A BFF's Birthday and a Tribute...

A and I have been friends for a looong time. She is my oldest, most consistent friend. Our acquaintance began in 6th grade during lunch with some mutual friends. There we all sat at the table, bantering back and forth about goodness knows what, when the conversations took a sarcastic turn. As I'm sure you all (painfully) remember about middle school, looking cool was the end all to be all. Duh. Who knows what prompted it, but at one point I threw at A "Oooo, where did you get your T-Shirt? Target?" Everyone knows you had to buy your clothes at Abercrombie(Kids). Burn. I was really at my comeback peek in 6th grade... To which A (and I remember this clearly) looked down and her shirt, and back at me and said, "Um. Yeah, actually." Whoopsie. And from that ill-fated moment on, we were fast friends. Well, that's a lie. While we hung around in the same circles (look at me, sounding all Housewives), it wasn't until our Junior year of high school that our friendship really took hold. We spent lunches speculating about Harry Potter, and a glorious summer running around town causing mischief (Mischief Managed, anyone?). Our friendship only grew and strengthened as we entered college and began to celebrate so many of life's important milestones-- marriage, college graduations, acceptance into grad school--together. In fact, this is the same A that I accredit in my first post to introducing me fondant. When in high school, one of our favorite things to do was to play old school NES. Coming from a technological strict family, I had never experience the glory that was Super Mario Bros. 3. A was quick to introduce me to it. Many an evening/afternoon/sleepover was spent studying (usually for Econ) and playing Super Mario Bros. doubles. I would study, while A played. When A died (infrequent... while my play time made it look like Mario had a death wish) we would switch. We really knew how to use our time wisely... In fact, this is a past time we enjoy even today. So when A was slated to turn 25, I knew what I was going to do. A had a love for Dr. Pepper cake ever since I brought her one from West (the best) on a back home from college trip. One fond memory has A and I eating some in the car with doors locked taunting her (now) husband and brother. It was also the flavor of her husband's groom cake. Knowing this, and wanting to conjure up images of our youth (25 is ooollllldddddd) I decided to make a Dr. Pepper, cream cheese, Super Mario Bros. extravaganza of cupcakes. I set to mixing and handcrafting fondant wonderies in preparation for A's big birthday celebration. The night before I was set to go to Austin, I baked up some Dr. Pepper cupcakes, and whipped up some cream cheese frosting to pair with it. These cupcakes were to have no filling, as they are super moist. The filling would turn them into puddles! On the day of A's birth, the cupcakes and I made the long trek from Dallas to Austin. The cupcakes (and I) survived... if just barely. A wonderful celebration was had by all!

A festival of Mario!

Side view of the cakes.

Until next time, sweet dreams!

-J

A Very Rushed Birthday...

I had made a fatal cupcakery flaw... I had allowed the sweet, sugary, deliciousness of my new-found obsession to be released into the wild... and now EVERYONE wanted in on that (Duh. Wouldn't you?). One of these people was my sister, who, after her delightful experience with her graduation cupcakes, decided she wanted to gift the cakes to her friend, B. B's birthday was the weekend after school let out, and K used her powers of persuasion to convince me to make the cupcakes for their party boat weekend. In hindsight, agreeing to make a ton of cupcakes for the weekend directly after school let out wasn't one of my wisest ideas to date, but I am always bending over backwards for the ones I care about. So, bend over backwards I did. Amidst the classroom rearranging, the end of the year planning, and the comment card writing, I went home every day to craft some fondant creations. K and I both wanted something fun and pretty to commemorate B's birthday with. Additionally, B had some insight of her own. She had told K that she loved the chocolate monograms from K's graduation cakes, and that the chocolate-raspberry and strawberry-cream flavors were her favorite. With flavor profiles set and at least one topper decided on, I went right to work. In the end, I chose to make some pretty flowers in bright summery colors, and some fun martini glasses. As a piece d'resistance, I made some catchy sombreros and mustaches-part inside joke, and part pure fun. Though I wasn't there to see the looks of overwhelming joy on the faces of those who indulged in my creations (kind of kidding... kind of not), I did hear there wasn't a crumb left over. I aim to please people.

Flowers and martinis galore!

More flowers and martinis!

Monograms and Ole!

Until next time, sweet dreams!

-J

A (Very Important) Graduation...

