"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.