THAT'S RIGHT!
I made a Peppermint Mocha cupcake with chocolate whipped cream for our holiday party at our house last Saturday and let me tell you, these are GOOD. They were moist, had just the right amount of mint flavor to balance out with the chocolate, and were topped with what a real Peppermint Mocha drink at Starbucks would be topped with. Except this was CHOCOLATE whipped cream. Talk about fancy.
I made these in minis and I added a TOUCH...literally...of peppermint extract. 1/8 of a teaspoon goes a LONG way. I also added peppermint crunchies (Andes brand) to the chocolate batter. You don't even NEED frosting on these babies. The hubby-to-be almost keeled over when he tried one after pulling them out of the oven.
And that's the moment...when someone is about to keel over after tasting your desserts...that you realize baking is your passion.
I slapped on (actually, I piped) some homemade chocolate whipped cream, topped with a few peppermint crunchies, and VOILA. These gems were supreme.
Delectible.
Parties in the mouths.
Cupcakes-that-make-me-drool-when-I-think-about-them.
Get the point?
These are now available in minis or regular sized cupcakes.
Order them today!!
Cheers!
Petit Order of Minis
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Current Mood: content and chipper!
Why you ask? I just had a satisfying lunch and am finally going places
Where you ask? Not literally, but I think I am going to really like and feel rewarded with my new position at my job. I am the HR guru!
Current song: Silent Night-Lady Antebellum...gotta love those Christmas tunes around this time of year!
I CAN'T BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK. Holy cow...where has the time gone!? 2014 is going to be the best year ever...I am marrying my best friend, moving up within my job (including moving to a new office), and getting two weeks off to experience the west coast (again) with my (to be) husband! WOWZERS. That is weird to say. Seriously.
So I'm on my lunch break right now, with my head phones on, listening to Christmas tunes waiting patiently for next week. Is it the weekend yet!?
Back to the baking side of my life--last week on my off day, I baked six dozen minis for Kelly. Three dozen chocolate with PB frosting and three dozen vanilla with chocolate frosting. I am not the BIGGEST chocolate fan, but I really liked those chocolate PB ones. After all, who DOESN'T like chocolate and PB together!? The frosting stayed soft in the containers so when I went to eat the leftovers a few days later, they were just right. Normally butter cream icing gets hard, but this kind stayed so soft! Perhaps the fat in the PB??? Who knows, but I know I will be recommending that flavor frosting from now on.
Oh and of course the vanilla were delish because that recipe will forever stay with me. I don't think I'll ever use another vanilla recipe. This is the ULTIMATE vanilla cupcake and it is great. The recipe is here. Sometimes I leave the vanilla bean out of it and put extra extract...depending on how much of a rush I'm in.
The trick to this recipe: WEIGH out your ingredients instead of measuring them. This recipe uses cake flour and I've noticed that if I just measure, not weigh, I tend to use more. Weighing gives you the fluffier texture instead of the flat, muffin top finish.I know weighing can be a pain, but it's actually pretty easy and I even weigh the wet ingredients in this recipe (at least the sour cream). Try it out!
And!!!!...don't over bake them! They are going to be white in color...not your traditional yellow. This cupcake is VANILLA. Not YELLOW :)
I put light blue beads on top of the cupcakes which, sadly, I will probably not do very often. Those little buggers just do not ever want to stay on. If you do use decorations like that, make you to put them on right after piping the icing.
You may even try throwing them at the cupcakes.
No lie.
I've been obsessed...with the new piping technique that I discovered. Okay, I've tried it before. But I'm really getting good at it. It's the "rose" technique--Start at the middle and move outwards and do not come back to the center with a peak. It will give you that inverted look that looks like a rose if you're using the 1M tip. Like this:
Sadly, I did not get a photo of this particular order for Kelly.
Why you ask? I just had a satisfying lunch and am finally going places
Where you ask? Not literally, but I think I am going to really like and feel rewarded with my new position at my job. I am the HR guru!
Current song: Silent Night-Lady Antebellum...gotta love those Christmas tunes around this time of year!
I CAN'T BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK. Holy cow...where has the time gone!? 2014 is going to be the best year ever...I am marrying my best friend, moving up within my job (including moving to a new office), and getting two weeks off to experience the west coast (again) with my (to be) husband! WOWZERS. That is weird to say. Seriously.
So I'm on my lunch break right now, with my head phones on, listening to Christmas tunes waiting patiently for next week. Is it the weekend yet!?
Back to the baking side of my life--last week on my off day, I baked six dozen minis for Kelly. Three dozen chocolate with PB frosting and three dozen vanilla with chocolate frosting. I am not the BIGGEST chocolate fan, but I really liked those chocolate PB ones. After all, who DOESN'T like chocolate and PB together!? The frosting stayed soft in the containers so when I went to eat the leftovers a few days later, they were just right. Normally butter cream icing gets hard, but this kind stayed so soft! Perhaps the fat in the PB??? Who knows, but I know I will be recommending that flavor frosting from now on.
Oh and of course the vanilla were delish because that recipe will forever stay with me. I don't think I'll ever use another vanilla recipe. This is the ULTIMATE vanilla cupcake and it is great. The recipe is here. Sometimes I leave the vanilla bean out of it and put extra extract...depending on how much of a rush I'm in.
The trick to this recipe: WEIGH out your ingredients instead of measuring them. This recipe uses cake flour and I've noticed that if I just measure, not weigh, I tend to use more. Weighing gives you the fluffier texture instead of the flat, muffin top finish.I know weighing can be a pain, but it's actually pretty easy and I even weigh the wet ingredients in this recipe (at least the sour cream). Try it out!
