Happy Birthday Butterfly!

Here are the butterfly cupcakes finally finished for Dawn's Birthday!   I think they turned out alright, would have been easier if some things weren't packed up.   It also took a little bit to get them to stand up and they aren't quite right yet.. but this was the first try! They will be better next time!!

So more good news! I got the Hello, Cupcake cookbook today at work!  It was the last day to get our employee discount, so I took advantage and got the book before it was too late!  I'm excited to see what I can make out of it!  

Happy Birthday Dawn! :)  Excited to spend the weekend wiith you!

Make Your Own Happiness

Today for me did't start off on the best foot.  Nothing is wrong, I was just incredibly tired, felt bad, because I didn't feel like covering a shift for my sick friend (thankfully she found someone else to cover for her)  I was also hungry, but I have no real food in apartment because of the move.

I went to work to take the cupcakes to them, which they were happy about, found out that the computers were being shut off.  This means people will be even more upset that we will not be able to find the books they are looking for.. I'm not really looking forward to work tomorrow!   So I walked around and called some people to just chat.   Then I decided, I wanted some real food, but I couldn't afford to go eat, or buy groceries for an apartment I will be leaving soon.  So I called my dad and he saved my stomach!! Once before he had ordered me pizza and had it sent to my apartment, so I asked him if he could possibly do it again for me... and he did! :)  That is the best pizza I have seen in forever! :P   I also have enough for meals for the next few days!

So after having some good conversations and a full belly, I decided to make cookies that I had agreed to take to work :).   I wasn't feeling like it earlier in the day, but it was a great time!   It also got rid some of the ingredients out of boxes that would possibly get ruined by the time I moved into my new apartment in more than 3 weeks!   It also helped me procrastinate packing and cleaning the apartment!   I hope you all find a way to make your day happier, even if it is finally asking for some help to have a real meal!

Love in the End...

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Cream Cheese Frosting
Dark Chocolate Mint Hearts

..So a couple of days ago, I found out that my place of work is getting liquidated.  That is not very good news to anyone, especially some of my coworkers who depend on this job for everything.    So Today was the first day the public started to find out about what was happening and constantly came in asking question about their beloved books being taken away from them.   I mean, I understand how they fell, I will also miss my books, but they don't seem to realize the workers will be losing a lot more...

During this first lovely day of questions with unknown answers, I worked 14.5 hours, quite a shift.   During my first break my co-worker came in the the break room and said, "You know what we need to make this better, Emily?"  "No, what's that?"  "We need some of your cupcakes and cookies, I know I told you to not bring them in (because he ate too many), but I don't know what that man was thinking."

So here I am baking at the wee hours of 3 o'clock in the morning.  At first I had no idea what to make, just thinking store bought, because everything is packed up, but I asked my co-worker what his favorite cupcake was, and he saws Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting.     One cupcake I have never made in my life, so I took advantage and here it is!  My first try at Red Velvet Cupcakes, cream cheese frosting, and added a dark-chocolate mint heart.    I think they turned out very well actually!   I'm even thinking next time to add mint into the batter or frosting.  I was unsure if the flavors would blend at first, but it worked beautifully!    The real judging will happen tomorrow when I take them to my coworkers to cheer them up!

Chocolate Art

So today is the first day of trying to use chocolate to make my own decorations for cupcakes. I am learning that it is going to be tough teaching myself how to do all of these baking things, especially since I am in the  middle of a move.  Luckily I enjoy baking and cooking so it is not very stressful!  Quite the opposite and very exciting to see how things will come out!

As you can see I started my learning of chocolate art with butterflies, which will be put onto cupcakes on Thursday for Dawn's Birthday!  It took a while to figure out what was the best way to use the chocolate  and how to keep the chocolate melted long enough for everything to work!

Can find candy melts in all colors!

To save you trouble,  here is how I did it that worked the best:   Put the candy melts into decorating bags (or sandwich bags).   Then fill a pot will water and place it on the stove at the lowest setting.  Place your bags of candy melts into the pot.  Every once in a while pick up the bags and squeeze them to mix up the chocolate and get it all melted.   When the chocolate is all melted, cut a whole at the bottom of the decorating bag (or corner of sandwich bag) and decorate away!

