Sparkly cupcakes for the bride and groom

Here are the wedding cupcakes as promised.  The bride and groom had 85 vanilla cupcakes with plum and scarlet butterflies.  One giant cupcake in vanilla with a chocolate buttercream icing on the base, also decorated with butterflies. The last photo is of the cakes in the evening, all dressed up and ready to party.

Cupcakes for the boys

I took a bespoke order this week for a previous customer (in fact she was my very first bespoke order customer when I started out).  She had seen the giant cupcakes on my blog and wanted one for her son's 30th birthday.  She plumped for chocolate cake, with a vanilla butter cream icing. For the decoration, she wanted it sparkly and fabulous, but not too girly....Happy to oblige I came up with a design of two shades of blue stars, with matching blue glitter.

When I finished the cake last night, it looked so lovely I was tempted to call my client to let her know it looked fab- but it was knocking on 11pm, and so much too late for cupcake conversations.  Though I did get Handsome husband to come into the kitchen to give me his opinion as a man- he said whilst he wasn't sure if a cupcake was essentially a 'girl thing', he thought it looked tasty and could he have some?

A kaleidoscope of butterflies

Whoever knew that this was the collective noun for butterflies? The internet is an amazing place.  Anyhoo, I had an order from repeat customer (how lovely!) who first said congratulations on the birth of Little brother, and then said she wanted to place an order!

She wanted one giant cupcake lemon cupcakes as well as regular sized and baby cupcakes too.  All in lemon and all with butterflies.

I was only too happy to oblige and with an new edible gliter to try out, very excited about making them.

They turned out very well and, I hope you will agree, look good enough to eat. which is handy as that is just what they are for!

Marvellous mum and I delivered them to my lovely customer this morning in Tivvy and all she has to do now is drive up to North Devon v.e.r.y.s.l.o.w.l.e.y (the roads round her are super windy windey)with her precious cargo and the party cakes will be ready for admiring and eating.

The beauty that never was to be...

Before Christmas, one of my favourite customers had put in an order for a special giant cupcake to be delivered on Christmas eve.

It took ages and was a total beauty...chocolate sponge, with a rich chocolate butter icing. It was made, iced, decorated, packaged and ready to roll.  When unfortunately that was exactly what I did when I came out the door.  It had been so freezing our drive was an ice-rink and I'm neither Torvil or Dean...I slipped, and the cake bought it.

I am posting the photos here in tribute to a beauty that never got to shine.  I took it indoors and through a blur of tears I tried to save it in a variety of ways, but it was never going to work.

Instead I called and explained and insisted that I bring them a stand and 24 vanilla-cupcakes as a replacement.  It was the best I could do.

My lovely customers were totally charming and wonderful about it.  They were so understanding, I was just so sad they never got to eat and enjoy the original.

Christmas special

This week I had an order for a giant chocolate cupcake, with chocolate butter-cream icing with ‘festive decorations’ requested. The client was someone I met at the Cruwys Morchard Village Christmas market. She is a totally charming woman and when she came to collect the cupcake on Thursday she seemed very pleased with it. It’s always lovely when things I make get a good reception.

As this was a giant cupcake, the holly leaves and berries also needed to be up-scaled from the ones I make for the regular sized cupcakes, so Wednesday saw me stamping out holly leaves and rolling red berries, and then coating them all in glitter. God I love the glitter! Once the cake was made and decorated, I carefully iced it, then went to with the gold glitter first, then topped it with the new berries and leaves and very festive it looked too.

I’ve got a similar order for Christmas eve, from the lovely people who asked me for Firework party cupcakes, only this giant cupcake is also going to feature purple stars- at the clients request. I have also recently bought in some purple glitter, so this might be making an appearance too.

Saying it with cake

Today was Darling Boy's last day at nursery.  I'm finishing work before christmas and will be off on holiday/maternity leave and then a career beak for three years, so am not due back at work (if I choose to go) for nearly 4 1/2 years.  How cool.

Anyway, Darling boy has been at a wonderful nursery in Exeter since I have bern back at work since March and he has loved it there.  He knows the names of all of the other little children in his room and often talks about this chums - which is really sweet.

Leaving your child in day care, whilst you go off to earn a crust isnt easy for anyone, but Darling boys nursery have made it easier, as we knew he was being looked after so well, and having such fun and doing all sorts of crafts.

So to say the big thank you that the lovely staff at Darling boys nursery truly deserve, and as a treat to the bambinos in Darling boys room, I baked up some cupcakes.  The grown-ups got a giant cupcake in chocolate, iced in vanilla buttercream and the bambinos had baby vanilla cupcakes (well, trying to go some way in avoiding too much sugar...)

Is that a real cake???

The giant cupcake made it’s debut at the market this weekend.

As the recipe is a mocha cake, I iced it in vanilla butter cream to look like a mocha coffee. Decorated in tiny gold stars, with a flash of three bigger gold stars dashing across the top, with gold sparkles all over, it won much admiration.

It certainly is a substantial cup cake, and would easily feed around 20 people I have estimated. Several people asked me if it was a real cake, and one bright young chap claimed boldly that he could eat it in 5 seconds. Very impressive!

Also making a first appearance where chocolate cupcakes with toffee butter cream icing. These seemed to go down well too. Perhaps it was the cold weather, but Tiverton seemed to be in a chocolatey mood on Saturday as all things with a chocolate twist were very popular.

also appearing for the first time, new decorations on the lemon cupcakes...and baby lemon cupcakes.  Each featuring a handmade yellow butterfly with golden sprinkles. 

The story so far...

Help...the timer has gone.  The top is cooked and the bottom isn't...

I think this will always happen as the top section is that much smaller than the bottom.  This might be a job for giant electric saw man.

The giant cupcake has landed!

The giant cupcake tin has arrived! so exciting.  It's two halves of a cupcake.  There is a tin with two shaped holes, one for the base and one which is very much Mr Whippy shaped, which is what would normally be the iced top.  Both bits are sponge- and then you ice around the shape of the top section.

I have made up the batter as per the recipe that came with the tin- it's such a funny shape I have no idea what quantity of a normal recipe would fit.  The recipe is an American one- so is in cups, argh! its always such a nightmare trying to measure in cups- how do you measure butter in cups??? and what is a stick of butter when it is at home?

Anyway...

The cake is in the oven now- its supposed to cook for 60-70 mins...its all very exciting!  I will report back with how it turned out (if indeed, it will turn out!)

The big one!

I'm very excited, I have just bought a giant cupcake tin from Amazon and it should be here by the end of the week.  It is made by Wilton- those American cake supremos.

The lovely family from Halberton who asked for the Firework party cupcakes has placed an order for Christmas time.  We were talking about giant cupcakes, and I had been toying with the idea of making them for a while, and she has spurred me on to buying the tin and trying it out.  

Hurry up postie- I wanna bake a big cupcake!