One of my favorite people in the whole word is my baby sister, K. We are 2 (and then some) years apart, as different as night and day, and despite this and the 200 odd miles that separate us, we are very close. So, naturally, K's graduation was EXTREMELY important to me. K had worked immensely hard, with intense determination, drive and passion to complete not just her undergrad, but her Master's degree in Accounting at UT. AND in a 5 year integrated program nonetheless. I couldn't have been prouder of my (sassy) baby sis. To make the occasion even more special, J, my sister's bestie, my honorary little sis and a welcome addition to our fantastic family, was graduating from UT as well! This was certainly, an occasion to celebrate, an occasion for a party, an occasion for... CUPCAKES!!!! (Duh, really, what did you expect?) My cupcake scheming immediately went into overdrive. These could not just be so-so cupcakes, they had to be the edible embodiment of such a milestone. Not only that, but there had to be A LOT of them (K estimated 60 would do the trick). Since I have pretty much perfected my basic cake flavor and filling options, choosing these was a no brainer. I would stick with some classic, well-received combinations- chocolate with raspberry filling, vanilla with lemon filling and strawberry with cream filling. Each cake would have the icing to match- chocolate fudge, vanilla and strawberry. Where my creativity really came into play was the toppers. Duff had some great orange and white sprinkles I would generously coat each top with, and I was also going to add some great fondant (again, this should be a palm to forehead moment) accents to each cake. I rapidly took myself to the Internet (you know what to do...) to research elements I wanted to incorporate. I finally landed on what I thought would be the perfect decorations for a burnt orange and white Hook 'Em affair. K loves my chocolate monogram look (let's face it, what's not to love there...) so I would have monogram Js and Ks with fondant flower and pearl sprinkle accents. I then was going to add some elements that were strictly UT- the burnt orange longhorn symbol, the classic UT symbol, the UT tower (with the number one lit up, naturally) and the McCombs School of Business logo (the school K spent many a long night in...). The flowers on the the chocolate monograms were to be the same color blue as the logo in the school (Human Ecology) that J graduated under. After printing some basic templates on the Internet, backing them up on cardstock and cutting them out, it was time to get to the real work! I mixed up copious amounts of burnt orange (I am still shocked I got the color right... it is a feat I will probably never be able to repeat), a bit of gray, black and blue and set to cutting. And cutting. And cutting. With the exception of the chocolate monograms, each topper was painstakingly cut out by hand with an exacto knife. This literally took me H O U R S upon H O U R S. Ah, the things you will do for the ones you love. I also carefully painted the year and the time on the UT clock towers. The time on each was set to either K or J's actual graduation time. It is this attention to detail my friends...  By the time everything was cut, dried, transported to Austin, baked, filled, topped, and artfully arranged I had probably spent about 25-35 hours on these cupcakes. A labor of love for sure. To date, these are my absolute favorite cupcakes I have ever created. Not only because they were stunning, but because they meant so much to my sister and marked such an awesome occasion. Oh, and they were delicious (as if you even had to ask)!

 Js and the McCombs logo

Js and Ks

Longhorns!

UT and Clock Towers (Note the times friends...)



Until next time, sweet dreams!

-J

A (Stranger's) Bridal Shower...

I'd like to say I'm a pretty helpful person, so when J asked (implored, perhaps) me to create cupcakes for a bridal shower she was throwing I had to say yes. Perhaps it was my love of making cupcakes, or maybe it was just J's desperate plea and relentless pestering (I kid, I kid) but I was on the case now! J and I had several brainstorming sessions to create the perfect shower cupcakes. The bride's favorite cake was red velvet with cream cheese frosting, and since I had never made a red velvet cake, I immediately went to the web where I could research and find the tastiest option. I learned a lot about red velvet (the red color originally was caused by a chemical reaction, it contains vinegar--oh and the vinegar smells like death) and found the perfect recipe. Then, it was to figure out the perfect toppers for the bride to be. We both decided we really liked the chocolate monogram look, and thought it would be cute if I could fashion the tops of cupcakes to look like the busts of a wedding dress. Both of these things I had never attempted before, but my ever loving desire to research random topics on the computer had me figuring out the techniques in no time. A trip to the store later, and I was laden with new cupcake wares, all of which would help me create some perfect designs. After finding the best monogram "S" (bride's new last initial to be) on the *gasp* Internet, I began carefully piping out melted chocolate. Before the chocolate solidified, I adorned them with little sprinkle pearls, and added a pink royal icing flower. They were quite adorable, and I was pleased. Now it was to make the cakes and dress busts. J and I decided to have a sleepover, where we would be free to create delicious treats and so I wouldn't have to transport the cakes the next day. After a few minor setbacks (I forgot the sprinkles, J didn't have a hand mixer...) we began baking away. J was my apprentice, a role she decided she would not like to take again (I run a bit of a bakesweatshop), and together we worked into the wee hours of the morning. Again we hit a few more setbacks (I turned the skin orange--can you say too much spray tan?--,the royal icing busts kept sliding off the cakes, and there was that vinegar death smell to contend with), and consumed enough batter and icing to make our teeth hurt and to feel jittery. In the end everything turned out great! After all, J had me at "I'll pay for your supplies and feed you!"

Wedding Dress Busts. I am working to perfect the look of these for the future!

Monogram Ss. Love, love, love these!

Until next time, sweet dreams!

-J

A Baby Shower (and a Snow Storm)...

