for them to try tomorrow!  The vanilla cupcakes are almost perfected.  That wasn't too hard.  It's the chocolate ones that I think I'll have some issues with. I'll be ringing some door bells this week for some more taste testing! 

First Attempt At The Cupcake!

My house smells amazing and heavenly.  I just finished baking a batch of vanilla cupcakes from scratch. I haven't done that in ages and I'm so glad I did.  I'm going to try and build a business on the cupcakes and cookies that I make.  My family and friends are always saying how good my cookies are and how well I can bake.  Well, I'm taking the time to try my hand at making some money off of my skill.  Perhaps a little help from a family member or two will come in handy!  I'm going to subject my neighbors into becoming taste testers this week too!  

I love baking.  I can't stand to cook.  To me cooking is a task and a dull one at best.  However, baking is this incredible, flavor filled and happy occasion.  Everyone loves a good dessert.  It's the ending to a meal and a celebration of good times.  It can be sweet or savory and sometimes even both at the same time. 

My grandmother always said to eat your dessert first because who knows what's next.   

No frosting yet, right out of the oven, no liners, vanilla cupcake from scratch.

There will be more photo's one I get these finished. Plus, we'll see how the taste test went!