Crazy Week Wrap-Up

As part of my whirlwind cake/cupcake making last week, I not only had my cupcake of the month to make, but I also had a cake order & a cupcake order. I also made 2 dozen cupcakes using the leftover strawberry frosting I had made for these. We had a lunch at work for one of our coworkers, so cupcakes were my contribution. As for my orders...I had to make a strawberry lime cake for a coworker's birthday & strawberry lime mini cupcakes for another coworker. (As you can probably tell my coworkers keep me busy, & strawberry lime is now my signature recipe.) I tried to make a 9x13 cake using the strawberry lime recipe that I've used several other times, but I soon realized that it would have to be multiplied by about 3 to get enough batter for the cake. So I cheated...I took a box of strawberry cake mix & substituted half the water for lime juice. For the frosting on the cake, I used the regular lime frosting that my original recipe calls for. The cake wasn't as good as it would have been had it been homemade, but it actually turned out really good. One of the girls said that it tasted like Fruit Loops, & it kind of did...it had that tart, sweet, fruity flavor going on.

The mini cupcakes were for a wedding rehearsal dinner, & they were just strawberry cake mix with the same lime frosting as what I used on the cake. They were the last thing I did that week, so I was completely exhausted by the time I was done!

Crazy week's over...I survived & made some tasty treats in the process.

Ashley's Monthly Bake Sale - July

Last week was utterly insane, so I'm just now getting around to posting about my July Cupcake of the Month. I choose Lime Pound Cake with Orange Cream Cheese frosting as posted by Laurie of quirky cupcake on Blake Bakes. I'm on a big citrus cupcake kick, so I knew I had to try these! I'm having major issues as of lately with all of my homemade cupcakes falling after they're taken out of the oven. (And they're full cooked, mind you.) All you cupcake pros out there...what am I doing wrong?! Anyway...they looked so sad all sunken in, but OH MY GOSH...these things were AMAZING! The cupcakes themselves were so tart & tangy & then the orange cream cheese frosting on top gave the perfect sweet balance. I will definitely try this recipe again, only next time I will actually make it a tube pan & see if that helps at all. I think the coworkers enjoyed them too...so despite them not being very pretty, I think it was another taste success.

Here's a picture of the carnage that was created after I had to have a 1/2 cup of key lime juice. It's not a pretty sight. Poor little limes, they didn't know what they were getting into.

Betty's got nothing on me!

Tonight was my first venture into the world of homemade cupcakes. I can make any boxed cake mix taste extra yummy, but I wanted to try my hand at something homemade for a change. My sister & I are having a jewelry party tomorrow night, so I thought I'd make some mini cupcakes for the occasion.

I found a recipe in Crazy About Cupcakes for strawberry-lime cupcakes & another for lime frosting. Add a little tequila, & you'd have yourself one tasty strawberry margarita, but that's another subject. The recipe was very easy to follow; it called for either fresh or frozen strawberries, & I chose the latter. When the minis came out of the oven they seemed a little dense so I was worried that I hadn't mixed the batter enough. After a taste test, though, they weren't as heavy as I thought they were. I wish I would have used fresh strawberries instead of the frozen ones; I think they would have helped keep the cake more light & airy. The lime frosting was absolutely delicious though! The perfect blend of sweet & tart. I didn't use all of the lime juice that the recipe called for, but it turned out really well. I'm glad I made the minis though, I think a little of the frosting goes a long way.

I made my guinea pigs (Mom & Dad) do a taste test, & they both agreed that they were pretty tasty. The true test will be our party guests tomorrow night. All in all, I'd say my first homemade cuppies were pretty successful. I'm definitely excited about trying more recipes!