Concert Cake and cupcakes... with avocado?

Hello!!!
It's been a week since I last posted and sadly, I have to keep this one brief. I say sadly because so much is going on right now and I'd love to type for a while explaining the excitement!

Here is the short form:
1) The website is up and running... and WE LOVE IT! Thank you Angelo Manalili from gellobot designs! He's done such a great job and really knows how to capture our vision.
to get to our website (if you didn't just come from there)click here!

2) I had to do a concert themed birthday cake for Nikita's cousin's daughter. Although there were some last minute glitches (the backdrop BROKE IN HALF minutes before he took the cake home) the show went on... and here is what it looked like (without the Winx Dolls that were on top)

3) Lastly last night I decided to make some chocolate vegan avocado cupcakes. They were DELICIOUS and just different enough. I love the new dimension of flavor added by the avocado buttercream. Here it is start to finish...(in all it's bright green glory!)




have a great weekend everyone!

Jen

The Website is Coming!

Hello!

I can't believe it's already AUGUST... there, I said it. I feel better now.

Last night after meeting with our web designer I started making some of the beloved homemade oreos for some friends that are coming by this weekend. I'm even thinking of making homemade ice cream and filling them with that instead of the regular icing. I'll let you know what happens.

Speaking of web designer...
Angelo is so incredibly knowledgable and helpful. Last night he showed me what the site is essentially going to look like (at go-live) missing just a few minor details.
It looks great! And I'm so excited about it. I can't wait to share it with everyone (maybe I'll send out a "Launch" notice tomorrow...). I highly reccommend his work. He listens to his clients and is patient and provides great ideas and efficient work.

A huge thanks goes out to Angelo for all his hard work, dedication and patience with us!

Before I go I MUST show you the new logo... yes... we have a logo. and yes, Nikita and I have been turned into cartoons!
Andrea Commande is a fabulous, talented, intelligent artist that was able to whip up exactly what we wanted. Something simple, fun, and clean.
Here is his work (The colors MAY change, or disappear, we're not 100% sure yet).



So... what do you think?


Lastly I think I should say I never realized how much time and effort goes into setting up a business. I can't believe it's been just over a year since Nikita and I started doing this "Seriously". Thankfully neither of us know what that word means when it comes to cupcakes, so we're still having a blast.


Now I must go.
Have a great weekend everyone! :)
Jen

cake decorating take 2

It's happening... I can feel my heart rate starting to rise ever so subtly. haha No I'm just kidding. But seriously I'm pretty excited because this weekend I'll be creating a cake with a Concert stage "winx" theme for a special little girls birthday. I'm excited to get to try my hand at fondant again, hopefully with much better results than last night (it was 2007, humid, and I did NOT know what I was doing). I'll definitely keep you posted.
Here is what I'm using as inspiration

It's a Wilton "Diva's Debut Cake". My cake will look significantly different than this, but generally the concept will be the same. I'll show you the final product as soon as I have it done! (just for starters, mine will be a rectangle, and not have those dolls on it)

I'm compeltely open to suggestion by the way! Feel free to tell me what to do.

Have a great day!

PS I'm starting a week long mini bake a thon with something different everyday before Saturday (my brother is hosting a BBQ/Party thing) and I usually like to have some homemade treats on hand. So far I'm thinking homemade oreo's, mini cupcakes, ice cream... and MAYBE some ice cream sandwiches, although I don't know if I'll have enough time.
Wish me luck!!!

Jen

I Scream for Ice Cream

Hello!
So I got a new ice cream maker (it is the Kitchen Aid attachment for the mixer, and quite possible the best purchase I've made in a while) and... I LOVE IT!

This week I tried my hand at making homemade chocolate coconut ice cream. I shredded some bitter chocolate, mixed the yolk and sugar over a double boiler (which I had to improvise with since I do not have one... next purchase perhaps?) and let it set for about half an hour before putting it into the ice cream maker. I was really happy with the results. Kind of like soft serve creamy goodness.

The recipe is from William Sonoma's collection and I added in about 1/4 cup of shredded coconut just before setting it to cool.
Click here for WS Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe

Next week i think I want to try making an ice cream brownie, cookie cake. It sounds weird, but I'll explain it later if it works out haha.

