Hockey Cupcakes

Saturday was a busy day for our house.  After the Silly Monsters Class in the morning, we entertained seven preschoolers plus a big brother in celebration of our youngest son's 5th birthday...

A month late. 

Poor kid.  If I could permanently change his birthday to January instead of "right after Santa comes" I would. 

Our not-so-little-anymore boys started playing hockey this year (despite my thoughts on the matter) and as it goes, our life has become one big hockey tourney.  Including this birthday party.  As one parent said to me recently "Well, you're in now!" Yup.  But at least I can still make awesome hockey cupcakes while I'm at it.

Fondant NHL jerseys were cut and drawn on free hand with edible ink markers. 

The "M"s are for the league the boys play in.  The birthday boy picked the hockey stick colors.

A mini Oreo as a "puck."  I had all intentions of dipping it in dark chocolate but I was parenting solo most of the week and...well...nobody killed each other and everyone was fed and bathed.  Mostly.  Plus, no one cares anyway!  ;)

"Our" favorite teams - MN Wild and Carolina Hurricanes.

And a Stanley Cup for the birthday boy.

Finally, I will leave you with this.  While I am reluctant to admit my status as "hockey mom," I do kind of want this shirt....



Silly Monsters Cupcake Decorating Class

I spent yesterday morning with a really delightful group of young kids and their helpful grown ups decorating cupcakes, silly monster style.  As always, it is so much fun to see their creativity grow and their personalities come out.  No two monsters were alike, just like their makers.  Here are a handful of photos (fuzzy and taken with my phone because I forgot my good camera) of their handiwork.

Little hands at work...

even the big hands couldn't resist.  ;)

This gal took her time, used different frostings for different features on each cupcake, even changed tips, and did almost everything by herself.  A future decorator perhaps?

Cute glasses!

Horns and hair.

I thought about including a mustache in my demo but didn't get to it.  I love that this little boy thought of it on his own.  He said this one was for his dad.  Very sweet.

I went to take a picture of her cupcakes and she quickly posed.  I'm guessing it's not the first time this cutie has seen a camera. 

Loved the "hair" on the bottom one and the "eyebrows" on the top.  Very creative use of supplies!

Some are mad, some are sad, and some are happy.  Hashtag real life!

So much fun!

The bottom right with the lips and the one eye reminds me of Mike Wozowski from Monsters Inc.

I see a kitty cat with whiskers and Cookie Monster.  Do you?

 

Thanks to everyone that attended this class.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!  :)

 

 

If you are local and missed this class (I know there are a few of you), I hope to do another one closer to Halloween.  Follow me on Facebook or check the class section of the Square One Kitchens website to stay updated.  The kids ages raged from 3 to 12.  Keep in mind that from ages 3-7 they need quite a bit of help, but 8 and up they are able to handle the pastry bags and do mostly everything on their own.

Baby Girl Baptism Cupcakes

You know, I'm not very girly.  Sensitive, yes, and sometimes(?) emotional, but not girly in the traditional sense.  Being surrounded by boys whose entire life revolves around sports and tooting on each other, there's no wonder my girlishness is lacking.  Maybe that's what initially attracted me to making cupcakes.  It allows me to nourish the part of me that needs a bit of ruffles and lace and pink.

One of my dearest friends had a baby girl recently (Yay!  A baby girl I can hold and promptly return at first whimper!) and today was her baptism.  What a beautiful ceremony it was, an adorable chunk of baby cuteness surrounded by family and friends who love and support her.  Afterward my friend hosted a brunch for the family and below are the cupcakes I brought along - pink and girly in all their glory.  Truly the BEST part of this "job" is making pretties for the people I adore.  Enjoy!

An "E" made out of variegated pink fondant flowers for Baby E.

 

Baby E's big sister pointed this cupcake out to her cousin and excitedly said "Guess what!  You can eat that whole thing!"  Made me smile.  :)

Hydrangea

You are loved!

