"We'll Miss you" Cupcakes

My co-op's last day was last week and I wanted to give her some "we'll miss you" cupcakes. The only thing I didn't have time to make was an actual sign that said 'We'll miss you' which would give more context to the cupcake faces.

These were pretty complicated cupcakes to explain the flavors to people:
1. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie dough in the middle, with cookie dough buttercream
2. Vanilla bean cupcake with chocolate filling, topped with mocha cookie crumble buttercream (I 'reused' the icing name from a Starbucks drink)

The chocolate filling was a bit sparse but I did get to try out a new tool that my Secret Santa gave me and I know how to make it better for the next batch. It's too bad I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the center of each of these cupcakes.

Snowman Cupcakes!

Adding to my x-mas decorations for cupcakes is a cute little fondant snowman! My friend had asked for some Christmas themed cupcakes so I made the x-mas tree from the previous x-mas post, some flat gingerbread man toppers and a snowman topper.  I really enjoy making x-mas decorations since they are so colorful.

For this particular snowman cupcake, I had made some chocolate cupcakes using Soma coco powder and European butter. These were topped with cookies and cream buttercream.  So yummy for any Oreo lover! I blended a few Oreos in a food processor and added it to the buttercream.

Christmas Cupcakes

Its Christmas time in the city!  Houses are all lit with pretty Christmas lights, everyone is drinking hot chocolate, what better time to make some Christmas cupcakes.  My friend asked me to make some cupcakes for her with three different flavors. I decided to have some fun with it and make really cute Xmas decorations.

• Pistachio (Madagascar) vanilla bean with pistachio buttercream: fondant candy canes and gingerbread man
• Red velvet with white chocolate cream cheese: Xmas tree made out of the frosting topped with jujube star
• Pumpkin spice with maple cream cheese: Xmas sprinkles with Walkers shortbread Christmas cookies

All of these cupcakes were made with European butter. I really do find a difference using European butter vs regular butter. It makes the cupcake more creamy and velvet-y.  Which makes it more yummy!

Red Velvet and Vanilla Bean Cupcakes for Aunt and Uncle's Anniversary Party

My first cupcake tower! My cousins had asked me to make some cupcakes for their parents 35th anniversary party. So of course I was so excited to do this for them.  Red velvet was the top flavor of choice and for some variety, I also made vanilla bean cupcakes.  The red velvet was made with European butter, Soma cocoa powder and topped with white chocolate cream cheese.  I think I've also finally mastered making a cream cheese frosting, making it perfectly fluffy without it being too runny.  The vanilla bean cupcake used Madagascar vanilla beans and was topped with vanilla buttercream.

The decorations had a romantic theme to them, with lots of hearts and romantic colors to celebrate the occasion. The roses on top were made from scratch by yours truly. My first real looking roses which turned out surprisingly well. 

Chocolate Gingerbread Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

It's almost 1 month before x-mas and everyone is getting in the holiday spirit. That includes gingerbread everything including cookies, lattes and of course cupcakes! The holidays wouldn't be complete without it.  I made these chocolate gingerbread cupcakes with Soma Chocolatier cocoa powder and European butter, and topped it with white chocolate buttercream and a cute little shimmery gingerbread man made out of fondant. I thought it would be more artistic to not put faces on these little fellas.

Black Sesame Cupcakes and Pistachio Cupcakes 

Its a couple of my friends birthdays this week so I wanted to surprise them with some cute cupcakes. Plus it gave me an excuse to make some more figurines with fondant.  One of my friends loves pistachio so I made half batch of pistachio and the other half black sesame for a more asian flavor. Black sesame is big in Asian desserts and has a nutty flavor to it. My favorite is black sesame rice balls in sweet soup and black sesame ice cream.

I roasted the black sesame to bring out the flavor and made a vanilla bean base with black sesame mixed into it, with black sesame buttercream.  Then I crushed up pistachio and made a vanilla bean base, with pistachio mixed into it, with pistachio buttercream. This time I added a very small bit of green food coloring to give it some more color. Both flavors used European butter.

For the figurines, I made a different cupcake topper for each friend... race car driver, roses and makeup. It was a lot of fun making these, its just like playdough!

