Wedding Cupcakes: Itta + Javier = LOVE

Last weekend, I had the honor of making my co-workers' wedding cupcakes. It has been a dream of mine to make wedding cupcakes. When I was planning my own wedding, I was very adamant about making my own. It was not until my wonderful bridal party and my photographer who brought me down to reality. With all the craziness the week of the wedding, there would not have been any time.

Alas, the dream of making my own wedding cupcakes were put away for another time. Until Itta got engaged. The first thing she said to me was, "So you're making my cake right?" My reply, "Sure. Uh huh." Thinking that we were just having a chat. Nope. She ment it. So began the process of designing, creating, planning, delivery, and setup of these wonderful cupcakes.


I have to put this photo in. This is the VP of Operations of the company. All night I sat by this man who was anxiously waiting for the cupcakes. We kept telling him, that if he was a good boy, his patience would be rewarded. As you can see, he got his cupcakes.


I surprised Itta's husband Javier with a groom's cake. As a wedding gift, Javier restored a Volkswagen bug. I thought it would be cute to make a car cake that looked similar to his restored car. :)

To Itta and Javier! Congrats on your nuptials. You two are are the most generous and sweetest couple that I have ever met.

Daring Baker's Challenge : PIECE MONTÉE

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

I've made cream puffs before, but was never able to achieve the crispy outside. The egg wash definitely made the difference. The photo is actually my second attempt at creating the tower. I was able to successfully make a tower without a cone reinforcement. Please with the result, I quickly ran to get the camera for the money shot.

Husband says, "Hey honey. What happened here?" When I heard that, I knew the tower had collapsed. So if you squint, you can tell I used a small tin cup to hold my croquembouche together.

Enjoy!

Daring Bakers: Traditonal British Pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

What is suet? Well my friends, suet is essentially animal fat/lard used to make flaky crusts. The idea of suet for a baking challenge turned me off. Thankfully, Esther did offer us a vegetarian and vegan option. Lucky for me, the vegan option required no special ingredients. Plus I had two ripe bananas that needed some loving.

I think I should have steamed the cake longer. According to instructions, I needed to steam the cake for 40-60 mins. I did 60, but I think it could have been longer. While the outside was nice and firm, the inside was still gooey. Like a molten lava cake. My husband though it was strange, but quite yummy. Me? It was chocolaty, definitely hit the spot. I am definitely going to try this again. I really want it to come out more cake like.