More from the wedding

A few of my favorite things from the wedding...

Honey jars for the favors (my brother keeps bees, so it's his local honey--love that!) Sara and I covered the lids with Amy Butler fabric and twine.
They were displayed on bee boxes--loved that touch.
My husband, Taylor, made the wedding cake. I loved the 'scraped' look of the butter cream frosting and the local raspberries--such a nice organic look.
To supplement the cake (and we still totally ran out!) I did cupcakes--mini lemons, coconut, these chocolate chocolates,
and my new and improved mint chocolate chip cupcakes (they totally got a makeover--goodbye green food coloring, hello mint leaves! plus the mini chips are a better texture we decided).


Sara and Shane are the most darling newlyweds. We were sad to send them home to Utah!

xoxo
anne

BEST Butter cream

I've posted this before, but it remains a topic of emails and friends' inquiries.

What is the recipe for the best butter cream frosting?

Memorize this ratio:

1 stick butter (room temp) to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar to 1 tablespoon milk

(Cream butter and sugar first, then add milk.)

Now that you know the ratio, you can make as big a batch as you need. For a batch of 24 cupcakes, I would double it if I were spreading frosting with a knife, and triple it if I were piping the frosting out with a pastry bag.

As far as flavor is concerned, you can add vanilla (even better: vanilla bean paste!), mint extract, coconut extract, etc. (Use your own taste buds to know how much!)

When you need this recipe, it'll be right over there on our sidebar, along with a few other BESTS that we think you ought to have on hand.

love and cupcakes,
anne

Let Them Eat Cake

Good gravy, what a morning! I've been up since 2 a.m., how about you? I accepted a cupcake job last week that grew and grew until it reached 1300 (mini cupcakes, that is)! 2/3 of the order was dropped off this morning, the last of it tomorrow.

So pretty much here's how it went down:

Last week in Utah (I went to Utah!) Emily the design goddess rocked my world and made me a logo and business cards in an evening. (I'll have to show you those soon!)

The day after I returned home from my Utah trip I took in a sample box of cupcakes to an office and left with an order 6 times larger than any I've ever done.

This morning at 2 I peeled my carcass out of bed and got to work in the kitchen and watched my friend, Jessie's Honda pull in my driveway. She was my sous pastry chef. True friend, I am telling you what.

Jessie and I baked and frosted and decorated from 2 until 7, stopping only to eat cereal, feed the baby, and almost cuss about burning a batch.

Taylor got up and replaced Jessie when she left for work. Then we called in major 11 and a halfth hour back up--Sara (s-i-l) and Shane, the newly betrothed.

Next my s-i-l Jill arrived to be there when my kids woke up and tend them while I delivered the cakes. Everyone helped box the 858 minis and delicately pack the boxes in the back of my van.

I delivered the cakes at 9:30, a half hour late. But they were beautiful and well received.

After a quick run for some final ingredients for tomorrow's baking, I arrived home to find Jill, Sara, and Shane still there. They had washed all the batter and frosting bowls, tidied the kitchen, started on the behemoth pile of laundry, vacuumed the entire house, mowed and edged the front and back lawns, picked up all the toys, made my bed, and tended the boys.

Are you kidding me? Unbelievable.

So here I am at 2:49 p.m. baking up tomorrow's cakes and playing with the boys out front. Thanks to the darling people in my life 858 cupcakes doesn't even feel that crazy.

OK maybe a little.

And, because I'm feeling a little silly (maybe it's the 3 hours of sleep?), and owing to the title of this post, I give you: Anne Marie Antoinette

(when you're furniture-sitting stuff that looks like it came from Versailles, you have to take advantage...)

I think I should take a nap.

xo,
anne

Planning for our annual Valentine's Day Party...plus a Giveaway!

People keep looking at me shockingly when I tell them I am indeed hosting my annual Valentine's Day party this year. (So what if I go into labor while I'm serving lemon cupcakes??) I couldn't cancel this year. I couldn't because it's tradition. More importantly, I couldn't because Cookie, my darling friend and the woman who began this tradition, lost the battle with cancer in September, so I feel like it's never been more important to host a party that celebrates love.

