The Cupcake Thread!

[Mara]

Date: 1/4/2009 11:26:18 PM
Author: Clairitek
Just wanted to pop into this thread to say...

A) FI and I have decided that we want a cupcake tower at our wedding. Neither of us are regular cake people and I think cupcake towers are really fun, especially for a more casual wedding.
Do you think I'm crazy for thinking that we can bake them ourselves? We might have access to an industrial kitchen and baking machines (mixer, oven, etc) to do it. We have friends who own their own bakery.

Any words of advice on making 150 cupcakes at a time? How far ahead can I bake them? What about storage once they're frosted?

I will give you my honest thoughts. Making cupcakes is not as easy as it might seem. If you are not a baker, you will have to experiment a lot until you find them the quality you probably desire. Plan to make 5-6 or more test batches of them leading up to the wedding, to perfect your recipe and your technique. And even that might not be 'enough' it just depends. Homemade cupcakes from recipes are NOT foolproof like mix cupcakes are. It might take you 3-4 batches just to get the rise and look to where you want it.

Secondly, 150 cupcakes, regular size, will take you at least about 6-8 hours to MAKE the cupcakes, from start to finish, using 2-3 pans in a regular sized oven at a time (if you can fit 3...mine can really only fit 2.5)...and that is assuming you don't have a lot of rejects, so you might need to make that 8-10 hours instead of 6-8.

Then you will need to store them. Cupcakes dry out fast, so plan to put them in a SEALED container and they will last about 24-48 hours unfrosted that way, you will have to baste them with a sugar water before you frost anyway, but make sure you can seal and store 150 cupcakes (it's a lot...)

If it's buttercream you can frost about a day ahead of time but if it's a cream cheese based frosting, you should really do it the day of OR do it the day before AND you will need fridge space to store them (or a really cold day..not sure where you live!)...again 150 cupcakes IS A lot.

I had a request for a wedding for 150 people and I am flat out not sure I want to do it. It is a lot for a regular baker without a professional space, and if you are not well-versed at cupcakes to start with and how much work it is to just make say 72 regular size, you might be overwhelmed by 150. You mentioned having friends pipe them. Do they know how to pipe? Otherwise you might end up with 150 cupcakes with what looks like chocolate poop on top. It took me a while to learn piping skills.

The best thing I can suggest is to start practicing and even see if it's something you want to pursue when you do a few batches. Then as you get better, make 50, make 100. You might say...NEVERMIND we'll pay someone hahaa. But good luck!!

 

[steph72276]

Thanks for the tips, Mara. I love using the chocolate molds because they taste so good. I am going to try using the fondant though for my next batch.

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Date: 1/3/2009 4:29:59 PM
Author: Jas12
Mara--been meaning to ask, where do you get the prints to emboss your cut-outs? Also, do u cut out and emboss fondant or gumpaste? i am new to both but i have a friend''s 30th b-day coming up and she wants cuppies at her party. I would like to put ''30'' on something so i was thinking of doing little toppers--but i have never made them before. I know u mentioned that you do them ahead of time (that part appeals to me).

I believe Freke already mentioned it, but I think the look you are trying to achieve might be (somewhat) easily achieved by making the "30"s out of Royal Icing. If memory serves, some photos of my first time playing around with the stuff are on page 32 (or so) of this thread if you want to take a look. HTH!

f-d-l

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Date: 1/6/2009 4:06:49 PM
Author: dixie94

Clairitek, as for the simpler recipes, there''s a standard yellow, chocolate, vanilla. I just did a chocolate mint which was so good. The best part was the cake, it was like a brownie instead of the standard cupcake. So good! But you could do something like that where you add a flavor. I think those are probably the easiest since you''re not adding other ingredients. I''d think about what flavors you like though and then decide from there.

Mmm, that sounds so good! Dixie, would you be willing to post the recipe for those brownie-like chocolate mint cupcakes?

 

[Mara]

Hey Jas...! Sorry I missed your Q about the cutouts to me...thankfully fleur copied it into her post.

