I love the Suessness of this cake by Monica Serratos!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Random Acts of Cupcake Kindness
Hi there cupcake lovers, my name is City but I'm better known in the blogging world as the NZ Cupcake Queen! Lyndsay kindly offered for me to guest blog so I thought I'd share a little post on the joy of sharing cupcakes as random acts of kindness!
Since I started baking cupcakes 6 years ago, I've come to realize that most of the joy I get from my baking comes from sharing it with other people and I'm guessing this is something that most cupcake bakers share. Baking cupcakes is fun, frosting and decorating them is fantastic but nothing beats watching the look of pleasure on a customers face as they bite into one of my cupcakes or how excited a friend gets when I give them a cupcake for no special reason at all!
Whether I'm baking cupcakes for an order or a friends birthday party, I always try to make some extras in the batch, so I can share them with other people, especially people outside of immediate family and close friends. Some days I drop them off to my downstairs neighbors or to the lovely old man who runs our local dry-cleaners or I give some to my boyfriend to share with his co-workers or take them in to share with other students and tutors at my art school or offer one to the plumber who is working in the house.
You could see cupcakes simply as tasty, yummy treats but I guess I tend to view them as little random acts of kindness too. As long as I keep sharing the cupcake love then I never get tired of baking cupcakes. And part of the fun of sharing the cupcakes is sharing them with people who might not normally get to try something so delicious! Lets face it, the families and friends of anyone who is a baker are pretty lucky people, but there are people out there who never get to eat home made treats. I've been thinking a lot lately that I'd like to share extra or left over cupcakes with a few of the homeless men who live near my apartment and see if it might bring a smile to their faces.
I'd love to know other peoples thoughts on cupcakes and their power as little random acts of kindness in cake form! Do you share your cupcakes with strangers or people you don't know very well? Who do you love to give cupcakes to outside of your family?
And if you haven't had the pleasure of sharing a cupcake with a person you might not normally bake for, why don't you go and drop a cupcake or two off to that neighbor that you have only ever said a polite "hello" to in the morning, or drop off some to your mechanic next time you get your car serviced. I think you'll soon find that the power of sharing the cupcake love to more than just our family and friends gives you warm fuzzies and makes the world a sweeter place!
love and cupcakes,
City
the NZ Cupcake Queen
Since I started baking cupcakes 6 years ago, I've come to realize that most of the joy I get from my baking comes from sharing it with other people and I'm guessing this is something that most cupcake bakers share. Baking cupcakes is fun, frosting and decorating them is fantastic but nothing beats watching the look of pleasure on a customers face as they bite into one of my cupcakes or how excited a friend gets when I give them a cupcake for no special reason at all!
Whether I'm baking cupcakes for an order or a friends birthday party, I always try to make some extras in the batch, so I can share them with other people, especially people outside of immediate family and close friends. Some days I drop them off to my downstairs neighbors or to the lovely old man who runs our local dry-cleaners or I give some to my boyfriend to share with his co-workers or take them in to share with other students and tutors at my art school or offer one to the plumber who is working in the house.
You could see cupcakes simply as tasty, yummy treats but I guess I tend to view them as little random acts of kindness too. As long as I keep sharing the cupcake love then I never get tired of baking cupcakes. And part of the fun of sharing the cupcakes is sharing them with people who might not normally get to try something so delicious! Lets face it, the families and friends of anyone who is a baker are pretty lucky people, but there are people out there who never get to eat home made treats. I've been thinking a lot lately that I'd like to share extra or left over cupcakes with a few of the homeless men who live near my apartment and see if it might bring a smile to their faces.
I'd love to know other peoples thoughts on cupcakes and their power as little random acts of kindness in cake form! Do you share your cupcakes with strangers or people you don't know very well? Who do you love to give cupcakes to outside of your family?
And if you haven't had the pleasure of sharing a cupcake with a person you might not normally bake for, why don't you go and drop a cupcake or two off to that neighbor that you have only ever said a polite "hello" to in the morning, or drop off some to your mechanic next time you get your car serviced. I think you'll soon find that the power of sharing the cupcake love to more than just our family and friends gives you warm fuzzies and makes the world a sweeter place!
love and cupcakes,
City
the NZ Cupcake Queen
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery and Kerry Vincent Guest Judge
Our Kerry Bear Contest is quickly coming to a close. If you have not got your edible teddy bear photo in for the contest now would be a good time to get ready set go and get your best bear to us! We would love to see your artistry. To find out more about my cake crew competitors and to enter the Kerry Bear contest or just to have fun watching please visit our Fimo Fondant blog. You will find a TON to do there as well.
