Wedding Shower - Henna Cupcakes, Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, and Mini Rose Cupcakes

My sister's friend's mom reached out to me to do the desserts for her niece's wedding shower. Since her niece majored in religion and world studies in college, she wanted something unique that had a bohemian feel. I decided to do a henna design while incorporating things like flowers, doves, hearts, and rings into the pattern since it was a wedding shower.

Before packing the cupcakes up, I gave them a quick spray of edible gold tinting which added some shine.

 Also on the order were 50 chocolate dipped strawberries..

  And 150 mini cupcakes...

I decorated some with rose icing designs and topped the others with gum paste hearts.

I really enjoyed putting together this order. I loved using all of the different colors and piping the henna designs. An added bonus - This was an actual paid job!

This brings me to my other piece of news-
I've always loved making sweets for people and really enjoy the entire process from thinking of new ideas, to shopping for products, to baking, and finally to assembling everything. Seriously, making pretty and tasty treats that others can enjoy is one of my favorite things to do.  Enough of my love confessions and strait to the point - I launched a new blog where I hope to detail any future large scale baking projects under the name Small Batch. I have a good amount of baking projects lined up this year for friends, family, and even some paying clients so I thought I might as well go all in (and face first..) and create a blog site detailing them. Feel free to visit if you are interested!
Small Batch

Better Vanilla Cupcakes

By far, the most difficult cupcake for me to make is vanilla... don't ask me why or I might remember all the failed batches and start crying again. I came up with my own recipe based on my Key Lime cupcake recipe in a crunch a few weeks ago. This cupcake is not eggy and has a similar texture to a pound cake. Enjoy!

For the cake:

2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups natural cane sugar

3 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

6 egg whites, room temperature

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup whole milk

For the icing:

2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (16 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 of the seeds in a vanilla bean

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line muffin pans with paper liners or mini muffin pans with mini liners.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the egg whites, 1/2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides then add the milk. Turn the speed to medium-low and beat for another minute. Stop the mixer.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed (stir), add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Fill the cupcake liners to the 2/3-level with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes for full-size or 15 minutes for mini. They’re done when a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

While the cakes cool, make the icing. Mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed until the sugar incorporates, then turn it up to high and whip for about 3 minutes. Spread the frosting generously on top of each cupcake.

Makes 2 dozen full-size cupcakes.

Wedding Cupcake Taste Test

Ashley and Billy's wedding cake tasting went pretty smooth. We had chocolate with coconut frosting, vanilla with cream cheese frosting, key lime with cream cheese frosting, and champagne with champagne frosting. I sat down with Ashley, Billy, and Jake's mom and dad and talked them through each cupcake and decoration while Jake was my awesome server. They rated each cupcake and came to the following conclusion:

Chocolate and vanilla were the best, followed by key lime in a close second. Champagne was good but not as tasty as the others. It was great seeing them and it really boosted my confidence for making 300 cupcakes come September...

Now back track about four hours before Ashley and Billy walked into the door... plates were dropping, panic attacks were spouting up randomly, yelling at my brother and sister for taste testing too many cupcakes was a frequently occurring event, and I may have taken the fastest shower of my entire life topping off at 23 seconds.

Now back track 8 hours before Ashley and Billy walked into the door.... I had just woken up from my 4.5 hours of sleep to realize that Jake was right about my vanilla cupcakes and they didn't just "need to rest". My entire batch of vanilla cupcakes tasted eggy and it was not ok. For some reason vanilla has been the hardest flavor for me. I remade the batch using a recipe I made up on the spot (basically going off of my key lime recipe but subbing ingredients). Side note- they actually turned out great which probably saved me from going into cardiac arrest.

Now back track 16 hours before Ashley and Billy walked into the door... Jake and I sped to Richmond from Arlington that night. I was stressed to the point were I wasn't speaking to Jake and his loud rap music was weirdly soothing.... With in 30 seconds of walking into the door I was breaking eggs and measuring flour. I was set on baking 2 batches of cupcakes before I went to bed. The chocolate came out good but Jake made the mistake of commenting on my vanilla. He said "They are good, but a little eggy".... this would go on the list of things not to say to me at 2 am when I'm extremely stressed... I had a minor melt down and may have also told him to go to hell, get out of the kitchen, and that supportive husbands don't say things like that. Over reaction? Yes. Thankfully Jake was understanding and supported my theory that they just needed to "rest". I do think I traumatized him from using the word "eggy" ever again when describing my baking..

