Icing on the Cake, Announcing the Winner of the “Search a Small Business” Holiday Giveaway

Icing on the Cake, Announcing the Winner of the “Search a Small Business” Holiday Giveaway
KATI'S KUPCAKES WON A WEBSITE REVIEW BY A FINE COMPANY--VERY EXCITED!!!

Tie Dye Cupcakes with Tie Dye Frosting!

Had a request for tie-dye cupcakes recently. Therefore, I grabbed a bunch of bowls, spoons and food coloring and got busy! I added different colors to my plain vanilla cupcake batter (above). I  then layered the different colors in each cupcake liner and before putting them in the oven, I swirled the colors with a toothpick (see below).

Here's how the cupcakes looked before going in the above (above) and then how they looked once they were cooked and removed from the oven (below). I was pleased that the colors stayed pretty true and didn't have much fading!!

For a final effect of tie dye craziness, I tinted the buttercream frosting in shades of pink, purple and green and swirled them in my pastry bag to wrap up the theme!! On top, a tiny little candy heart completes the sweet deal!! They ended up being very well received and luckily didn't taste as zany as they looked--described as delish--yummo!

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT!!!! (IN THE WORDS OF ROD STEWART)

Well, getting excited and ready for the fourth Iron Cupcake Challenge! Tonight's event, which I am hosting, is complete with talented bakers, four amazing judges, wonderful prizes, anticipated delish cupcakes and the chance to support a wonderful worthy charity!! This event is a dress-up event and I have secured a great costume--a vampire witch with faux eyelashes, black lipstick, long black wig and white ghoulish face paint! I can hardly contain my excitement--but not just for dressing up and feeling like a kid again. I am excited for the fun we always have at these challenges!! I will be bringing many cupcake related door prizes for folks; my official $300 sound system fit with high tech microphone and the awards/certificates for the new winners of the Iron Cupcake Challenge!! Tonight's charity is the Knight Park Playground Foundation and its goal is to provide a safe and fun playground for kids of all physical abilities and ages. One of the most exciting parts of tonight's challenge is that it's being hosted by Connie and Stink Fischer of Collingswoods infamous, The PopShop! The PopShop has been featured on the Food Network because of their unique and whimsical menu featuring over 30 kinds of grilled cheese, dozens of unusual pancakes, soda fountain drinks/desserts and more! BOBBY FLAY himself challenged Stink (owner) to a grilled cheese throwdown recently and I bet you don't need to tell you who won--STINK!! The food, atmosphere, and owners are unmatched-so please come join us for a wonderful night of delicious cupcakes (this month's secret ingredient is: PUMPKIN, of course!), great friendly competition, amazing food, Halloween dress-up ghoulish fun and wonderful prizes!!

Cupcake Tower#3 COMPLETE!

Well, I completed my third cupcake tower over the weekend. It was my largest order ever of appro. 200 cupcakes. I ordered the cupcake tower about a week ahead and chose a fall color palette to decorate it. My plan was to make tons of sugar paste flowers and decorate it with those. Of course, plans are great but even the best laid plans don't always come to fruition! I very smartly planned ahead and purchased a dozen roses the day before the tower was due, in case I needed supplemental flowers or just to add to the decorations of the tower. I made three kinds of cupcakes: vanilla, chocolate and red velvet. Whew-was that a ton of cupcakes to make. By the time I finished icing them all my hands were quite sore. I tinted the frosting in three tones; a copper shade, a cream color shade and a rose red. I had used coordinating ribbon and faux flowers to try to give the tower a wonderful fall feel. When all was said and done, I def. am glad I had the extra real flowers-I didn't have nearly enough gumpaste roses/flowers and it worked out very well! In the end, the cupcake tower and the cupcakes all came together well and I thought it was a nice fall arrangement. I have received positive feedback from the client, so I think she was pleased also! Thank goodness I had those roses to bring it all home-disaster averted-for now at least!

