Thursday, June 24, 2010

Toy Story Cupcakes


OCCASION: Birthday
FLAVOR: Funfetti

I made these ALL BUTTERCREAM (no fondant) cupcakes for my brother's 23rd birthday. Thomas, a big Toy Story fan, has been waiting to see the new movie for days now and was planning to see it yesterday in honor of his golden birthday--23 on the 23rd. Thomas, like the rest of my family, hates fondant--so I used pastry bags to ice the cupcakes instead. I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

In case you're unfamiliar with these characters, I recommend you see the movies. But, here's a list to help remind you:
1st Column: Alien, Weezy (TS2), Mr. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head
2nd Column: Hamm, Buzz, Lenny the Binoculars
3rd Column: Woody, Rex, Alien, Bo Peep
4th Column: Slinky, Alien, Bullseye (TS2), Jessie (TS2)

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Cupcake Challenge

To my loyal Mmmeliacakes Internet followers:
I regret to inform you that in a mere TWO MONTHS I'll be heading off to college at the University of Maryland, College Park, where I will be largely unable to bake cakes (although, if a big, awesome project came up, I'm close enough that I could try to make it home for the weekend and do it.) I want to make these last two months count by making as many cakes and cupcakes as possible.

This means that if you 'followed' me on blogspot because you knew one day you'd want to order a cake for some occasion or another, NOW is the time to do it. I'm free all through July and August for cakes (and also, cake decorating lessons for kids and adults ages 10+--email me if you're interested.)

After watching the new show Cupcake Wars, I was inspired to create new and innovative cupcake flavors as a challenge to myself. If you can leave a comment and suggest some unusual/fun ingredients for me to try to incorporate into cupcakes, that'd be great. If I go with your suggestion, and it turns out well, and you live in my area, I'll deliver YOU the cupcakes as a thank you!

Some examples would be: fruits that aren't usually used in cake (ex. canteloupe, watermelon, etc), vegetables, cereals, sodas, unique dairy products--anything FRESH would be preferred to frozen items. Please, give real suggestions--nothing disgusting. Of course, ALL cupcakes (good and bad) will be displayed on this blog for you to follow along.

Thanks for your help. I look forward to hearing from you :)
-Mmmelia

Case Western Cake


OCCASION: Graduation
FLAVOR: Marble

I made this cake for my friend John, whom I've gone to school with since elementary school. He's going to Case Western University this fall, where the mascot is the Spartans. I first covered the cake with fondant, then piped the design overtop.

Sweet 16 Cake


OCCASION: Sweet 16 Birthday
FLAVOR: Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Icing

I made these cakes (and cupcakes) for my boyfriend Alan's little sister Stacy and her friend Emma. The color scheme was pink and purple, so I swirled pink and purple in with the white icing for a cool effect. I curled shape into the flowers and draped them across the cakes.

Grumble Meter Cake



OCCASION: Birthday
FLAVOR: Mint Chocolate

My friends Dillon, Julie, and I have a running joke about people being 'grumbly'.

grumbly [gruhm' blee] adj: bitterness, grumpiness, or snappy behavior typically associated with sleep deprivation and/or hunger.

Dillon often used this word to describe my best friend Julie, who is very pleasant and sweet, but often would get a tad irritated at lunch time (which coincided with her waking up from her 1st-3rd period nap). Julie isn't the only grumbly person out there though; everyone has his/her grumbly moments, some people just don't get called out about them. Dillon has grumbly moments, our teachers have grumbly moments, strangers have them...I don't have them, of course, because sweet cupcake bakers don't ever get grumbly. :) Anyways, so I made this cake for Dillon's 18th birthday to follow up on our inside joke--it's a meter to measure a person's grumblyness. Try to stay in the green zone, please.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

2010 Cupcakes


OCCASION: Senior Class Night
FLAVOR: Chocolate and Vanilla

Actually, there's only 140 of them. I made these cupcakes for my Senior Class Night at school this past week. I officially graduate tonight, but the class night is a tradition for the day before the last day of school. I carefully planned out this design so that the flavors alternate--in theory a good idea, but actually it makes it semi-impossible to look at them closely. We let the cupcakes sit untouched for about 10 minutes before allowing the class to devour them. Each cupcake is topped with a colored M'n'M (you can buy them in single colors at craft stores) and sugar pearls in that same color. GO SEN10RS!