Groovin'

I had a yen to try those Rainbow cupcakes you see all over the blogs these days.

They just look so awesome and festive.

And what's better, they really can't come out wrong.

I mean, really, what's easier?

Use your favorite white cupcake recipe, divide the batter into 4 bowls, and add your colors of choice.

I suppose you could do as many colors as you wanted, but there's such a thing as TOO much of a good thing. I mean, really, you don't want the colors running together, and there being very little distinction between them.

I chose fuschia, yellow, orange, teal and violet for mine. (Yes, I went with 5 cuz I couldn't decide!!)

They looked so adorable when they came out of the oven.

And decorated, they looked even better. For my frosting, I used the Creamy Vanilla Frosting from the Magnolia Bakery. I just looooooove that stuff. I swear, I could eat the whole bowl if I could.

Anyway, I couldn't wait to slice one open.

As they say nowadays, way cool. (Or is that sooooo 90's?)

Our newest addition to the SweetCakes family. "The Psychedelic Shack".......(what can I say, I'm stuck in the 60's!!)

Cake Pops

Cake Pops.....We've all heard of them, right? Well, perhaps not if you're not into baking. But recently these little darlings have become a sensation. You may have noticed that they're even selling them at Starbuck's now.

If you really want to see some awesome work, either visit Bakerella's site, or pick up her book. The woman is a marvel, I tell ya.

I've been trying my hand at them lately cuz, really, they are so cute and yummy.

The ones in the photographs in this post are made from banana cake, mixed with my new favorite buttercream, Magnolia Bakery's Fluffy Vanilla. I swear, I could eat that frosting with a spoon!!

In case some of you would like to try this, it's really fun to do, and not that difficult. First, collect some scraps from a cake you've levelled, or a layer that you've baked and perhaps frozen for later use.

Crumble the cake up nice and smooth, and add about 1/4 cup of the frosting to it. Recipes I've read have called for up to 1/2 cup for an entire recipe (2 layers), but I like to start with less and add more as I go.

You mix this all up till it's a nice consistency. Then use something that will give you equal measurements, like a measuring spoon, or melon baller, or cookie scoop, and grab yourself some of your cake-ball mix. Roll it into a nice ball. Place the ball on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Continue with the rest of the mixture.

Once you have all your cookie balls made, either pop them in the fridge for a couple of hours, or freeze for about 15 min, then put them in the fridge.

When you're ready to dip them, take some candy melts and a little bit of shortening (to make the chocolate a little thinner), and microwave until melted. I think the rule of thumb is about 3-4T of shortening for a whole bag of melts, so you can gauge how much to put in based on the amount of chocolate you're melting.

Then, take a few of the cookie balls out of the fridge. Take a lollipop stick, and dip it about 1/2 inch into the melted chocolate. Put the stick into the cake ball, being careful not to come out of the top of the ball. About halfway, or a little less, should be safe. After we've done a few, return them to the fridge to set. Continue until you have "stuck" all the cake balls with lollipop sticks.

When they've firmed up some, (maybe an hour or so), again, take a few out at a time, and dip them in the chocolate, making sure to cover the entire ball. It is easier if you have the chocolate in a deep enough container so that you can fully submerge your cake ball.

Tap the stick lightly on the edge of your container to let the excess fall away. The chocolate will start to firm up fairly quickly, so if you're going to do any decorating, now's the time. You can roll the cake pop in sprinkles, or jimmies, or cake crunch. You can let the chocolate dry, and then draw designs on the pops with candy writers that come in little tubes. You can even decorate them with fondant.

There are literally thousands of ways to decorate your cake pops. I hope that you'll try them out with your favorite cake recipe and enjoy.

At SweetCakes, we are currently offering cake pops in the following flavors: chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, lemon, pumpkin spice, banana, white almond, vanilla malt, coca cola (regular and cherry), root beer, and coconut. They are available by half dozen of one flavor, and range from $1.00 for small ones, to $1.50 for the largest size.

Cake pops can also be made into bouquets, much like cupcakes can. Call us today to order your own!!!

