Order Up: Happy Birthday Bridget!

The order:
2 dozen vanilla rainbow cupcakes
1 dozen Reese's Love

My cousin Shannon emailed me a few weeks back telling me that she was having my cousin Bridget's birthday party and she requested "Rainbow and Unicorn" cupcakes. Wow does time fly - I can't believe she is 5 years old...I still remember the thanksgiving that Shannon told us she was pregnant!

Once Shannon said the theme, I knew I wanted to do cupcakes that were frosted in colors of the rainbow! But unicorns? How would I incorporate that? AH HA - Miss Michelle B to the rescue! I emailed Michelle the theme and she came up with the most adorable cupcake toppers (which are photographed below!)

(Side note - she's our AMAZING cousin who has done all of our materials - from designing our logo, to the website, to all of our print materials. Like I said - amazing and if you haven't, like her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sweet-Musings/193753087349285, visit the Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/people/SweetMusingsPaperie, or follow her blog: http://michellessweetmusings.blogspot.com/)

Ok, so now down to the order. If you're on the East Coast, you'll probably understand that this week has been a crazy one for us - first an earthquake, then the hurricane warnings...yeah, thanks Mother Nature. Since the whole city was a buzz, I confirmed with Shannon on Friday night if the party was still a go - and it was.

Early to bed, early to rise! Up and at 'em early on Sunday morning. First baked were the Reese's Love - are you guys tired of hearing about them yet? They are probably our most popular, most ordered cupcake :) That makes us happy...and seeing these little bad boys all boxed up, I hope they make you happy too! These were "reserved for adults only" at the party!

Once the Reese's were baked, it was time to make the rainbow cupcakes. Since I knew I wanted the frosting to be colored, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the batter and I found my answer - make my own "funfetti" cupcakes. I took our butter vanilla cupcake recipe and added in a 1/2 cup of sprinkles (aka jimmies like you get on ice cream) and mixed them throughout - very cool. Into the oven they went.

While they were baking, I whipped up the buttercream icing and start to color them. Red is such a tough color to obtain, so that was the first that I made. Once that was done, I had some leftover red...added a dollop of white buttercream, some yellow food coloring and voila orange. Next up was yellow. Can I just say how much I love the yellow color? It's so bright and cheery. Here's the first 3 colors:

Next up was green, blue and purple to complete the rainbow. I took a scoop of buttercream into leftover vanilla and added a dab of blue. Then I took another scoop of buttercream into the bowl, added the blue. The leftover icing got the purple. I love the Spectrum food color gels - they are really true to the color and you can adjust the hues based upon more/less icing and color and they are SO easy to mix in!

Since these were going to be on display, I didn't want to put the cupcake toppers on until I got to the party, but here is a close-up of the finished toppers - how adorable are they?!?! (Again, thanks to Michelle B!)

Once they were all done and packed up, it was time to head out before Hurricane Irene headed in. I drove to the bowling alley that the party was at, got the cupcake stand up and started arranging the cupcakes. As I was putting this together, I was smiling because I was so happy at the way they turned out - the colors were perfect, the picks looked adorable, and overall it was just so colorful and girly.

Once they were setup, we called Bridget over to take a look...and the look on her face and her smile was worth it. She was like "Are they my cupcakes? They look adorable!"...it was wonderful. And how adorable does she look with them? (and so grown up might I add???)

Happy 5th Birthday Bridget - we hope this one knocked down all the pins for a strike!

Order Up: Happy Anniversary Sam and Dave!

The order
1 Vanilla Sampler pack

A few weeks ago, one of Steph's friends Sam, emailed me asking if I would be able to make a special order for her and her boyfriend, to celebrate their one year anniversary. How awesome- of course I said yes!

And how adorable is she for getting him cupcakes as part of the celebration?? I don't care what you say, guys love gestures like that. Since this was an order for Thursday night (and since ya know, I still have that fulltime thing called work - boo) I decided to make the cupcakes before heading into work on Thursday morning. The night before, I prepped up the fillings and one of the icings.

