Back to Some Normal Baking... For Now

The Cupcake World Series has been taking up a huge chunk of my time lately, so much so, that even Glenn has helped me on a few occasions with making, baking, and/or decorating cupcakes. What a good guy! It's nice that he has a bit more interest in my baking now that it is almost entirely baseball-centric. It's just more fun when you have someone else in the kitchen.

In none Cupcake World Series news, I actually had a chance to bake something completely unrelated. Well, that's actually not true. The cookies I baked tonight were the inspiration for that cupcakes for the Tampa Bay Rays. A long time ago I made these really yummy cookies with Tang in them that kind of mimicked Creamsicles. What's not to like about that? Since I still had Tang in the cupboard from the cupcakes I made last week and a cup or so of white chocolate chips, I had everything on hand to make these tangy cookies.

Creamsicle Cookies

1/2 C butter at room temperature
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C Tang (you can use any drink mix flavor as long as it is presweetened)
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 C white baking chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add Tang and sugar.
Beat in the egg until incorporated, then add the vanilla extract.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Slowly mix in to the dough.
Stir in the white baking chips by hand.
Scoop by heaping tablespoons (I find it easiest to use a small cookie scoop) and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 12-16 minutes depending on how chewy or crunchy you want the cookies. I like mine chewy with a crunch on the outside and 15 minutes accomplished that.

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

Hooray for October

October to most people means the ushering in of a new season. To me though, it is the beginning of a different kind of season, Postseason Baseball. Postseason is truly amazing. This is where we get to see the best of the best in each of the leagues in Major League Baseball. We see lots of heartache and disappointment but we also get to see hope and victory. October is like no other month of baseball. The saying is "there's only ONE October" and that is certainly the way I feel.

In an effort to be more active in my cupcake shenanigans, Glenn developed Baseball Cupcakes, to which I have linked before. In our excitement for October we decided to create our own World Series, which we have aptly named Cupcake World Series 2008. So far, we have had an absolute blast brainstorming what cupcakes are best suited for each time. Keep in mind each cupcake is inspired by a team in a multitude of ways. For example, the Dodgers were represented by "Bleedin' Dodger Blueberries Cupcakes." The recipe, obviously, was inspired by the color of the Dodgers as well as a saying that describes die-hard fans who, "Bleed Dodger Blue."

Last week was the showdown between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Visit Baseball Cupcakes to see what went down.

I've Been Slacking

Regrettably I have not been able to participate in a couple of my baking blogs. I didn't do last week's TWD and I won't be able to do this week's TWD either. I have good reason though! I have to pace myself and prepare myself for the mass amounts of cupcakes I will be making this Friday. 400 to be exact. I am totally gonna take pictures, because honestly, I don't even know what 400 cupcakes looks like! Fun stuff.

Additionally, I skipped this month's Daring Bakers. It did not interest me in the least. I would have made something for nothing as neither Glenn nor myself found "Crackers" to be worth spending time and money on. I am all for experimenting and trying new things to expand my repertoire, but crackers seemed a bit silly. That's that. I'll be doing the next challenge regardless though.

Until later, Happy Baking!

It's Like I'm A Real Baker Now!

Don't you just love those plastic cupcake boxes? I was telling Glenn that putting my cupcakes in those boxes made me feel like a REAL baker. He just said to me "Love, you already are a real baker." How sweet, but then I added in that a real baker gets paid. I found those boxes at the nearby Wholesale Bakery store that I had no idea existed. It won't be long before I return to that glorious place.

After the successes of Cupcake Wednesdays at work, I have been asked to make cupcakes for the Homecoming Dance. How AWESOME is that?!?!?! 400 cupcakes to be exact. Honestly, I have no idea how I will pull it off. I have a grand total of 3 standard 12 cup muffin pans and one oven. Thankfully the cafeteria manager at school is willing to help me out by letting me use the school kitchen after hours. I can't really refuse an offer to make a couple hundred bucks and do what I love to do.

Tomorrow is going to be the sampling/tasting day for the seniors to make sure they like my goods. If they do, then I get the greenlight to start preparing myself. If not, well I don't really know. It's nice because they're trying to keep the money within the school if possible as opposed to just doing what they used to do and order from the grocery stores. That is really nice I think. Lucky me, I am the one benefiting from this. I would like to think that everyone else is too, because honestly, I think my cupcakes are way better than store bought.