I made about 60 cupcakes for the tasting and planned to bring the left overs on our beach trip. This actually didn't happen due to my sister's friends getting the drunk munchies in combination with me leaving cupcakes on our counter over night... This actually turned out to be a really good thing and I have some exciting news for my next post ;)

Beach week with the fam was so relaxing and fun after a stressful 16 hours or baking....

Jake and my sister overcome with joy that I am taking their picture instead of freaking out over cupcakes...

Goat Cheese Tarts, Lemon Tarts, and Summer Happiness

Wow so I have done a terrible job keeping this blog up to date. Jake and I have been extremely busy this summer and have only been able to spend one weekend in DC since our trip to Mexico in May! That combined with our shotty internet at home completes my totally valid excuse :)

Don't feel too bad for us though...

 At the tequila shot bar in our hotel in Mexico for our one year anniversary!

 Jake's favorite beach bar ever...

 Weekend trip to Charlottesville, VA

 Home to Richmond for Jake's sister's engagement party and....

 to see high school friends.

 Family trip to Chicago to see my sister who totally is wearing/stole my shirt

 And finally to NY to meet Ms. Molly Murphy (My cousin's first kid!)

And now for the food part of this post..

Since we've been gone every weekend, getting the motivation to go grocery shopping and cooking well balanced meals for the 4 nights we are in town has been non existent. Jake has not been complaining with the addition of Noodles and Co., Chipotle, and various happy hour deals to our weekly dinner rotation... However, I did get in one fancy home made item in in the past 3 months.... Father's Day Lemon Tarts and Goat Cheese tarts. I love tarts during the summer - simple, refreshing, and can be topped with all of the pretty summer fruits.

Note: The goat cheese tarts are only for those with a serious love of goat cheese... While some of my family members loved them, I think I could have swallowed a gym sock with a less disgusted look on my face... I've always hated goat cheese so I don't know why I thought this would have gone better... Next time I'll use cream cheese instead.

Shortbread Tart Crust: (From Joy of Baking)

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/3 cup (35 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Butter or lightly spray with a nonstick vegetable cooking spray, an 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom. 

In your food processor, place the flour, sugar, and salt and process to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the pastry starts to come together and form clumps. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (Can use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the pastry.) Pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. (This will prevent the pastry crust from puffing up while it bakes.) Cover and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. (This will help prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. 

When the pastry is completely chilled, place the tart pan on a larger baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Lemon Curd:

I used the same recipe as my lime curd, just used lemons instead :)

Goat Cheese Mousse: (From Tartelette)

200 ml heavy cream, cold
4 oz (120gr) goat cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (25gr) to 1/4 cup (50gr) sugar, depending on your preference
Juice and zest of half a lemon


In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream to medium stiff peaks and reserve it in the refrigerator while you prepare the mousse.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the goat cheese and sugar with a spatula (if the goat cheese is soft enough there is no need to put your mixer to use on that one). Add the lemon zest and juice and mix thoroughly until incorporated.
Carefully fold the reserved whipped cream into the goat cheese base by placing your spatula in the center of the bowl, scooping the bottom over the top. Give your bowl a 45 degree turn and repeat until the batter is smooth. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse and divide it evenly among all tart cooled tart shells.

Top tarts with your favorite berries and serve slightly chilled.

We have some more busy weekends ahead of us but this coming weekend I will be doing Ashley's cupcake tasting (followed up by a recap on here hopefully) and then headed off for our family beach week :) Summer does not suck.

Scratch Sheppards Pie

So Jake and I have been "trying" to be more money conscious. I'm still amazed that anyone under the age of 50 can put a 20% down payment on a house.. Stupid financial reality of needing to plan ahead set in and this would be us being grown ups and trying not to go out to dinner 173 times a week. So instead of going to Rocklands for the best BBQ in DC that happens to be in walking distance of us (and most likely where the majority of income has gone), I went to the kitchen without a plan and tried out my creative cooking skills. I had some ground beef, a package of mashed potatoes and a can of peas... In comes Sheppard Pie. I had never made it before but it's one of Jake's favorites.

Recipe:

1 package ground lean beef

1 package mashed potatoes

1 can peas

2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

1 cup chicken stock

4 tbs light sour cream

4 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1/2 Italian cup bread crumbs

1 tbs minced garlic

1 tbs minced onion

olive oil

salt and pepper

Add beef, garlic, onion, salt and pepper to heated pan and cook until browned. In a separate pan, melt butter and whisk in flour until paste forms. Whisk in chicken stock and simmer until thin gravy forms. Stir in sour cream and pour over cooked beef. Mix in Worcestershire and peas while beef mixture is on low heat. Spread  mashed potatoes over beef mixture trying to cover in single layer. Sprinkle bread crumbs over mashed potatoes and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Place under broiler for about 4 minutes or until bread crumbs are slightly browned.