And!!!!...don't over bake them! They are going to be white in color...not your traditional yellow. This cupcake is VANILLA. Not YELLOW :)
I put light blue beads on top of the cupcakes which, sadly, I will probably not do very often. Those little buggers just do not ever want to stay on. If you do use decorations like that, make you to put them on right after piping the icing.
You may even try throwing them at the cupcakes.
No lie.
I've been obsessed...with the new piping technique that I discovered. Okay, I've tried it before. But I'm really getting good at it. It's the "rose" technique--Start at the middle and move outwards and do not come back to the center with a peak. It will give you that inverted look that looks like a rose if you're using the 1M tip. Like this:
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| These were from a previous order for Kelly |
Sadly, I did not get a photo of this particular order for Kelly.
Tip of the Day: I've already told you to weigh your dry ingredients. This is the better technique in ALL cake/cupcake recipes. You really get that exact amount. We all know that if you put too much flour in a cupcake, it will be dense and could dry out. Another tip...take cupcakes out of the pan RIGHT after pulling them from the oven. If they stay in the pans longer, they will bake longer. No one likes an over baked, dry cupcake!
Cheers!
Biggest Order Yet!!!...I say that a lot, don't I??...
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Current Mood: Tired with a headache but pumped for the holidays
Current Song: Calvin Harris-Feel So Close
So I keep saying "This has been my biggest order so far!" to every order I do for Kelly. They just seem to be getting bigger and bigger! No complaints here WHATSOEVER. However, I am still contemplating whether or not this WAS my biggest order yet.
The one time I made 16 dozen regular sized cupcakes for her, 4 dozen of 4 different flavors, I had thought that may be the biggest order yet. I think it may be a tie now though!
I'm definitely contemplating the sale of cheesecakes. They are actually sort of stressful! They are SUPER easy to put together and just throw in the oven for 90 minutes, however, the worrying THEN begins at that very moment.
Will it crack!?
Should I reduce the oven temp after 80 min...open the oven door...put a water bath in the bottom of the oven?
Or should boiling water go into a cookie sheet and then the cheesecake placed IN that!?
I was so proud of them!
Now onto my minis...I had 10 dozen red velvet and 10 dozen pumpkin. The pumpkin ALWAYS turn out good. And the whipped topping is so easy to make in five minutes and pipe that stuff on.
I decided to make one batch of cream cheese butter cream the night before so it was ready for me to pipe on the morning after before taking them over to Peerce's. I was in a time pinch and it should have sat out longer to get softer. It was a bit thick which put some pains in my hands after piping...but I'd rather it be thicker than too thin!!! That's ALWAYS a nightmare...
I piped the red velvet like roses and the pumpkin regularly. Ended up with lots of leftovers so my wonderful fiance could eat them all in one sitting...no joke.
So I think it's a tie. Still contemplating the whole cheesecake thing. Maybe only sell one at a time...yep.
Fun fact: Going back to the cheesecake stresses...definitely use a water bath in the bottom of your oven. I almost filled a glass casserole dish with water. It definitely prevents cracking. When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, run a knife around the edges almost immediately. Cover the pan loosely with foil and let cool slowly. This is the key to success!
Now carry on. Cheers!
Current Song: Calvin Harris-Feel So Close
So I keep saying "This has been my biggest order so far!" to every order I do for Kelly. They just seem to be getting bigger and bigger! No complaints here WHATSOEVER. However, I am still contemplating whether or not this WAS my biggest order yet.
The one time I made 16 dozen regular sized cupcakes for her, 4 dozen of 4 different flavors, I had thought that may be the biggest order yet. I think it may be a tie now though!
I'm definitely contemplating the sale of cheesecakes. They are actually sort of stressful! They are SUPER easy to put together and just throw in the oven for 90 minutes, however, the worrying THEN begins at that very moment.
Will it crack!?
Will it be all the way done in the center!?
Should I reduce the oven temp after 80 min...open the oven door...put a water bath in the bottom of the oven?
Or should boiling water go into a cookie sheet and then the cheesecake placed IN that!?
So many questions!!!
All of these thoughts were running through my head while they were baking. However, I knew that I had a back up plan. I was adding the sour cream topping to them once cooled! Perfect!
And this worked awesomely. The cheesecakes actually came out better than my test round. The sides were flawless. I was lucky enough to have 4 spring form pans so I could just leave the bottoms on them. Put those babies in some boxes and DONE. Look how purty :)
I was so proud of them!
Now onto my minis...I had 10 dozen red velvet and 10 dozen pumpkin. The pumpkin ALWAYS turn out good. And the whipped topping is so easy to make in five minutes and pipe that stuff on.
I decided to make one batch of cream cheese butter cream the night before so it was ready for me to pipe on the morning after before taking them over to Peerce's. I was in a time pinch and it should have sat out longer to get softer. It was a bit thick which put some pains in my hands after piping...but I'd rather it be thicker than too thin!!! That's ALWAYS a nightmare...
I piped the red velvet like roses and the pumpkin regularly. Ended up with lots of leftovers so my wonderful fiance could eat them all in one sitting...no joke.
So I think it's a tie. Still contemplating the whole cheesecake thing. Maybe only sell one at a time...yep.
Fun fact: Going back to the cheesecake stresses...definitely use a water bath in the bottom of your oven. I almost filled a glass casserole dish with water. It definitely prevents cracking. When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, run a knife around the edges almost immediately. Cover the pan loosely with foil and let cool slowly. This is the key to success!
Now carry on. Cheers!
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