Next Iron Cupcake Challenge

Well, we are gearing up for our next Iron Cupcake Challenge! (In the photo above, our judges from the last challenge carefully sample and "grade" the cupcakes which were entered in our maple ICC for September) I am so very excited because this time we are being hosted by the PopShop in Collingswood! The PopShop has amazing food including over thirty varieties of grilled cheese and many delish choices for food lovers of all ages! The PopShop was even featured on the FoodNetwork recently when Bobby Flay challenged him to a THROWDOWN! The owners, Stink and Connie Fisher have been gratious enough to host our fun cupcake event and we are psyched to be there! The secret ingredient this month is PUMPKIN and we are encouraging all bakers and guests to dress up in their favorite Halloween gear! Can't wait to see all the ghouls and goblins who show up! We have an unprecedented FOUR judges this time and as always, top prize is $100.00 for the adult baking level!! We have recently added a jr. bakers level (kids 16 and under) and top prize for them is $20!!

As always,  a portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit a very worthwhile charity--this month we are donating to the Knight Park Playground Foundation! Come out and join us and enjoy some delicious cupcakes, have great conversations with other cupcake and baking enthusiasts AND help a very worthwhile cause!! Can't wait to see you all dressed in your Halloween finest AND taste your delicious pumpkin cupcake entries--see you on October 25th at the PopShop! Here's a link for more info: www.meetup.com/Iron-Cupcake-Challenge-Moorestown
And: if you'd like to see some pictures from our previous challenges: take a look here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1175443@N22/

Fishy Friends!

Aren't these little cupcakes cute--made for a dear friends birthday. She is the fishing queen-constantly showing photos of her catching one big fish or another, so ocean life was the perfect theme. I hope she enjoyed the little buggers and can't wait to see what's she catches next! Happy Bday LG!

Yeah Me--A New Blog--soo cute too!

Yeah, I have a new blog--do you like it-do you love it--I am in awe--thanks so much to Kristin over at Simply Whimsy Designs and her amazing talent!! She did an awesome job-perhaps you can give her blog a looksie!

Cupcake Tower Number 2 --DELIVERED!

Well, I had to deliver my second cupcake tower this passed weekend. It was for another first birthday party for a lovely little girl. I was asked to make the color palette pinks and greens, so I took that and ran with it. I used pink tulle, pink satiny bows and pink polka dot ribbon to fancy it up. I covered the cupcake tower with thick green wrapping paper and piped pretty tulle ribbon along the edges. That, plus sixty cupcakes with tons of fluffy pastel icing and tiny fondant toppers (plus lots of polka dots) made it all come together. The centerpiece was a three layer cake (made of three stacked six inch cakes) which I placed a giant G on (in honor of the birthday girls initial). Lots of pinks, greens, dots, frosting, ribbons and tulle made for a girly-girls cupcake tower dream. Hope the birthday girl got to sample lots of them!

Cupcake Tower Number 2

Well, here we go again! This will be my second cupcake tower and it is starting to feel like "old hat" or should I say, "old cupakes" lol. This time, I sketched out my idea and thought a round cupake tower would be a nice design element and wanted to see how it differed from the square one I used last time. Well, first difference was trying to cover it with wrapping paper, much harder, but overall, I was pleasantly pleased with the feminine look and cutesy feel of this tower--exactly what the customer ordered for her special little cupcake who's turning one this weekend!! More pix to come after cupcakes are completed and put on top!!

Halloween is on its Way

Halloween is swiftly approaching and I am beginning to prepare for this spooky event! Here are some toppers I am working on for the upcoming tricky treat day!

Flickr Photos

Cupcake Tower

Had a wonderful time creating this fantasy cupcake tower for a little girl's first birthday! The theme was girly, pink and princess all wrapped into one and in the end, I think it was pretty and fit the bill! The cupcake tower came uncovered as a recycled piece of cardboard. I purchased heavy duty wrapping paper and covered the layers with that to give it a more dressed up feel. I also added small rosettes to the tiers and pretty pink tulle. The cupakes fit very well on the tower and on top I place a giant cupcake as the centerpiece. Of course, the handmade fondant toppers in the shape of princess crowns, magic wands, sparkly stars and pretty flowers added a royal touch! There were also fondant butterflies and a giant number one gracing the top tier--have to make it extra special for the first birthday--only happens once!
The giant cupcake on top was covered in frilly/fluffy pink buttercream and laced with edible pearlized dusting powder-it gave it a little glowing shimmer that made the whole thing sparkle--I'd say it was definately fit for a little princess!

GumPaste Flowers/Sugar Craft

I am in love with gumpaste flowers! I had an order to create some special flowers for some cupcakes a friend was sending a special ladyfriend. These had to be remarkable! So, I started by tinting some sugar gumpaste pink. I used a 5-petal flower cutter and cut out the flower designs. Then I took my large ball roller and rolled over the leaves.

