An Apple a Day!

When I think of apples I associate them with fall and . . . teachers! So when I was in need of a clever gift idea for my kids to give their teachers at the end of the year, I knew this was it!! This past Christmas I got a super cute calendar done by the people that do the "Hello Cupcake" books. And I knew there was an apple cupcake in there somewhere. =) Unfortunately, the calendar doesn't give exact instructions on how to prepare the cupcakes, just a labeled picture of the cupcake. For the most part, the pic was sufficient.

I opted to use spice cake and a cream cheese butterecream. Seemed the most appropriate. =) The top of the apple is actually half of a mini donut cut horizontially. This was where I wish the picture had given me a bit more information. My first attempt looked ridiculous because I didn't realize you needed to cut the donut. I chose to use plain donuts so that it didn't distract or clash with the flavor of the cupcake itself. The stem, as well as the seeds, are pieces of tootsie rolls. And the leaves I made with fondant. The ones in the calendar were made with a fruit roll-up but I happened to have a small amount of green fondant leftover from a previous cake.

These cupcakes were overall, very easy to make. The ones with the little bites obviously took a little more time but they wern't difficult. And most importantly, the teachers thought they were great!

I'm on Purple Overload!

First let me say i'm sorry for the poor quality and coloring of the photo. Bleh! A photographer I am not. =)

Anyway, it's been a very busy and very purply couple weeks for me. =) My daughter is a varsity cheerleader at Rocky Mountain High School. Which, if you've read some of my other posts, you possibly already know. Their colors . . . purple, white and black. This past weekend was their final competition of the cheer season, the Idaho State Championships! And before the big event I hosted a team lunch at our house. And for dessert, I went with cupcakes. I attempted to make the cupcakes look like pom-poms. Because really, is there anything more appropriate for cheerleaders? I also wanted to make them personal so I made little gumpaste pennants and put their names on them. It's hard to tell from the pics but they are also dusted with cake sparkles so that they would look shimmery. =)

And now the most important question . . . how did they do at State? Well, i'm glad you asked. Their squad took first in the stunt routine, first in the sideline routine and second in the show cheer. State champ is then awarded to the team with the most overall points. They ended up in second overall . . . by 2 POINTS! They were truly incredible. I was so proud.

So we had the lunch last Friday. State was then on Saturday. And last night was the end of the year banquet for which I was doing the cake. So more baking, and more PURPLE! I needed to make enough for approximately 130 people. So I opted for a smaller tiered cake and then supplimented with cupcakes. The cake was a white, rasberry almond sour cream cake with a chocolate mousse filling. I did a buttercream finish with fondant decorations. Then I added a gumpaste bow and swirlys. =) The cupcakes were both the white cake as well as a chocolate version with buttercream. It was a hit! Cute and tasty! And people actually commented that they liked my fondant, and that's always a good thing considering there are some mighty yucky versions out there.

Flowers in bloom!!

While it can be completely frustrating, I love trying new things. For my nieces birthday my sister-in-law requested cupcakes that looked like flowers. She tried describing to me something she had seen on a tv show. Not sure if it was my brain, or her explaining but I didn't quite get her description. But I figured I could still make cupcakes look like flowers. And this is what I came up with. A sweet personalized flower pot filled with pretty spring blooms and topped off with pink fondant butterflies! I used tissue paper for the "leaves" but if I were to do this again I would probably go with a silk leaf instead. I opted for a dense white cupcake recipe so that they could handle the "post" through the center without ripping. And the frosting was a straight buttercream. I was really pleased with the result. And the birthday girl was happy as well, and that's really what counts. =)

Are you ready for some football!?

Ok so generally when you think of March you don't usually associate it with football. Well, what can I say... my son started football practice yesterday which reminded me that I hadn't yet done a post of my football cakes. In all fairness, only one is actually a cake. The other is all cupcakes. The football field cake with the helmet on top is something I did for my husbands fantasy football draft. (We're fanatics around here.) =) I was really happy at how the bottom "field" cake turned out. Piping straight lines or number or letters always tends to make me nervous but I think it came out well. I have to admit, however, I wasn't as thrilled with the helmet cake. I'm not sure what color the fondant should have been, but the white just didn't work for me. I'll have to come up with a better plan next time. I considered making the helmet look like his favorite team (the Eagles) but since it was for his fantasy league I decided to take the easy road and just put his league logo, "AQFL." (Armchair Quarterback Football League.) =) And even though it didn't quite look the way I hoped, it still tasted delicious!

The cupcakes were for my sons 6th birthday. Oh my goodness! I can't believe I'm just 4 short weeks away from his 7th birthday! Ouch, my baby is growing up. Ho-hum. Sorry, forgive me, back to the cupcakes. He had a football themed party, obviously. I just grouped cupcakes together in the shape of a football, smothered them in chocolate buttercream and piped on the details. Piece a cake! Haha, pun intended. (Yes, I am dork.) To make sure I had plenty I made some extra cupcakes to look like grass and stuck on the little football decorations that I grabbed from the grocery store. Everyone loved them and with everything else I had to do for the party, I loved how quick and easy this was. Touchdown!!

First Two Weddings

To date I have only done two weddings. The first was cupcakes and the second a three tierd cake. They both were fun and challenging in different ways. And go figure . . . a shade of purple was the main color in both. The cupcakes were a mix of vanilla and chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and little sugar pearls. The topper cake was actually a spice cake with cream cheese frosting, (the brides favorite cake) then covered in fondant.

The three tier cake was a white cake with white chocolate buttercream and then covered in fondant with a fondant ribbon. And I really love the look of the round and square cakes together.