A little lovin from the oven...

Nothing says Valentine's Day like sweet treats! Some people like boxes of chocolate, but me and my family prefer cookies and cupcakes! Not only are they great to share with family, they also make great gifts for coworkers and teachers. Check out the heart-shaped goodies I whipped up this year:



White cake with buttercream frosting and sprinkles. Heart liners by Wilton.

Vanilla almond sugar cookies with royal icing and sprinkles
*Note: Lovely background flowers courtesy of my husband.*

For the longest time I was never able to make cookies turn out right. Their shape would be too puffy or the icing looked off. I recently saw a posting on Bake at 350. She makes brilliant cookies, and she shared a few of her recipes on the site. Now I am hooked, and no longer shackled by slice-n-bake!

Vanilla almond sugar cookies & Royal icing

Hope your Valentine's day is full of sweet treats!

Happy Baking,
AJ

Milkshake Cupcakes

I saw a recent posting on a site I follow, Bakerella. She was featuring some new paper straws that she bought and what she made with them. The outcome was milkshake cupcakes. They were really cute, and I was anxious to try to recreate them.

I decided to give them a whirl for my mother-in-law's upcoming birthday! I figured they would be the right sweet treat for the celebration. So I gathered my supplies and began to whip them up.

Checkout my version of Milkshake Cupcakes below:

I changed my version up a little bit. Instead of using silicone liners, I used some that look like bowls. I also didn't have cute paper straws, but regular colored ones work just as well. Then I opted for vanilla cake over strawberry...vanilla is more of a crowd favorite! :)

Just goes to show that you can recreate things you see on the Internet. Might not be exact, but it still turned out cute. Happy Birthday Debbie!

Happy Baking,
AJ

Are you ready to ROCK?

My neighbor's daughter is turning 13 this weekend. To celebrate they are taking a limo ride to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Pretty neat huh? Since no birthday party is complete without cupcakes, they asked me to whip up some rock and roll themed ones.

Cherry cordial with turquoise buttercream frosting

The setup

Enjoy your cupcakes Gabby. Hope you have a great birthday.

Happy Baking,
AJ

Party Cakes in ACTION

In mid December I made cupcakes for Little H's first birthday. His Mom sent me a picture of the final party setup. Really adorable. I am impressed by all of the cupcake stands my clients have made.

Thanks again Ms. K for letting me be a part of your son's birthday.

Happy Baking,
AJ

Cupcakes for Santa

My daughter, who is three, was given this Mickey & Minnie cupcake set from a good friend of mine. Really cute gift set huh? As soon as my daughter saw it she immediately said, "I want to bake cupcakes for Santa Mommy."  I have to admit, I said the same thing! :)

This morning we embarked on our mini cupcake journey. Even though I baked nearly 8 dozen cupcakes yesterday, I couldn't turn down my little girl's request to bake. Santa needed HER cupcakes, not mine. She was very excited and wanted to take part in every part of the process...except for cracking eggs.

She helped mix the batter

Helped fill the liners with batter

Helped me frost the mini cupcakes

Then she added sprinkles to each

All the cupcakes are ready for Santa...well not all of them

After she was done baking and decorating she ate one of her masterpieces. She said, "mmmmm" and was nodding her head yes. I might have just found a cupcake assistant! :)

Happy Baking,
AJ

Christmas Cupcakes Galore!

Two great girlfriends joined me in the kitchen today to whip up some Christmas cupcakes. We ended up making nearly 8 dozen cupcakes with wonderful flavors and cute trimmings! Here's our lineup:

• Devils food
• Vanilla
• Candy Cane (half red velvet and half vanilla)
• Chocolate Cherry Cordial

We all had a great time baking and trying out new decorations and recipes. Check out our Christmas cupcakes in all their yuletide glow:

The cast of Christmas Cupcakes

Left: Happy "Holly Days" - devils food with buttercream and holly sprinkles
Right: Merry and Bright - vanilla with buttercream and chocolate C4 bulb

Candy Cane Cupcakes - half red velvet and half vanilla with buttercream frosting and candy canes

Chocolate Cherry Cordial - white cake with chocolate and cherry bits
with chocolate buttercream and a chocolate dipped cherry

With so many cupcakes I just had to share. My friends, Katie and Jessica, took some to their families. I handed some out to my neighbors, and I am saving some for my family Christmas gathering. I might even leave some out for Santa with the cookies and milk. Santa likes cupcakes too right? :)

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Baking,
AJ

Party Cakes...

Ms. K came to me as a referral from a friend. **Applause for referrals** She needed cupcakes to help celebrate Little H's first birthday. The unique opportunity that came with these cupcakes is that she didn't have a theme, only a cupcake stand and banner that she created. She sent me the invitation, picture of the cupcake stand and banner to show me all of the patterns and colors she was using. Here is the adorable stand and banner she made:

So my challenge was unique...make cupcakes that were not so over the top that the took away from this awesome stand. They needed to be more like accents! I decided to narrow in on a few of the patterns and colors. For the design I stuck with polka dots and sprinkles with a variation in the frosting style. Here is the outcome:

Golden vanilla smash cake with polka dots, Devils food with baby blue frosting and brown polka dot topper, Golden vanilla with buttercream and multi-colored polka dots

Ms. K is going to send me a picture of them once they are on the stand. I am anxious to see how they look. I would decorate a cupcake and hold it up to the stand/banner picture that was taped to my cabinet door and envision it on there! :)

Happy 1st birthday Little H. Enjoy your cupcakes!

Happy Baking,

AJ