Naughty or Nice?

My friend threw a birthday party over the weekend, and to celebrate another great year the party was themed "naughty or nice?" Considering last year we went to Vegas around this time of year, this was a slightly tamer event. Many people came dressed in costumes, and the birthday girl dressed as one of Tiger Wood's mistresses. Yep, you guessed it, she was portraying the naughty part of the theme. There were "naughty and nice" flavored drinks and, of course, "naughty and nice" cupcakes. I served as a consultant on this one, since my good friend from work was in charge of bringing the desert. When she called me to discuss the themed cupcakes, she asked if "Hello Cupcake" had any devil/angel cupcake ideas. The book does not have them, so we planned them out over a less than 20 minute conversation. I must say, they turned out wonderfully. The devil cupcakes are made with red Starburst for triangular ears and the tip of the tail, and Twizzlers Pull-And-Peel were used for the main part o the tail. She baked them with devil's food cake (clever, huh?) and iced them with homemade butter-cream icing tinted with red coloring. The angel wings were crafted with melted white chocolate almond bark and were piped onto wax paper. They were covered in edible sparkles, and the icing was tinted pale yellow. She has inspired me to start making my own icing, since it was obviously much more delicious than the canned stuff. If "Hello, Cupcake" is accepting suggestions for their third book, then I think these "naughty/nice" cupcakes should be on the list!

Happy Easter!

Easter this year was absolutely perfect with 80 degree weather and fully blossomed Bradford pear trees blowing in the breeze. I always love Easter and can't help but indulge in some of my favorite candies, including Peeps, Reese's Eggs, Cadbury Mini Eggs, Starburst Jellybeans, raspberry filled eggs, strawberry filled eggs, and marshmallow eggs. I guess it's something about chocolate egg shaped candy filled with sweetness that makes my mouth water. My Easter cupcakes were inspired by eggs, and they were made by trimming graham crackers into an egg shape. Then, sprinkles and icing was used to decorate the eggs. Last, green icing squeezed from a Ziploc bag created grass for the eggs to nest in.

April Fools!

Hey, honey, I made vegetables for dinner. Just kidding! They're cupcakes! The corn cob is made from Jelly Belly jellybeans. The mashed potatoes are just piled icing, drizzled caramel sauce, and yellow Starburst butter patties. The peas and carrots are green Runts candy and cubed orange Starburst. Another successful piece of cupcake artwork (idea from "Hello, Cupcake," of course). And, they are also a celebration of the release of a new book by the same authors called "What's New Cupcake?" It was nice to have the first week of April off for spring break, and thank goodness April Fool's Day fell over the break. Third graders relish at the opportunity to trick their teacher, but this year all the jokes went to parents instead of teachers. Over the days off I obviously made cupcakes, and I enjoyed a trip to Georgia to visit my 22 month old nephew, who has really blossomed since I last saw him at Christmas. Now he can say my name "Kee-yee" instead of calling me "Da-da." He is also into trains now (choo-choos) and loves his Teddy, Buzz, and Woody. His second birthday party is fast approaching, and I promised him a train cake. I'll be searching for ideas to create the perfect train cake complete with a long line of cupcake cargo. As my nephew would say, "Eat choo-choo!"