Thursday, October 27, 2011

Feeding My Coffee Addiction for A Cause!

As you all may know by now...I'm addicted to coffee - anytime, any flavor, any size, and I'm in love (just don't tell my boyfriend!).  As part of my cupcake experiments, I knew I had to test out some coffee flavored ones - I found these in a cupcake book my mom bought for me and they sounded delish!  Mocha cupcakes with whipped cream icing - and as part of my fundraising for my friend's mom - I thought it would be fun to make 'em MINI!

Mini Mocha Cupcakes (doesn't it just roll off of your tongue!).  Well - I made my first mini batch, and ESPRESSO explosion, oh yeah... super strong espresso flavor.  So, I emailed all of my customers (3 dozen - 3 customers!) and warned them of the strong coffee flavor.  But - I also added a whipped cream icing, some cocoa powder and a tiny piece of dark chocolate and since they are all bite-sized, I figured it would combine really well into a yummy mocha (mini) cupcake!  I think they came out cute, what about you?  BAKE ON!


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Cupcakes for a Cause!

With all of my different experiments going on to try out new flavors for cupcakes, I decided that I might as well put my experimentation to good use!  A family friend's mother is battling cancer, and it's been a pretty uphill battle thus far - her son reached out to family and friends to come up with some ideas on how to raise some money to help her out.

Who doesn't love cupcakes?  So, why not take the cupcakes I was experimenting with and sell them?  I figured I would only sell 2 dozen each week and do it for a couple of weeks.  After posting my Caramel Apple cupcakes on Facebook - I received FIVE orders for 12 cupcakes!  Can you believe it?  So, I made a whole bunch of cupcakes (new apple spice recipe that I tested out..YUMMY).  Then I made a caramel buttercream from scratch, for the first time.  It wasn't so much of a piping buttercream, but more of a glaze!  The only thing is...the caramel overpowered some of the apple flavor, but combined it was one pretty sweet snack!

















Next up - I am thinking some sort of java/chocolate/coffee flavored cupcake.  I will post on Facebook the flavor and when they will be available.  I think I may limit these to just 24 cupcakes because I don't have a lot of time in the upcoming weeks - but every little bit helps!  Take a look at the cupcakes below, what do you think?  Festive, right?  Bake ON!