There are a few birthday's and BBQ's coming up which means CUPCAKE time!

One of the dozen's will be our classic buttermilk vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream, and another will be some sort of surprise, but definitely with cream cheese frosting (her favorite dessert is cheesecake so we'll see what I can put in there).

I want to leave you with another sneak peak of the Marlee MacLean Photography session... our website is launching in less than two weeks and I'm so excited!

Our *quickly becoming* famous Raspberry Lemon Drop cupcake (a personal favorite of mine for the summer).


A light and fluffy cupcake with light raspberry puree buttercream and a fondant star! For some reason this cupcake just brightens up my day.


Have a great long weekend if I don't see you soon!

Jen

Black Tie cupcakes

Good Monday morning,

I am incredibly tired from a jam packed weekend (yet again) but feeling pretty good this morning.
That BBQ I was talking about in my earlier post was a success, although I must admit I did not make half the things I thought I would.
I opted for the Bounty Hunter Cupcake which is a chocolate base cake with shredded coconut and topped with coconut cream cheese frosting. They were a big hit!

On Friday I made 24 mini's for my friend Jen's brother's 16th birthday. She wanted to keep them classy and gender neutral so we went with chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. The rich dark color of our chocolate cupcakes always looks so classic when paired with a stark white buttercream. Here they are:


For this week I'm planning on keeping things a bit more low key and am hoping to spend some more time outside!

I am also planning on trying my own Chocolate Coconut icecream (and I'm debating if I should toss some banana in there too to see how it comes out.)
That is on the agenda for tonight. It's my first time trying ice cream from scratch so wish me luck!

Have a great day,

Jen

What to make...

So I seem to have hit a bit of a road block.

There are a few things I want to make this week, and I cannot seem to decide which one to do (I don't have time to make all three).

First there are the homemade oreos that seem to be a huge hit with family and friends. I have a BBQ this weekend and I'm thinking those might be a good idea.

Next is a cupcake pie (yes with pie filling and all). This one will likely take the longest, but I think will be the most rewarding... I might HAVE to do this one soon... I don't think I can wait much longer! haha

Lastly I came across the MOST intriguing recipe I've seen to date.
It's a vegan chocolate cake with AVOCADO buttercream. YES... Avocado. And yes, the icing is bright green. That sounds like it could be amazingly delicious and rich, (not to mention full of healthy fats)... OR it could be a green monster. The curiosity may actually be getting the best of me.

I am inviting fellow bakers to think of the weirdest concotion you have ever come up with. What made it so interesting? and most importantly... how amazing was it?

That's it for me today... I'll be sure to let you know how the recipe comes out (which I choose).

Happy Tuesday everyone!


Photo by Marlee MacLean Photography... wait til you see all the other amazing photos she's done for us!

Lemony Lime Coconut Pie

Good morning everyone!

As I sluggishly made my way to work this morning I thought what better way to start of a gloomy Monday than with a recipe to a declious pie.
This past weekend as you may know (if you read this blog) I made a delicious (and ridiculously easy) key lime pie. As it turned out I thought making 2 pies would be best since there were going to be 10 adults at this dinner and I wanted to make sure they had enough for seconds!

So, since I only bought enough lime for one key lime pie I decided to change the second to something slightly different. Below is the recipe!

Lemony Lime Pie Adapted from allrecipes
Ingredients
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (or make your own)
2 and 2/3 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream (I used 5%)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of grated lime zest
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon zest
1-2 tablespoon(s) of shredded coconut (I used sweetened but unsweetened would be best) **optional**

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well. Add in shredded coconut and mix for another 10 seconds.

3. Pour mixture into gram cracker crust and sprinkle more shredded coconut on top.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 12-16 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles form and burst on top (this took a little longer than I thought so keep checking it to make sure it cooks and the pie doesn't brown)
The coconut on top should be a little toasted (brown in color) when the pie is baked.

Make sure you put the pie in the fridge to completely cool (about 2 hours).

This pie was sweet and tart with a tropical flare. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



Happy Monday! :)

Jen