The Wedding Cupcakes!!

My brother-in-law's wedding was this weekend!



My sister-in-law and I offered to make the cupcake cake/groom's cake. It involved like, 160 cupcakes.



We built the stand ourselves.



And we had an amazing taste tester.



And she knew what was good.



And even though there were a few tears, it really turned out well!





And now I want to get some of these...



and make some awesome cupcakes!!!

How are you doing? I know that I've been bad about updating...and I probably will continue to be. Sorry, I'll just be honest. :) But I'll do my best!!

On Freezing Cupcakes and Blueberry Frosting

This weekend, I put on a few hats. One of them was my handy, dandy bakers cap. And the other, and they were hand in hand, was my 'scientist' cap. The scientist cap is not as sexy though. In fact, it kind of looked like this.



I decided to freeze three cupcakes.

The first cupcake is just a regular cupcake. Nothing exciting.


Then the second one I used a Wilton tip and filled the cupcake with peanut butter.



And the third one I used a cookie cutter and pulled a chunk out so that it could be filled while still frozen. When I wrapped this one (I wrapped them all in glad wrap and aluminum foil), I made sure to stick the glad wrap in the hole so that there wasn't any air in there. I don't know if that made a difference though...



All together now!




I froze these cupcakes on Saturday and then we tried them on Sunday and...they all tasted about the same! The filling actually thawed out all right. It tasted exactly like the peanut butter filling I hoped it would be. At the same time, it looked like this on the inside.



This is not enough filling, in my opinion. Maybe I needed to push the bag harder, but it just wasn't working.

At the same time, I only froze these cupcakes for a little less then 24 hours. They were rock solid, but we're going to freeze ours between two and two and a half days before the wedding. Looks like I'll be experimenting again next weekend/week! But I may try it with the vanilla cupcake instead of the chocolate.

I also experimented with a new blueberry frosting.

I cooked fresh blueberries on the stove and I then squeezed the blueberries through a sieve and got rid of (aka: ate) the cooked fruits. Well, I should have kept them. The first frosting was good, but had way too much sugar in it and didn't taste much like blueberries.



Nice color, right?

But it was too stiff. So I actually went out and bought blueberry juice. Actually pretty good! And mixed the blueberry juice with the rest of the buttercream.



Much better. Softer and it actually tasted like blueberries!!! Looking at the picture, it's a little TOO soft, so hopefully I can figure out some middle ground. :) You can tell the difference in this one:



Last, but not least! I also frosted a small chocolate cake. I'm not sure how I feel about the little frosting balls. I need to find a better way to decorate the cake.




Any suggestions?

I Feel Like A Scientist (And A Prayer Request)

If you couldn't tell, cupcakes are taking over my life.


I call it planning. My husband calls it my neurotic tendencies. My mother-in-law thinks I missed my calling. I can't help it. I want these cupcakes to look nice.

I've been searching online and I can't find anything about frozen, filled cupcakes. Can you freeze a cupcake with filling in it? Can you freeze a cupcake with a little piece taken out of it so that it can be filled while frozen? Do you want to fill it while frozen?

These are questions I am asking!! If you happen to know the answers to these questions, please let me know. If not, I will be freezing cupcakes this weekend and deciding the way to go for the wedding in March. Ooooo! Science experiments! Last time I did a science experiment with food, I threw some twinkies off of my roof.
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I've noticed that my blogging friends (and definitely The SITS ladies) are big-hearted people! I love it. And I wanted to ask you to read a post.



How beautiful is she?!

She has a really hard home life and could really use your prayers. You can visit Vashti to read the whole story.

Lots To Bake! And Cook

How are you guys doing? Man, I love Fridays. And I also love THREE DAY WEEKENDS!!! Sadly, my husband doesn't get time off on Monday, so I'm going to be home with my crazy cat...who decided to stand on my back this morning and whine? No reason. Just decided that's what she wanted at 6:30am. I think that's why, when we first got her, everyone asked if we were going to have kids soon. Having our cat is like having another small child!!

My plans this weekend and Monday while my husband is at work? BAKE!

Everyone said very nice things about the cupcakes. The groom said he wanted chocolate and vanilla. Which is fine. I still want to bake the banana ones, so I'm going to :-D

So I'm going to see how tasty my Devil's Food cupcakes turn out.


and then I'll try the banana.


THEN! I'm going to be hosting another luncheon for Project O at my church on Valentine's Day! I'm excited, but because of everything else, I've been lacking on the planning. I was thinking about doing a buffet of different types of macaroni and cheese.



