up up and awayyy

My custom calling cards just arrived in the mail today! They're simplistic and modern and almost too beautiful to hand out! A lovely lady by the name of Julie, owner of Up Up Creative, designed and printed these for me -- you can see and purchase her works on her Etsy shop here. She also makes the most adorable (and quirky) greeting cards, stationary, and wedding invites, along with lots of other paper goods and printables.

Anyway, I suggest getting yourself some calling/blogging/twittering/whatever-it-is-you're-doing cards, as they seem to be back in fashion. It's a cute and kitschy way of exchanging info and they definitely beat scrawling your number on a crumpled bar napkin or the back of a hand. Plus, they make you look like you're kind of a big deal...
haha

babycakes

I love love LOVE how these turned out -- super delish (because I thoroughly taste test ever batch for "quality control purposes") and so cute! I had to fight the urge to shove them all in my face! Simple vanilla and chocolate with vanilla/chocolate buttercream. Om nom nom...

Oh, and of course, congrats to the mom-to-be and a thanks to the coordinators of her baby shower! Xoxo

Nonpareil explosion

Remember how this happened today?

See all those little red nonpareils on the floor (ignore my super stoked dog)? Yeah, while attempting to tidy up my workspace, I managed to drop the bag of them in such a way that the entire contents spilled out onto the floor. And they didn't even spill out that quickly. I was kind of stunned and just watched for a good 5 or 6 seconds as thousands of these things bounced and scattered about the ENTIRE kitchen (and parts of the living and laundry rooms). Well I managed to wrangle some into a dustpan but missed the trash bin when I went to dump them out. Completely ridiculous 3 Stooges situation.
Aaaanyway, I really just wanted to post a photo of my latest cupcakes -- some simple vanilla on vanilla wedding ideas (complete with nonpareils, raawr!).

Ahoy!

Ahhh memories...
My first encounter with fondant! It's interesting to look through my personal cupcake archives and realize how much I've learned and dare I say improved? Maybe..Well either way, it's been a pleasure and a challenge getting to where I am now. I've still got lots to learn but I'm looking forward the journey (to becoming a masterbaker? Hehehehehe).

Crushinnnnnn'

I'm not sure if you're familiar with a beverage called the Orange Crush, but if you're not, you should be. It's this amaaaazing concoction of fresh squeezed OJ, orange vodka, triple sec, and a splash of sprite served over crushed ice. I'll be the first to tell you that I've lost many a Sunday afternoon to these heavenly cocktails. I mean, it's pretty much the nectar of the gods. But I digress...

So I'd recently made a gallon size batch for some birthday festivities using about 25 lovely navel oranges. After juicing them to death I had a pretty massive mound of pulp leftover that I couldn't bear to throw out. I did some intense Googling for recipes that included pulp, turned up nothing, and decided to do a little experimenting. I found a pretty decent carrot cake recipe from Martha Stewart (love her) and replaced the recommended grated carrot with the OJ pulp (duhhh). I sorted through the nasty bits, picking out random seeds and hard pieces (this actually didn't take long) and then popped it all in the food processor for a few seconds to break up all the fibrous parts. 

Uhhh, can I say, worked like a dream. Super moist and delicious and really not too orange-y at all. I whipped up a quick cream cheese frosting with a little orange zest to top them off and even made some little sugar blossoms to seal the deal (because apparently I have too much time on my hands). I was very pleased with the end product and highly recommend making good use of any leftover orange innards you may have lying around. You never know...

 

Kambra's wedding shower

Lingerie themed by request. Scandalous yet tasteful...or tasty, whatever.

        

!!!!!

Eeeek! Finally a place for me to showcase all of my cupcaking endeavors. How exciting! I hope you'll enjoy my adventures in baking as much as I do. Happy reading...