I actually do a bunch of different things...but I love doing cutouts and stamping on the fondant... I have 3 10x10 separated bead containers filled with a rainbow of colored cutout fondants in different shapes.

I recently did some for a birthday where I cutout the fondant disks and let them dry and then freestyle piped 21 onto them for a 21st birthday. I will post a picture, but here is what I wanted to do... see attached photo. I found it online and thought it looked smart. BUT it was a lot harder to pipe dots than it was to just write 21. I am wondering if they piped those dots or maybe used something like a toothpick to do a more fine dot..when I tried piping I was getting huge dots and drizzle lines, blah.

You can also do fondant cutouts and then get a small alphabet and letter stamp set and then stamp into the fondant while it''s still moist. That is how I make a lot of my toppers. It is a more ''subtle'' look though than doing a chocolate write on the fondant.

 

[Mara]

actually I forgot I had done these for a friend's birthday in summer.... they are cutout fondants with 30's in chocolate transfer on top. i just brushed sugar water onto the dried fondant then dropped a dried choco transfer on top. they are shiny now when they were wet but dried clear.

 

[Mara]

and here is the one i did in Nov. I actually alternated these with cutouts that had stamped birthday cakes on them, so it was not all 21's. turned out cute. oh i just remembered i piped on the 21's in cream cheese frosting, not white chocolate. i found the cc to be MUCH easier to write with and if you put enough conf sugar in it, it dries to touch very quickly. anyway hope this helps.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Mara - all your baked goods are beautiful - works of art! Are you still working FT or is baking becoming your goal as a profession? You must be super busy orchestrating all your projects!

 

[steph72276]

Mara, love those 21 cupcakes...great ideas!

 

[Mara]

ahhh baking is fun and all but it's a lot of work being creative. also i doubt i could ever make as much baking as i do at my job...and our levels of income are necessary. so unless we moved out of the area into a place where it was really cheap to live then doubtful i'll change professions anytime soon. plus sometimes it's a little hard being at 'clients' mercies...do you know how high maintenance people can be? i definitely am a HM client so i know. hehee.

also, i was so busy in dec i got a little burned out, since we are moving also i took jan off from baking ... i will probably do something for vday but structured --other than that i probably won't be back in the cupcake saddle until march...just in time for SPRING. our new house has a huge orange tree in the yard and it's bursting with oranges so i already am dreaming up recipes with oranges. i also don't want to burn out on baking overall. i made my first cheesecake over the holiday and it was awesome, i have so many ideas now for cheesecakes...less room for cupcakes! hehee.

i think cupcakes popularity will also wane at some point...i give it another 6 months or so before the fad really burns out here. then we should move somewhere that they have never heard of cupcakes and try our luck there. hehee.

 

[akw94]

Here''s the two I made for New Years. This is the Coconut:

 

[akw94]

And here is the Chocolate Mint along with the recipe for Fleur:

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 T unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs, room temp.
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 t peppermint extract (just skip this if you want plain choc. cupcakes)
1/4 t salt
1/4 c + 2 T flour

I forgot, this recipe is for 24 minis. Since I didn''t have the mini liners, I just made 12 regular cupcakes. I barely had enough to fill the 12 1/2 to 3/4 of the way but they turned out just fine.
Preheat oven to 350. Place choc. and butter in heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water in saucepan. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl, let mixture cool until room temp.
Using wooden spoon, stir sugar into choc. mix. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, whisking until combined after each addition. Whisk in vanilla and peppermint and then salt. Gently fold in flour, do not overmix.
Fill each about 3/4 full (Like I said, I couldn''t fill all of them that much but they rose and were fine.. I used every last drop of the batter and tried to make them all fairly even). Bake until the tops are crackly and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 18-20 minutes. (I baked mine 18, then another 5. I assume they needed more since they weren''t the minis.) Let cool completely in the pan on wire rack, about 45 minutes.
I added the mint extract to my regular frosting and they turned out great!

