Christmas Party

I used to have an annual Christmas cocktail party every December 22nd (actually the first year it was the 23rd, but the hangover on Christmas Eve proved to be something I did not want to repeat year after year). Last year, for various reasons, I didn't end up having the party. This year, I wanted to reincarnate the party in a much smaller, tamer version.

Mini vanilla cupcakes

Even though the party was smaller, that does not mean that I held back on the desserts or food. As I was setting up the table with cookies and cupcakes before any guests had arrived, I realized I had made enough food for 4 times the amount of guests I was expecting.

Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter

I had prepared my cookie doughs the week before and stored them in the fridge. Whenever I had time in the week leading up to the party, I would throw a couple batches of cookies in the oven and store them in Tupperware.

Sugar cookies

This year I made a few of my favorite "classic" Christmas cookies: chocolate chip (perfected over many, many tested recipes), oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, and the sugar cookies I wrote about in the last post. I also made mini vanilla cupcakes in festive liners from left over batter I had from an order last week.

It wouldn't be a party with just desserts (ok...maybe it would be) so I also made a Christmas punch (a blend of pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, pineapple vodka, and seltzer) and some assorted hors d'oeurves. The biggest hit seemed to be cocktail hotdogs wrapped in bacon and baked in dark brown sugar. It sounds weird, but it was really, really good.

My 25th Birthday Party

Mini pumpkin cupcakes

On November 17, I turned the age that when I was much younger I considered to be officially "old" - twenty-five. I was not psyched to be passing this age milestone, so I decided to deal with it in my favorite way - plan a big party. With the party to look forward to, I happily started planning all of the details of the party - most notably the desserts.

Center of the top cake tier

I decided I really wanted a birthday cake - like a big birthday cake. I've been really wanting a Wall-E shaped cake, but decided it didn't really fit with the theme I was going for. The color scheme was purple - my favorite color, and I decided to go all out.

Top chocolate cake tier

From the outer space order I did, I used the remaining pumpkin spice batter to make two dozen mini cupcakes in bright purple liners. Once I topped them with cream cheese frosting, I sprinkled them with purple sugar.

Cakes chilling in the refrigerator with the party beverages

The next piece of this was the cake. I baked a 6 inch chocolate cake that I filled with chocolate frosting and chopped Reese's. I then covered it with more chocolate frosting. The 9 inch cake was vanilla bean, frosted and filled with vanilla frosting. After refrigerating both cakes, I covered them in a lavender fondant. The cakes were then refrigerated again. I stacked them using wooden dowels as support in the 9 inch cake. Then I painted the cakes with an edible sparkly paint and wrapped a darker purple ribbon around the bottoms of both cakes.

Sugar cookies set up on the table

I also made some sugar cookies cut into circles. These were iced with royal icing and covered in purple sugar. Everything came out really well and looked really nice set up. The party was as much of a success as the desserts were.

Side view of the table

More Cupcakes than Kangaroos in Australia

Since coming back from my trip, I've felt like such an Australia failure. One of the first questions everyone asks is "So did you see any kangaroos??" Sadly, I did not see any kangaroos there. People just can't believe this. In Australia, we really only were in cities, where kangaroos don't live, and I didn't have the time to go to the zoo while in Sydney. My friend Vica did, and I'm living vicariously through her kangaroo experience (she also ate kangaroo - ewww). She just sent me pictures from our vacation and there's a ton from the zoo so I feel like I was there (and am very jealous she got to pet a kangaroo!).

Cupcakes in Macca's - not a bad price!

I may not have seen any kangaroos, but I did see a ton of cupcakes surprisingly. They seemed to be following us. While we were in Airlie Beach, we wandered into the McDonald's (or Macca's as it's nicknamed in Australia) to get a soft serve cone, and at the McDonald's Cafe, there were cupcakes! Almost all of the McDonald's there have what's like a Starbucks-type cafe inside, separate from the other food. It's pretty nice, and I gather that's what they're starting to do here in the U.S. with the McCafe drinks. The first time we saw those cupcakes, we didn't try any because I was already set on icecream, but when we went back a few days later, they were all out of cupcakes. When we asked about them at the register, the woman told us that she could take some out of the freezer for us. Clearly we passed up that offer. Frozen cupcakes? No thanks.

