I Survived!!!

In case you were wondering...

That is what 400 cupcakes looks like. Also in case you were wondering...

That is what a person (me) looks like after spending 7 hours making, baking, and decorating 400 cupcakes.

Did I enjoy myself? Do I still love baking? I will answer that by telling you that I made 2 dozen cupcakes on Sunday night for the Cupcake World Series on Monday. Of course I still love it. I enjoyed every second in the kitchen.

I accepted the challenge for a few reasons. One, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Two, I wanted to test my love of baking, and see if I really could see myself doing that for a living. Three, I was making decent money! You wouldn't believe the profit to be made on cupcakes. I charged 70 cents a cupcake (to undercut the cost of the grocery store 75 cents/cupcake) and I still made about 200 dollars profit. No wonder sprinkles is rolling in money! When you charge 3.25 a cupcake you pretty much break even within the first 2 dozen cupcake you sell!

In any event, I had such a blast. My parents came all the way out to see me (an hours drive during rush hour) and helped out until almost all the cupcakes were baked. My mom did a bunch of the mixing and my dad lined the tins and cracked the eggs. We all had a lot of fun, even though I had to remind my mom to turn OFF the KitchenAid before she tilted the head back to scrape the bowl. Needless to say, we had a few laughs. Glenn showed up later bringing me some yummy Taco Bell to keep my energy up. He also did the dirty work; Dishes...ewwwww.

I can't even begin to explain how much I loved doing that and how proud I was of myself and my family for pulling off that accomplishment. Even better is coming to work Monday morning and hearing teachers and students tell me that the cupcakes were amazing. That kind of thing just makes you smile. Furthermore, it tells me that when I do open up my own bakery it will be the right thing for me. Then I will be paid to do what I love.

Here's the recipe for the cupcakes I made:

Vanilla Cupcakes (yield 4 dozen)

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 sticks butter
4 cups sugar
8 eggs
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Beat butter for about a minute until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time until they are incorporated. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the milk combined with vanilla and mix until incorporated. Repeat and end with the flour mixture. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Happy Baking