Happy Halloween update!

WOW it has been a long time.
I won't spend too much time chatting, I'll just let some of the pictures do the talking.

With Nikita back from Africa and baking away I have had my nose buried in books (with the occasional baking binge). Here is what we've been doing...


Miguel's 3rd birthday called for a Diego cake and cupcakes!




Manny wanted to get his mom something special for her early fall birthday:




Nikita helped Panago Erin Mills celebrate their 1-year anniversary!:




Last but definitely NOT least.. Halloween themed birthday cupcakes:

Weekend Whirlwind

Hello there!

This weekend has been one of the busiest we've had so far this summer. With Nikita still in Kenya (and from the last update, she's loving every minute of it) I had the pleasure of completing three orders for very different occasions. On Saturday we had Melissa's Bachelorette Party with Lingerie themed cupcakes. Later that day was Fatima's Baby Shower take-aways (Redvelvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and pink daises on top). Finally on Sunday a 'test' order from a new client wanting to try out some of our most popular flavors. I gave him Vanilla, Chocolate (see below), A Sweet MESS **Not on menu, special flavor** and Mango Delite (see below)! I'm hoping to hear from him soon on how they were received.




I'm not going to lie to you. Lately I have been on a chocolate kick and it has taken a lot of willpower not to make myself a batch of chocoholic cupcakes. This chocolate icing with pure cocoa powder and our classic vanilla buttercream smells (and tastes) VERY good... yeah, maybe I'll whip up a quick batch for myself tonight.


This week officially marks the beginning of the end of summer (hard to believe it is nearly September already). I am thinking of starting to bring back some of the fall flavors, but can't bring myself to do it quite yet.

I hope you all are able to make the most of your summer and enjoy time outdoors!

I'll post more pictures shortly, but for now I must get back to work!
Have a great day,

Jen

Happy Cupcake cookies!

Hello!

This past weekend I had the pleasure seeing some family from Michigan that came up for the weekend. It had been years since we had last seen them and it was a much enjoyed visit. My young cousin, Brian (who I hadn't seen since he was in diapers) came with his vibrant energy and eagerness to learn about baking and decorating cupcakes. I wasn't sure that he'd be that excited about it, but we had so much fun (and he was a big help) in the kitchen.



After mentioning the tray of cupcakes and homemade oreos I had made last weekend we began talking about the idea of putting cookies in cupcakes (one of my favorite things to do). Well Brian took this idea and ran with it...

Friday night with his help we created "A Sweet Mess"- A vanilla cupcake filled with chocolate chip cookie dough and topped with an oreo buttercream frosting. It was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.! There were about 50 other great ideas that came with him this past weekend and I'm looking forward to trying some of them out in the coming months.

I have a photograph on my phone that I will be sure to put up tonight.

That's all for now. I'm trying to mentally prepare for this weekend. Baby Shower, Bachelorette Party and "just because" cupcake orders coming right up!

See you soon,
Jen

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