Weddings, Cupcakes, and FEAR

This weekend I had my first WEDDING!

I cannot believe I have gotten this far in this little amount of time. Remember when I first began this little blog?

It's crazy!

I get nervous with every order I do. I mean this is someone's: birthday, or babyshower, or christening, or Friday, and I only want to enhance that day, not ruin it.

But a wedding? This is THE day. Oh lord, I watch Bridezillas! I see what happens to potentially sane women have things go wrong on their wedding day.

So there was planning, and creating, and replanning, and recreating. I had to build the cake stand myself because there just wasn't anything that could hold that many cupcakes that wasn't horribly tacky. So it was me, wood, styrafoam, pretty white decorative foil, a hot gun, and a dream. There were times I wanted to cry. There were words that some may deem inappropriate. And there were times I just wanted to set the thing on fire.

Which I could have because my oven decided it was going to become an incinerator.

A violently hot incinerator that wanted to do nothing more than to burn everything that went in it.

So it was off to my darling Lynne's house where she graciously let me take over her kitchen for an entire day with all of the ingredients (including love and magic) that goes into 14 dozen multi-flavored cupcakes.

And with all this it all came together.

And it looked something like this:

Our First Cupcake Wedding Cake!

The bride was nice enough to let me know the next day that everything went well and I was able to sleep that night.

It was all worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Which is a good thing, since I have another one December 3rd :)

Tis the season...

for weddings and cupcakes!

I am fortunate enough to have been hired to make cupcakes for a wedding in November. I also have a tasting for a December wedding this weekend!

I can't help but think that my own wedding anniversary is coming up. Thanksgiving was around the corner, and all my immediate family was going to be together for the first time in four years. So my hubs, then boyfriend, and I figured we might as well get married with everyone here.

So in three weeks we got it together. Not much  planning, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Daniel was a little upset that we didn't have the means for an engagement ring because it was so last minute and we had just bought a house. I assured him that our 1929 craftsman was my engagement ring and I was just thankful for it. Very few people can live in their ring. But he assured me one day there will be something ridiculous on my finger.

That was almost two years ago. We spent our first anniversary in the hospital with the birth of our daughter, who came along six weeks early, but strong, like ox.

And here we are. In a month I'll have kept a baby alive for a year (no thanks to her daredevil spirit) and have two years of marriage under my belt.

With everything finally slowing down, sans the trying to open a coffeehouse and build a small business, it's back to thinking about that pretty little ring.

Quick sidenote: Not huge on traditional, and I'm leaning towards onyx as the main stone

So here are a couple potentials:

I'm leaning more towards the second one. I'm just worried it's a little too big. The first one, though, does not have the stone set in the ring and I've never been a big fan of that.

Anywhoozle, I'm not very good at getting things done in it's "proper" order, but it all gets done eventually :)

So what do you think?

We're on Etsy!

We are officially nationwide thanks to Etsy.com!

Check us out :)

Football Season is Upon Us!

My friend Ashley was hosting a couple's shower for her sister and her sister's future husband. Her sister loves baseball, her fiance football. So baseball sugar cookies for her and FOOTBALL CUPCAKES FOR HIM!

I don't watch football often, but I'm pretty sure these will be a staple at all future Super Bowl parties :)

Our order for tomorrow.

This is my first time working with fondant for an order.

Here it is!

Photo by Betsy McPherson

They're iphone app buttons.

I made the fondant out of marshmallows. I hate the taste of fondant, so I figured if the apps were eaten, these would go down a bit smoother.

Underneath is chocolate buttercream frosting. And the cupcakes themselves are chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet, half have toffee chips, and the other half have chocolate chips in them.

