V-Day Cupcakes Recap, Part II

So the rest of my Valentine's Day cupcake roundup. I spent the actual holiday with Dani, my fake valentine. We started the day with a brunch at Frank because we had a Groupon, and it was awesome. I got a soy latte made with Intelligentsia coffee, see how pretty the latte art was, and a biscuit with jackalope gravy. What is jackalope you ask? A sausage made of rabbit and antelope. Not normally my thing, but as a gravy over a biscuit it was pretty damn tasty.

After Frank we wandered over to HOPE Market (which I'm now in love with and might post about soon) and then Sugar Mama's to check out their Valentine's Day decorated cupcakes. Dani and I split a chocolate-covered strawberry cupcake. It was a rich chocolate cake, stopped with a strawberry cream that was covered in ganache and decorated with a little heart.
They also had other cupcakes decorated with roses and hearts.

Lastly, that night Dani and I went to House Wine for the monthly Cupcake Bar event there. As usual, The Cupcake Bar offered 3 mini cupcakes to be paired with one of three wines. I actually didn't got for one of the paired wines this time, but instead got a Verdejo wine that I enjoyed. The cupcakes offered were delicious, here's the description straight from The Cupcake Bar:

*Luscious Red Velvet with Pink Cream Cheese Icing filled with Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream. Topped with red hearts and a cherry on top!
*Dark Chocolate Cupcake filled with raspberry and a raspberry chocolate buttercream. Topped with sprinkles and a fresh raspberry.
*Oh so Innocent Vanilla with Strawberry Icing and filled with whipped cream. Topped with conversation hearts.

I enjoyed them all, but I think that the Dark Chocolate was my favorite. The cake was rich and moist, and the chocolate went perfectly with the raspberry. I really like chocolate/berry combos, I think that bakeries should do them more often. I don't have any photos because I didn't have my camera that day. If Dani took any I'll update this with her photos.

Last but not least, I picked up a Valentine's Day Cupcake Kit from the The Cupcake Bar, which I will write about in my next post.

V- Day Cupcakes Recap, Part I

So many things to say about Valentine's Day- the stuff I baked myself, and the bakeries and events I went to. I'm starting with the homemade stuff. I celebrated Valentine's Day a weekend early with my Valentine, Ryan, because he lives in New York, and that's what his work schedule allowed. In preparation for his visit, I baked for the entire week before, so I could send him home with a ton of home-made baked goods. I made baked fudge, vegan chocolate chip cookies, vegan oatmeal mocha cookies, and of course cupcakes- vegan thin mint cupcakes!



The cupcakes were super fun to make and easy, despite the fact that they were vegan. I used a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for chocolate-mint cupcakes, and it produced a moist, chocolately and minty cupcake. Also, because I made them so far in advance, I froze them for a few days, and once thawed they were exactly the same as the day I baked them them. I topped it with a vegan mint frosting and crushed Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, for texture and an extra oomph on presentation. I have to say, I'm not a fan of vegan frosting. I tried using Earth Balance shortening, and did what the recipe called for and twice I got separated frosting. Most people didn't notice, but I think a trained eye would have. If you look closely here, you can see the tiny butter pieces, and how the frosting didn't cream properly.


Still, the cupcakes were totally tasty. Ryan loved them, my friends loved them, and maybe even Sondre Lerche loved them. Yeah, that's right. A famous Norwegian singer might have eaten my cupcakes. My friend Mai works at the Parish, and when I went to go see Sondre Lerche with her there earlier this month, I brought her some cupcakes and she ended up sharing them with the band and touring crew. They seemed pretty grateful for something sweet and homemade but I have no idea if they were actually eaten. I hope they were, and they enjoyed them.

Next Austin Cupcake Meetup

For the next Austin Cupcake Meetup event, I'm hosting a cupcake & wine pairing at Cru, featuring cupcakes from Delish. Here are the details for the event, which you can also find on the meetup event page:

The wine director at Cru will be speaking briefly about the wines, and tasting notes will be provided. For the flight we will be trying the following three wines:

* Loosen Bros. "Dr. L," Riesling `08, Mosel Germany: Sleek and tangy, showing apricot, lime and mango flavors matched to a lively structure. There's good harmony and persistence through the finish. Wine Spectator: #62 Top 100, 91pts
*The Velvet Devil By Charles Smith, Merlot `08, Washington: Lean and spicy, with an herbal edge to the modest cherry and lime flavors. Drink now through 2012.
*Lamarca, Prosecco, Conegliano-Valdobbiadene N.V., Veneto, Italy: This sparkling wine is a pale, golden straw in color. Bubbles are full textured and persistent. On the nose the wine brings fresh citrus with hints of honey and white flowers. The flavor is fresh and clean, with ripe citrus, lemon, green apple, and touches of grapefruit, minerality, and some toast. The finish is light, refreshing, and crisp.