Mara, love all the pics! Silly question but what does fondant taste like? Do people actually eat those toppers or they just for decoration? Now I have to try some too.

 

[Mara]

hey dixie...! well most fondant tastes yack... but i actually have a chocolate fondant called Choco Pan that tastes good, it is chocolate. they have white, off white, brown. i also tried Satin Ice which is a popular one and it tastes fine..nothing special but not as bad as some of the other fondants. Some people eat their decor and some throw them away. but i like how fondant works...and molds. i have not tried gumpaste yet but i do want to take a gumpaste flower class. my cake lady told me there is not much of a diff only that gumpaste dries FASTER so if you are in a hurry it''s great BUT you have to be really good at modeling and working with it or else it will dry while you are still working. since i am still a fledgling, i stick with fondant.

love that last shot, that looks almost like swiss buttercream. now that i have a mixer i have to make some of that and also the marshmallow 7 minute frosting, a pal loves it.

 

[steph72276]

Dixie...love the coconut. Yum!

 

[platinumrock]

Date: 1/8/2009 11:10:49 AM
Author: Mara
and here is the one i did in Nov. I actually alternated these with cutouts that had stamped birthday cakes on them, so it was not all 21''s. turned out cute. oh i just remembered i piped on the 21''s in cream cheese frosting, not white chocolate. i found the cc to be MUCH easier to write with and if you put enough conf sugar in it, it dries to touch very quickly. anyway hope this helps.

Those cuppies look divine!!!

Yum-O!!!

 

[missjaxon]

Here is a left over cupcake from my sister-in-law''s Tiffany themed Birthday. This was one of the last ones and so it is a little messy but it was all that was left when I remembered to take a picture. The icing turned out a little bit greener then I hoped, but they were still yummy. Also I took a picture of it on the back of one of my bridal magazines for fun.

 

[Jas12]

Missjaxton--you won my heart with that Tiff. cuppie. I just never get sick of seeing that color--even on a cake

Well, i made my first round of heart shaped cuppie toppers using fondant last night

I could not believe how easy it was to roll, cut, color etc. I was expecting it to be more finicky but i was pleasantly surprised. I just did basic hearts, nothing fancy, but i don''t plan to be too fancy since i just do my baking for fun. So i am sticking with fondant from now on! No more choc.
The only thing i would do different next time is roll it a bit thinner so it dries quicker.

Now, to just find some tools to emboss with. There is nothing at our local supply shop. Any good suppliers online??

 

[akw94]

Thanks Mara and Steph!

Mara, thanks for the info. about fondant. I have an order coming up so I may try to create a topper. How long does the fondant last after you''ve cut it? Also, how do you cut the shapes, with something like a cookie cutter? Thanks for the help!

Missjaxon, that cupcake looks great!

Jas, glad you had a good experience! Do you have any pictures?

I am doing an order for a teacher for her class. Chocolate with vanilla frosting. Anyone have any ideas for a topper?

 

[steph72276]

Jas, yea! Glad it was easy. I may experiment some this weekend. Do you know how long they keep?

Is anybody doing anything special for valentine''s cupcakes? I am thinking of doing some red velvet in a heart shape or something chocolate.

 

[akw94]

Steph, I''ve been thinking about Vday too. I thought of red velvet but just did those for xmas. I was thinking maybe Strawberry with little hearts as toppers, assuming I can find that in a store.
For some reason, something with cinnamon appeals to me for Vday, not exactly sure why or what. I''ll keep thinking and try to think of something creative.

I think I might try mango cupcakes soon, we have a lot of them here so I want to do something with the local fruit.

 

[Jas12]

Quick picture--i was experimenting with the color a bit. A little goes a looooong way.
These are a bit too barbie pink--cute, but i think i''ll do a more mellow, soft pink for my v-day cuppies
i can''t wait to try more complicated things

Steph--i think it keeps for a few weeks in an air tight container? I am the wrong person to ask

Mara? Freke?

 

[steph72276]

They turned out cute! Love the hearts!

