strawberry, chocolate and champagne cupcakes

last weekend, i had the joy in celebrating the upcoming marriage of one of my girlfriends. before we headed out to paint the town red, bachelorette party style, we all got together beforehand for dinner, gifts and the like.

i found it only proper to include alcohol in the evening's menu - and made two kinds of cupcakes: champagne cupcakes with a chocolate ganache and strawberries and an "irish car bomb" - which included guinness in the chocolate cupcake and bailey's irish cream in the frosting!

even though 99.9% of the time i prefer chocolate as the main ingredient for my desserts - i have to say my new favorite may be the angelfood textured champagne cupcake with the bittersweet ganache. the strawberry didn't hurt either. i certainly plan to make this one again!

lessons learned this time?
1. it is about time i dedicate myself to mastering the frosting tips - my irish car bomb cupcake didn't look very pretty.
2. I DON'T KNOW HOW I EVER LIVED WITHOUT A KITCHEN AID MIXER. seriously. go buy one. now. you need it. and if you think you don't, then you are wrong. it will change your life.

double chocolate cupcakes with DetermiNation

so the past few weeks have been busy and have not allowed me much time to bake. however, among the craziness that is the month of may i did complete my first "order" for the American Cancer Society's DetermiNation pre-event dinner. for those of you just tuning in, that is exciting!

i learned a lot of new things about myself and baking (see below for my list) but had a really great time through it all and look forward to taking on some new projects as they come.

this time i stayed to the classic favorites  and made a french vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing and a double chocolate cupcake with a chocolate ganache. all in the ACS theme in red, white and blue and topped with candles to show appreciation for those who ran this year's mini marathon to help end cancer (and make more birthdays)

lesson(s) learned:
1. i have decided there is a difference between "made-from-scratch cupcakes that look pretty and wow the taste buds" and "cute and crafty cupcakes that steal the show". therefore, i learned that i am not at a level to attempt both versions and must pick one to be satisfied with my efforts (for this post, you can see i aimed for the tasty homemade and skipped the attempt to make the cupcakes look like running shoes...maybe next time)

2. making cake bites for a large amount of people takes a massive amount of patience and precision. be prepared to spend several hours on these if you want them to look perfect. after making 20 (half way there!) i realized they didn't look perfect and i wasn't prepared to give them strangers. check out the photo below on the 10 or so that did turn out how i wanted!

3. when baking for a large group of people during the work week, you need to stagger you steps - monday bake the cupcakes, tuesday ice them and deliver on wednesday. i think i also shouldve wrapped the cupcakes to keep their freshness and prevent them drying out. don't know if the box i bought to store them did the trick.

ice cream cone cupcakes

i had a few birthdays to celebrate all in one week, so i decided to try turning cupcakes into ice cream cones.

turns out it was a big hit that was super easy. the best part about these is that they aren't a dripping mess, they get everyone excited about life and who doesn't love ice cream cones and cupcakes...no really, who?

my first official order!

okay, so technically since it is for the American Cancer Society it is more of an "in-kind" order, but who cares about the details, right?!


one of my good girlfriends heads up ACS's DetermiNation program - which works with athletes who want to end cancer and save lives by dedicating training and race participation in marathons, triathlons, cycling, and other endurance events. the first week of may, before the Indianapolis mini-marathon, they are having a pre-event banquet and yours truly will be baking for the cause!

after trying to think of a cute theme, we came up with piggy-backing off ACS's current campaign - celebrating birthdays. how suiting considering mine is that weekend...hmmm ironic. details, cupcakes and more to come...

april fool's day cupcakes

apparently april fool's jokes are only cool in the third grade.

when i made these "mashed potato" cupcakes and brought them in to the office, no one seemed to understand what they were and why they were there. after letting them know what was up, they started picking up what i was throwing down. though a few people still didn't understand they were normal tasting cupcakes and one person noted they resembled the likeness of pancakes.

i say "potato", you say "potatoe". either way, i think i got 'em.

snickerdoodle cupcakes

i am not much for "non-chocolate desserts", but i just got a new cookbook devoted to cupcakes and thought it would be fun to try this one for a girls weekend away.

afterall that's what girls are made of - sugar and spice and everything nice!

burger brownie cupcakes

this was a fun idea i tried recently. even though it is still snowing outside, they made me feel happy that cookout weather is just around the corner. i'm sure some of my happiness also came from the amazing combination of brownies, cupcakes and icing...all in one treat!