The cupcake flavors from Delish have yet to be determined, but this invite will be updated once they are chosen.

There is a $5 fee upon entry for the cupcakes, and the wine flight will be $10 plus tax and gratuity, payable to Cru.

I'm super excited about this event, because I love cupcakes and I really like pairing them with wine. Also, I'm a big fan of Riesling, and Loosen Bros. is great so I was really excited when I saw the wine director had put that one on the list. I hope y'all can make it!

I have an award-winning blog

Two posts in one day! Crazypants!

Anyhow, I have won my first blogging award. It's the Beautiful Blogger award, presented to me by Grant from Austin Carnivore, a blogger friend I met at the Austin Bleet-up in November. I also blogged about our cupcake adventure at Delish. He's a cool guy that posts random stories about his life and also short fiction. Definitely check him out, he cracks me up.


The award is kind of like a chain letter- you post the award badge and 7 random facts about yourself, and then pass it to someone else. So 7 random facts about me:

1. I grew up in West Los Angeles, and attended Venice High School, where Grease, American History X and the Britney Spears "Baby One More Time" video were all filmed.
2. Despite growing up in the driving capital of the country, I'm not a good driver. Or really a driver at all. I didn't learn how until I was 20, and have about 5 months of driving experience total.
3. I went to NYU because I wanted to live in New York and study Journalism. I ended up majoring in Sociology and minoring in Art History, and now work in marketing. What else do you do with a Liberal Arts degree?
4. I moved every year I lived in New York, sometimes twice in a year. At 25 I'm on my 10th residence since I turned 18, and I've had 45 roommates. I now live alone.
5. Every time I fly somewhere, I have to buy a magazine to read on the plane at the airport. Even if I already have a book or other magazines with me. I can't explain, it just is.
6. I reread The Catcher in the Rye every single summer. It feels as relevant to my life now as it did the first time I read it at 14.
7. I currently collect travel and art postcards. At various times in my life I've also collected stationery, stickers, ribbons, band buttons, magnets, bookmarks, shot glasses and guitar pics.

Maybe these aren't all so random. Anyhow, I hope that entertained you. I've now written my first non-cupcake or baking post- I hope to throw in a few others soon.

I'm now passing the award to Dani from Texas Hearts because she's a fun friend to hang out with, and was my first friend in Austin. Because of her I went to the Bleet-up and met tons of cool people and was inspired to finally start writing a blog myself. Yay me and yay Dani!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes!

Look out Austin, there are tons of Valentine's Day cupcake options! I've already done an early V-Day celebration with my valentine because he lives in New York and couldn't visit that weekend, but if he were around we'd definitely try all of these different cupcake options:

Delish:
Delish has the "Be My Cupcake" gift basket, which includes a half dozen Valentine's cupcakes, a bottle of Cupcake wine, and a box of chocolate covered strawberries. It's regularly $42, but if you order before Wednesday, it's 10% off and will be only $37.50.

madCakes:
madCakes is offering Valentine's Day decorated cupcakes, iced/decorated cookie hearts, raspberry filled shortbread heart cookies, strawberry cheesecake hearts and brownies, and their signature bundt cakes. They will also adorn any cake with their handmade bows or package bars, cookies, and/or cupcakes with a festive look for the holiday.

Polkadots:
Polkadots will be open on Valentine's Day from 12pm-4pm, and will have the following flavors decorated with hearts sprinkles: Red Velvet, Strawberry Shortcake, Blackbottom cake, Honey and Chai,Triple Chocolate,Vanilla Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Vanilla, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Vanilla, Chocolate Caramel, Chocolate Strawberry, and Chocolate Mint. For an extra $.50 per cupcake, you can get a fondant heart topper. They will also have special V-Day cookies- here's the menu.