In my mind, this was going to be an easy breezy order. Not. As I was doing my prep work to make the batter, I went to turn the oven on and saw that the oven light was flashing. Hmm, ok - reset the time and pre-heat the oven. Batter is made, cupcake liners are filled, and cupcakes put in the oven. Approximate cooking time is about 18-20 minutes - just enough time for me to jump in the shower. This is where it gets funny - well not really when you have a head full of shampoo and the lights, air conditioning, turn off. So I quickly finish up my shower and that's when I have the thought "If the power goes off, no oven?" I quickly run into the kitchen and it's a confirm. There may have been some explicits shouted.

As I begin contemplating what to do, I decide to leave the oven door shut as to keep the existing heat going and monitor the cupcakes to see if they will finish baking. About 5 minutes later, everything kicks back on, so I turn the oven on, set the timer for about 3 minutes. Time check and they were done! Since there was the minimal disaster, I of course had to taste test. They passed ;)

After a day at work, it was time to go home and get these bad boys frosted and ready to go! As I was thinking about the sampler pack and going to make the cookie dough cupcakes and fill them - I realized that something wasn't right with that filling (insert panic feelings AGAIN)...quick thinking and I decided to switch up the pack. Instead of cookie dough, insert Snickers...only in the vanilla. Here we go before the decoration touches were added - Oreo Oh Oh, Strawberries and Champagne, and Vanilla Snickers -


To celebrate their one year, I made cupcake picks(new addiciton by the way - stay tuned for all the adorable ones that have been created!) that were inserted into each cupcake. We had some for the occassion:

Some with initials and pretty flowers/sayings:

Look at how adorable the cupcake picks are! I think they make the cupcakes adorable without being too "girly".

Happy Anniversary Sam and Dave - hope you had a wonderful night celebrating and wishes for many many more!

Order Up: Happy Birthday Vince(and Twin Brother!)

The order:
1 Dozen Reese's Love
1 Dozen Smitten Snickers (YAY I finally get to use it's "official name")

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Julie - my cousin's sister-in-law - letting me know that she wanted to place an order for her husbands birthday. My cousin Shannon took a batch of cupcakes on vacation with her, and Vince (Julie's husband) was able to try them and became hooked on the Reese's Love...rumor has it that he was wandering around the table looking to see who wasn't going to eat theirs! We love that!

In talking with her about the order, it came out that Vince is a twin and his brother's favorite candy is Snickers...insert the request for a Snickers Cupcake! Oh yeah - bring on that challenge!

I let her know that before I could commit to something with Snickers, I wanted to test out a few recipes, see what I liked and go from there.

Well as you know the test recipe was a success as discuss and blogged here:

So Sunday morning, into the kitchen we went. First up was making the Reese's Love. Have I mentioned that I love making these but they are a pain sometimes? The pain part comes in because you have to unwrap a WHOLE peanut butter cup for each cupcake. Oh you didn't know that? Yeah - it's a fat kids dream to have not only a cupcake, but a reese's cup baked inside. Nom nom nom.

Once they were done, we frosted, topped and attached our pretty ribbon and label to the box. Voila, happy little cupcakes!

Next up was the snicker's cupcake. I can't help it, when I make these cupcakes, all of the different parts just make you want to taste all of them. Once the cupcakes were made, the caramel sauce was prepared, snickers were chopped and blended with the caramel sauce. I then cored the cupcakes (note: use a cannoli shell pipe - it make the perfect "cutout" that you can stuff!) and filled with the snickers and caramel mixture. After that, it was onto the frosting. If I die young, bury me in buttercream - forget The Perry Band and their roses! Once complete, you can drizzle the leftover caramel on top.

Boxed up and ready to go!

Side note to this delivery - I was bringing them to a birthday party we were both attending on Sunday...and don't you know that 5 minutes before I am supposed to walk out the door, the heavens opened up and DUMPED buckets of rain...and it kept going. I began to panic "How the hell am I going to get these there, in one piece, without the rain getting in the way?" Wahhhhhhh I wanted to cry. Ah ha! Trashbag coverage...not the classiest of solutions, but it kept them dry while I transported from the house to the car. They made it safe and sound!

Happy birthday Vince and twin brother! I hope you all enjoy the sugar high!

Order Up: Bridal Shower!

The order:
2 Dozen Premium Cupcakes

One of my friends Meg called me last week in a panic - that we completely forgot to discuss what cupcakes she needed for an order this weekend...I told her it was ok - I had her on the schedule but what did she need, it wasn't a problem at all. (Side note: She needed the cupcakes for Sunday, but her mind was occupied with the wedding she was in on Saturday night!)