Pistachio Vanilla Bean Purse Cupcakes

My close friend's birthday is coming up and she really likes pistachio and designer purses so I decided to make her some pistachio cupcakes with super cute fondant purses as the topper.  The purses were made from scratch and I'm super excited they turned out so well! The cupcake was a vanilla bean base with grounded up pistachios, topped with pistachio buttercream. Next time I might add some green food coloring to make the buttercream 'pop' a bit more.

It was the first time I've baked cupcakes using Madagascar vanilla beans and it really made the cupcake a lot more flavorful. I'll definitely be using that spice from now on for my vanilla cupcakes.

Mocha Chocolate Project Deployment Cupcakes

My company was having a major overnight deployment this weekend so I thought I'd bring in some mocha chocolate cupcakes to help keep the team awake.  Our project themes use the Dharma stations from the tv show 'Lost' so there was an Arrow project (left) and a Looking Glass project (right). There is a very popular and high end chocolatier store in Toronto called Soma. The mocha chocolate buttercream used Soma's cocoa powder to give it an even more yummier chocolate flavor.

Halloween Cupcakes Part 2

So last weekend's Halloween cupcakes were a trial for this week's 100 halloween cupcakes for a work party.  I made 3 flavors (all with vanilla icing): chocolate (mummy face), vanilla (scary eye) and pumpkin spice (gravestone on grass).  I baked before hand and froze the cupcakes.  In the morning, I frosted all 100 cupcakes as fast as I could to get to the party in time.  It was fun to make these different designs. And they were a hit! Everyone loved them.  Happy Halloween!

Halloween Cupcakes!!

With Halloween around the corner, I was in a Halloween mood this past weekend. So I made some RIP gravestones on  grass and mummy face cupcakes! Both made on the best chocolate cupcake that I've baked to date (thanks to my experiment with European butter).  My parents were visiting and assisted me with this batch.  My mom thought the mummy face looked a bit bare so she put a chocolate nose on it and my dad took these lovely pictures.

My parents, who are normally so very picky about desserts being too sweet, gave me compliments like "These taste so light and moist like the Japanese or Chinese cakes".  I will definitely be making more with this chocolate cupcake recipe in the future.

Circus Themed Cupcake Loot Bags

When my friend asked me to make some cupcakes to use as loot bags for her son's 1 year birthday party, I jumped at the opportunity.  She was having a circus themed birthday party and I found the perfect circus themed boxes to put the cupcakes in. Fantastic!  The kids gobbled them up.  One of the guests even told me their daughter saved her cupcake to bring to school the next day. So cute!

I made 4 different flavors:

• Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and gummy bears
• Chocolate cupcakes with oreo buttercream
• Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and smarties
• Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream and marshmallows

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

One of my favorite ice cream flavors is chocolate chip cookie dough. Its like a surprise with every bite to get chunks of chewy cookie dough in a bite full of delicious ice cream.  I thought I'd try to replicate that delight with chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. You get a surprise cookie dough in the middle when you bite into it. And who doesn't just love to snack on cookie dough when you are baking cookies.  It just melts in your mouth.

Some of the compliments I have received are "The icing actually tastes like real cookie dough!". Who wouldn't love this.  Its happiness in a cupcake.

Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes

Who doesn't love Ferrero Rocher? Its one of those chocolates that remind me of Christmas. Every Christmas, my mom would always buy a big box of Ferrero Rocher for us to devour while we opened presents.  Its no wonder that when I made these cupcakes, they got the most 'likes' on Facebook and everyone wanted me to make some more so they could try it as well. With a chocolate and hazelnut ganache, this cupcake just melts in your mouth with Ferrero goodness.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy Thanksgiving! Since the beautiful fall colors have started appearing, I've decided to make some fall themed cupcakes, inspired by Starbucks. The one on the left has maple cream cheese frosting with cumbled graham crackers and the one on the right has cookie butter cream cheese frosting with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Both with pumpkin spice cupcake, both equally as delicious. I couldn't decide which I liked more! These cupcakes were brought to a Thanksgiving dinner and were a big hit!

These are definitely a must try!