Sugar Mama's Bakeshop:
Sugar Mama's will be featuring V-Day themed cupcakes on Valentine's Day and they'll have extended hours from 11 am-9 pm. In addition to their daily flavors, they will be featuring 3 additional Valentine's Day flavors: Frida, Chocolate Covered Strawberry (chocolate cake, strawberry frosting, dipped in chocolate ganache), and Vegan Strawberry Lemonade. They will all be decorated with V-Day decor at no extra charge.

The Cupcake Bar:
The Cupcake Bar is doing a few different things for Valentine's Day. First, they are having an event with Ceramics Bayou on 2/14 from 6pm to 10pm. The How I Love You package includes two wine goblets or mugs for painting, Cupcake Bar cupcakes and drinks. Also on Valentine's Day, there will be a Cupcake and Wine pairing event at House Wine from 7:30-9:30pm. I'll be there with Dani, Austin Cupcake Meetup's co-organizer, who promised to be my V-Day date.

In addition to these events, The Cupcake Bar has made Valentine's Day cupcake kits, so you can make your own cupcake bar at home! The kits are available at House Wine and Sassy Pea Market this weekend. They retail for $25 and each kit includes:

6 "naked" cupcakes: 2 chocolate, 2 vanilla & 2 red velvet

3 icings: vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream & pink cream cheese

3 toppings: conversation hearts, chocolate sprinkles & Valentine's sprinkles

There will be a limited number of kits, and The Cupcake Bar strongly recommends that you pre-order by calling (512.903.0187) or emailing info@thecupcakebaraustin.com.

If I left out any bakeries, let me know, and I'll be happy to add them in.

The Cupcake Bar & The Wonder Craft - Photos!

More photos from Sunday's Meetup, courtesy of Dani, my awesome Assistant Organizer. I've put clickable thumbnails to some of my faves, but you can see the whole set here.



Red velvet with vanilla buttercream, topped with silver sprinkles, Pop Rocks and cotton candy. Def wins my vote for prettiest cupcake.


Tres leches with strawberry frosting, topped with goldfish pretzels. I love how the fish are swimming into the frosting.


Members busy crafting at the work table inside The WonderCraft.


Our awesome cupcake bartender Rachel, serving up a cute cupcake despite the cold that day.


The cupcake menu


Lastly, my cupcake- tres leches with strawberry frosting, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. So pretty and so yummy.

The Cupcake Bar & The Wonder Craft

Yesterday's Austin Cupcake Meetup event with The WonderCraft and The CupcakeBar was tons of fun! Members came out to make cute sponge-stamp tote bags and create customizable cupcakes despite the freezing cold weather.

In case you're not familiar with The WonderCraft, it's a collective of women that teach crafting classes and run a boutique from a tricked out Airstream trailer. They are located behind The Art Pad on Burnet, but I believe the trailer sometimes travels for certain events. The lovely Beth A. and Beth H. were on hand to teach us how to cut out sponge stamps, paint them and then decorate mini tote bags. Members also had the opportunity to decorate any other items they brought in- I made a greeting card, and I know someone else printed a t-shirt.



The CupcakeBar provided the cupcakes for the meetup, and I loved how everyone's cupcake turned out completely different. I really liked the idea of pairing a create-your-own cupcake with a crafting event, because it gave everyone the chance to be creative. The menu included vanilla, red velvet and tres leches cupcakes, with whipped cream or caramel fillings and strawberry, fudge and vanilla buttercream frostings. We had so many toppings I can't recall all of them, but i know that silver sprinkles were a big hit because they were so pretty. One cool looking combo used the silver sprinkes, Pop Rocks, and cotton candy.


I personally went with a tres leches cupcake, strawberry frosting, white chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips. Sadly I don't have a photo of it because I didn't bring my camera, but Dani, my awesome assistant organizer brought one with her. I'll post her photos when I receive them. The photo above is one of the leftover cupcakes I got to take home- red velvet with vanilla frosting, peanut butter M&Ms, white chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips. I asked our cupcake bartender, Rachel, to decorate the leftovers however she thought they would look and taste best. I have to say she did an amazing job.

I have many other bakeries I'd like to work with, and other types of events I'd like to plan, but this was such a fun combo that I might just try it again in the future!