Anywhoozle, I hope they like them :)

Carrot Cake

I figured we should get back to what this blog was intended for:

Photo by Betsy McPherson

This was my first attempt at carrot cake. My irritatingly horrible oven over baked them slightly, and I need to perfect my cream cheese frosting recipe, which may be difficult since I can't stand the stuff, but I think they came out pretty well for a first try :)

update!

oh it's been so long!

this last week or so has been full of progress, set backs, realizations, and theft.

which i suppose would be what one considers a set back.

but i'm regrouping and categorizing all of what life has thrown my way.

and be grateful for everything i have.

daniel and i celebrated our sixth year of being together yesterday! it's gone so quickly. we've celebrated our anniversary a little differently these last couple of years. last year we were pregnant. and this year we were fortunate enough for lily to go to sleep early so we could pick up dinner and watch a movie. but it was amazing.

this afternoon dan came home with my anniversary present: a brand new laptop!

i had bought a brand new laptop last month, and i loved it, but someone broke into our house and stole it last weekend.

so now i have this one, which i think is even better. and on a whole other level since it was given out of total sacrifice and love. and because he really believes in everything i do, including this crazy cupcake adventure.

demo at our property is underway! we've been having meetings, getting invoices, crossing fingers over financing, the whole nine.

but we are pushing through all the bureaucracy and trying to keep hope alive.

hopefully i can post pictures soon of the building!

We're going to a good home.

Coming this fall, The Cupcake Crusade will have an official home!

Ashley, Lynne, and I signed our lease and the location 720 Moreland is officially ours.

There's A LOT of hard work ahead of us, but if all go well, Hodgepodge Coffee House and Gallery will be home sweet home!

A Big Thank You

To Ms. Jayna Hoffacker for creating our new blog banner! I know very little about these things, but if you ever need anyone who knows loads contact her at her website!

it's so fancy!

YELP IT OUT!

We are officially on yelp.com!

If you've ever had one of our goods, please click here and leave a review. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Let me know!

Happy Birthday Lynne Tanzer! Oh, and America...

This week was CRAZY. But I did want to take time to post Lynne's birthday cupcake.

Lynne is one of my partners at Hodgepodge Coffee House and Gallery, and, more importantly, one of my dearest friends.

Although I couldn't commission a painting by her favorite artist, I could bake something.

And so I made her this:

(All Pictures By Betsy McPherson)

Yes, it's a giant cupcake! And it's our signature hodgepodge flavor: chocolate and vanilla cake swirled, strawberry compote in the middle, and topped with buttercream frosting.

I hope she enjoyed it :)

Who wants s'more?

This weekend we had our very first OFFICIAL order!

The order was a hodgepodge of different flavors: banana pudding, chocolate with buttercream, strawberry shortcake, hodgepodge, pineapple upside down, and s'mores!


I started with my white cake batter and added graham crackers. the center layer is my grandmother's seven minute frosting insted of marshmallows (i'm a strong believer in no preservatives so already made marshmallows were out of the question, as well as marshmallow fluff, and i just don't like gelatin), and the top is a yummy silky chocolate buttercream.

(if these pictures are making your mouth water, check out my picture-taking genius of a friend: Betsy's blog)

I was told by some that these weren't smorey enough. However, I was also told by someone that it was the best cupcake they have ever had in their entire life.

If that isn't a compliment, than I don't know what is :)

Our first order!

FINAL DAY

to order delicious treats for your fourth of july celebration!

you'll be the belle of the ball :)

Order Now

Benefit Make Up + The Cupcake Crusade = BFFL

The tasting on saturday was an absolute success! just wanted to post some pictures that Betsy McPherson took of the event!

Follow us!

on twitter @cupcakecrusade

and don't forget to become a fan of "the cupcake crusade" on facebook.

these are great ways to stay current about us, the coffee house, specials, and discounts :)

OH! Sidenote:

The website is up and running!

www.thecupcakecrusade.com

online ordering isn't ready yet, and right now we're only hand delivering in the atlanta area, but spread the word!

ALSO!

My friend Betsy, who takes all of the gorgeous cupcake pictures for me has her blog up and running!

Check out http://amomenttofocus.blogspot.com

She's AMAZING!

Pineapple all upside down and inside out

Executing pineapple upside made me a little nervous.

Mainly because I had never had pineapple upside down cake and didn't have much frame of reference.

They looked like this:




That's my grandmother's seven minute frosting recipe on top.

I never got a chance to eat one, but I heard they were lovely :)

Tasting!

Hi everybody!

I am back on the east coast, and ready for my first official tasting tomorrow.

