Wedding 3.0 - Why I Made Over 300 Cupcakes

(This photo doesn't show all of the cupcakes.
The staff replenished them as they were eaten.)

My husband and I have a tradition.  Every night On nights when we think of it and aren't too tired, we each say the highlight of our day and the accomplishment that we are most proud of that day.  Highlights are the hardest to do on really bad days, but I think those days are the most time important time to think about them.  The ritual forces the day to end on a positive note - and even really crappy days have their positive moments.

Well, you can guess what my highlight was yesterday after successfully baking and delivering the over 300 cupcakes for Wedding 3.0.  Obviously, it could have been finishing this monumental task. But, it wasn't.  My highlight of the day was remembering why I decided to bake the cupcakes in the first place.

Ready To Go

The over 300 cupcakes are all baked, frosted, topped, wrappered, and ready to go out the door.  Phew!! 

6 hours until showtime!


Speaking of Ready to Go

Tomorrow is the last day to enter the ice cream cupcake round up!  Is your ice cream cupcake ready? We've been super excited with the entries that we have already received!

Sweet Potato is Kinda Like Pumpkin, Right?

There is always a snafu.  I know it will happen.  With Couple 1.0, it was the frosting mix up.  I put the soda fountain frosting on the gingerbread latte cupcakes and vice versa.  Jonathan and I (mostly Jonathan) ended up wiping all the frosting off and and re-doing it (lesson learned - label all the boxes).  With Couple 2.0 it was the flimsy boxes and the cupcakes sliding all over the place (I bought some seriously thick boxes this year and I'm using shelf liner to keep the cupcakes from slipping - hope it works!).   Wedding 3.0's (which takes place on Sunday) snafu has already happened.  I guess it's good to get it out of the way so early.

See those cans right in front of the bag of flour - by the chocolate chips?  I'll tell you what those cans are not:  they are not pumpkin.  You see, it's hard to find pumpkin in the Spring because it's a seasonal item.  But this year, it's even harder.  Did you hear about the pumpkin shortage from flooding earlier this year?  There were no cans of pumpkin to be found to make the chocolate pumpkin cupcakes for Wedding 3.0.  Luckily, Whole Foods sells canned sweet potato.  Sweet potato is kinda like pumpkin, right? 

The chocolate pumpkin (sweet potato) cupcakes are all baked and I can attest to the fact that only the most astute squash snobs will know the difference.  Phew!

Thanks goes out as always to Jonathan for cleaning up after me and to my mother-in-law for babysitting Myles and taking over loading cupcakes in and out of the oven after he fell asleep. Everyone should be so lucky as to have such an awesome mother-in-law!

I'll be posting more Wedding 3.0 updates as they happen on the blog and on Twitter.  I sincerely hope that I have not jinxed myself by saying that the snafu has already happened. 

The Devil and The Monk

The story of The Devil and The Monk Cupcakes begins in 1812 with a beer...

Chocolate Ganache With the Magic of Cheese

Smooth, rich, indulgent chocolate ganache is always a smart choice for a sophisticated cupcake.  Imagine, if you will, making that chocolate ganache using not only your favorite dark chocolate, but also your favorite soft cheese.  What you end up with is a magical ganache that has a complexity that you won't soon forget.  You'll find that the bowl of ganache will have a magnetic pull on you.  You'll resist putting it into the sink because you'll always be able to find just one more lick of the chocolate - and wouldn't it be a shame to wash even the smallest taste down the drain?

Cupcake Decorating Supplies - What You Need to Make Cute Cupcakes

I asked you what cupcake decorating supplies you would put in a tool box and without even realizing it, your over 200 comments have created the ultimate cupcake decorating supplies list!  Rather than making you read through the comments, I've created a cupcake decorating supplies CliffsNotes list for you.

Wedding 3.0 Chosen Ones

Wedding 3.0 (here's the back story if you are new to the blog) happens in just over two weeks!!  I can't believe it's almost here!

Bride and Groom 3.0 have been tasting cupcakes since October and they have finally chosen the three cupcakes that I will make for their wedding.

***Drum roll***

Win a Real Toolbox Filled with Cupcake Supplies + A Copy of "What's New Cupcake?"

In case you haven't yet heard, a cupcake book made The New York Times Best Seller list.  It's called What's New, Cupcake? and I'm giving away a copy of it - plus a giant toolbox filled with cupcake supplies!

Jasmine Cupcakes with Raspberry and Honey

The smell of these jasmine cupcakes greets you first - somewhat formally. You feel like giving them a small bow.  Instead, you inhale deeply and are transported to an intimate tea house on a carefree day.  Your first bite begins with the jasmine flavor that you were smelling.  Only after the bite is swallowed do you start to notice the slight hint of raspberry and sweet honey.  You go in for a second bite and continue nibbling at the slow pace that the tea demands until the cupcake is gone and you are left only with a memory and a desire to revisit the tea house tomorrow.

Baking with Tea - How To Get the Flavor of Tea Into Your Baked Goods

I'm officially hooked on baking with tea.  I'm craving baked goods with chamomile, oolong, and chrysanthemum. Why?  I learned the trick to getting a vibrant tea flavor in my baking and I'm itching to experiment.

I've tried baking with tea before, but I couldn't get the tea flavor to come through strongly enough.  I've tried:

• Grinding tea and putting it directly in the batter.  This doesn't release the tea flavor and people don't like finding leaf bits in their cupcakes.
• Steeping the tea in milk and using the tea-infused milk. I imagine that this could work, but not all recipes contain milk - and if they do, it's not always enough to strongly affect the cupcake flavor.
• Steeping tea bags in butter.  The butter boiled, the flavor never changed, and the tea bags disintegrated.  People like pieces of tea bag in their cupcake far less than they like leaves.

So what's the best way to bake with tea?