The Cupcake Thread!

[Lorelei]

Hehehe! I couldn''t believe it when I found those!

 

[Mara]

NF, thanks for letting me know about SS...it looked awesome online but I guess not!

Lorelei, love the sugah diamonds!

cdt...I love HTEAC''s website hehe. And any cupcake recipe with coconut cream in it is a WIN WIN in my opinion!! I love making coconut cakes.

 

[bebe]

Date: 11/25/2009 11:00:27 AM
Author: cdt1101
If anyone is looking for a new cupcake recipe to try, I just made these and they are OMG delicious!!! Cupcake is nice and fluffy too! W/ the cream cheese icing, these are super yummy!!

http://www.howtoeatacupcake.net/2009/05/ina-gartens-toasted-coconut-cupcakes.html

Wow, I am so all over this recipe! Love the coconut - making these for sure for a Christmas gathering.
thanks for sharing.

 

[Jas12]

Some quick shots of cuppies i did this weekend for a baby shower. Her ''colors'' were chocolate brown and pink so i did half the cuppies in choco-choco with pink accents and half vanilla cuppies with pale pink icing and chocolate monogram toppers.

I had fun with the fondant toppers. I kept them simple b/c i had so many to do and never enough time.

 

[Jas12]

a close up of some toppers....

 

[Jas12]

and the vanilla with the little A monogram (i desperately need a new camera--why do they look yellow tinged? Nicer IRL if i do say so myself)

 

[Mara]

jas those are SO absolutely cute. did you use a cutter then stamp on the bib and onesie? was it piecemealed or a set? most of my stuff is piecemealed but i just love those!

 

[Dandi]

OMG jas they are too CUTE!!! You are so clever!

 

[Jas12]

thanks guys!

Mara, the bib and onesie are seperate cutters that came with a stamp. The monogram is piecemeal.
I''ll try to find the website where i got the bib and onsie. They are so cute, i couldn''t resist and i think i''ll get use out of them.

 

[lili]

Jas12--
I think you definitely need to start on your own cuppie business.
You''ve got some real talent!
Those cuppies are too cute.

 

[Jas12]

aww, thanks lili. but really, it''s not that difficult. Just a little practice & of course the right tools! I don''t mind doing some mid-sized orders here and there for friends or friends of friends. That''s fun, but i think anything more is too much like work. I admire Mara''s ability to take on huge orders. When i did the 140 for a wedding that was very much enough for one person to handle !!

 

[Mara]

lol jas you should use the word 'ability' loosely...i get super overwhelmed with large orders...i am totally not ZEN about it. too much of a perfectionist than an assembly line i guess. one of my friends who has her own cuppie biz in the same area (we are kinda like competitors except she is far more consistent with it than i am and umm not preggo)...she does like 12-15 dozen in one weekend AND almost every weekend! she said last xmas she was doing like 20+ dozen a week on average! i just would get too overwhelmed with that in my kitchen, i would need industrial ovens to manage that. my other friend who has done some large orders also (funny how i have all these baker friends who are like me selling cupcakes on the side) says the only way she can do it is by NOT doing custom anything. she is like i put sprinkles and/or sugar on and that's it, you are all responsible for your own 'decor'. makes sense i guess.

and if you get a chance def let me know where you got the cutter and stamp for the set because i totally want to get it! i have a lot of friends who are preggo right now hehe.

 

[neatfreak]

Hey ladies-I am in a bit of a pickle here regarding cupcakes.

I agreed to make a whole bunch of cupcakes for the birthday of a set of twins we are good friends with. But the party is relatively early in the day on Saturday and thus I need to do some of the prep on Friday.

So-how do you all store your cupcakes when you need to store them overnight? Sealed container? Warm house? Cool garage? Frosted or unfrosted?

Thanks for any experience you guys might have-I know they''ll be fine whatever I do but I was wondering if any of you have any tried and true methods for storing them overnight. I just want them to be at their best for my friend''s kiddos!

Thanks!

 

[Mara]

nf i don''t like frosting cupcakes too early (esp if its cream cheese) so i tend to make them the night before for an early event and then just store them unfrosted sealed with plastic wrap in a big sheet cake pan (depends on how many there are). i try to keep them sealed so that they stay moist. then i usually just get up with enough time to frost them the next day before the event and frost and decorate them then. that way it''s more ''fresh''.

that said i have a friend who makes and frosts them and just keeps them in the garage (again in a big cake pan and sealed) overnight since it''s chilly now. doesn''t work so well in summer!

 

[neatfreak]

Thanks Mara. I was thinking of doing exactly what you do-so I think I''ll stick with that plan. Makes the most sense since I do have time to at least frost them before the party. Thanks!

