Don't you love having a "thing" or hobby? I love it when co-workers and friends tell me about cupcake and baking things they've seen. Honestly, there are trip photos from friends where I get tagged as cupcakes or bakeries on facebook. So, I wanted to share some of the baking-related gifts I received this year! (Click
here for last year's edition.) Maybe you'll spot something that you would like to put on your wishlist.
1. From the holidays, I got bubble bath cupcakes (thank you Pamela)! They come in these yummy scents:
lemon meringue,
apple strudel,
orange chiffon,
strawberry shortcake,
blueberry cheesecake, and
toasted coconut!
2. Howard found another set of flannel pajamas from
La Senza! This year they had lots of cupcake patterns, we picked the pink and white set (the pattern is called "Sugar Spice" on the website).
3.
The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by
Tarek Malouf was on my wish list this year (recommended by Trilby). I want to thank Secret Santa Kurt for ordering a copy for me! I am looking forward to baking from this cookbook, recipe pages have already been tagged and noted. Thing to note, beautiful photography (by
Peter Cassidy) and the recipes are very easy to follow. I
really like how the recipes yield a dozen cupcakes. The cookbook includes lots of classic American favourites, so I think this would be the perfect nostalgic gift. If you have a copy, don't forget to read these
tips from the publisher before baking. One day... we will visit the bakery in London!
4. This drool-worthy
Cakes calendar was a birthday present. It boasts a year of scrumptious recipes. What a great way to start each month! Thank you to Kurt and Diana!
5. This book,
Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, was also a part of my Secret Santa bundle, so thanks again Kurt! It is written by
Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, photographs by
Tina Rupp. This is such a beautiful cookbook - well done production and design! I really like the clean and simple ways their cakes and cupcakes are decorated. I am really looking forward to their next cookbook! My next trip to New York will have to include a stop at this bakery!
PS: Where do you get the little deer cupcake toppers on page 72??
6. For my birthday, we went to get mini cupcakes from
Life is Sweet. I picked out earl grey with orange, butterscotch, lemon drop, white chocolate, double chocolate, and mango and lime. Sigh! While we were there, there was another couple taste-testing for an event (a wedding perhaps?).
7. Cute
mini cupcake spatula/spoon! This mini set will be perfect for scraping the mixer's blade and for filling my smaller piping bags with frosting!
8.
Cupcake cookie cutters from Howard's Secret Santa! Thank you to Megan for including these for me! =P
9. You see that small
vintage pedestal holding the mini cupcakes? Birthday present from my brother, so thank you little brother! I know he doesn't understand ("What's wrong with regular plates?"), so even more gratitude for getting it for me. =)
10. My very sweet birthday card, thank you Howard. =)
On a random side note, after picking up my mini cupcakes on my birthday, we passed
The Pie Shack/The Paw Shack. I had read about
The Pie Shack in a bakery roundup from
blogTO, so we quickly parked and went inside! Howard and I tried a slice of the apple cinnamon pie. Yummy pie crust! Howard also picked up the AAA Angus Beef Pie for later. We both want to let Tim know that we love the setup, decor, and the feel of the bakery, oh and Campbell? Such a well behaved collie!
Well now I'm curious, what kind of sweet gifts did you get over the holidays? Feel free to share links to the item or links to your blog in the comments below!
On Thursday night, we drove through the cold and snow to Great Wolf Lodge. This was an early getaway for Howard's birthday (no, we're not too old for water parks)!
Check out the display case at Bear Claw Café!
Moe's Chocolate Mousse! (I don't know who Moe is...)
They had cupcakes too!
The moon (and street lights) on Saturday night. A fitting way to end a great wolf day.
Apple chunks and cinnamon!
Mmm, don't you love smooth batter?
I tried two different apple placements:
Top-half and bottom-half!
The winner! Apple chunks on the bottom make for a much neater cupcake. Plus, after cooling, the cupcakes with the apple chunks on top began to sank. But, if you like how the apple chunks look on top, I would try and put less batter in your cupcake liner?
I attempted a casual nutmeg buttercream. It did not turn out very well, therefore I won't be posting that bad recipe!
Verdict? Sweet and delicious!
Oh, it was just a few piping tips, piping bags... Honestly, they had a great collection of gum paste and fondant cutters. I didn't plan on getting any, but then I saw all these flower cutters and couldn't resist picking up the petunia set. (Next time, the dogwood flower set!) These little sizes are perfect for cupcake and cake decorating. I also got dark cupcake liners! And just look at those display cakes:
Now, I have really, really good news. I hope that you are free on Sunday, February 21, 2010! If not... you might want to look into clearing your schedule for that day...
Prize Details:
1. From the holidays, I got bubble bath cupcakes (thank you Pamela)! They come in these yummy scents: lemon meringue, apple strudel, orange chiffon, strawberry shortcake, blueberry cheesecake, and toasted coconut!
3. The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf was on my wish list this year (recommended by Trilby). I want to thank Secret Santa Kurt for ordering a copy for me! I am looking forward to baking from this cookbook, recipe pages have already been tagged and noted. Thing to note, beautiful photography (by Peter Cassidy) and the recipes are very easy to follow. I really like how the recipes yield a dozen cupcakes. The cookbook includes lots of classic American favourites, so I think this would be the perfect nostalgic gift. If you have a copy, don't forget to read these tips from the publisher before baking. One day... we will visit the bakery in London!
6. For my birthday, we went to get mini cupcakes from Life is Sweet. I picked out earl grey with orange, butterscotch, lemon drop, white chocolate, double chocolate, and mango and lime. Sigh! While we were there, there was another couple taste-testing for an event (a wedding perhaps?).
On a random side note, after picking up my mini cupcakes on my birthday, we passed The Pie Shack/The Paw Shack. I had read about The Pie Shack in a bakery roundup from blogTO, so we quickly parked and went inside! Howard and I tried a slice of the apple cinnamon pie. Yummy pie crust! Howard also picked up the AAA Angus Beef Pie for later. We both want to let Tim know that we love the setup, decor, and the feel of the bakery, oh and Campbell? Such a well behaved collie!
I want to apologize for this late post. I had said January 1st and now it is the 3rd - but hear me out, I had a good reason! The first two days of 2010 were painful... I somehow caught a stomach virus! I'm feeling much better today, so here is my post:
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