This recipe turned out pretty delicious and made for some kick butt left overs as well.

You can add also add green beans and carrots if you want a more traditional pie but we were going for the "what ever it takes not to spend money at the grocery store" theme that night.

This is what was left before I went back for thirds....

Jake loved this dinner, but I mean what guy complains about meat and potatoes?

Tart Love - Lime Curd Tarts

I needed a break from cupcakes.. this may or may not have been due to my compulsive habit of eating batter and giving myself tummy aches... And in comes my new love of tarts :) These bite sized babies are light, refreshing, and help with your fruit intake for the day. I decided to try out my tart making skills with a lime tart recipe which turned out pretty delicious.

 First thing - the dough. I was pretty scared of this since I suck at anything dough related. I found this recipe and went full speed ahead. I ended up adding some extra ice water to make the dough not as crumbly. My dough did not turn out as planned looks wise but the taste did work well with the lime curd.

Dough Recipe from Tartelette

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small slices
3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water

Prepare the dough:
Mix together the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the flour mixture and toss with fork until moistened. Repeat with the remaining water, one tablespoon at a time and gather the dough into a ball with your hand. Do not handle the dough too long. Wrap into a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax and make it easier to roll, keeping it from becoming tough. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface, applying pressure from the center to the edges until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out six 6- inch circles onto the dough and press them into the tartlet molds or rings (or one 9 inch pan if making a larger tart). Place the rings or molds on a baking sheet. Prick the dough with a fork, apply a piece of parchment paper inside the molds and fill with dry beans or pie weights. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F and when ready, bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely and remove the pie weights and paper. Keep the oven at 350F.

Second thing- the lime curd. I've never made curd before so this was almost as scary as the dough.. I tried making it in a home made double boiler but the temperature wasn't getting high enough for the mix to curd (<- right term?). I did get a pretty hard core arm work out trying though. I moved the mixture to a sauce pan over medium low heat and whisked away until I had the right consistency. 

Curd Recipe from  Joy of Baking (I used limes instead of lemons)

 

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh (not bottled) lemon juice (2-3 lemons)

4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon (4 grams) lemon zest(The yellow outer skin of the lemon

Lemon Curd:  In a stainless steel bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. 

Cook, whisking or stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes pale in color and quite thick (like a hollandaise sauce or sour cream) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C on a thermometer). This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest, cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and let cool to room temperature before filling the pastry crust. Can be made and stored in the refrigerator for about a week.

  

The Curd:

After the curd cools, spoon into tart shells and top with fruit. You might want to chill the tarts in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving so it give the curd a chance to firm up. I've also just decided the word "curd" is not appealing and should be changed.

Crystal City 5K Friday

 So baking lots of cupcakes (and doing multiple taste tests along the way) is not the best start to the summer bathing suite season.. I have tried balancing out my love of baked goods with running. I mean running twice a week makes up for 4+ cupcakes a week, right? I have also been experimenting with new things to top with cream cheese icing.. right now the winner is gram crackers. And in comes running. If you have read my past running entries there have been some inconsistencies. I signed up for a 10K but a family event took precedence. I went through the first part of training for the run anyways which helped get my millage up but finally I found a short race I knew I could commit to! Crystal City, in Arlington, has 5K Fridays every Friday in April so I signed up for the April 15th run. 

Starting three weeks before the run, I went on three weekly runs which averaged about 3.5 miles per run. My time was averaging about 10:30 a mile... I quite honestly was hoping to run the 5K in under 32 minutes, but I ended up doing much better! I think I caught the racing bug when I finished at 29:09 (the clock in the bottom picture shows a 30 minute time but I was so far back I didn't cross the start line until about 90 seconds in..). 

Note: This was my first official race. Was it a particularly long and strenuous race? No. But did I still treat it like I was running a marathon w/cheerers, signs, and way too many pictures? Yes :)

Jake made me an awesome sign to cheer me on :)

I'm somewhere in the far back...

 

Racers take your mark... Those people in the front were crazy. I think the winner ran the 5K in just over 16 minutes!

And I'm now sprinting towards the finish line...

And done!

I got greeted by Jake (who did not like his post race picture so is not on here :P) and my friend Ann who was visiting for the night! She also took the awesome pictures :) That huge thing on my wrist is my Garmin Forerunner.. I have the ridiculously old version*hint *hint for anyone that wants to buy me pricey x-mas and b-day gifts :)

We also ran into our neighbor Ben who also ran as his first official race. I need an awesome sweat band for my next race... jealousy...