 

[Jas12]

Neat--I do pretty much the same thing as mara. For a big # i bake at night (seal them up & place in a cool spot) make the frosting and keep in the fridge. Then in the AM i bring the frosting to room temp and frost and decorate before the event.

For a small number--like a dozen or two, i bake and ice in the AM. I think chocolate sometimes taste better when the flavors can mature over 24 hrs, but for vanilla, that day is by far the best IMO

 

[lili]

Date: 12/3/2009 10:29:54 AM
Author: Jas12
aww, thanks lili. but really, it''s not that difficult. Just a little practice & of course the right tools! I don''t mind doing some mid-sized orders here and there for friends or friends of friends. That''s fun, but i think anything more is too much like work. I admire Mara''s ability to take on huge orders. When i did the 140 for a wedding that was very much enough for one person to handle !!

LOL....I know...Mara is a wiz at this cuppy thing.
I consider her a pro already. I love her cuppies, but I don''t think I would order from her though because I would be battling w/ myself over every cuppy to either eat the delicious treat or save it for the artwork.

140 is huge!
You should see my kitchen after one batch of cupcakes...and they aren''t even decorated.

 

[Dandi]

Hi ladies! I''m a bit bored, so I thought I''d share the mini mud cuppies I made for a party yesterday. One batch of batter makes squillions of these babies!!

 

[Dandi]

I''m planning on doing these like this for Christmas, but with green icing and little red sugar balls scattered over, like a Christmas tree!

Might do some RVs with white icing too, we''ll see!

 

[Petraay]

Thanks for sharing recipe.
Now i am going to surprise somebody with your help!

 

[Mara]

dandi those are SO cute!!!

 

[qtiekiki]

Dandi
Those are so cute.

 

[steph72276]

Dandi, those look too pretty to eat!

So these aren''t cupcakes, but I thought they were fun, so I''m posting them....Christmas tree brownies I made for Andrew''s class party tomorrow.

 

[qtiekiki]

Steph
The brownie trees are so cute.

Here''s some mini chocolate and strawberry cheesecakes I made for a bake sale at work today.

 

[Dandi]

Steph, YUM! Those look awesome!!

I bet Andrew was extremely popular!

qtiekiki, AHHHHH!!! Cheesecake is my favourite yummy thing in the entire world, ESPECIALLY strawberry!!

Those look divine! I''ve never attempted cheesecake, I''m too scared I''ll stuff it up

 

[Mara]

super cute steph!!

oh those cheesecakes look so good.

dandi...cheesecake is super easy. you'd be surprised. it is a little intimidating esp if you have to do a water bath but in general it's very easy. just mix everything in the KA, pour in and then water bath bake it, then let it cool/set in the fridge.

i was tempted to make an eggnog cheesecake for holiday... i might still since i am home next week but i've been too busy with work so far to do anything remotely kitchen related. today is my last day in the office til the 28th. pumpkin cheesecake is really good too. and i love a key lime one in summer. YUM. you can flavor almost anything and it's super easy.

also fun with cheesecakes is you can totally mix up the crusts, crush any type of cookie like gingerbread or oreos...you don't just have to use graham crackers! and i make a really FATTY crust, like double the thickness of what the recipe calls for because i love me some crust.

the one thing i have an issue with and it has to do with practice makes perfect is the top of the cheesecake splitting. i read something about the oven being too hot towards the end i think. but i just put a topping on (like whipped cream or like the strawberries or something) and make it pretty to cover it up.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I''m new here, but just found this thread and am loving it!

I haven''t had much time to bake this year, but it''s one of my fave hobbies (cupcakes, quick breads, and wedding cakes...YUM). I think this year I''ll only have time to make some english toffee as Christmas is almost here and I''ve done nothing, absolutely nothing, yet. No baking, no presents, I feel like the world''s busiest unintentional Grinch

We''re out of town tomorrow, but maybe I can make the hellacious trip to Macys Sunday evening...anyway, sorry for the mini-rant...

I had the same issue with cheesecake cracking, but did some research and it seems to work best if you use a waterbath, bake on the high temp for 15 minutes at the beginning and then a really low temp for the rest of the time, and let the cheesecake cool in the oven/waterbath for an hour or two (I usually turn of the oven right before I think it''s done--when it''s still pretty "jiggly" and let it sit for an hour. No cracks

 

[Dandi]

Ahh, thanks for the tips Mara, I really should give it a go. I was going to make lemon meringue pie for Christmas Day but would love a yummy baked cheesecake. I''ll have to be a brave girl and try it, I think! I just adore the stuff.

 

[Dandi]

In the meantime whilst I ponder over all things cheesecake... Christmas cuppies!!

 

[Dandi]

Pictures would help.