Coffee Cakes Galore

I have never before attempted a coffee cake, believing that if it has no frosting it's just not worth it, but a few days ago one of my friends recommended me for an order for a whole bunch of different coffee cakes for one of her co-workers. I did some research and found what I thought were the best of the best and got to work. There were some setbacks (one of them just didn't want to come out of the pretty pan I baked it in, but my co-workers didn't mind the crumbly mess the next day and declared that I can bring my "failures" to them any time I want) but all in all they came out very pretty. Unfortunately, I didn't get to taste any of them, which kinda got me worried, so today I woke up a tiny bit too early (for a saturday morning at least) and baked two of them, one for a party later this evening and another for an early father's day picnic this afternoon. I packed everything up, grabbed a box of my somewhat failed attempt at french macaroons (the feet didn't form like they should have, so I'll have to try that recipe again) and took off to the picnic. All in all I think the coffee cake came out pretty well. It was moist and very tasty, but what the kids at the picnic loved best were the tiny little macaroons that they kept stealing from the box. By the time the adults decided to find out what all the fuss is about the box was almost empty.

Potluck Cupcakes

More cupcakes! It's very surprising how popular and flexible cupcakes really are. They provide equal portions, so that no one fights over whose "slice" is bigger (although some do fight over the number of sprinkles, but that's just nitpicking), there's more flexibility as far as presentation and you can decorate each one individually if you really want. I just finished making these for a potluck at work tomorrow. I offered to make a salad, but they insisted that I make dessert. To tell the truth, I knew they would, but a girl likes to hear a compliment every now and then :) These are vanilla (from my now favorite recipe) with raspberries tucked inside and a lemon meringue buttercream. I made enough to bring to work and a few "imperfect" ones to take home to my poor sick sister who's bored out of her mind at home. A cup of tomato soup and a soft cupcake should make anyone feel better, right?

Oh, and there's a funny story about the cupcake stand in the picture too! So I've mentioned my current "affair" with Craig's list, well I saw a post on there for this stand at a fraction of the cost it normally goes for, and after a few emails back and forth with the seller, we decided to meet at the nearby park where her son had soccer practice. I went with a friend and since I've never been there before, so I got a bit turned around and when I finally found the park, I discovered that I was in the wrong parking lot. I didn't want to risk getting lost while driving around trying to find the right parking area, so I got out of the car, left the keys in the engine and my friend in the passenger seat, called the lady on my cell and took off on foot to try to find her. Mind you, I never told my friend what I was doing, where I was going, or what we were there to do. So she's in my car, watching me disappear in a crowd of kids, on my cell phone and she thought that the most logical explanation for the whole situation was that I was there on a shady mission to "exchange money for merchandise". You know, the "it fell of the back of a truck" situation. Okay, so she didn't really think that, after all this is ME we're talking about, by the time I got back to the car with my shiny new cupcake stand, she had already called some of our friends and that was the story she kept on telling everyone for the rest of the evening. The moral of this story? Don't take your friends with you on "business trips", you'll never hear the end of it.

Pretty in Pink

Just a quick little addition. It's a vanilla cupcake with a strawberry mousse filling and vanilla frosting. I recently became obsessed with Craig's list. You may pick this up about me, but I have a somewhat obsessive personality...I'll find a hobby or a project for myself and then become completely absorbed...I also have a somewhat short attention span, so this leaves me with many many projects only a fraction of which are ever completed. I like knowing that on any given day I am never without something to do. So back to Craig's list. It's a treasure trove of stuff that with a bit of TLC can easily become your new favorite. For example, I just bought a beautiful set of German fine china (today's cupcake is in the soup bowl). It has 7 full (and one partial) place settings and a bunch of serverware pieces. I'm now trying to locate the 3 pieces to complete the 8th set and I'll have a gorgeous spread for a tiny tiny fraction of what it would actually cost if it was new. Bargain hunting has always been one of my favorite hobbies since it always comes with waves of happiness when I find an amazing item or deal...although you'll never see the happy little dance that comes with that :)

Epic Battle: Vanilla vs. Chocolate

My friend and social calendar keeper, Donna, has been telling her co-workers about my "side-business" and so I have an order for plain Vanilla and plain Chocolate cupcakes. Now, I'm not a big fan of "plain", but understanding that everyone's tastes differ, I decided that plain will never equal boring in my kitchen, so I set about doing research to find the ultimate Vanilla and the ultimate Chocolate cupcake recipe. I think I hit it fairly close on the head. The crumb for both is delicate and moist while still having a powerful flavor of vanilla and chocolate. I decided to give two non-meringue based frostings a try and although they came highly recommended...I think next time I'll stick with my staple recipe, even if it does take 10 times longer to whip up. All in all they both came out very cute and I'm happy with the result.

Just as a side note, I am still in the "research and development" stage of my baking career. I'm mixing up a lot of experiments and I'm still adjusting things I like and don't like from each recipe I find. This is why you will not see any recipes on this blog for a while. It's not that I don't want to share...I just don't want to pass on something that I know is not fool-proof. I know I absolutely hate it when I get a recipe from the web promising heaven and what I get falls desperately short. If there is something in here that catches your eye and you absolutely must know how it's done, feel free to send me an email and I'll be happy to share (as long as it's not a family secret...I do have one or two of those and ask as often as you like, I'm not tellin').

Pingu for my Nephew

This past saturday we celebrated my nephew's 3rd Birthday. Pingu is a character from one of his favorite shows, and therefore the theme of his birthday cake. I made the penguins out of fondant a day in advance and they really seemed to be the hit of the party. All the kids wanted one, which to me is the best compliment ever. I think this was the first time in a while I've made a cake this big and there were almost no leftovers (everone was too afraid to eat the igloo even though that was cake too).


And here are just the little guys before they were relocated to their sugary home: