Red Velvet Cupcakes

In my last post I had told you that a dear friend's birthday was coming up and she wanted red velvet for her cake.  This weekend was the first trial run of a recipe.  I thought I would start with a recipe from someone whom I believe is the epitome of Southern cooking.... Paula Deen.  I did not have to look very far on her website to find a recipe.  This is the one I used..... http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/red_velvet_cupcakes_with_cream_cheese_frosting/ .  I found it to be a very easy recipe.  I would honestly recommend it to anyone who is an amateur baker.  There is a few more things about it, but I will get to them in a minute because I know all of you want to see the cupcakes.  I know it is the only reason anyone reads my blog is to look at all the pretty pictures.  It's ok.  I don't blame you.  I love looking at things I wish I could eat too.  So, no more stalling.....

YUMMY!

Well, what do you think?  I know looks great and it was good too.

Ok, now onto some of the other stuff about the cake.  I will be honest I have no idea what a red velvet cake should taste like.  I have had it before, but I will admit I thought it was a bit dry.  These cupcakes to me just tasted like any cake.  It did not have any real distinct flavor to it.  The birthday girl tried and thought they were ok.  They were good, but not what she was looking for.  After some discussion, this version is not exactly what she is looking for in the cake.  So, it is back to oven for me.  I have a recipe from one of my favorite websites... AllRecipes.com.  There is a few tweaks that I will need to make, but I think it will work.  Of course, I will let you know all about it when I make them.

Until next time...... Happy Baking!!!

Might have more business

This week I was asked to make two Italian Cream Cakes for a new customer.  He is a Philly transplant like myself and we have talked several times about many different things.  He recently took over his family's pretzel business and has been thinking of expanding  some things.  He had a family get together this week and asked me to make the cakes.  I of course was delighted to.

It is a three layer cake with cream cheese icing, pecans, and coconut.

I have not found what they thought of them. I haven't needed to get any pretzels since I delivered them.  I don't want to jump ahead of myself, but I am hoping that this might turn into something more.  Send good thoughts, please.

Until next time.... Happy Baking!

My Latest Creation

This past weekend was a friend of mine son's birthday.  She asked me to make the cupcakes for his party.  I, of course said yes.  The request was for a white cake and Iron Man theme.  This was my first time making a white cake from scratch.  I think I did pretty well.  I was also asked to make a icing that was not as sweet, so I went with a cream cheese icing.  I was able to find both Iron Man paper cups and cupcake picks.  I decided to have two different color icings.  One was red and the other was golden yellow.  Here is the final result.......

Everyone was happy with how they looked and tasted. (Hopefully, I'll be able to do her daughter's birthday cake next month.... hint hint)

This weekend I have several things going on.  I have Mom's Night, Breakfast with Santa and a work holiday feast.  I have decided to make a strawberry margarita cake and apple enchiladas for the Mom's night.  I am making a quiche for the breakfast.  And lastly the work holiday is still up in the air.  I have a few ideas, just not sure which to do yet.  I'll let you know when I do.

Until next time..... Happy Baking!