Since we had other orders, I was able to provide a pretty good assortment for Meg (almost like our sampler packs) - so included were Reese's Love, Smitten Snickers, Vanilla with Cream Cheese and Carrot Cake.

She also let me know that the theme of the party was a luau - perfect right? I love the little drink umbrellas that we were able to add to each cupcake!

Look how pretty the colors are when they are all wrapped up and ready to go!

Thanks again Meg for another order and best wishes for the future Mrs!

Order Up: Partylite Girl's Night!

The order:
1 dozen Fluffy Elvis
1 dozen Bacon Pancake

Some of you may or may not know but my friends Denise and Lizz have an obsession. Yes, yes they do. It's for fun with the girls and The Fluffy Elvis. The first encounter they had with Fluffy was for Lizz's birthday and from there, the posts on Facebook and hunting down a reason to order more.

Insert a Partylite party Lizz was hosting. *Ding* We're in. Not only was this order awesome because we got to make more Fluffy's, but got to make a recipe we haven't had an order for yet - the Bacon Pancake.

Prior to making the order for Lizz, I decided to run another test batch in the oven to make sure I was still satisfied with them. Results? I was. Guess you can say I made the bacon and fried it too!

Into the kitchen we go, the cupcake has bits of maple bacon inside of it as well, topped with a maple buttercream, and a crispy slice of maple bacon. And there you have it:


12 happy little bacon faces:

Next up was Mr. Elvis. The batter was made and put into the oven, once out, cooled and then stuffed with the peanut butter filling and topped with marshmellow fluff frosting. Oh yeah baby!

Without waiting, here's the star of the show, The Fluffy Elvis:


Cool thing about packing up this order for delivery? I got to actually stay, hang out and talk to hopefully future customers - and of course a little girl talk with Denise :)


All in all, I'd say this was a successful order...especially when one was taken right out of the box as soon as I arrived and put away for safe keeping (aka, midnight snacking ;)

Order Up: Happy 50th Birthday Uncle Nicky!

The order:
6 Dozen cupcakes - vanilla and chocolate

So if you didn't know, birthdays are a big deal in my family. We love to celebrate them, big or small, but when it comes to a "special" birthday, we all go out on a limb...or really just give ourselves another excuse to get together?

So when it came time to plan my uncle's 50th, I knew I wanted to do the cupcakes. I was already dreaming up ideas in my head. Uncle Nicky is a mechanic and his one hobby is racing jeeps/racecars...bascially bouncing around in something with a supped up motor and lots of mud. Insert idea! Making a bunch of cupcakes, setting them out and having them appear like a racetrack.

Here are some wonderful pictures (courtesy of Stephanie Ulrich Photography) to capture the details!

Monster truck climbing up a graham cracker dirt covered cupcake mountain.


Oh hello little flipped over police car.

Slow down says the signs in the back coming up on the big turn! And yes, that is a mini-mater resting in case someone needs a tow ;)

The little trucks wishing one day they will be a big truck!

The Avenger coming to take out the Big 5-0!!
Last but not least, happy birthday Uncle Nick! Hope every wish you made comes true!
Now where's the cherry vodka?!?!

Test Recipe: Success!

Request: Snickers Cupcake

A few weeks ago, one of our customers sent us a request for a future order, but it had a twist. Having tasted the Reese's Love, she knew she wanted a dozen of those - but also wanted to know if we made a Snicker's cupcake.

Challenge accepted.

After doing a few searches (google magic my friends!) I decided to take ideas from the recipes that I liked best, mix and match and create my own Snickers cupcake.

First decision was a chocolate cake as the base of the cupcake. Simple right? Wrong - there was a new technique that I read about that I wanted to try - cooking the butter and sugar before creaming them together. After a few test batches (yes there was some burned butter), the batter came out just right. The result? A fluffy, moist(have I ever mentioned how much I hate that word? Well I do, but there's no other description out there) cupcake.

Next up - the great dilemma of using ingredients to make the cupcake taste like a Snickers, or actually using a Snickers. After some thought (and more google searches to find some pattented information that I just wasn't going to find), I decided to use actual Snickers. And I wasn't about to bake a full snickers inside the cupcake. The solution? Chop them up into little pieces, mix it with some homemade caramel sauce and fill the cupcakes! Um, yum.

