Posts tagged cupcakes
that's what she baked.
Adventures (and misadventures) in the kitchen from a novice baker.
My kitchen right now.
My oops from Vanilla (welcome Spring!) on Vanilla.
While in the oven, I knew something wasn’t right, they were rising too much and the texture seemed kind of weird. I double checked the recipe and found my mistake. Now I know… this is what happens when you use baking soda (left cupcake.. oopsie) when the recipe calls for baking powder (right cupcake.. the right cupcake). Because this was a paid cupcake order, I made the cupcakes a second time, without the boo boo. The mistake cupcakes tasted totally fine so I was able to enjoy them and share some with friends (don’t worry, no wasted cupcakes in this house). I very rarely make the same recipe immediately after making a mistake, but I’m glad this happened.
Vanilla Confetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
A friend from my old school messaged me on Facebook asking if I had checked my email. I forget I have a second email address because nobody has used it to contact me (well, except Brittany, but that’s just silly, because she lives upstairs). Sure enough, my coracakes email had something in the inbox… a request for cupcakes! I was super excited about it. It made me feel like what I’m doing is a real thing. I was given the request for half a dozen of one flavor (above) and another dozen (of a different flavor).. the only restrictions were no nuts, and one of them with cream cheese frosting. I kept it simple for these vanilla on vanilla cupcakes but amped up the fun of the cupcakes by adding sprinkles and the green dye. This was my first time using vanilla beans in a recipe, and I could taste the difference. I did make a mishap during the process, but figured out what went wrong and everything turned out alright. (Both recipes were from Joy the Baker.)
AM photo of Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
coracakes caters again! (it’s still the week of Christmas, so this is still relevant)
A good friend of mine asked me to make cupcakes for her her work’s holiday party and I was more that excited to do it! The party was ski lodge themed, so I was inspired by winter/Christmas flavors and hot chocolate. I made (as seen bottom right) peppermint chocolate cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. I added candy cane bits as well as a little peppermint extract inside the chocolate sour cream cake. For the frosting, I used a recipe from Joy the Baker. Now, I thought I didn’t like non-cream cheese frosting, but let me tell you… I’ve had a change of heart. Thanks Joy. IT’S REALLY GOOD. And I’m not going to pretend to be modest, but these cupcakes were really good. Gwen told me there was one lady licking the wrapper. I accept that as a high compliment.
Gingerbread Babycakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting. (In case you’re new, babycakes is what I call small cupycakes and cupycakes is occasionally what I call cupcakes).
Dear internet, here’s a pretty picture of cupcakes for ya.
At least I think it is.
Stay safe and dry, everyone!
My first BIG gig
Almost a year ago, I made cupcakes and a little cake and got paid for it for the very first time. Since then, I really haven’t really had the opportunity to bake for people outside my circle of friends and family. Earlier this fall, I was asked if I could make 75 cupcakes for a sweet 16, and I excitedly accepted the request!
Just me and my yellow KitchenAid, and my Friday morning off, churned out 75+ Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting cupcakes. I portioned out some of the the dry ingredients ahead of time… and then mixed up a storm.
It took most of the day to get everything done. I borrowed 2 muffin pans from Brittany, upstairs.. so I had 4 pans in total to use. At first I had NO IDEA how I was going to transport that number of cupcakes, but I ended up getting a couple of tin foil lasagna pan-thingies at the restaurant supply store, which ended up being perfect.
This is what 75 cupcakes looks like:
I really enjoyed the repetitive process of piping the frosting on. I used a large star-tip, something I don’t often do, and I am happy to say I am definitely much better at decorating than I was when I first picked up a pastry bag.
I then filled the bottom of my fridge with the large pans and brought the carrier to my pals upstairs (there was no way it was all going to fit in my apartment). Bringing the cupcakes to the party was easier than I expected, because they fit quite nicely in the back of my car, squeezed into an immobile spot by my backpack, a sweatshirt and a mushroom pickin’ basket.
While driving, I was so nervous something was going to happen to the cupcakes in the way back. I felt like I was transporting a baby that I couldn’t check on. Thankfully, all 75 cupcakes made it to the party perfectly fine.
Hey guys!! I did it! I finally have a business card!
Above are screen shots of the front and back. They arrived in the mail last week and I was soooo excited when I opened the box! I got a neat stamp, too.. for when the time comes that I need a stamp of itty bitty cupcakes.
I got the cards printed because I made cupcakes for a sweet 16 last weekend (more on this, soon) and thought… “okay, this is it, this is the big one” (meaning the most cupcakes I have ever made at one time), time to have a business card.
HEY FRIENDS! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY.
Okay, no not really. But did I get your attention? Do you like those cupcakes in the picture? they were delicious. Anyway. I am going to make business cards… but I’m in a bit of a pickle. I’ve been calling myself “coracakes” because when I started my blog, that’s what I chose and my name is Cora and alliteration is fun and all that jazz… but coracakes is already a small, cake business in Arkansas. www.coracakes.com does not exsist, but she does has a facebook page, and via internet stalking, I think her business is named after her daughter, Cora.
I was thinking about keeping coracakes, because nobody up here is going to mistake me for the lady in AK, however, I need to figure out a different email address because coracakes@gmail.com is already taken and I’d rather not use my personal address. Or I should just rebrand myself. I make more than cakes, but I really haven’t gotten any other name ideas.
Any input/advice is welcome and encouraged. Do you think you can help?
UPDATE: I decided on hellocoracakes@gmail.com for now. Thank you everybody for your thoughts!