Kerry Vincent Judge from Challenge on Food Network is our guest judge! The prize: A Kerry Vincent Chef Jacket SIGNED!
Our other sponsors for this contest are Sugar Veil and Cake Journal! You really need to do this, you will be glad you did! Registration dates have been extended.
Good Luck
Lyns
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Watch for our Autum Ann Clark Cookie Cutters
Lemon Cookies
| Ingredients: | ||
| Instructions: | ||
 Makes about 18 cookiesProcessing the lemon zest with the sugar helps distribute the lemon flavor. Process together in a food processor about 15 seconds: 2/3 cup sugar 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest Beat with an electric mixer 1 cup unsalted butter, softened Lemon sugar from above Add and mix: 1 large egg 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Whisk together, then add and beat to incorporate: 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out on a lightly floured counter to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with your favorite Ann Clark cookie cutters, then transfer cookies onto cookie sheets taht ahve been lined with parchment paper ro silicone liners. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until very lightly browned around the edges. Let cookies cool slightly on cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rake to cool completely. Decorate, if desired, before serving. Lemon Icing Melt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, mix with 3 cups confectioners' sugar, 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt to smooth. Enjoy! |
Friday, August 27, 2010
White Chocolate Passion Cupcakes
Tara won the magic box cupcake challenge this month so will look forward to receiving a prize pack from us! Congrats to you!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Ice Cream Cookies
I love Brenda's work so here I must share it again. Happy Thursday! Royal Frosting is so perfect to add that extra depth on your cookies! Brenda is truly a master at using buttercream, fondant, and royal frosting to create the perfect cakes and cookies! Do visit her flickr stream
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Baking Bears
I adore these little bears by Brenda from Ohio, are these just not the cutest little bundle of bakers you ever saw?
Monday, August 23, 2010
Looking for a fun cuppie to bake? Try these out!!Banana Cuppies with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting with Nutella, so yummy and great anytime of the day with coffee or late tea..
The other cuppie is a super fresh raspberry cuppie, I used local raspberries from a farm close to my home, if you can use local fruits and veggies when you bake and cook it makes your creations even yummier!! The frosting is the same as the banana cuppie but topped with homemade raspberry sauce and a sweet raspberry.. Have fun.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Hedgehogs and Mushrooms
As I was checking out the amazing sugar artistry in my web groups I came across my 2 most favourite things. Hedgehogs and mushrooms. To me they are the first thing to creating a magical tale of fairies and castles with trolls and gnomes and journeys that take us to the happiest places we could ever imagine.
Who wouldn't want a plate of these?
You can now get all these cutters and more in my little Webbie Shoppe Sweet Cuppin Cakes. Thank you to Three honeybees for these lovely photos.
Don't these make you smile?
Who wouldn't want a plate of these?
You can now get all these cutters and more in my little Webbie Shoppe Sweet Cuppin Cakes. Thank you to Three honeybees for these lovely photos.
Don't these make you smile?
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Ices San Diego Vendor List 2010
I hope you enjoy as a go to resource but do not forget our little shoppe Sweet Cuppin Cakes because we would love to have you!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
It's product review time!
Most of the time I love doing product reviews because it's so rare for me to find something I truly dislike, and today's review of Nielsen-Massey's coffee extract is no different!
Mmm...coffee....
Good morning! I've been graciously asked by Lyns to do a product review of Nielsen-Massey's coffee extract. Well, here goes...
When it arrived, I opened the bottle and took a deep, deep breath of all the wonderful coffee goodness inside and I could not wait to get started. I just wanted to bathe in it, it smelled THAT amazing. I had so many ideas swirling around in my head but I finally settled on a basic chocolate cupcake that would be filled with coffee flavored ganache then topped with amaretto buttercream frosting. I had a weekend trip to Michigan with my lady friends planned so I figured I would use them as guinea pigs. (Cue evil laughter while I twirl my mustache. Just kidding! I don't have an evil laugh.)
I got to taste the ganache before and after the coffee extract so I at least had something to base my review off. The ladies were just going in blind, so to speak. I felt the extract most definitely did give the chocolate a deeper, more nuanced flavor. However, the general consensus was that while the ganache was rich and flavorful (pats self on back) you could not really taste the coffee in it.
To be fair, there could have been a few things going on here: Perhaps I didn't add enough of the extract. Maybe the amaretto buttercream was overpowering the ganache. Possibly aliens could have come down from Mars and....nevermind. My suggestion for next time would be to step up that coffee flavor with a little Starbuck's coffee liquer, one of my most favoritest things in the whole wide world to bake with.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Xsa, Nicole, and Amber for testing out my baked goods so that I may write about them here. And of course thanks a bunch to Lyndsay for asking me to write it in the first place!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Hi, Doggies!
