Monday, August 10, 2009

What's a 70's Party without a Disco Ball?!






So, I was asked to make mini cupcakes for a 70's party. Needless to say, I had to google what the heck was popular in the 70's. Here's what I found:






      • Smiley Faces


      • Disco


      • Rubics Cube


      • Pet Rocks


      • Platform Shoes


      • Mood Rings


      • Afros

      Uhh...what looks appetizing out of that list? Pet rock cupcake? I think not! So, I decided to make a plethora of minis: smileys, peace signs and disco. I made purple, avocado green, yellow, orange and pink colors...I figured I could take the colors of the 70's and make it fun.


      Slapping a disco ball in the middle (thank you, Party City) made them more than festive for a house party in the suburbs. What a fun time!




      Wednesday, July 29, 2009

      Dinner for Dessert



      I love tricking people. Typically, people don't like being tricked. Fortunately, when you trick people with cupcakes, they don't seem to get as upset.





      Since my mom's been at the bank, she's hosted an annual HR lunch where she shows off her awesome Italian cooking skills. Who doesn't love a little hot lasagna in the middle of summer?? Well, this year I convinced her to let me make a silly dessert. And BOY is it silly!





      Spaghetti and Meatballs!! A slight tint to white buttercream frosting makes the spaghetti look real, a few chocolate/hazelnut balls from the store and some strawberry preserves made this dessert look like another dinner course.





      Sounded like my mom pulled it off, since people said they were too full for more pasta. Oh, what a trickster!

      Monday, July 6, 2009

      Corn isn't a Vegetable...it's a DESSERT!


      I love corn-on-the-cob in the summer. Honestly, I don't believe it's summer until I have two things: 1) Nana's Italian Potato Salad and 2) corn-on-the-cob. Here's the twist I included in my 4th of July party this year: cupcakes!
      It took about 3lbs of Jelly Belly's to make 7 corn-on-the-cobs! I was shocked at how many "kernels" fit on each cupcake. Needless to say, Tim was psyched. I put some Starburst yellow candies on them, smushing down the side to make it look like melting butter. People were afraid to eat them! Don't worry, they all went, eventually.

      Tuesday, June 23, 2009

      Summer is Here!




      One of my FAVORITE flowers is the Sunflower. And one of my favorite dunking cookies is the all-American Oreo. So why not make Sunflower cupcakes with a yummy Oreo as the center? And why not include some lucky ladybugs!




      The bugs are red M&M's with piped chocolate. The cupcakes are yellow and chocolate with buttercream filling. I piped the petals on with a leaf tip after I glued down the Oreo cookie.




      These were for a family reunion at my aunt's house in Indiana. They seemed to love them! I had so much fun making these happy cupcakes, I couldn't help but smile the whole time! :-)




      Monday, June 15, 2009

      Fun with Chocolate





      Hi there! Thought I'd show you a fun chocolate mosaic cake I experimented with for my friends' summer birthdays. They are new moms and I wanted to make sure they were celebrated!
      Wonder how I get my ideas? I subscribe to a couple magazines that specialize in fancy show-on-TLC type cakes. One issue had a dark chocolate mosaic cake. Mosaic, to me, is just broken pieces glued back together. Well, I LOVED the idea, but didn't love all that brown...especially in the summer. So I changed it up a bit and made it girly!
      I melted down white chocolate, separated it so I could color half pink. I spread the layer of chocolate as thin as I could, swirling the two colors so it created a spectrum of pink and white. I chilled it, and had fun breaking it all up!
      The cake is red velvet, one of the Birthday girls' favorite cake flavors, and I filled the middle with fresh strawberries. I accented the PINK with yellow, to help it pop.
      Seemed like everyone enjoyed it, and I can't wait to make another mosaic!




      Thursday, May 21, 2009

      Taking Orders for Father's Day and All Your Other Summer Celebrations!

      I have plans for very manly cupcake and cookie arrangements in not-so-ordinary containers for all the adored fathers out there. All arrangements are wrapped up and ready to go.

      Summer BBQ gatherings, anyone? Order your look-a-like BBQ favorites, including corn-on-the-cob cupcakes! You have to see it to believe it!

      Christenings, baby showers, bridal showers--who doesn't love a beautiful confection that doubles as a conversation piece!

      Contact Katie Kauffman at katiek25@gmail.com to order your custom confection today!

      Monday, May 11, 2009

      Happy Mother's Day!


      Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there. I love this holiday!
      I wanted to make a mock Hostess Cupcake. Basically, I love the swirl on top. I can't tell you the last time I had a Hostess Cupcake, but I was sure I remembered it having a mashmellow-y filling. So I made marshmellow buttercream!
      So, devil's food (dark chocolate) cucpakes, marshmellow buttercream filling and chocolate ganache on top! I got the seal of approval from all the moms at the Mother's Day celebration...and even an uncle or two.
      Cupcake name: Hostess-of-the-Mostest Cupcakes!

      Saturday, May 9, 2009

      My First Bridal Shower


      Hi there! I'm still trying to get in the habit of actually posting.


      Anyhoo, I was able to make 80+ cupcakes for a bridal shower. Her flowers are Calla Lilies, and her colors are purple and silver. Check out what I did! I molded the lilies out of vanilla fondant. The doo-dads on top are white chocolate molds ("S" monogram; I love monograms!).
      The cupcakes were a triple-chocolate fudge, filled with chocolate buttercream. The flower cupcakes are french vanilla with vanilla buttercream. The frosting as alllll buttercream too!
      They were a big hit! It's always flattering when people are afraid to touch something that's completely edible. :) I love my job!

      Thursday, May 7, 2009

      I'm Here!

      Hello out there! This is my first official blog post as a semi-pro baker. I'm so excited. I anticipate sharing my past creations as well as my current projects. I'm sure I'll get the hang of this thing soon!

      Thanks for visiting,

      Katie