After that it was time for frosting. To round out the experiece, we started with a basic vanilla buttercream icing, drizzle in more of the homemade caramel sauce, add some heavy cream and voila - heaven in your mouth. Serioulsy, give me a bowl of this with a spoon and I'd be a happy, happy girl.

Now onto the good part - the pictures! Thanks to Steph for taking time out of her day to take these pictures!

So there you have it, the Snickers cupcake was born (catchy clever name to be decided and the website will be updated soon!). We took this test batch to girls' night and the response was SO positive. We even converted our Michelle (http://www.michellebaron.com/ - go check her out. Right now.) who is in love with our Reese's Love said "OMG this is the best cupcake ever - it's so moist. I think I have a new favorite flavor!".

Now you know you want to order them, so why wait?

Order Up: Bachlorette Party!

The order:

1 Dozen Strawberries and Champagne


How fitting for a girl's night huh? Nothing like a little Strawberries and Champagne! Megan contacted me about a month or two ago letting me know that she wanted to make sure she could place an order for Jenna's Bachlorette party, and I was more than happy to oblige!

First step was making the cupcakes...by now, I can maybe make the vanilla cake in my sleep...but I won't attempt, I promise. After that, it was onto the icing. I seriously love making this icing - I've probably said that before, but this icing is just so girly and smells wonderful. After the icing was made, I put it in the fridge to set and then it was onto making the chocolate covered strawberries. YUMMMMY. There may or may not have been a taste testing.

Once they were set and I confirmed with Meg what time they were needed, it was time for frosting. I used a new tip that I had to make the icing more "flat" since we were going to be topping with the strawberries, I didn't want to have them sliding all over the place. Learning new techniques each time is something that I love! Never settle right?



Well ladies - I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating Jenna's last fling before the wedding ring! Cheers to many happy years!

Order Up: Happy 1st Birthday Laney!

The order:
2 dozen cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, decorated as cartoon ladybugs


Steph's friend Meghan emailed her about the new cupcake business and asking if we could make ladybug cupcakes. Of course Steph told her we could!

After a few email exchanges with Meghan - we realized that she didn't want traditional red lady bugs, but something that matched pink and purple and was a bit more cartoonish. Sold!

Into the kitchen we went, and since I'm a girly girl and pink was mentioned, I knew I wanted to do the majority of the ladybug in pink. And besides, she got these ADORABLE little boxes to put the cupcakes in! http://www.1stwishes.com/LadyBugs-Cupcake-Box/66792/PartyItemDetail.aspx

After I mixed up the frosting colors, I was putting circles out of frosting to make the dots and they weren't coming out just right, so I decided to use Reese's Pieces to make the dots on the back. Then I used a purple-ish colored frosting for the lines and antennas, used a star tip for the yes and then added little blue sprinkles for the eyes and little white sprinkles to top off the antennas. What do you think?
Hello little Laney-bugs ;) I think they turned out adorable and look very cartoonish!
After they were complete, it was time to be boxed up and ready to go!

Happy 1st Birthday Laney - hope you enjoyed your cupcakes and your birthday celebration!

Order Up: Happy Birthday Matt!

The order:
2 Dozen Red Velvet with Buttercream frosting

For those of you who don't know, Steph, Katie, Matt and I did the Irish Pub Tour de Shore 2 weekends ago. It's a 65 mile bike ride from Philly (Irish Pub 20th and Walnut) to Atlantic City (Irish Pub). It was tough, but it was such an accomplishment and I can't wait to do it again! Also, it was Matt's birthday, but since we were pedaling, the celebration was on hold until the next weekend.

Prior to the ride, I decided that I wanted to sponsor our little team. Since we couldn't do anything huge, we had my cousin Michelle draw up some TShirts. They were AWESOME, so everyone who came to meet us and the 4 of us had tee shirts. It was also on the ride that Matt and I solidified our FB friendship.

So Katie asked me if I could make her cupcakes to bring to her brother's celebration - how could I say no? So it was off to the kitchen to get to baking. First off, the cupcakes were baked (duh!), then frosted with buttercream.

To finish them off, I added red sprinkles and boxed the little bad boys up.

Final result? Pretty little cupcakes ready to go for a celebration!

Happy Birthday Matt - hope you enjoyed every bite...65 miles again next year?