A very pretty fondant topped cupcake showed up in our flickr group this morning. I wanted to share this because it gave me a huge smile and the colours are just perfect. Amy has done just a beautiful job, thank you for the smiles Amy.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Champagne Cupcakes The Easy Way
Pink Champagne Cupcakes  Tiny bubbles. Beautiful cupcakes. Super easy!
Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker® Kitchens
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Saturday, August 7, 2010
Seven Minute Frosting
7-Minute Frosting Recipe
1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
Directions:Place sugar, corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, making sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the top pan (otherwise your frosting will be grainy). Beat constantly on high for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups sugar1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
Directions:Place sugar, corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, making sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the top pan (otherwise your frosting will be grainy). Beat constantly on high for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
Friday, August 6, 2010
George Carlin One tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila Floor Pineapple Cake
This is for you Dawn Trott-Keller xox
The pineapple: Day before, using a syringe pierce pineapple and infuse with 4 ounces of gold tequila.
The Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soft cinnamon (grated)
6 tablespoons butter (soft but NOT melted)
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 tbsp gold tequila
3/4 cup buttermilk (remove 1tbsp and reserve)
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
In Mixer add butterand sugar and beat until light (at least 4 minutes) Add the eggs one at a time beating for 1 minute after each egg. Beat in the tequila in a steady stream on medium speed. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Leave batter stand while preparing pinapple.
Core and cut the pineapple into small pieces for cupcakes or slightly larger for cake. (Cupcakes I cut into 1/4 inch cubes) For the Cake I cut rings that are just over 1/4" thick.
For the topping (bottoms up) 4 tbsps butter, 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, 1 tbsp gold tequila, Your prepared pineapple.
Cupcakes: place a small amount 1 1/2 tbsp pineapple topping in bottom of each liner (must be foil) you can fleck with maraschino cherries if you like
Cake: Lightly grease 2 sandwich pans and arrange your pineapple topping on bottom, you can fleck with maraschino cherries if you like
Cupcakes: using a server, drop in batter so that your cake liners are 2/3 full (you need size 70 or 75 for these) Top with brown sugar cake filling. Bake 23 minutes @ 350 degrees
Cake: Pour batter divided equally between both pans. You will layer these after cooled with brown sugar cake filling. Cake bakes for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees
Brown Sugar Cake Filling:
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 cup brown sugar
8-oz. sour cream + 1 tbsp reserved buttermilk
2 tablespoons flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp tequila or vanilla
Directions:In a saucepan, mix together all the ingredients except the nuts and vanilla. Cook and stir the filling over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Add the vanilla, stir well.
The pineapple: Day before, using a syringe pierce pineapple and infuse with 4 ounces of gold tequila.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soft cinnamon (grated)
6 tablespoons butter (soft but NOT melted)
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 tbsp gold tequila
3/4 cup buttermilk (remove 1tbsp and reserve)
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
In Mixer add butterand sugar and beat until light (at least 4 minutes) Add the eggs one at a time beating for 1 minute after each egg. Beat in the tequila in a steady stream on medium speed. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Leave batter stand while preparing pinapple.
Core and cut the pineapple into small pieces for cupcakes or slightly larger for cake. (Cupcakes I cut into 1/4 inch cubes) For the Cake I cut rings that are just over 1/4" thick.
For the topping (bottoms up) 4 tbsps butter, 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, 1 tbsp gold tequila, Your prepared pineapple.
Cupcakes: place a small amount 1 1/2 tbsp pineapple topping in bottom of each liner (must be foil) you can fleck with maraschino cherries if you like
Cake: Lightly grease 2 sandwich pans and arrange your pineapple topping on bottom, you can fleck with maraschino cherries if you like
Cupcakes: using a server, drop in batter so that your cake liners are 2/3 full (you need size 70 or 75 for these) Top with brown sugar cake filling. Bake 23 minutes @ 350 degrees
Cake: Pour batter divided equally between both pans. You will layer these after cooled with brown sugar cake filling. Cake bakes for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees
Brown Sugar Cake Filling:
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 cup brown sugar
8-oz. sour cream + 1 tbsp reserved buttermilk
2 tablespoons flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp tequila or vanilla
Directions:In a saucepan, mix together all the ingredients except the nuts and vanilla. Cook and stir the filling over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Add the vanilla, stir well.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
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