Daycare Christmas Party

I did an order for one of my favorite little girls:)  Miss Abigail is 2 years old and LOVES cupcakes!  Her mom ordered a variety so I stuck to chocolate and vanilla (with vanilla and chocolate cream cheese buttercream).

Holiday Office Party Cupcakes

These are some of the pics from an order I did for a holiday party on a unit at the United Nations.  4 flavors: Chocolate with Swiss Meringue frosting, Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting, Coconut with Malibu Cream Cheese Buttercream and Vanilla Buttermilk with Caramel Icing.

Billie's Black Open Mic

Last night I did giveaways at Billies Black open mic.  It was veeeerrry SEXY;) Everyone was so friendly and cool and the owner was also very nice.  I had some fried chicken and fish-DELISH!  I put Red Velvet and Chocolate mini cupcakes under their Christmas tree.  I packaged them individually so they'd be easier to give out.  A couple more pics from the night:

Mini White Chocolate Amaretto Cupcakes

I did a "recipe remix" using one of my favorite alcohols and my love of chocolate.  Some people do not like white chocolate but I do not discriminate when it comes to chocolate. I have love for ALL of them:). Searched online for some and nothing seemed like it would work so I took the recipe from the Caramel Cupcakes, followed pretty much the same exact steps but made a few ingredient changes and stirred in the melted white chocolate right before baking.  Overall, I thought these were just OK. Kinda too sweet and not moist enough for my taste.  I got good feedback about them but not so sure about making these again.

INGREDIENTS (makes about 36 minis)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp amaretto
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp milk
3/4 cake flour ( make my own sifting cornstarch and AP flour)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter
5 oz melted white chocolate (cooled)

I did these for a graduation (nursing) celebration so I made cupcake picks to liven them up a bit.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

It's officially FREEZING in NY so I've ben craving soup. My daughter loves Panera's Broccoli Cheddar bread bowl so I made this tonight since I had most of the ingredients on hand.

Cook 1/4 cup flour in 1/4 butter for about 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups half and half and 2 cups chicken broth. Cook on low for about 25 minutes

Add fresh broccoli or thawed frozen broccoli. Cook 6-8 minutes

Puree in blender or food processor. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Add grated cheddar cheese (I used white) and season to taste. Pour into serving bowls, top with shredded cheese (preferably a contrasting color. I used yellow). Lastly, top with croutons.

Networking Event

Friday night I supplied cupcakes for Rosa's Resources' Customer Appreciation and Networking Party at Harlem Lanes.  I had a great time and Rosa is truly a beautiful person. There was great music, great food, a very funny MC (DJ Mario), "interesting" prizes and a runway walk competition.  Some pics from the night.

Rosa working the room and serving my cupcakes.

All gone!

Enjoying that Red Velvet!

Thanks Rosa! You're the BEST!

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Filling

I've had a can of Organic Pumpkin Puree since Halloween and kept talking about making Pumpkin Bread. Since my daughter is not into big breakfasts, I thought this would be a good choice for her.  I searched the Internet for "the perfect recipe." I wanted something a little more special than just regular pumpkin bread or muffins.  Then, I found this recipe on Joy of Baking.  I halved it and modified it a bit (see end of post for recipe).  I did this at 4:30 AM!  It came out very moist with the perfect amount of sweetness.  My daughter loved it!

Dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin spice

Wet ingredients- Organic pumpkin puree, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract; brown sugar and cane sugar

Add half of batter, layer with cream cheese filling then top with remaining batter

Bake for about 1 hour and let cool for 10 minutes.

Kahlua Chocolate Cake

Recently I've been trying to come up with a new flavor to add to my 'roster.'  Being that I LOVE chocolate I thought about doing something extra to a great recipe I already use from Glorious Treats.  So, I decided to punch up the flavor a bit with Kahlua.  Coffee intensifies chocolate so I thought this would be a good addition.  I reduced the boiling water to 3/4 cup and replaced with 1/4 cup of Kahlua.  In the end the Kahlua flavor was subtle and the cake was deliciously moist. Overall, this cake was a HUGE hit and I would definitely make it again.

Added dry ingredients  (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt) to wet ingredients (eggs, oil, milk and vanilla)

Mix in Kahlua and boiling water

Batter will be runny

Drizzled Kahlua on top and in between layers

3 layers of frosting

Covered the cake in rosesusing small star tip (Wilton). Couldn't find my large star tip 21

Voila!

Cupcake Display

I'm pretty pleased with my cakes and frosting but I'm looking for a little more oomph in my presentations.  Food is also a form of artistic expression but I don't like food that has been overly manipulated and handled.  Sometimes I see these beautiful cakes on Cake Boss and Amazing Cakes but watching them make it makes me not want to eat it.  I like my food to look a little less like art and a little more like food.  All that to say while I was baking for Thanksgiving, I decided to play with a display option for an event I'm doing next week.  I went to Michael's earlier this week and lost my damn mind picked up a few things.  I wanted to either do a cupcake bouquet or cupcake martini. I bought the glass, a round styrofoam block and some confetti string.

I taped (double-sided) the block inside the glass and spread the red and white string.

I stuck 2 toothipicks in the styrofoam for each cupcake and slid them on one by one.

I cut the leaves off these decorations.

Placed the leaves in an alternate pattern.

Frosted them with the small star tip (Wilton)

All done! Pretty classy if I do say so myself;)

Thanksgiving Cupcake Marathon

Today I made over 100 cupcakes!  My feet are sore but I still feel great! After taste-testing quite a few being surrounded by cupcakes all day, I know what I'll pass on at dinner tomorrow.  At least they were not the regular sized-ones:) Actually, most of the feedback I get usually has to do with the size.  This is one instance where bigger is not always better.  I personally also like the mini cupcakes because I feel a lot a little less guilty.

Red Velvet, Cookies n Cream, and Caramel

These are most of the cupcakes I made.

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

After making bread for the first time a few months ago, I vowed to never buy bread again (I get really excited sometimes).  I'm always pleased with the results and I love knowing EXACTLY what I put in it.  My mom and neighbor love it also and often ask when I'm making my next loaf.  I modify a recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.  (I replace 3 cups of all purpose flour with whole wheat flour and replace some of the regular sugar with brown sugar and honey.  I do this to ensure that the bread is soft and moist.  It takes about 3-4 hours but most of that time is just waiting for the dough to rise.

Ingredients

Heat milk to 110 degrees and place in bowl of mixer.

Sprinkle yeast over milk and stir with whisk.

Add flour, eggs, butter, sugar, honey and salt and knead. 

Pat down on a floured surface and sprinkle with cinnamon and raisins 

Let rise for 1 hour. Since my apartment is cold,  I place it on my stovetop with the oven on. I rotate  it after 30 minutes.

It should double in size.

Pat out and spread cinnamon sugar and water filling.  Roll into a log and tuck in edges.  Let rise in greased loaf pans.

Brush with beaten egg and bake for 30-40 minutes at 380-400 degrees.The baking times and temperature in Martha Stewart's book don't work for me for some reason. So I bake it for less time at a reduce temperature.

Let cool on wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!