I'll tell you a little more about Cookie on another day, but for today, here are some photos from last year's party, plus some ideas for this year's party to get your wheels spinning. (What? You weren't planning on hosting a V-day party? Hopefully I can change your mind. I think it's the best tradition of the year!)

I keep it pretty simple. No meal, just sweets.

Last year's spread included mini lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries on top. (These were the biggest hit and I am definitely serving them again this year.)

I use this Ina Garten recipe, but even if you just use a lemon cake mix, they are still amazing, thanks to the frosting:

Beat 6 T softened butter, 9 oz. softened cream cheese, and 3 tsp. lemon zest with mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar.

Next in the lineup were chocolate cupcakes with pink butter cream frosting and brownie hearts.

I've mentioned before that I'm not above cake mixes. I use a devil's food mix for these. For butter cream frosting, memorize this ratio (it makes perfect butter cream every time!): 1 stick butter to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar to 1 T milk. (Mix the butter and sugar and then add the milk.) For 24 cupcakes, you'll want to at least double that recipe. (I triple it since I pipe on such a huge layer of frosting!)

For the brownie hearts, just bake a brownie mix, but in a large sheet pan so they're thinner. Once cooled, cut hearts out with a cookie cutter. Use toothpicks to anchor them in the cupcakes.

The final player last year were these red velvet cupcakes.

I have to say, even though I think these little cake toppers were the cutest ever, I wasn't in love with my cakes. (If anyone out there has a killer red velvet recipe, do share! I've all but given up after several failures...)

This year, in honor of our dear Cookie, I thought it only fitting that I include cookies on the menu.

So I'll be serving:

lemon mini cupcakes with raspberries
chocolate cupcakes with chocolate glaze or butter cream
sugar cookies with glaze
(this is the only sugar cookie recipe I trust and I like this one for the glaze)
chocolate chippers with milk shots

{I'll be sure to post a recap with pics!}

Happy Valentining!

xoxo,

anne

And...here's something fun! To help you with your own Valentine's Day party, TomKat Studios is offering up a darling giveaway today! Scroll right on down and enter to win!

Recipes from the Wedding: the Sweet

As you know, we've just had a wedding in the family. As part of the festivities, my in-laws held an open house in their backyard. Having had a more formal reception the night of the wedding, complete with catered salmon and a 4-tiered, 55-pound wedding cake made by my amazing husband, we knew we wanted to keep the menu simple for the open house. We served nothing but dips--salsa, clam dip, hummus, baba ganoush, texas caviar, artichoke dip, you name it. And for dessert--what else? Cupcakes. Next time I'll give you some of the delish savory recipes. Today, the sweet.

My little cupcake staff and I made 300 cupcakes--mint chocolate chip, lemon, and coconut. When you're dealing with that kind of volume, there's no time for cakes from scratch, so we used all cake mixes, but doctored them up a bit. You've seen the mint chocolates here. For the lemons, we used lemon mixes with the lemon frosting from here. And for the coconut, we made white mixes with coconut extract, topped with coconut buttercream, and toasted coconut. (Darling cupcake papers from Bake It Pretty.)

Coconut buttercream frosting:

Mix 3 sticks butter and 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Add 3 tablespoons milk and coconut extract to taste

For the toasted coconut, spread coconut on a sheet pan and put it in the oven to broil. Watch it like a hawk (I may or may not have burned my first batch--the smoke alarm alerted me!) and stir it around as it browns.

All three of these cupcakes have become major players in my repertoire. Hope you enjoy them as much as the guests did!

happy caking,

anne

Caramel, white chocolate, brown sugar, cream cheese...yummm...

Oh, you guys! I have fallen in love. (With a cupcake.)

Get my recipe here at Frankly Entertaining!

Making St. Pat's Magical

It doesn't take much to create a memory for your child. Here are a few fun ideas to choose from today to make St. Patty's a touch more magical for your dear ones.

image
Green breakfast. Dye the scrambled eggs green, color the milk, or whip up some delish (and healthy!) green smothies. Recipe HERE.

Leprechaun scavenger hunt. Have the leprechauns send your kids on a scavenger hunt--five or six clues, sending them around the house and yard. A simple dollar spot prize does wonders!

