Little Red Car Chocolate Birthday Cake

This is turning out to be quite the birthday weekend. Here is a cake we made that is simple and full of decadence! Chocolate cake lightly iced in chocolate ganache. We really like the drop effect of the chocolate ganache on the sides. Brian is turning two and really like toy cars, so we made a little red car from fondant as a cake topper.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Fondant decorations drying on powdered sugar and wax paper.


Decadent chocolate ganache on chocolate cake.

Zoom!

Cupcakes in the News!

How cool is this? Thank you to Angela for taking time to interview us. Our lime buttercream on vanilla cupcake photo and recipe was used!

You can find variations of the articles here:

1. CTV Toronto: Cupcake connoisseurs flock to Leslieville
2. Welland Tribune: Rising up to meet the cupcake craze
3. Fort Frances Times: Cupcake lovers finding new ways to make, share, indulge hobby
4. Bakers Journal: Cupcake lovers finding new ways to share hobby
   
5. The Record: Cupcakes the Main Course
6. The Daily Gleaner: Buttercream is the perfect topping for cupcakes
7. Prince George Citizen: Buttercream is the perfect topping for delectable cupcakes
8. kv style: More than a bit loopy for cuppies
   

Or, you can read the full article here on our feature's page.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

It is the year of the ox! We've gotten our new calendars, baskets of mandarin oranges, red pockets, new year's cake, turnip cakes, and various new year treats. We saw these Clementine Cakes on flagrante delicia earlier this month and we knew we would want to try them. Since mandarin oranges are very popular during Chinese New Year, we adapted her recipe to make Mandarin Orange Cupcakes! They were topped with whipped cream and decorated with fondant.


Mandarin Orange Cupcakes
Adapted from flagrante delicia

4 separated eggs
250 g of sugar
150 g of cake flour
70 ml of mandarin orange juice

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
   
2. Mix the egg yolks with sugar.
3. Add in whisked egg whites, the flour and the juice.
4. Pour batter into cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes.
   

Going clockwise from top left: Separated egg yolks, Mandarin oranges, Whipped cream splatter in mixing bowl, and Mandarin orange cupcake.

The cupcakes were very dense and we are thinking we should have added a leavening agent. Or the egg whites were not stiff enough? The mandarin orange juice left a bitter citrus aftertaste, which helped even out how sweet the cupcakes were. The best part of these cupcakes were the light sugar coating on top - like creme brulee! The tops of the cupcakes were brown with caramelized sugar.

Some people like having this word upside down to symbolize the arrival of luck, happiness, and prosperity. Initially, I was going to write the word with edible food markers, but my dad told me to cut the word out from fondant. Then he said I should make it look like Chinese calligraphy. Well, I took on the challenge and yeahh it looks good!

Chinese gold ingot made from fondant. This symbolizes wealth and money.

Red and gold Chinese lantern made from fondant. Two very lucky colours!

Happy Chinese New Year to you all!

CupcakeCamp Toronto

We just got back from the first:

CupcakeCamp Toronto!!!!!

Date: Sunday, January 25, 2009 from 2:00-5:00pm
Location: Labspace Studio, 2A Pape Avenue

Admission: $5.00 for tasters and $2.00 for bakers

Left: We're here! CupcakeCamp Toronto!
Right: The schedule of cupcake tastings.

Left: Our entry stamp.
"Seize the Cupcake" indeed, that was what people were doing!
Right: Waiting for cupcakes!

Left: Michelle Villagracia and Monica Fitzpatrick welcoming everyone.

Right: Michelle introducing the cupcake bakers.

There was a fantastic turnout! The studio definitely reached capacity pretty quick! We had to squeeze by people, crane our necks, and lift our camera high to see the delicious cupcakes. There were more than enough tasters! Once the cupcakes reached the designated tables, you would blink and *poof* they were gone.

Left: Christine Truong's 'Caffe Latte' cupcakes being placed on the table...
Right: The cupcakes are already in the hands of eaters!

Left: Christine Truong's 'Caffe Latte' cupcakes.
Right: Meatloaf cupcakes with mash potato frosting.