Come on out, try a cupcake, and support us!

1pm Benefit Counter in the Macy's at Lenox Mall.

HODGEPODGE!

is the name of our one day coffee house.

well this coffee house is becoming a reality.



this is the building we officially have a lease for!

it's being converted from a garage into our dream.

the owner is amazing, as is his realtor. we got along from the beginning, and, more importantly, they believe in our dream and vision.

so if everything goes according to plan, you are now looking at the future home for The Cupcake Crusade.

SO EXCITING!

in a west coast frame of mind

lilaboo's asleep so i decided to take this time to let you know that i have not forgotten nor have i abandoned you.

the three of us (baby, husband, and i) have made our way to the west coast to introduce lily to a huge chunk of her family. unfortunately, dan had to go back yesterday for work, but doozer and i will be here for another week.

lucky for me, since atlanta apparently hit 99 degrees yesterday.

we were in huntington beach until yesterday, staying with aunt terry and uncle john. had a great family cookout and everyone over here got to taste cups of cake. i not going to lie, i was nervous at first.

i've been talking about these cupcakes via the blog and facebook, and all i could think of is they would want greatness, take one bite, and think "what is she thinking?"

but it was a huge sigh of relief when they loved them! enough to have seconds, thirds, and take some home. i'm not going to lie, it was a total ego boost.

not to mention the earthquake mother nature gave me on my birthday :)

so we're in a super cute boutique hotel across from the grove called The Farmer's Daughter. we had dinner at the farmer's market last night. other than getting sick with some gross sinus thing yesterday, it's been a lovely vacation.

and this will be the last vacation for quite some time. once i get back to the sweltering heat, it's back to getting the recipes, tastings, and getting the coffee house open.

more info to come on all those topics at a later date.

right now my mom just brought me sudafed and i'm going to partake.

The Key to Lime

This weekend was the execution of a recipe that has been dancing around in my head for awhile now.

My friend Betsy is amazing. She’s kind, funny, and always supportive. Not to mention she’s an obscenely talented photographer. In fact, she took the pictures for this post. ( and hopefully every other post i write)

And my dear Betsy loves pie. So when she agreed to be a taste tester this week, I couldn’t let her down.

And with that came the key lime pie cupcakes.

The premise is simple, adding scratch key lime pie filling to homemade super moist white cake, and top it with fresh, slightly sweetened, whipped cream.
The problem is finding a way to keep this a true cupcake, and not a key lime pie with a little bit of cake.

The decision was to make the mini cupcakes with a ripple of key lime filling. Anymore filling and the integrity of the name "cupcake" may have been compromised. Once cooled, they were topped with little mounds of whipped cream, making them the perfect one bite treat.

The jumbo cupcakes were a whole other beast entirely. The bigger the size, the more key lime needed. A layer of cake, a SERIOUS layer of filling in the middle, another layer of cake on top, and enough whipped cream for this cupcake to be a meal.

I figure if someone’s going to choose a key lime cupcake out of the list of dozens of flavors, they want the real thing.



Can you see the layer of real thing?

After my three person tasting, there were still forty cupcakes left over. So where do you bring extra cupcakes? To karaoke at the bar, of course.

Gave each server a mini and by the end of the night asked one to pass the rest of the good around to all the employees. The tin came back empty, the cupcakes got rave reviews, and I officially have a key lime recipe for the books.

Dreaming the dream

I suppose the first post of this blog should simply state the purpose of its existence.

I love to bake.

Always have.

Always will.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to stay home for the last six months with my new baby, Lillian, and have finally had the time to return to my passion.

A couple friends and I are on a journey to open an art and green inspired coffee shop in the heart of Atlanta; me manning the majority of the baking portion.

From now until opening I will be experimenting and perfecting classic cupcake recipes, as well as reconstructing many popular desserts into cupcake form.

I, myself, am a chocolate kind of lady. So if there are any desserts you love, that you'd like me to recreate, please let me know.

I will also post times and locations for tastings in Atlanta.

There will also always be a way to purchase any of the cupcakes you see on this blog.

Just contact me through my email.

Wish me luck!