Recipe tweaking...

I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to food, especially my cupcakes. Most of what you see in my gallery has come from many a trial and error. I think most recipes have gone through a least 2 revisions before I decided they were right. Well, that is except for the Ain't Your Granny's. Cause my Granny did the perfection for me on that, and you just shouldn't mess with perfection!

So, when I came up with the concept for the Sno White, I had a couple fails in the cake and filling department. I had something that was so-so, but I knew I could do better. I think I finally hit the mark this week. I decided I was gonna give it one more go and I couldn't be more pleased. A moist, tender white cake, filled with white chocolate ganache and topped with white chocolate, mint buttercream (one of my favorite frostings!). I know I've got a keeper when the hubs says, "This is just horrible"!

How NOT to ship cupcakes

I made another attempt at shipping cupcakes this week.  I actually remembered to take photos this time.  I think I was just to anxious the first time.  I got photos from the recipient and it was another EPIC FAIL.  Even with my fancy new "dry ice" packs, which apparently were still cool.  I'm trying my hardest to keep shipping costs as low as possible, but I think I'm gonna have to beef up the cupcake/coldness protection, which means more cost.  Here's a little pictorial...

Spicy chocolate and chai!

Fancy ice pack!!

Wrapped and ready to be boxed!!!

How they arrived (so sad)...

I really did have high hopes for this.  I'm starting to wonder if it's just going to be best to stuff them in a disposable container and give up on them arriving pretty...

Back to the drawing board!

I love a challenge!

I've seen this in my blog hopping and figured it was high time I participated. The Sweetest Kitchen hosts a monthly Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge. I voted in the first two and when I saw that the challenge for this month was a memory, I knew I had to play along. I've been wanting to make red velvet cupcakes for some time, but they kept getting pushed aside with all of the other recipe testing I've been doing. This presented the perfect opportunity for me to make them. These cupcakes are ALL about memory for me. The recipe (originally made in cake form) is my Granny's. Anytime there was cake to be had at a family function this was always at the top of the list. It's been my birthday cake request for the LONGEST time. Let's just say that I refuse to eat red velvet unless it is made from this recipe. What's makes it so special? Well, it doesn't have much to do with the cake, but EVERYTHING to do with the frosting. Hang on for a sec, while I hop up on my soap box... CREAM CHEESE FROSTING HAS NO BUSINESS ON RED VELVET CAKE (yes, I was just screaming at you)!!!!!  I've gone so far as to do research on the subject, getting irritated by the claims that cream cheese frosting in "traditional".  While most people do use cream cheese frosting on their red velvet.  It's SUPPOSED to be topped with, what my Granny called, white sauce icing.  Which is basically a cooked roux mixed with butter and sugar.  It ends up looking a bit like whipped cream.

This batch was shared with my friend Lisa and her coworkers and also at my hubby's work. I was told that these were the best red velvet that anybody had ever tasted. I owe it all to my Granny (who I'm sure is smiling down on me during this baking adventure)!!

Here's the details on the challenge prizes!
The winner of September’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

• Bake It Pretty; a $5 electronic gift card
• Bakerella; an autographed copy of her new book Cake Pops
• Beanilla; 2 each of 4 special vanilla beans
• Hello Hanna; a pack of Sweet Stands cupcake stands
• Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25
• Tundra Books; a selection 3 very sweet children’s books

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

For more info on participating in the challenge click here

Voting starts on the 21st and ends on the 26th at The Sweetest Kitchen!

Messes and Successes - it's a mess this time

It's hard for me to come to terms that during testing, all recipe tweaks are not always gonna work.  I learned that in a BIG way yesterday.  I made raspberry cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes in the morning (both new recipes) with the plan of frosting the raspberry with whipped ganache and the chocolate with peanut butter frosting.  I've done the ganache before and it came out perfect and my first pb was just a little too stiff.  Well, between being on the phone for about 3 hours getting applied for private insurance, running the oldest to the dentist and eye doctor AND running a few errands for the hubby, I wasn't able to frost until after dinner.  I was tired and unmotivated, but was planning on testing out the shipping method I discovered (gotta love Google) and had to get the frosted cupcakes in the freezer for an overnight chill.

The ganache had been in the fridge pretty much all day and was hard as a rock.  So, I figured I'd start with the pb and adjust the amount of cream to make it smoother.  So, I WAY over compensated and ended up with frosting that was entirely too soft.  It tasted fine but was lacking in the pipeability department.

I figured the ganache would be ready by the time I was said and done with the pb. Not so much. I should've let it sit for a bit longer, but I really wanted to just sit myself! I thought maybe if I whipped in a touch more cream it would help... NOPE! It was so stiff and grainy looking. I was so frustrated and had ganache everywhere.

So it's back to the drawing board! In the words of the wise Dory... "Just keep swimming".

A little note on taste and flavor combo - I'm having a real hard time with a chocolate cake recipe that "speaks" to me. The 3-4 I've tried have been just ok. The ganache REALLY overpowered the raspberry, so I think I'll give it another go with whipped cream frosting.

It's the little things...

I really am easily amused.  Especially when it comes to anything baking related.  I found a restaurant supply store recently and decided to browse yesterday and these are the wonderful little treasures I found.

An open star tip, a closed start tip, a big round tip, a coupler (that lets you use different sized tips) a REALLY nice piping bag. I probably could have spent most of the day in there!!

I meet with the career counselor today. I'm interested to see what info she's found out for me. I decided to take some of the carrot cupcakes I made to her office with me! You never know who may be a potential customer!