Wedding Cupcakes...Champagne Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling and Champagne Frosting

Sometimes I am at a loss for words...or well just don't know where to start.  The weekend before last was crazy.  Granted, I knew when I agreed back in September what I was getting into when I said I would make cupcakes for a friends wedding.  It was tough, tiring and totally, 100% worth it.  It was my FIRST time baking the dessert for a wedding and I was completely honored to be doing it!

I started around 7:30am and was done around 10:30pm on Saturday...149 cupcakes (three different types) and a three layer 9-inch cake later, I was definitely ready for bed.  But it really was a lot of fun, and something that I was proud of...just me, myself and I had completed this task.  Well, plus Charles' help as my official tester. The cupcakes turned out great, and I am not sure why, but my frosting has ever turned out more fluffy.  After baking for the entire day, and then putting the finishing touches on the cake, it made me even more certain that this is what I want to do someday! 

It really did turnout to be an entire day of baking.

Testing out the new oven with Coconut Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies

 

Have I mentioned its been crazy around here?  April means I am gone for two full weeks for work...Dallas for a week (last week) and Phoenix next week.  It means of the four weekends in the month I am gone for two of them, and for this coming one I will baking basically non-stop so that I can have 150 cupcakes and a nine inch layer cake ready for James and Melissa's wedding.  To top it all off I started off this month with a cold, and did I mention I moved too?  Ughh BUT I did get to try out my new oven, in my new house, while making some pretty delicious cookies.  They were my oven tester cookies, because what better way to see if you have a hot spot in the oven then to divide the cookies on a cookie sheet into quadrants and see if they bake evenly.  They did, although I think the oven might be a little hot, so I think I am going to have to do a test batch of cupcake before the big baking weekend...

These cookies came out perfectly, with the right ratio of chocolate chips to coconut.  They were soft in the middle and crunchy on the edges the way a good chocolate chip cookie should be.  I can say my oven test went well...whewww because that would have really sucked.  Any who happy spring!...even if it is a crazy one.

 

 

Exploring Dallas on foot and hoping a little fresh air would help me get rid of my cold...it sort of worked, but then the Dallas pollen got me.

 

Finding a cute coffee shop in a new city might have been the highlight of my week...well other than having my mom around for the first half of the week.

What's better than a cocktail? A cocktail cupcake...Old Fashioned Cupcakes

So it has officially been crazy busy.  This past weekend I moved in to the city finally!  It took me all weekend, between painting, scrubbing and making sure everything was out of the old house...to say the least I am exhausted.  Monday at work definitely wasn't the most fun Monday, but then again we all have those.  Can I just say it is amazing how much crap one can accumulate in 4+ years of living in one house, and the house I was living in was small.  But I feel like I am moving on to another stage in life, another adventure and I am super pumped for it!

Before the big move, and the only reason I hadn't moved all of my baking supplies into me new house, was because i had the honor of making the cupcakes for a James and Melissa's engagement party, which was also a stock the bar party.  Well what better cupcakes to serve at a stock the bar party than cocktail inspired cupcakes.  I have to admit though that the idea for this cupcake came from the original Lauren in my office.  I just knew I wanted to make a bourbon based cupcake, because a) I already had bourbon and didn't want to have to move anymore alcohol and b) my contribution to the bar was going to be apple pie bourbon.

Well I was a little skeptical when I pulled the cupcakes out of the oven, but these flavors totally worked.  The bourbon cupcake went really well with orange buttercream, and the marchsino cherry really makes this cupcake an Old Fashioned cupcake.  In all seriousness though, I ate a half cupcake plain, and then tried another one with the frosting and cherry, and the flavors just round each other out, and give the overall affect of the cocktail that inspired it.  So, if you 1) Like bourbon and cupcakes or 2) are down for any kind of boozey cake, give these a try and Enjoy!

An old fashioned was needed over the weekend after these cupcakes and to celebrate 8 years with my fiance.

Spring is in the air...Lavender Honey Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Wheww do you ever have one of those weeks where you are so busy with different things that it feels like you literally need to remember to eat and even breathe?  To seriously take five minutes to sit down and not be thinking about what you have to do next?  It is only Wednesday and it feels like Thursday.  Or maybe I am just wishing so hard for Thursday, because then Charles will be arriving back finally and well 2 dozen cupcakes will magically have been made for an engagement party that night.  It has just been one of those weeks between real work, life work and just life.  BUT at the same time it has been great.

Oh and p.s. I am moving this week!  If I have two boxes full of cookbooks, does this mean I have too many?  Especially if I still want more!

So last Friday, before life got crazy, and since baking didn't occur over the weekend due to moving and painting, these cupcakes were made.  These were a special request and a thank you all in one.  James was nice enough to both buy the lavender for the cupcakes and come out at 6:30 in the morning with Caroline and my mom to cheer me on during the marathon the other weekend.  He wanted to see how lavender would go with the cupcakes, and it all really came about because last June my friend Meghan asked for a vanilla lavender birthday cake, but neither one of us could find the lavender at the time.  These cupcakes are very unique, and you can definitely taste the lavender in them.  The honey cream cheese frosting complements them well, but next time I am going to add honey too the cake batter and not use quite as much lavender.  They had great texture though and both the cake and frosting were definitely light and fluffy.  So, if you like the taste of lavender these cupcakes might just be right up your alley.  Enjoy!

Savory Cupcakes 2: Black Pepper Cornbread "Cupcakes" with Mexican Peppered Cream Cheese "Frosting"

First things first, Happy Friday!  What a week...I so glad it is almost the weekend!  So, lets talk about these cupcakes...

Is that a screen print of a pig in the background with a cupcake that has bacon on it? YES  For my second savory cupcake I went in a completely different flavor direction from the first one; the first being a tomato basil cupcake with garlic herb goat cheese frosting.  Black pepper and Mexican cheese are the stars here.  The black pepper gives this crumbly traditional cornbread great flavor.  The Mexican cheese combined with the cream cheese in this "frosting" scream for this cupcake to be served with chili on the spring days that are still freezing cold that we keep having in D.C.  The bacon topper, well everything is better with bacon, plus it adds great flavor and texture.  So if you are (1) like me and love cornbread or (2) are a savory over sweet person, then give these a try and enjoy!

Best way to start a work day...Pancake-Waffle Breakfast

Warning this post is going to be one big humble brag plus some thanks...

So, I did it!  I completed my very first marathon, and it was hard.  I did not lose any toe nails, but I did get some serious blisters, like where I have never had blisters before on my feet, but it was definitely worth it, after two and half months of training.  I also could not have done it with out the support of my mom and awesome friends.  It was knowing that my mom, James and Caroline would be there at the start, the encouraging and funny text messages from friends throughout, and knowing that my mom and James would be at the finish line that kept me from stopping and walking.  Plus, I knew I would be able to completely stuff my face when I was done, which I did....for the next two days.  There were more "samoas" donuts over the weekend, plus I made the sweet potatoes cookies as gluten-free cookies.  Then I knew there would be a pancake-waffle breakfast this week at work.

**Warning pictures may be blurry due to running...