Lucky Charms games. Lucky Charms make a great math manipulative! Have your child sort the cereal by shape, then by color. Practice counting (by 1's, 2's, 5's, backwards, etc.). Help them design patterns, line the pieces up big to small, then small to big. So many possibilities...

Afternoon craft. Try this pot o' gold from Make and Takes.


Dinner time. Corned Beef and cabbage recipe HERE. Irish soda bread recipe HERE.


Dessert! Mint chocolate chip cupcake recipe HERE. FREE printable toppers availabe HERE.

Cheers!
Em & Anne

It started with Cookie

This Valentine's Day will mark 25 years since Cookie and her husband, Nazih's first date. So, in Cookie's words, "Valentine's Day is extra special."
Cookie is one of my mothers. And I am one of her daughters. A long-time friend of my parents, I had only ever heard of Cookie until I became a Mormon missionary and ended up in her neighborhood. She took care of me in the cold winters of Northeast Ohio. I taught her a bit about my faith. She taught me a lot about life.

I could write a thousand posts of what I've learned from Cookie. I could write about blending families and cultures beautifully. I could write about overcoming life's trials. I could also write about the best place to buy hummus or where to find the fanciest shoes.

But today is February 1st. February 1st! (Oh the glory of this red and pink time of year!) So today I write about Cookie's Valentine's Day Party tradition.

Every year Cookie hosts an extraordinary Valentine's Day party-- complete with lunch, a fancy cake, games, and love enough to go around. She sends out charming invites and bedecks the house with hearts. All guests are required to wear red and pink.

Fabulous, right?

So I took a cue from Cookie and adopted the same tradition. My tradition is pretty simple. I invite by email or word of mouth. And I don't even do lunch. Just cupcakes (of course).

This was Valentine's Day 2009

And I am busy planning Vday 2010.

I will do the same brownie heart cupcakes as last year, plus I'm thinking some red velvet cakes with cream cheese frosting and raspberries, and some double vanilla cupcakes with vintage cupcake toppers.

I love these. (Find them here.)

Also these. (Available here.)

I'm making 2 Vday pennant banners--one with large red pennants, one with small pink pennants. Instructions here.

I'll grab some cute plates/napkins/etc. at the dollar store and serve milk with the cupcakes. And that's it. For me, the fun is in the decor and the cupcakes, and the children's eyes.

Of course you can make it as simple or elaborate as you wish, but, either way, I highly recommend that you adopt this tradition. 'Cause here at the blue house, we LOVE Valentine's Day. It helps us shake the dreary out of winter and flutters up our hearts.

Hope you'll join us in the tradition! Send us pics and links if you do!
XOXO
anne

Cupcake tips

(image from bakeitpretty.com)

Leave it to me to follow up three practical, potentially life-altering posts on budgeting with such frivolity as cupcakes.

It's just that one of the reasons I adore blogging so much is that I have so many friends to run to when I want to share something great! Today I have three somethings. And they are all cupcake related. (You aren't on a New Year's diet, are you?)


#1: Bake It Pretty

Bake It Pretty is my new favorite source for baking cups and such. They have every imaginable size and style of cups, plus great toppers, boxes, baker's twine, even edible glitter. They also offer the big fat pastry tips which are a must for frosting little cakes, but are surprisingly difficult to find.

#2: A cupcake-themed birthday party.

My good friend, Alicia, threw a cupcake party for her daughter's 2nd birthday a few months ago, and I've been wanting to share the link with you. I love how all of her ideas are so doable (and budget friendly!).

#3: Martha's Cupcake book

Here's the deal. I own five books dedicated entirely to cupcakes. Ridiculous, I know. Here's what else. There is only one book in that collection that I completely love and trust and that contains cakes I actually have most of the skills and tools necessary to use it. I give you:

If you want to try your hand at fancy-ish cupcakes, or are looking for a good book to give someone, this is a major winner. So far our favorite is the mini oreo cheesecake, in which an entire oreo cookie forms the crust at the bottom of the cupcake liner. Brilliant, Martha! You're brilliant!

Nothing like a little frosting to beat the January doldrums, right? Plus, it really isn't too soon to start planning for Valentine's Day treats. Seriously though.

xo,
anne

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p.s. One more day to enter the YouNeedABudget giveaway! Scroll down to get in on it.
Also, don't forget YNAB is offering 15% off to Bloom readers through Saturday. If you decide to buy, enter promo code "bloom" at check out.

