Posts filed under 'Christening'
Ladybug Cupcakes – red velvet cupcakes decorated as whimsical ladybugs, with cream cheese frosting tinted red and dark chocolate ganache. Price available upon request.
bugs galore
I just succumbed to the latest cupcake trend that is red velvet. I found a recipe that I liked, baked it and got positive feedback from those who tasted the cupcakes.
After I posted the photo of my Red Velvet cupcakes in my Facebook page, one of my classmates in elementary contacted me. My batch was having a post-Christmas party and the themes were red and black and ladybugs. M._ asked if I can decorate my red velvet cupcakes as ladybugs. Sure, I said, no problem. I was happy to oblige.
I tinted the cream cheese red. The “black” head was dark chocolate ganache. The spots, as well as the eyes were chocolate chips. The smiley mouth was also made of chocolate. I thought about putting antennae but M._ and I agreed that the ladybugs were fine sans the appendages.
The cupcakes were to be giveaways and the most cost effective packaging available were the dome-shaped plastic packaging. Lined up atop a table, the ladybug cupcakes looked like an army of little aliens wearing space helmets, waiting to be sucked inside their mother ship!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay and join in the festivities. Word was that everyone enjoyed their dessert. Some of my classmates told me even their children enjoyed the whimsical treats. Thanks M._ for lobbying for my cupcakes!
March 16th, 2012
ABC Blocks Cake and Cupcakes Project – cake decorated with edible alphabet blocks and chocolate booties and cupcakes topped with baby icons made of chocolate. Price available upon request.
welcome, naomi!
My cousin K._ and her husband E._ recently welcomed their beautiful baby Naomi. K._ asked me if I can make her cake and cupcakes for the baby’s christening.
Cupcakes? My Sweet Baby cupcakes, what else! As for the cake, I thought an edible standup teddy bear cake would be adorable. K._ was ok with it. It had been several years since I used my Wilton Stand-Up Cuddly Bear Pan so a test cake was in order. After assembling the pan, I slid it inside the oven to see how it will fit and to ensure that I will not be spilling anything during baking. What the hey, it didn’t fit! And then I remembered we used to have a different oven back then. Dang it! Fortunately, there was no cake batter to bake yet. Whew!
Times like these spur my creative juices. And so I came up with a new cake design—alphabet blocks spelling out Naomi’s name. The blocks were brownies that I covered and decorated with marzipan. The booties were made of chocolate. The cupcakes were meant to be giveaways so they were individually packed in boxes with ribbons and sticker labels.
K._ told me afterwards that her guests loved the cupcakes, even the packaging. And the cake that they took home? Yummy! Thanks, cousin! Hope to see you, Naomi, and the entire family again soon! 
December 29th, 2011
Glittering Flowers Cupcake – flower cupcake decorated with snipped marshmallows dipped in shimmering colored sugar. Price available upon request.
baking 160 cupcakes in a day? no problem!
These are the beauties I made simultaneously with a birthday cake and cupcake project that required a total of 160 cupcakes. And I baked all those cupcakes in one day. Honestly. What spurred me to do everything in one go was that I could not sleep the night before. I actually set my alarm for 3:30 am. For some reason—stress, maybe—sleep eluded me. So instead of counting sheep, I just got up at the ungodly hour of 2 am and started baking.
In the end, everything went well and this whole project made me try some new things. First, I was able to successfully freeze unfrosted cupcakes. Actually, freezing cakes and cupcakes and have long been written by dessert authors. According to “Cupcakes!” author Elinor Klivans, unfrosted cupcakes can be “wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, sealed in a container and frozen for up to two months.” I have frozen freshly-baked cookies before but never cupcakes. After reading some disaster stories from a cupcake forum—liners becoming soggy and peeling away from the cakes—I was hesitant to try it but I did it anyway and everything turned out fine. One note, though, I did not use these frozen cupcakes for this project. I saved them as my stash to find out how long they will last. After a month, they still tasted the same, stayed moist and retained their fresh-baked quality—yum! Freezing cupcakes will really save you some time if you are baking cupcakes by the bulk but you have to have ample freezer space.
Second thing I was able to try was to transform some of my regular-sized cupcakes into petite sizes. These are not like those baked in the mini-muffin pan. I still used the regular cupcake pan but put 2 oz cupcake liners. They are just slightly smaller than regular cupcakes but I think they will be great for those who love their cupcakes but dread getting a “muffin top.”
As for this cupcake’s design, client F._ actually wanted something that resembles a carnation to go with the motif of her baby’s christening celebration. She saw my Citrusy Sunflower cupcake and suggested just having all petals sans the chocolate chip center. Though I thought it looked more like a dahlia, F._ was happy with how the cupcakes turned out and she loved the cupcake base that went with it which was the golden butter cream flavor that I also use for my Confetti cupcake.
A plateful of these shimmering flower cupcakes is truly a delight to see. Another client G._ was so taken with the design (she said they were unique) that she is ordering them for her wedding. No problem, been there, done that, I told myself. Until I found out that G._ is having 130 pieces of these, with another 20 decorated with marzipan roses. Wow, I guess I should start snipping those marshmallows and dipping them in sugar right now! Watch out for my report on that project on my next post.
October 13th, 2010
These are the cupcakes I recently made for a precious baby girl’s christening celebration. Her mother E._ chose chocolate banana and devil’s food chocolate as cake base and wanted an assortment of decoration. In addition to the baby icon toppers made of hand-molded chocolate (see Sweet Baby), there were also marshmallow flowers (see Blooming Garden) atop the ganache-slathered cupcakes.
E._ also wanted her daughter’s name spelled out on the cupcakes. Fortunately, I was able to find an alphabet chocolate mold.
When I made the delivery and was setting up, E._ asked me if I had a hard time making all those cupcakes (there were 96 in all). Not really, I said. Ok, molding chocolate candies is admittedly tedious especially if there are details and colors involved but as long as you do them ahead of time, then there is no problem. I always believe that if you love what you are doing, then the work becomes less of a chore and more of a labor of love. And seeing your handiwork being appreciated by the person receiving them erases all the tiredness and aches and makes your sleep-deprived days worth it.
Thank you very much E._!
March 29th, 2010
Sweet Baby Cupcakes – cupcakes for christening! Decorated with cute baby icons made of molded chocolate. Flavors include Devil’s Food Chocolate or Chocolate Chip topped with bittersweet chocolate glaze. Price available upon request.
baby love
I was inspired to do these cupcakes when I saw some photos of cupcakes for christening. The toppers were cute, mostly figures of a baby in various poses. They were truly works of art. And they were made of fondant.
I never really like fondant. Sure it is a joy to work with as you can mold it into any shape you want. And I admit that fondant covered and decorated cakes are stunningly beautiful—too beautiful to eat, sometimes. However, I still don’t like fondant as I am not too fond of sugary confections. I’m a chocolate person so most of my baked creations are topped with chocolate glaze or ganache and have chocolate decorations.
Sugar versus chocolate? It’s chocolate for me, baby, hands-down!
October 25th, 2008