Texas does get the occasional snow storm, especially North Texas. When the snow blows in, I get giddy with excitement and run to my coat closet to grab my rain boots, big, puffy, blue, marshmallow jacket, and red puff ball hat with matching gloves. Off I go, to frolic in the snow, throw snowballs, and make very attractive snow men. I'm sure true northerners would laugh at the extent of our glee at a mere inch or two of snow, as well as the way the whole city shuts down. This year we had Snowmageddon 2011. When it was all said and done, we had several inches of ice under several inches of snow, hazardous driving conditions and 4 days off of work. By day 2 of our little Snow Break I had a full blown case of cabin fever which resulted in a several mile trek on foot to the closest Target. It also resulted in my first experience working with royal icing. I had been wanting to experiment with royal icing, and I had the fortune of being able to speak with an expert at a local store on making this. Being locked in my apartment due to Snowmageddon gave me a perfect time frame to experiment, and I had the perfect occasion to experiment for! S, the same S who was a bridesmaid with me in M's wedding, was having a baby! As part of my gift, and at the request of the expectant mother I was going to make cupcakes at the baby shower. I had already settled on the cupcakes: strawberry with strawberry icing and hazelnut with chocolate hazelnut icing (no filling this time). The only thing left, was creating toppers. I felt that royal icing would give me the freedom that I lacked in fondant, and my mind was swimming with cute baby girl themed ideas. After a few trials and many errors I had perfected my royal icing technique and was crafting away. Sweet little girl A was going to have cupcakes fit for a princess, which she was sure to be!

Personalized Bottles and Diaper Pins

Little As and Duckies

Baby Booties and Baby Feet

Pacifiers and Booties

Cupcake Tower at the Shower

Cupcake Displays



Until next time, sweet dreams!

-J

A BFF's Birthday (Part 2)...

November brought C's birthday. C followed J into the world of 25dom, and as usual, we girls immediately got busy planning the party. This was a college tradition. Each birthday brought theme apartment decorations (my favorite being "Pin the Tail on the C"), new outfits for one and all, and shoe polishing of cars. We did birthdays up right in D-Town, and we carried these traditions over into our post-college years. A little scaled down, yes, but still just as festive. As we got down to planning, C decided to have a hometown, country celebration at her mom's house. We were going to have a bonfire, home-smoked barbeque and a field. To me, a big city girl, this concept was completely foreign. Bonfire? Barbeque from home? A FIELD? Ah, so little I knew about the country that my dear friends tried to educate me on. After getting over my initial shock (haha), I was excited for the celebration full of C's closest family and friends. C requested cupcakes, and I as always, was happy to oblige. I began throwing out ideas to C: pumpkin cupcakes (seriously, these things are addicting... a definite seasonal hit!), strawberry shortcake, chocolate hazelnut. We decided that those three options would be more than divine, and I got to work planning. C graciously let me slide on toppers, as there were to be many cupcakes to bake. The pumpkin cupcakes were a no brainer. The strawberry shortcake and chocolate hazelnut required a little more thought. Eventually I landed on a shortcake cupcake with mascarpone filling and strawberry icing and a hazelnut cupcake with chocolate filling and chocolate hazelnut icing. I quickly put together J's littlest bakeshop and enlisted the help of both C and J to help me bake away. After the cupcakes were crafted, they made the trip to the country where the littlest bakeshop was once again started and C and J helped me fill and ice dozens of cupcakes. The end results were quite yummy, and the party was a blast!

Yummy country cupcakes!

Until next time, sweet dreams!

-J

A Teacher's Lounge Celebration...

Once a month the teacher's lounge is fully decorated and stocked with snacks of all kinds. Decadent sausage rolls (my recipe is unrivaled), delicious snack mixes, cream cheese blocks with chipotle jelly, crackers and dips, assorted fruits and vegetables and desserts of all kinds are proudly displayed. These treats are put out once a month in honor of birthdays. Instead of having many mini-celebrations, we combine all of the birthdays into a mega celebration totally worth having. And, as all of my fellow teachers will tell you, nothing makes us happier than a delicious food day in the lounge! We live for them. My team always has November. Each teammate brings something salty or savory and something sweet. For me, it is always the sausage pinwheels and some kind of cookie. However, this year I knew I was going to bring CUPCAKES. Thanksgiving is also a time for pumpkin (um, pumpkin pie anyone? I like my whip cream with a side of pie...) and my Halloween cupcakes were such a hit, I decided to revisit my pumpkin/brown sugar/cinnamon cream cheese creation with a different topper. These were to be fall themed, so I got to work mixing fondant in foliage colors, cutting and inlaying leaves, and hand painting steams on each little cupcake. The result, as my little brother from another mother would say, was out of this world!

Some pretty (edible) fall foliage!

Some more yummy treats.

Unitl next time, sweet dreams!

-J