A few take aways from the race:

1.) I really like running in races. Everyone is so nice, it's fun and motivational to run with a HUGE group of people, and you feel so accomplished at the end when all of your hard work training paid off. It also helps you to stick to your running schedule so you will be ready come race day.

2.) Since you are running in a crowd, the first mile I felt like I was running in zig zags trying to get around people while not tripping. The sides of the trails are your friends....

3.) I ended up running this race faster then any of the times I've ever run outside or on the treadmill. Running in a huge group really does make a difference to keep your motivation up and knowing that Jake and Ann would be waiting at mile 2 and at the finish line to cheer me on made me want to run faster to see them :)

4.) I'm going to sign up for more races!

Sea Shell Cupcakes

So I have been trying to think of creative, yet easy to make lots of, beach themed cupcakes for Ashley's wedding. Sea shells were a must and I decided chocolate molds would be both elegant and easy. I remembered making chocolate molds of hearts when I was 6 at a friends birthday but that pretty much summed up my chocolate experience so I was a little hesitant at first. However, I found it was super easy and turned out pretty cute.

First things first - melt white chocolate and milk chocolate in the microwave. Set microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, and repeat until smooth consistency.

Transfer melted chocolate to separate zip lock bags.

I poured the white chocolate in almost to the top and then squeezed some milk chocolate on top. I then took a tooth pick and swirled the chocolates together. Since my molding sheet was clear, I could hold it upside down and see where more swirling needed to be done.

I put the molding sheet in the fridge until the chocolates hardened (about 20 min.) and then popped them out. Tah Dah!

Frost the cupcakes - I was going for a baby blue here.. I need to work on my icing coloring skills.

And then top with the sea shells :)

Isomalt Coral

A few weeks ago the National Cake Show came to town. I found a Living Social deal for half off tickets and thought it might be fun to check out. I also dragged Jake to this show which I do kind of feel bad about especially after hour two of me freaking out about cool cake supplies... It's ok though, he has dragged me to a few gun and knife shows and made me go paint balling for 5 hours one Saturday. I don't care what some people say, paint balling hurts.

Anyways, so while I was at the show, I went to an Isomalt demonstration. Isomalt is basically like a stick of sugar that when melted can be made into decorations. I bought it because you can make some pretty cool coral sculptures that I thought might look nice with Ashley's beach themed cupcake display.

This is what Isomalt looks like in solid form:

I broke up about six sticks of  Isomalt and microwaved them for 15 seconds at a time stirring in between until completely melted. I then added some green gel food coloring. (The mixture should bubble at this point).

In order to make coral, I used the ice method in which I greased a large glass and filled it with ice cubes.

I poured the hot Isomalt over the ice slowly. Toward the end of the pour, I tried to make a base at the top by slowly pouring in a more concentrated spot. After the Isomalt cooled (like 20 seconds), I carefully dumped the glass upside down in a bowl. The figure below is the end result.

I thought it turned out pretty cool and doesn't melt in humidity like most sugar sculptures. You might want to note that even with a greased cup, Isomalt may still stick. You can either chip off stuck Isomalt with the end of a butter knife or dissolve with hot water.

Here are pictures of some of the cakes at the show I thought were particularly cool :)

Flip Flop Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

I've been test baking cupcakes for Ashley's wedding for a a couple months now and thought it was time to give her beach themed wedding cupcake decorations a shot. I've always wanted to try marshmallow fondant so I thought flip flops would be an easy decoration to try it with.

I've been searching for a chocolate cupcake recipe that packed more of a chocolate punch then my George Town Chocolate Cupcakes I made a while back. These cupcakes weren't quite the chocolate overload creations I was looking for but they tasted great, were light and fluffy, and stayed moist even after being frozen for a few weeks. I love that the recipe uses sour cream to give a more rounded flavor and to keep the cakes from drying out too quickly.   

All in all, these were pretty yummy cupcakes so I'm calling it a success :)

Recipe from Martha Stewart

• 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
   
2. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.
   
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-
   quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
   

I decorated mine with coconut frosting topped with toasted coconut and fondant flip flops.

For the frosting, I added some coconut extract to butter cream and beat until white and fluffy.

For the coconut, I toasted sweetened coconut on baking pan for 3-5 minutes at 350 degrees or until slightly browned.

For the flip flops, I made a marshmallow fondant by melting 2 cups of mini marshmallows in the microwave and then stirring in food coloring. I then added powdered sugar until a dough formed. I rolled and shaped small flip flops and then drew straps with a food marker. The marker ran on some of them so I would suggest piping icing.