After I rolled the leaves, I had to turn the flowers over and put a dent in the opposite side. I continued this and made about 40 of them. They were cute like this, but had much more dimension after I added the inner petal colors.

Here I placed the flowers in a small palette to allow them to begin to dry and keep their shape. I added the tiny balls of yellow and then green in the center of the roses and used my veiner tool to punch tiny holes in the center pieces. I used a dab of liquid gumpaste as a "glue" to keep the centers in place. After that, I sprinkled a tiny bit of edible gold dust on them.

Here are the six wild roses I crafted, they are now drying out. In the meantime, I cut some tiny green leaves using a small leaf cutter. I just love the color palette, very vintage and muted.

Here is a closeup of the leaves while they are drying out. Can you see the gold shimmer on them-added the tiny edible gold luster to these also. In addition, I used two different colors to make them pop when they are added to the roses for extra dimension.

Here is a closeup of the dried wild roses. The gold luster dust gives them a shimmery glow. They are quite delicate, but once they dry out will be easy to handle. Very elegant! Time to dry out for at least 24 hours.

Next day, I made the cupcakes and created the frosting. I tinted the frosting in three different tones using food coloring to bring the whole look together.

Here is the pink frosting being put on the cupcakes with a large pastry tip-look at those swirls
Here are the yellow tinted cupcakes being completed. Note: always start your frosting around the outer edge and work your way inwards--piling up the frosting as you go round.
Here is the green frosting. I took a risk and tried a three pronged pastry tip to serve as "grass" to put the flowers on. It paid off and I think it served its purpose. You'll see what I mean below
Quick shot of the cupcakes and the process for filling the pastry bags, I use a large beer glass to drape the pastry bag over and stuff my frosting in. Easy method for keeping things tidy!

And introducing... the completed cupcakes with the gumpaste flowers. I'd love your thoughts on how they turned out! Leave a comment if you'd like-always appreciated!

I was quite proud and think they came together perfectly--ps..so did the client--his little ladyfriend gave him a big hug and kiss--guess these really were magical, lol!

I am now in love with gumpaste flowers and will be tackling many more--I even went out and bought three new books filled with ideas--think I will be quite busy learning some new tricks!

Great cupcake fun and for a great cause!!

Another Successful Iron Cupcake Challenge!!

August proved to be another successful event sponsored by Kati's Kupcakes of Moorestown, coupled with some wonderful bakers and some great judges, and of course some truly amazing coconut cupcakes! Thanks to all who were involved--you helped us collect not only non-perishable food items for back to school kids who lack a nutritious breakfast but also, we raised cash donations based on ticket sales and 50/50 items!! Look out-we have just announced September's challenge on Sept. 26-the secret ingredient will be MAPLE-- who will win bragging rights as the Iron Cupcake Champ--currently Carmen Colon of Eatontown holds the crown!

Pictured left to right, Annette Villaverde, third prize winner; Joanne DeWald, second prize; and Carmen Colon current reigning Iron Cupcake Champ all pose with host, Kati Angelini (far right) owner of Kati's Kupcakes of Moorestown, New Jersey. What a fun night!

The cupcakes and judges start arriving, see below:

Some of the cupcake carnage left after the judges take a few bites of each cupcake:

The official Iron Cupcake Champion crown, before it was bestowed upon the winning cupcaker of the night, Carmen Colon, who presented the judges an "Almond Joy Coconut Cupcake"

The judges had a very tough time picking the winners, all cupcakes were soooo delish, they said!

Lots of kiddies enjoyed the event and here are a bunch congratulating cupcaker www.ladybugluggage.blogspot.com--our third place cupcake winner of the night!

Mrs Mo's New Jersey: Cupcakes for Charity: The Iron Cupcake Challenge

Mrs Mo's New Jersey: Cupcakes for Charity: The Iron Cupcake Challenge

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Iron Cupcake Challenge August, benefits: Food Bank of South Jersey

Iron Cupcake Challenge is coming--

R U READY??

