There is a beginning to everything.
I have been on this planet for exactly 29 years and 10 months, but this is the beginning of my journey to master the perfect cupcake! I promised my mom back in January that my New Year's Resolution this year would be to start taking myself and my baking more seriously. For years my family and friends have been telling me how delicious my baked goods were and how I could undoubtedly be successful if I sold them, and for years I met that with an almost rehearsed reply of "yeah, yeah, yeah. Who in the world is going to pay for one of my cupcakes?" Well, this year I am going to keep my promise to my mother. I have decided that I will make at least one test batch of cupcakes or other baked goods per week to build a recipe catalog, in hopes that when the children I nanny for no longer need me, I will have a nice collection of recipes and be able open a bake shop of my own!
Now, being that there has been seven weeks of 2012 I should have baked seven new recipes so far this year, and I have (probably more than 7) but not all from scratch. There were a lot of birthdays and different celebrations in January and early February, and because I will not take the chance of using a new recipe without testing it first, I admittedly used a lot of boxed mixes in my recipes, so those don't count. The deal was all recipes must be made entirely from scratch! I did make my own; whipped cream, vanilla and chocolate buttercream, vanilla glaze, champagne frosting, and chocolate ganache.
I wasn't a total slacker so far this year. I made Cinnamon Chip Scones! I know, I know! I said I was on a journey to master the perfect cupcake and the first thing I made was scones! But, boy were they good!
I made my first savory cupcake for the Superbowl a Buffalo Chicken Cupcake with Blue Cheese Buttercream. Those were interesting! If I were to make them again, the cupcake was great, but the frosting was much too sweet for my liking, I would definitely change that.
For Valentine's Day I made Red Velvet Muffins and topped them with a dollop of cream cheese frosting. The muffins were perfect and I was so proud of myself for making the whole recipe from scratch!
This past weekend however I made two test batches of cupcakes from scratch, and according to my family and a few friends both recipes were amazing! I made French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting and topped them with a piece of bacon
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I also made Muddy Buddy Cupcakes (PB cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting dusted with powdered sugar and topped with muddy buddies!) My best friend loved this cupcake so much she asked me to make them for her brother's birthday on Sunday!
The cupcakes I made this weekend were by far the prettiest cupcakes I have ever made! I have been really working on my frosting skills! Next week I am making cupcakes for the grand re-opening of the salon my sister works at! I am very excited for that, it will be my first big event! Wish me luck!
I'll post about that after I get all the reviews!
Until next time...
Peace, Love, and CUPCAKES!
Nicole