On the our sailing trip in the Whitsunday Islands, it always felt like food was scarce. Because no one brought food on with them, what we ate and when we ate were entirely up to the crew. And the cook, Fern, particularly didn't seem to care if we all starved to death. That being said, one afternoon as a snack there were cupcakes. They were vanilla cupcakes with a glaze-like frosting, covered in nonpareils. It was probably the best thing I ate on the trip.

Cupcakes in the Whitsundays

Next up, I'll let you guys know about the two cupcake bakeries I visited in Sydney.

I'm Back! With Cupcakes from Down Under!

Me outside of Little Cupcakes

My two week Australia/New Zealand trek started in Melbourne, the city my brother had studied abroad in and I had heard so much about. We were staying with three of Eric's friends, who definitely showed my friend Vica & I a good and authentic Aussie time. Our first day in the city, our first stop was the cupcake shop I had read about, Little Cupcakes. Located on the laneway DeGraves Street, this place was really cute. I loved the whole feel of Melbourne, and DeGraves Street personified the cluttered laneway/outdoor cafes vibe. My first thought was that the cupcakes looked great, but they were pretty pricey. I think each was $2.50 Australian Dollars, which with the exchange rate we had, was about $2/cupcake. They were the mini size though.

Red Velvet - Love the stars!

I brought a dozen of these back to the guys' place to try, and we all thought they were pretty good. My favorite was definitely the white chocolate raspberry, but the ones with the Teddy Grahams were just adorable. These cupcakes were definitely the type we're used to in America. The buttercream frosting was similar to the one I use, not the cooked buttercream that's popular elsewhere. The cake itself was a bit dense, more like a muffin than a cake.

Teddy cupcake on my guide book

If you ever find yourself in Melbourne, these are definitely cupcakes worth checking out.

Easter Cupcakes!

Mini rainbow swirled cupcakes

I went home this weekend for Easter and used the opportunity (and available double oven) to bake somethings I've been wanting to try and some old favorites. One of my friends gave up cupcakes for Lent and I've been torturing her with pictures of all these cupcakes on my blogs.

Middle Tier - rainbow, lemon w/ lemon and mini rainbow

When it came time to break her cupcake ban, she knew exactly what kind she wanted - the rainbow, so those were on the must-bake list. I had also been looking at pictures of cupcake bouquets all week, and knew those would be good to give out to some family friends. Additionally, I've recently gotten some cake orders, and being as it's been a while since I've baked an actual cake, I figured it would be wise not to let the practice round wait until the day the order was due. That's going to be a whole separate post.

Bottom Tier - lemon w/ lemon frosting, vanilla minis, coconut

I made the rainbow first, setting aside a few plain white ones to make coconut-covered cupcakes for my mom. Lauren was a huge help with the rainbow, and I think she's even come up with a new technique to make them more tie dye than rainbow. I'll have to try it on the bigger ones in the future.


The cupcake bouquets were pretty awesome. I had seen them done by other people on a couple blogs, and they looked pretty difficult. While they were tricky, they weren't impossible. I decided to go with mini cupcakes. I love mini cupcakes, they're so cute, and on the bouquet they were even better. From every batter, I made a batch of minis and set these aside for the bouquets.



I piped frosting on the cupcakes so that they resembled flowers. Years ago, my mom and I took Wilton Course 1 at Michael's craft store, so I have some piped flower background, but it takes a few to practice on before I get the hang of it. While everyone else was dying Easter eggs, I was piping all these cupcakes.


These flower pots were on sale at Michael's this week for only 49 cents! In them, I fit half a styrofoam ball that would serve as the base for the cupcakes. The cupcakes are anchored into the styrofoam using toothpicks.


Everyone who was the recipient of one of these bouquets loved them. I really think they would be adorable as centerpieces on tables for a bridal shower or other event. They can also be done with more and larger cupcakes. I'm looking forward to experimenting with these in the future.