The next Iron Cupcake Challenge in Moorestown will be this Saturday, Aug. 29 at 7pm. It was a tough decision for me since my husband's birthday is the day before, however, once he gave me the go-ahead--I "went ahead" and with full force, I may add!! This month's secret ingredient is COCONUT! I think I am trying to stretch summer and the tropical themes of the islands as long as I possibly can before we start the whole "fall/back to school" business! So, TWENTY of the area's top cupcakers will submit their best coconut cupcakes and present them before a panel of esteemed local celebrity judges!! This month's judges are the virtual "who's who" of the area's food industry! For starters, we have a food expert from the delectable "Passieriello Pavillion" on Main Street. Passieriello's provides delicious fresh Italian cuisine to many hungry foodies and boasts delish desserts like cannoli, tiramisu, cheesecake, chocolate desserts and much more. Our second judge is a art/food junkie with an amazing coffee house/cafe in the Philadelphia region. Lastly, the infamous, Bill "Stink" Fisher of Collingswood, "The Pop Shop" will round out our judges panel. Stink Fisher is well known in the area as the grilled cheese king and has received national attention for his food skills. He was even challenged by Bobby Flay on the Food Network to go head to head in a grilled cheese throw-down!! The event will once again benefit charity-this time the FoodBank of South Jersey will be the recipient. A portion of the sales of tickets will be donated to them as well as donations from bakers who are being asked to bring a non-perishable breakfast item for needy back to school kids who may be lacking a nutritious meal in the morning!! Top prize will be $50.00 and of course, bragging rights as the one and only IRON CUPCAKE CHAMPION!!!! Second and third place prizes have also been generously donated and there will be some giveaways and a fun 50/50!! The community is really buzzing about the newest craze in Moorestown--are you ready to throw your oven mitts in the ring and vie for the title of Iron Cupcake Champion?? Stay tuned.......

THE MAKING OF THE YANKEES (CUPCAKES)

ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT MAKING A BASEBALL TEAM (OF CUPCAKES)

Okay, so, I had another baseball themed order and again for the Yankees. You would think I would have it down by now. First problem was I didn't have the dark blue food gel I needed, bad mistake and very unprofessional on my part--however, i made the best of the sitch and used black--i think it was a good substitute (though hubby didn't agree, lol). Anyway, once again, I started a day before and made the fondant toppers. i made a few templates for the baseball jerseys and went on the internet for the logo and found the teammates names to match the favorite players numbers of the recipients of the cupcakes (thanks to a great link by my facebook group for the right website page a lot of time was saved). Anyway, I wanted to mix it up a bit and throw in something new, so I tried mini baseball mitts this time and I think they came out pretty cute for my first try. Hope the NY Yanks fan that I made these for like them-haven't heard feedback yet but since this is a repeat customer, I'm thinking they passed!

Here's some of the fondant toppers-I like to make them a day ahead so they dry and don't go all mushy wushy on the frosting they sit on (I borrowed my son's baseball to get the stitching as realistic as possible)

Here are a few of the mitts in the lower right hand corner, hard to see but if you squint....
Well, first things first. I mixed my dry ingredients (cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) together in a large bowl and whisked them to remove lumps and bumps.
Next, i added the wet ingredients starting with the 2 eggs one at a time.
Here is number two--hard to maneuver with one hand cracking and taking photo with other, lol
Next is the water, oil and vanilla.
Finally the buttercream goes in and then.....mix away thoroughly until all ingredients blend.
Line your pans with cupcake liners/baking cups and make sure oven is ready at 350 degrees..
Now you are ready to fill the cupcake cavities with 2/3 of the prepared cupcake batter.
Next, put them in the oven for approx. 18 minutes. I always set timer for 15 minutes and check how they are doing, usually adding on about 3-4 minutes.
Once they are baking, I start preparing the buttercream icing and piping bags. Here is some white buttercream frosting. I put blue gel in the bag to create a blue tint to the buttercream, trying to justify that there was no blue in the team jerseys, I tried this instead.
I use a large tall beer glass and place my piping bag in the glass, fold over the edges and scoop the frosting in the bag by the large dollop-full as you can see below:

Next, you see the unusual blue tinted frosting in the piping bag. I created some blue tinted, some red tinted and left several white. So, the palette for the NY Yankees cupcakes were red, white, blue and black.
Here are a few of the completed ones. Note the team jerseys, large baseballs, mini baseball bats/balls and mini baseball gloves plus some batting line-up signs. All in all, a sweet success and I think I knocked it out of the park somehow, despite the little hiccups along the way.

***Note to self: go buy some royal blue icing to have on hand for next order!!!!

PLAY BALL!!