Left: Krista Arndt's 'Chocolate Malt' cupcakes making their way to the tables.
Right: Ivy Lovell's 'Banana Chocolate with Strawberry Frosting' cupcakes.

We spotted lots of cute cupcake aprons, caddies, bags, pins, necklaces, and t-shirts! We're glad people are wearing cupcake gears! With all the quick hands, we decided to take a sneak peak at the back kitchen. Finally, cupcake photos without the crowd! We also have lots more photos on our facebook page. For now, check out these cool cupcakes (you can click on the photos to enlarge them):

Left: Heather Williams' 'Vanilla Cheesecake Crunch' cupcakes.
Right: Cat Chen's 'Raspberry Rapture' cupcakes.

Left: Cat Chen's 'Red Bean' and 'Raspberry Rapture' cupcakes.
Right: Stephanie Brown's 'Chocolate Chip Cupcookies.'

Left: Valerie Foster's 'Fig Walnut and Caramel' cupcakes.
Right: Julie Stolberg's 'Green Eggs and Ham' cupcakes.

Left: The view from the top!
Right: pollyprissypants was live blogging the event from a top!


Left: If you said 'hi' to Madalina Paul from Duh-Licious, you got a cupcake sticker!
Right: Laura posing with Frosting. Thanks for letting us take the photo! :)

Here are some thoughts Laura, Howard, and I came up with:

1. They did a great job on getting the event noticed and featured in publications! However, they still didn't anticipate the large numbers and the venue immediately became too small. Perhaps in addition to baker registrations, have tasters register as well to get an estimate number.
   
2. Don't do a free-for-all when there is food to be handed out. This only rewards the pushy and grabby people. The nice and polite people don't get to try any. This is a fun cupcake event, it shouldn't be about "snoozing and losing."
   
3. We suggest having people sign-up for the cupcakes they want to try. Or hand out vouchers! Depending on the number of cupcakes, everyone could be given 3 vouchers that would be exchanged for a cupcake. Designated line-ups or buffet tables would be nice too.
   
4. The baker's didn't get enough spot-light!!! With the crowds, sometimes you don't see the bakers when they're introducing their cupcakes. We suggest a raised platform or a mini stage.
5. There wasn't enough cupcakes, so there wasn't a need to close the baker's registration. The more the merrier! There will always be cupcake eaters!
6. Tip to bakers: mini cupcakes would be ideal, that way there are more to pass around, and they are perfect "taste-test" size.
7. Cupcake tastings can be scheduled more frequently. They were gone the second they were presented!
8. Have other fun activities like a draw for giveaways!
   
9. Some minor details: have disposal bins for cupcake liners, bigger signs, and someplace to showcase the cupcakes. The event is about cupcakes, we shouldn't have to sneak to the back to see the stars of the show!
   

Well, until next time! Did you get a chance to attend CupcakeCamp Toronto? Did you get a chance to taste a cupcake? What did you think of the event overall?

Maple and Chocolate

So, was anyone wondering what happened to that 6-inch cake from our previous post on our Hedgehog Cupcakes? Well, after dinner last night with Howard's parents we met up with friends to watch a movie. Our meeting place? A Wal-Mart Superstore. So we couldn't help but pick up some baking ingredients and maple extract!

The afternoon sun wants the tip of our cake!

Maple Buttercream

(Makes about 1 cup)

1/2 a stick of butter

1 cup of confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon of pure maple extract

1 1/2 teaspoons of water

1. Using a mixer, cream the butter until smooth.
2. Add in the sugar and mix until well blended.
3. Add the maple extract and mix until smooth and fluffy.
4. Slowly add each teaspoon of water until you achieve the consistency you like.
5. Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe out an even swirl to fill the cake. Leftover buttercream can be used on extra cupcakes!

Piping a giant swirl to fill the cake!

Chocolate Cupcake with Maple Buttercream

Yum! The cake and maple buttercream combination was delicious! It reminded us of maple glazed donuts from Tim Horton's! With a cup of hot tea, this is a great winter snack!