My 19th Birthday

Wow. 19 sounds so old to me. I'm sure it sounds even older to my parents in the context of their "little girl". My birthday was the 5th of February, so just a little over a week ago. My mom had warned me that she ordered something that would be delivered to me on the 4th. Turns out, it was two dozen cupcakes from a local cupcakery here in Philly called Pamcakes. They were gorgeous! A huge variety of lovely cupcakes placed neatly in pink boxes and tied up with string, what a great birthday gift. I was so excited to try them, but of course, I also had to take some pictures of them first!! The flavors included were vanilla, chocolate, pumpkin chocolate chip, peanut butter cup, Almond Joy, coconut, and red velvet. The first one I tried was this one: A golden vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream. It's been my favorite classic combination since I was a kid. I tried every kind except the coconut I think. Not all in one night though I assure you! My favorite was probably the pumpkin chocolate chip with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Every single cupcake was so incredibly moist and fresh and each frosting was fluffy and rich, maybe even a little too rich and overpowering compared to some of the cakes but I wasn't complaining! Luckily we had a few large containers to store the cupcakes. They stayed fresh for days!

My Mom sent the adorable plates along with a tea party in a box a few days prior. Sugar cubes, a lemon, a huge assortment of tea and hot chocolate, cups, napkins! You name it, it was in the box.

Told you it was adorably wrapped! And yes, that is a piece of my hair that fell into the shot in the upper left corner.

Glorious

Mmm. The only thing that would have made this peanut butter one better? A surprise peanut butter cup in the center!

And a shot of my friend Nick indulging in one too

I'll definitely have to venture over to this cupcake place in Rittenhouse to try some more! There's a cinnamon roll on on the website I'm dying to try

Cupcakes in the city of brotherly love

On my way back from English class today my stomach was all grumbly and I was thinking about what to get for dinner. The route I walk is usually home to a variety of food trucks, but they never stay in one place and I can never predict when the individual trucks will be back. So when I saw a Sweet Box Cupcake truck I had to get one. The flavor options were vanilla/vanilla, PB&J, and chocolate ganache. AND they were only $2, which is much less than any cupcake bakery I've been to in Philly, Boston, etc. I opted for a vanilla cupcake, feeling pretty plain, but I was certainly not disappointed! I brought it back and split it into fours so my lovely roommates could try it too. It was a lightly sweet vanilla cake that tasted something like pound cake, topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting. The frosting was sweet but not too sweet. The cake was so moist and very fresh, which pleasantly surprised me, coming from a truck. This is probably the best vanilla cupcake I've ever had. The single heart sprinkle is also a very nice touch for the logo on the box.
You can follow the Sweet Box truck on twitter to make sure you never miss them when you're in the area! I wouldn't!

The best I could do with dorm room lighting:

How cute is their logo?

Treat Cupcake Bar

   A couple months back my Mom discovered this cupcake place in Needham, about a half hour from us called Treat Cupcake Bar. They have cupcakes baked daily for regular sale like any normal bakery but they also do parties and such where you can decorate your own cupcakes. You pick the cupcake and the frosting and toppings and you're good to go. It's a simple but wonderful idea I think. A new take on all the cupcake bakeries popping up everywhere.

   Anyway, the other day Mom and I drove out there to try their cupcakes and see just how good they are. And, it's the first time I've ever been truly pleased by a cupcake bakery. Once in FL our cousin Lisa, Mom, and I stopped in a cupcake shop, and we couldn't even finish the treats we bought. The frosting was goopy and gross. In Provincetown this summer we sampled a shop there, and my aunt was the first to note that the cake was definitely from Duncan Hines. Even in Boston, at Sweet bakery, the cupcakes fell short of my expectations. So to come across a cupcake bakery I actually liked? This was pretty big. 

My best friend Ellie came over too, to help us sample the cupcakes.

Mom and I decided on three. First,  their "Black and White" (already sliced up) was a marble cake topped with cream cheese frosting and a thick layer of chocolate ganache. The group vote was that the cream cheese frosting tasted too buttery.

Next we tried the Peanut Butter Madness cupcake. A chocolate cake filled with penut butter and dipped in ganache and drizzled with more peanut butter. The cake wasn't too sweet, which we all loved and the peanut butter drizzle added a surprising amount of flavor to the cupcake itself but the consensus was that there wasn't enough peanut butter filling.

Our last was a seasonal flavor there. It was "Blueberry Pancake", and my favorite of the three. A blueberry cake with maple buttercream and candied walnuts. The almost savory muffin-like cake was perfectly complimented by a sweet very maple-y frosting. It really did taste like a pancake, if you can believe it. I recommend you try it for yourself! 

Maybe I'll try making a sort of breakfast themed cupcake one of these days. Bacon is getting more popular with baked goods...

Within another ten minutes these last few pieces were all gone too!

Creamsicle Cupcakes

  These have been on my "to bake" list since the summer. And it probably would make more sense to make them in the summertime given the fruity flavor but who cares. We all need a bit of summertime in the middle of winter. I used this orange cupcake recipe but instead of vanilla extract I used a vanilla bean paste. Then I filled the cupcakes with a marshmallow cream and topped it with orange vanilla buttercream. I was more than happy with how they turned out. I think my brother was too, considering I found two cupcake wrappers strewn about the kitchen the next morning.

The neat mess Mike left

Run, run, run, as fast as you can...

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!
 I think that's how the nursery rhyme goes. This holiday season was the first my Mom ever added gingerbread into her usual smorgasbord of Christmas cookies. I guess that's why I've never really had them, or rather, never realized how much I love gingerbread! Needless to say, they'll be a staple in our Christmas baking from now on.
 When my Mom asked me to make cupcakes for her holiday work party I wanted to make something pertaining to the holidays but also a flavor that most would enjoy. So I made over 50 mini gingerbread cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. With the left over batter I was able to make a few regular sized ones to bring to my Grandparents' house for Christmas. My Mom even found some adorable gingerbread marshmallows for garnish. I thought these tasted much better than my other holiday themed cupcakes I made this December break. Take a look!

Don't the pearly white sprinkles remind you of snow? I was really hoping for even a little snow this Winter break. What a different Christmas vacation than last year's, that's for sure. Instead of being snowed in at the Philly airport a day after Christmas, it was fairly mild. I even took a walk on the beach on Christmas eve.

Home, Sweet Home

More like: Cupcakes, sweet cupcakes, this time with a sprinkle of peppermint and a dash of ginger for the holiday season. When I came home for Winter break I was thrilled to be able to make cupcakes once again. I wanted to venture into uncharted territory, or rather, try completely new recipes. I started with the ever popular Starbucks Peppermint Mocha. My friend Delaney loves the combination of peppermint and chocolate so I made them to welcome her arrival home. They were chocolate based cupcakes with some added espresso and Andes mints baked in, topped with a white chocolate peppermint buttercream and drizzled with chocolate ganache and finally even more Andes mints sprinkled on top. Not my favorite flavors together, but I got some pretty great reviews from friends. The cake ended up being a little to dense for my liking, probably due to the amount of chopped Andes mints I added.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!