Like macaroni and cheese with tomatoes and maybe some with ham (I have a TON of ham in my fridge right now). Then I could have salad and soup and cupcakes!!

What do you think? Would you give me money to eat my mac and cheese?! ;) Money that would go to help build a school for South Africa's AIDs orphans? Or would you prefer something more hearty?

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes (And I'm Feeling Thankful)

It's official!

My sister-in-law and I are making a cupcake cake of around 100 cupcakes for my brother-in-law's wedding. Leaving on a Wednesday night and hoping for the best. :) Trying to figure out that, if we start baking the cupcakes on Thursday, when should we frost them for the wedding?! All the logistics, but I'm excited because I'm a planner.

I was thinking about banana cupcakes with honey-cinnamon frosting because my brother-in-law loves to dress like a banana.



But I might get the kabosh on that one. :) If you were making wedding cupcakes, what cupcakes would you make?

And I haven't done Thankful Thursday in awhile so...



If you'd like to post what you're thankful about, I know that Sonya

1) I am thankful that each day is a new day. Sometimes, I struggle and sometimes I don't. Some days I glory in God and some days I feel that I'm not doing so hot in the Lord's book. But I'm thankful that He lifts me up each day and that He loves me.

2) That I have a very supportive and funny family. My mom called me last night because she was looking at purses and thinking of me. I'm not very girly and don't have a lot of purses (especially for occasions like weddings) but she was thinking of me because of the upcoming wedding.

3) That we have lots of airline miles!! Silly, maybe. But with this wedding, we could have either spent over $400 on airfare OR what we are actually spending...which is $10!!! We've purchased two airline tickets to Ohio for $10. Heck. Yes. It's really helpful because now we can spend that money on flour, butter, eggs, and cupcake liners. :-D

4) I am thankful for my husband. He really took care of me when I was feeling sick. I actually couldn't get out of bed and he helped me through it all with everything. I really appreciated that.

5) For my church. Though we haven't been there in a month due to holidays and illnesses, people at church have been asking how we are and saying that they miss us. It really means a lot to me and shows me how the hands and feet of Christ really work.

So what are you thankful for?!

Your Favorite Cupcake

FOOD POISONING.

It was food poisoning. Boo. My brother had that on Christmas Eve morning too. But now my hubby is feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers and well-wishes. :)

OKAY! (I'm loving the caps today) So the wedding cake is still up in the air...but there is a distinct possibility that I COULD be making a cupcake wedding cake with my sister-in-law.


Look how cute that is!

So I have a question for you. Obviously the bride and groom (and the bride's mother) get the final say, but I want to know...

What's your favorite cupcake and/or cupcake filling?

Mmmm...cupcakes. :)

I also just want to thank God for today. I hope that you can have a great day too!

Functioning

So I'm functioning today. The Video Music Awards were last night and I got home at around 5:00am, got a few hours of sleep, and I'm back at work!

Kanye West was NOT staged, by the way. That was real.

I'll post some pictures of the wedding I was at when I get a chance. The bride was beautiful and I haven't seen a happier groom. :)

How was your weekend?

Sorry!!

Sorry I keep disappearing. It's been really crazy here. So if you wanted an update:
1) We're moving! We've decided to move to New Jersey. It'll save a little money, be an apartment with a WASHER AND DRYER!!!, pet-friendly, and be near some friends.

2) My LAST wedding of the year is this weekend.

3) The Video Music Awards are coming up this weekend too. Ack.

But here's what all went on this weekend. Uncle Steve is particularly cute with cousin Lillian. ;) And Mrs. Paskiet was radiant on her wedding day!!

Happiness

How are you doing today? It's been a good/weird day today.

My husband got his bonus today! But it was less then he expected.

My new shoes came! But they may or may not last me for this wedding I bought them for.

My period is almost done! But it's only the third day and I forgot to wear a maxi pad this morning. (I'm very forgetful. I used to forget to wear underwear)

My husband is leaving today to go visit family, but now his flight has been delayed an hour and a half. Oh, New York. It's nice to live in a hub city, but flights always get tangled up out here.

But I did get ice cream for lunch. And I think I'm going to leave early today rather than stay for 5 o'clock-tails with the work crew. I need to find a bra for this wedding I have coming up.

Did you just learn more about me then you ever wanted to know? I apologize. :)

How's your day?