 

[Mara]

very cute hearts! i love playing around with color, the variation in the hearts makes an otherwise plain design really fun (no need to emboss those!)...

my cutout fondant lasts like a month or more when in a sealed container, it keeps them a bit more moist...if you leave them exposed to air they will get more dry and if they are already thin to start, it''s much easier to have them crack and/or break.

i have found most of my fun embossing stuff at like local stores...not online.

for vday... strawberry would be great, cinnamon is interesting to think about. i am kind of over cinnamon after all the snickerdoodle ones i made at holiday! red velvet is what is pretty common, 99% of cupcakes made will probably be choco or red velvet!!

 

[Jas12]

Mara--thanks for tips--ya, i would not emboss those hearts (overkill) but i think i will do very pale solid pink hearts for v-day and emboss some kind of pattern on them--i dunno

I think it''s interesting that red velvet is SO popular in the states and pretty much unheard of here (canada). I know it is an ''american'' flavor, but usually popular stuff like that makes it''s way across the border, but i''ve never seen it here.
I made a RV cake for my sister on her b-day one year b/c she heard Ellen go on and on about it. I thought it was ''meh'' i didn''t like all the coloring in it. Freaked me out a bit cuz i had to use so much to get the right color.

 

[akw94]

Jas, I think your hearts look great! I really like the color, as I see it on my computer screen. Did you just mix the red and white fondant to get them to look like that or just add color to white fondant?

Mara, thanks for the added fondant information! I was thinking cinnamon=snickerdoodle too so I was trying to come up with something else for the cinnamon, although I have yet to try snickerdoodle cupcakes. I think I''ll go do a little research to see what I can find.

 

[akw94]

Here''s some ideas:
* Martha Stewart recommends decorating Valentine''s cupcakes with red-hot heart shaped candies. Use the candies to make Xs and Os in the frosting.

* Surprise your sweethearts by filling a lined cupcake tin with batter and then pressing individual Hershey''s kisses into the batter and baking. A chocolate surprise awaits inside.

* Wilton''s recommends topping Valentine cupcakes with handmade candy hearts with arrows through them. Simple make the hearts ahead of time and refrigerate them, and create the arrows using frosting and lollipop sticks.

I like the 2nd and 3rd a lot or some variation on that.

Food Network has a Strawberry & Mascarpone Filled Cupcake. That sounds good!

 

[Jas12]

Dixie--i just used pure white fondant and a few drops of paste food coloring (red--but it looks pink when mixed in) i just kneaded it with gloves until it was swirly and then rolled it out. Took literally seconds.
Those ideas sound fun. I actually looked at Martha S. last week and i was underwhelmed with her "x and o" cuppies. Usually her stuff is difficult to replicate, but those are very doable.

Anyone ever do a chocolate cake with a sweet strawberry icing? I am thinking of those chocolate hearts you get on v-day that have the strawberry creme center. They are yummy. May try to duplicate that flavor

 

[Mara]

choco and raspberry is one of my fave combos.

conversation heart candy is also popular for toppers. as well as red hot hearts sprinkled (i think they do hearts for vday?) on...

i am not the biggest fan of RV either...in fact i really don''t like it plain...i have had it a TON of different ways from diff bakers and bakeries and it''s gross by itself in my opinion. but i bake chocolate chips inside, and that gives it a fun little dark chocolate zing that works well with it. but by itself, no thanks. and yes the red food coloring is not my fave either.

 

[Jas12]

Mara--mmm, choc/rasp. sounds delish.
I was checking out Flikr (as you suggested) and the pictures from Le Cupcake--oh my, some amazing stuff. She must be aussie cuz she makes a lot of mudcake and i only ever remember having mudcake in australia while i lived there.


Q for the group...what do you think is a big crowd pleaser flavor (frosting and cake) i have to bring some dessert to my sister''s place this w/e and it will be a mixed crowd. I don''t want to experiment on them

 

[lili]

Jas12--
Those hearts are cute...love the marbled look.