Places like Michael's or Hobby Lobby have little squeeze bottles that you can put the candy melts into and place those bottles into the hot water.   These are nice, because you can continue to keep the chocolate melted easier in between colors you are using.   I did not talk about them before, because while using the orange candy melts, the bottle didn't work as well.  I did use a bottles for the dark chocolate  the whole time and it worked wonderfully.  I also suggest the plastic bags, because they are much easier to clean up in the end.

Explorations To Come

Although I do not have any new cupcakes to show, I am excited for the possibilities coming in the future!  This coming week has a few very important birthdays!  First my Mom, Karen's, birthday is tomorrow!! Happy Birthday!! Sadly I am not there to make you any awesome cupcakes :( ... 6 days later is Justin's mom, Dawn's, birthday!  She is coming to visit that weekend, to hang out and to help me move my stuff out of my apartment.  So it is the PERFECT time to try some new cupcakes!! I should have some made and ready to show Wednesday or Thursday! :D

The cupcakes this week are going to be about the decoration, since my apartment is pretty empty and can't make them from scratch, expect the ones in the future to be from scratch and new exciting tastes!  I invested in a cookbook that will help me create the flavors that I am wanting in the cake and frosting!! I am really excited to try them out! :)    More exciting is that Michael's had a 50% off a baking item, so I got to get a very important item to help create the cupcakes for my sister's baby shower! :)  So expect great things soon! I am really excited about these new explorations! :)

The Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today got incredibly better after my original post for the day.  Justin called!  It was only 53 seconds, but brightened my gloomy day. So I got up and left once more, saw a movie, bought baby gifts, and went to meijer to just walk around.  But low and behold!  Chocolate Chips were on sale! The only missing ingredient I needed for cookies!  So I also got to bake today! :)  I hope everyone at work tomorrow is hungry, they have a few dozen cookies to eat!

Now here is a question for my few followers, should I post recipes? or anything else to make this blog a little more interesting?  Let me know your ideas!

Gloomy on a Sunny Day

Today is a beautiful, sunny day, but I couldn't even enjoy the weather when I went for my run this morning.  Still haven't heard from Justin at bootcamp and it has been about three weeks.. no good.  Also bills are piling up and blah blah blah.... On top of that I have to start packing up my kitchen... yes, that means, my baking supplies!! :'(  I will not be able to bake for a few weeks and that is no good! I need to practice for my first party in September!  Do notice though, I have yet to tape up the box, just in case a baking moment happens to come along!

I also got a text today from somebody really special.. SO I must mention her!  The one and only person who got me to love cooking and baking, (although she does not share my love for coffee, I guess I will forgive her for that) my Mom, Karen! :)  She is the one who had to deal with me not allowing my little brother to get his disgusting chubby little fingers in my cookie dough, and some other things through the years, including eating that disgusting butter cake hehe. :)  Thanks Mom! :)

Next Steps

My newest goody I tried were Cake Pops!  They turned out to be amazing!  I decided to make them, 1. because my dad said I should try them, and 2. because I wanted something to take to a Fourth of July party, but wanted something more than a cupcake with red, white, and blue sprinkles.  I tried it, it turned out awesome, and people loved them!  I went to another party and Justin's cousin asked me what I brought, because she wanted some more! Yay!

I have a few more ideas for cake pops.  I am wanting to make some, take them to school and sell them on the main quad or the south quad.  I think they would be eaten up quickly~  My other idea must be kept secret from a certain someone, so read on later and find out! :P

The Beginning.

Hello!! Thanks to my lovely sister Katie, I have decided to start this blog and share my baked creations, recipes and ideas.   I will also talk about myself, because why not?  To begin with I'm a student, I work in a bookstore with amazing people and have no idea what I will do after I graduate!!   Sorry, but I am taken by my wonderful boyfriend Justin, who is off in San Diego right now at boot camp for the Marines. I miss him a lot, so don't be surprised if I talk about him waaaaaay too much :D.   Other big news in my life is that my beautiful sister is having a baby girl!!! :D  So in November my amazing niece Aubrey Elizabeth with be joining this world! :D  And of course I will be making amazing treats to her baby shower (sorry no details now, want to surprise the mommy).

I'm guessing you might be wondering why I love to bake so much.  Well it started a long long time ago, when I learned how to make the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.  Yes the best.  I still have that recipe memorized from when I was in second grade.  That's where I started and went from there, I remember the first cake I made from scratch, a butter cake,  it was horrible... I like to say I've gotten much better since then!  I've done much more since, but that is the start and from now on I will share with you my creations!!  To start with here is a cupcake I made a few weeks ago!  Enjoy!