The evolution of a cupcake

I've been trying and trying to find a lemon cake recipe that I like. The box mixes are too fakey tasting for me..(and that's not how I roll anyway)...And most of the scratch recipes have been too mild in the flavor department.

It's almost like my search for the perfect white cake recipe. It took me forever, but I finally climbed that mountain. And that story is for another post, on another day.

Anyhoo, I did find the most wonderful lemon cake recipe in a book called The Well Decorated Cake by Toba Garrett. It's actually a lemon coconut cake recipe, but by omitting the shredded coconut (which I don't care for anyway), it became my long sought-after lemon cake recipe.

(Btw, this book is a worthy purchase as Ms. Garrett is a wealth of knowledge on decorating technique, etc. )

Anyway, back to the lemon cake. It's hard to describe the smell that emanates from the oven when this cake is baking. And when you finally take it out, and snitch a piece, the lemon flavor just explodes in your mouth. Which doesn't surprise me since the recipe calls for the zest of 3 lemons, lemon curd and lemon juice. That's a 1-2-3 punch!!! I've been using this recipe for a while now, with wonderful results.

But, tonight, I decided to put that lemon cake together with strawberry, and this is what I came up with:

These cuppies, wearing their pretty little wrappers made by yours truly, are a veritable delight. In the center of this luscious lemon cakette is a slice of strawberry, which is a pleasant surprise for your taste buds as you bite into it.

On top of the cuppie, I made an oh-so-fluffy Strawberry buttercream which isn't at all cloyingly sweet like some buttercreams can be. The flavor of the strawberry is a definite complement to the lemon.

Finally, I garnished the whole thing with some fresh lemon zest, just to keep the flavors all balanced and working together. It really is a delicious cupcake. My name for it?? The STRAWBERRY BLONDE. :-) I hope you'll try some at SWEETCAKES.

Pictures

For those that have asked us about pictures of some of our cupcakes, here are a few:

The above cupcakes are Blueberry Puree cupcake with a Whipped Blueberry Buttercream. They are really scrumptious, and the color is absolutely amazing. Only in nature....

These are our Cherry Cordial: a devil's food cupcake with cherries, topped with chocolate ganache, cherry infused Buttercream, and a chocolate covered cherry. These are very popular!!

These cuties are our Pink Velvet cupcakes with a White Chocolate Ganache, topped with pink sugar crystals. For anyone who's ever had velvet cake, other than red velvet, you know that it's smoothness cannot be compared!

And finally, we have our Milky Way Cupcakes. These are truly out of this world. (No pun intended). The cupcake is actually made with melted Milky Way candy. And it only gets better from there!!

Are ya hungry yet????? :-)

Fooling around with some springtime designs

I wanted to decorate a few cupcakes I made tonight in some fun, whimsical, springtime designs. So.....I broke out the mixing bowl and made a batch of Vanilla Buttercream. Then I went to town tinting all different colors. I already had some orange and yellow from yesterday's adventure in making my cupcake bouquet, but I really wanted to work with some new colors. I had seen a blog post the other day by someone who had done cupcakes for a bridal shower in Tiffany teal. What an awesome shade!! I checked my collection of gel colors, and sure enough, there was the teal. (Funny, I don't remember buying it.) So, I mixed it into some white, et voila, Tiffany teal. (Or is it Tiffany blue?? IDK)

As you can see from the picture, I really like the blue! lol
But, I also had fun making those little bunnies. They are just too cute for words. The body and head are done in tip 12, the feet (paws) in tip 3 or 4, the nose in tip 2 or 3, the eyes are just a touch of black food coloring on a toothpick, and the ears are snips of marshmallow. Aren't they precious?

It's gonna be 70 degrees here on Monday. I'd say spring has arrived!

Wouldn't these cuppies look wonderful on your Easter table?? SweetCakes is taking orders for Easter now.

Cupcake Bouquets

Cupcake bouquets are an adorable way to send a gift of sweetness.

They can made in any size and flavor, with either standard size cupcakes, or precious minis.

Let SweetCakes help make your Easter and/or Mother's Day more special with a Cupcake Bouquet!!

Give us a call today, and order your Cupcake Bouquet!!!