Today I made 4 different kinds of cupcakes and 2 frostings for the samples. It was definitely a challenge to 1/2 and sometimes 1/4 the recipe, mostly because figuring out what half an egg looks like is definitely its own challenge. I made Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting, Traditional Yellow with Vanilla Buttercream, Chocolate with Cream Cheese Frosting, and Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream.

I really hope they like my stuff. I was really disappointed in the chocolate cupcakes because they spread out way too much and didn't get a dome top at all. If they want chocolate I will pick a different recipe of mine. In my opinion, the Red Velvet turned out beautifully with perfect domes and everything. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Cupcakes in Arizona

Glenn and I rarely venture into the Scottsdale area mostly because we don't like the people there. There is a reason my mom calls the place "Snotsdale." In any event, we were searching for a new place to eat breakfast before we set out on our trek to find Glenn a new bike and for me to go to the awesome wholesale bakery shop and we found ourselves right in the middle of Scottsdale. After breakfast, Glenn asked me if I wanted to go to Sprinkles since we were actually here, and who knows when we would be back. Well, I can't really turn down cupcakes can I, so we went.

I guess I will never understand all the madness an obsession of this place. It's quite simple inside, which I approve of, but the girls behind the counter are completely clueless if not rude. There is no attempt made to help people or to explain anything, like their idiotic whoever speaks up first gets served first policy. After the man in front of me motioned for me to go ahead, I ordered two cupcakes, Red Velvet and Peanut Butter Chocolate. After waiting 5 minutes, seriously, we were directed to pay $7.02. Ouch.

I had the first cupcake in the car, the Red Velvet and the most irritating thing happened. No, we didn't hit a bump that made my cupcake go flying. However, I did peel off the paper only to have the top of the cupcake fall off. Great, I hate when that happens. Whatever. Flavor-wise, it was decent, but a tad dry and a little dense. The frosting was a huge letdown. My favorite part of Red Velvet is the cream cheese frosting. I'm not sure if they even remembered to put the cream cheese in, it was pretty plain. Plain, but tasty.

The Peanut Butter Chocolate gets a big fat... MEH. The cake was overly dense and had an oddly artificial taste to it. I actually wondered if they used real peanut butter or a flavoring oil or something. Kinda fishy if you ask me. The frosting was a plus though. It was a very complimentary peanut butter fudge flavor that didn't leave a film in my mouth at all.

Sorry Oprah and Paris. These really aren't the best cupcakes. Try Buttercream Cupcakes in Florida or Yummy Cupcakes in Santa Monica if you want to know what a REAL cupcake tastes like. Don't believe the hype and save your wallet.

Cakespy's "Sweet 100"

I've been seeing that "Omnivore's 100" floating around on various blogs quite often. I contemplated doing one for myself but then realized I am too picky and my list would be boring. However, I found a new 100 list right up my alley. Cakespy has compiled their own list exclusively for those with a sweet tooth. I love this idea. Without further ado, here is Cakespy's "Sweet 100."

1) Copy this list into your site, including the instructions!
2) Bold all of the sweets you've eaten!
3) Cross out any of them that you'd never ever eat.

4) Consider anything that is not bold or crossed out your "To Do" List.
5) Optional: Post a comment here linking to your results--or just post a comment letting us know how many you've tried, or what you're going to try next!

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and White Cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (aka Magic Bar or Hello Dolly Bar)
9. Fried Fruit Pies (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with Clotted Cream
13. Bett, Grunt, Slump, Buckle, or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana Pudding with Nilla Wafers
17. Bubble Tea (with tapioca "pearls")
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout Cookies
24. Moon Cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo Bar
29. Baba Au Rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon/Mille-Fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake/Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac Biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch Baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey Butter Cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku
54. Green Tea Cake or Cookies
55. Cupcakes from a Cupcake Shop
56. Creme Brulee
57. Some Sort of Deep Fried Fair Food
58. Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An "Upside Down" Dessert (pineapple upside down cake or tarte tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a Mold
65. Black Forest Cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer Torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat Pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle/ Lobster Tail
76. Pain au Chocolat
77. A Piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow Cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits Fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade Marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or Cake made with Candy Bar Flavors (Snickers Pie, Reeses Pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S'mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas Foster or some other Flaming Dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire's Shortbread
99. Animal Crackers
100. Basbousa