April 2009 Archives

I'm a lazy blogger, and I'll continue to be so for a while. That said, please enjoy the pictures of my birthday cupcakes. They're a basic chocolate cupcake with white or black frosting, and each then paired with an opposite-color accent. I used white sugar, white gel icing, black gel icing, chocolate chips, Hershey's Kisses, powdered sugar, Oreos, cookie crumbs, sprinkles, and Pocky, as well as a few interesting techniques to get some of the designs.

You'll notice they're all complimentary flavors, too (mostly chocolate and sugar) - the book I stole the idea from, the otherwise beautiful "Hello, Cupcake", looks great, but doesn't seem to mind if your vanilla frosting is paired with chewy licorice, or both soft cookies and hard candies. I wanted to make attractive and tasty treats, and I think I succeeded.

Click on any photo below for the picture on my flickr page, where you can see very high-res shots and a few others that I didn't post here. Enjoy!

Whose birthday? Mine, of course!

I'm trying to think of a good couple of desserts to have at my party this weekend - cupcakes are likely, but I'm looking for something special either in addition to, or worked into, those. I have a couple days for prep. I'd like to wow the crowd. Thoughts?

Nothing original on my side today, but be sure to check out Cynthia's write-up on her recent flavor tripping party (which I was lucky enough to attend) - her experiences match mine almost exactly (and there's a paragraph I contributed there as well). As always, it's punctuated with her always beautiful photography -  take a look.

Dear Internet,

I love you. I love you very much. But you're so big and awesome lately that sometimes I miss that there are certain products available for sale. For example, I've used Nielsen-Massey vanillas for years, but I actually had to go INTO A STORE to find out they now make a product called Pure Vanilla Bean Paste, which can be used like an extract, but has vanilla seeds for that speckled "freshly scraped from the bean" look I like in ice cream, custards, and cheesecake.

Internet, I need you to tell me these things so I'm not surprised at the store. I'll forgive you this time (since I bought some and will be trying it soon), but in the future, let me know about awesome things. Thanks!

Join me at the Tustin Marketplace today around 1pm and help me eat the cookies I baked this week. It's also a good chance to get out from behind the computer and sit down for lunch with old friends and new (plus there's about a thousand restaurants within a short walk of there).

I'll be at a table near the Sandwich World and Jamba Juice (by the old Tower Records, across the street from Taco Bell and El Pollo Loco). Let me know you're coming so I can look for you!