Halloween Cupcakes

(image from The Sweetest Kitchen)

I've been doddling around some baking blogs, whetting my appetite for Halloween cuppies. No doubt you have a Halloween party or carnival coming up that you are donating baked goods for. (Heaven knows there's nothing more fun than a Cake Walk!).

So, some links for you...

Those pictured above are the Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes from The Sweetest Kitchen. Dulce de Leche with pumpkin? Yes, Please!

There are several darling (and simple!) ideas at Kara's Cupcakes. The mummies are my favorite.

And, of course, Martha makes the list, as always. These brain cupcakes are nice and creepy!

More links? Share, please!

-Anne

Cupcake Swirl

Oh boy! Oh boy! I'm bursting with new cupcake knowledge that I must impart! Last fall I mentioned to my sister-in-law, Melissa, that I wanted dark brown cupcake liners, but I couldn't find them anywhere. Then she drew my name for Christmas, and--lucky me--she gifted me with (among other things) a box of beautiful brown liners. I just used my last one and asked Melissa where she'd gotten them.

Friends! Behold, CupcakeSwirl! I am in love. This site has everything you've ever dreamed of for making beautiful cupcakes. You can browse around for yourself, but let me point out my favorite features.

1. A cupcake decorating kit. A few weeks ago, when I'd been commissioned for my first cupcake sale, I decided it was time to trade in the Ziploc bag for a decent pastry bag and tip. I ran all over town to find the right tip--a nice big fat one for large swirls. But you don't have to look all over--just get the kit from cupcake swirl! As far as I'm concerned, the 2 two tips she includes in the kit are all you need for great cupcakes.

2. Cupcake liners galore! I've seriously never seen such selection. I. want. them. ALL. Mini, standard, jumbo. Dark brown, polka dot, leopard print... You will love them! And they're a great price, too.

Happy cupcaking!

Mint chocolate chip cupcakes

These days I bring cupcakes to every family gathering and church potluck imaginable. I have four cupcake recipe books. (A tad excessive?!) I'm no Magnolia, but I'm having a ball. A few people who have seen me tote my cupcake carrier to multiple events have asked me: "So are you the cupcake lady? I mean, how did you get so in to cupcakes?"

The answer: When I was a new mother, my whole life felt mixed up. I had a new identity, and didn't know what to do with it. I needed a creative outlet. One night, on a Barnes&Noble date with my husband, I saw a cupcakes book on the clearance table. I picked it up and flipped through pages and pages of fondant, chocolate, and beautiful little cakes. "Maybe I could do this?" I suggested to my husband tentatively. "Of course you could," he encouraged. And so, armed with my new book and its inspiration, we drove home and started planning our Blaine's first birthday party. For his special day I made my first homemade frosting ever and I thought I was Julia Child! What a triumph! For me, cupcakes are as charming as they get, and have become symbolic to me in my quest to own my identity as stay-at-home-mother and homemaker.

And so, I give you...Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes:


I love to try new cake recipes, but the truth is, it's hard to find a homemade cupcake that isn't a bit dry or crumbly. I'm big on using a Betty Crocker cake mix (which even Alton Brown encourages!), but am four-square against anything but homemade frosting. It doesn't take long to make, but it makes a HUGE difference! These particular cupcakes are my current favorite. Very simple, sooo delish.

For the cakes:
Bake Devil's Food cupcakes according to the box directions, adding one teaspoon of peppermint extract to the batter.

For the frosting:
Mix 3 sticks of soft butter, 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract, and a few drops of green food coloring.

To decorate:
Fill a pastry bag with the frosting. (A gallon-sized ziploc works great--just snip a hole in one corner of the bag.) Swirl the frosting around the cake--I like to start on the outside and work my way in. Finally, drop a little handful of chocolate chips on top. (I recommend using a good brand of chocolate chips for this, as generic chips often have an uneven color.)

One last tip:
I am in love with dark brown baking cups! They make the cupcakes look so much nicer than your average pastel baking cups. You can find them through various online sources, such as Petal Crafts.

--Anne