The Hunt is On

On Sunday I was asked to sell my cupcakes at a local park to promote an event they are having. I turned them down because in the State of Michigan, you can't sell goods made out of your home. To my surprise, Granholm signed a new Cottage Law last week allowing us to bake, make and prepare foods out of our homes and sell them to direct customers (farmer markets, etc.). You have no idea how excited I was, so the hunt is on for some amazing cupcake flavors.

My favorite cake is chocolate cake, but not any chocolate cake. It has to be my mom's recipe. She also liked to bake, especially for the family, but she soon began taking them to work for birthdays. This cake was her most requested cake and if you ever try it, you will know why. It's not like any other chocolate cake I've tasted, and truthfully, no other chocolate cake compares IMHO. It's rich, it's moist, it's chocolately...everything you want in a chocolate cake. Paired up with the Whimsical Bakehouse Buttercream, this cake is DREAMY!!! I much prefer the WBHBC with this cake as opposed to a crusting buttercream. Of course, I didn't know that until Saturday when I made the WBHBC for the first time. It made this cake taste even more devine!

Unfortunately, this is one recipe I am not allowed to share....maybe someday....but here's a peek at what it looks like. I'll admit, I'm not photographer and the lighting is bad. Maybe someday I'll learn to take great food pictures.

So, for the end of August, I'm thinking of making an Almond Joy Cupcake and a Peanut Butter Cupcake using this chocolate cake recipe. I saw an awesome Pina Colada Cupcake recipe on Beantown Bakery's blog so I think I'm gonna try that one, also. Now I just need 2 more flavors. I need to look through my recipe book. I have so many clippings of recipes that I wanted to try, that I am bound to find something in there that is out of this world.

I told my co-workers to start preparing to be my taste testers next week. Hub just started the Atkinds diet, so I lost my personal at home tester. Kinda bummed because he NEVER steered me wrong.

Getting Started

Well, I'm not exactly sure why I created this blog, but here I am. This weekend I decided to try a new buttercream recipe. Oh, did I tell you, I love to bake and decorate cakes. I actually planned on being a chef, but that didn't go as planned. So here I am, a hobbyist baker instead. Not sure why I never fulfilled my dream, well I do know....I never follow through with things, and I get bored too easily, lets hope this blog doesn't follow the same path. I do digress...All I have to say is, YUM, to my newfound buttercream! Most BC's to me are too heavy in texture. I crave for something that is creamy and smooth and not oh so sweet on my cakes. Afterall, cake is already sweet, so why do you need to take away from it? Well, I don't anymore. I found the perfect buttercream recipe - almost a year ago - and finally got around to making it. I wish I could take credit for creating such a light and creamy buttercream, but I can't, so I must give all credit to Whimsical Bakehouse. THANK YOU!

I found this recipe on the web about 10 months ago when I was searching for a non-crusting BC. I quickly added it to my collection and filed it away. It's hard to believe that I didn't do much baking over the last 10 months to the point I completely forgot about this recipe, until Saturday! I wanted to make some chocolate cupcakes for the new neighbors that moved in and in reviewing my recipe book, came across this delightful recipe I so shamelessly forgot about.

Whimisical Bakehouse Buttercream
Printer Friendly Version
(slightly altered to my taste)
(for a 4 qt. mixing bowl)

3/4 cup boiling water (a little less on hot days)
4 cups powder sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbs vanilla extract (or any flavor of your choosing)
1-3/4 cup hi-ratio shortening
1 stick of butter, slightly chilled and cut into 1" pieces

In a mixing bowl, combine the powder sugar, salt and extract. Add the boiling water and mix on low speed until smooth and cool. You can use either the whip or paddle attachment, although the recipe calls for the whip attachment.

Add the shortening and butter on low speed until incorporated. Turn to medium-high speed and mix until light and fluffy, about 15 to 20 minutes.