Rose

Pinata Cupcakes

A friend of mine texted me over Christmas asking if I could make some piñata cupcakes for a family birthday party.  At first, I had no idea where to start.  Of course I turned to Pinterest right away but the all the results there were filled with candy which seemed to take so much away from the actual cupcake.  I don't like to waste what I've put so much effort in to making sooo....this is my version of the Pinata cupcake. 

The piñata her kids chose was a colorful star shaped one.  (Originally they were thinking the traditional burro.  The star is much easier, but the donkey would be fun to try some time too!)

The toppers on these are made from fondant and colored with edible ink marker.

 

*Note:  The below is my first attempt at a photo tutorial.  How on earth do you bloggers do these?  I much be really clumsy because I found taking photos while decorating cupcakes VERY DIFFICULT!  End Note.*  :)

Cut a small hole and fill with rainbow sugar pearls.

Aren't they fun?!



A little dollop in the center to build the swirl around.

 Start on the outside and circle outward a few times.

 

Add a few more mini rainbow sprinkles (not pictured) and...

Tada!  A fun surprise inside and still plenty of cupcake to enjoy with these piñata cupcakes!

Catching Up

I'll keep this short and sweet.  Now that wedding season is over, here are a few smaller orders I've been working on the last few weeks.  At least the ones I had time to take pictures of.  ;)

 

Gender reveal cupcakes with pink bows and blue mustaches.  The center was PINK!

 

Another gender reveal order. Chocolate and vanilla.  See the swirl?  I've learned something new!

 

Cupcake cake in the shape of cupcake?!?  Heck yeah!  This was a first for me.  It was so much fun and so easy.  I hope to do more of these in the future!

 

This was an open house event for a wedding venue, The Barn at Dunvilla in Pelican Rapids, MN.  I provided minis for future brides & grooms to taste.  Above are chocolate peanut butter minis accompanied by vanilla bean, red velvet, and apple butter.  Yum!  The oven and chest were provided by The Barn (that you can use if you get married there!). 

 

 

 These little cuties were for a farm themed birthday party.  I so badly wanted to do a little red barn and green tractor with the animals, but I follow orders.  ;)

Occasionally I like to go out of town for the weekend.  Really!  Did you know that I can make fondant toppers like the above that you can place on your own home-made (or, heaven forbid, store-bought... ;) ) cupcakes?  So if I'm ever unable to fulfill an order, either because I'm already booked or maybe I just want a break, you don't have to sacrifice design to coordinate with your party's theme.  I would love to make custom cupcake toppers for you!

Okay. That part wasn't short and sweet. Oh well.

Hello Kitty cake for a friend's little girl.  I think I can safely say I have made most of the cakes for this little girl's birthdays thus far in her life and they are ALWAYS F-U-N!  Just like her!  ;)

Rose swirl smash cake.  I love this in white.  It is so simple and beautiful!

And more to come soon with pictures of a giant cupcake smash cake for a little girl's first birthday. 

Thanks for checking in!

Coral + Aqua Tasting Cupcakes

Confession:  For the millionth time, I'm a terrible blogger.  I've promised myself that I'm going to spend a little free time this fall and winter updating my blog with all the pretties from this summer.  I'll let you know next spring if I've accomplished this lofty goal.  ;)

I digress.

Today I had my second tasting in preparation for Summer of 2014 Weddings.  The bride's colors are coral, aqua, and gray.  Venue, the beautiful Rustic Oaks. The flavor requests were White Almond (her favorite), Lemon-Raspberry, and Carrot Cake (to appease the groom who is a self-proclaimed non-sweets guy).   Other than wanting flowery cupcakes there were no other demands.  Here's what we came up with...

Man.  I love tastings.  I still can't get over how stinkin' pretty these are.

 Fondant accessories we chose not to add.

 

 Teal hydrangea cupcake.  White Almond.

 

 I added a touch of peach to the typically pink-ish fresh raspberry buttercream to make coral colored frosted roses for the lemon cupcakes.

 

 On the far left is the Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting and a coral candy bead on top.

 

 Petal flower cupcakes. 

 

There will be a few minor changes to make these even more awesome for their wedding.  Oh I can't wait to share the final product with you next summer!  'Til then, thanks for stopping by!