It's Been Too Long!

I need to figure out a better way to stay on top of this blog :)  It's been way too long since I've posted and so much has happened since then.  Lets catch up, shall we?

First off, I did another pretty large event.  Well, two, I suppose.  My brother just graduated from high school (wow, I'm getting old!) and was the stage manager and miscellaneous clown/juggler for their Spring musical, Barnum.  It's a musical about how Barnum came to be apart of circus.  It was so fun!  He asked me to cater cupcakes for their cast party and how could I tell him no?  So I made some fun, circus-y type cupcakes, homemade Funfetti and Carmel Corn.  Yup, carmel corn.  Delicious.  And this also let me try out the marshmallow fondant recipe I had wanted to try.  It all came out great and the kids really enjoyed them!  It was fun!

We also did cupcakes for my brother and his girlfriend's graduation party.  That was an adventure.  And the most cupcakes we've ever made in one day before.  200.  That was interesting.  (I have no idea how the contestants on Cupcake Wars do it.  I didn't have a time limit and I was stressed out.  And we didn't make near the amount of cupcakes they do.)  Topped them off with some homemade candies representing all of their awesomeness.

It was a lot of fun and we made a wide variety of cupcakes for the event!  It truly was fantastic and I'm so proud of both of them.  They're fantastic!

Also!  Steph and I finally got around to making our "Chuck" inspired cupcakes.  If you read the earlier post about our Nikki Heat, "Castle" inspired cupcakes you know that I'm a super fan of television.  "Chuck" has been a favorite of mine for awhile and while sadly it is over, the DVDs will always be apart of my collection.  We made a trio of cupcakes inspired by three of the main characters.

Chuck, the title character and total Nerd hottie, was a Mint Chuck-olate Chip cupcake.  That was inspired by one of my favorite scenes in which he mentions eating a pint of mint chocolate chip ice-cream.  Seems odd, I know, but to avoid spoiling anyone who has not had the chance to see the show, all I will say about that scene is it is a major turning point for the character.  I had to make his mint after that!

Sarah, the spy-extradoniare, is the Orange Orange cupcake.  Orange, why orange and why the double orange, you may ask.  Again, for anyone who hasn't seen the show, first off, go watch.  You'll love it, I promise and second, yeah, just watch, it references Sarah's undercover job from the second season.  Just a fun little homage to her character.

Morgan, the lovable sidekick, is the mini Grape Soda cupcakes.  Morgan is short.  Mini cupcakes seemed like a great fit for him and we couldn't stop laughing after a friend suggested it so they came to be.  Morgan is a great, hysterical character with a love of grape soda.  His was a no-brainer.  (Actually, we had his picked out before the other two.  It was just a natural fit.)

These were a lot of fun to make and I loved the flavor for the grape soda cupcakes.  Can't wait to make them again!

So there you have it.  We're pretty much all caught up on the going-ons of us here at Cupcake Nerds.  Please "like" us on Facebook and keep checking back here for more posts and yummy cupcakes!

Hannah

Castle + Cupcakes =

I love television shows.  Not all of them, but when I get into a television show, I try to share that love with everyone.  I’ve formed many friendships over television shows and with people from all over the world.  I love that a mutual love for something can bring people together.  Stephanie (co-baker and co-owner of Cupcake Nerds) and I have always shared that passion.  We haven’t always shared it for the same shows, but there are several that we are both hooked on.

The ABC show, Castle, is one of them.  If you’ve never watched Castle, well first you are missing out because it’s awesome and two…well, yeah.  You’re missing out.  But the show is about a NYPD Detective, Kate Beckett and her mystery novelist partner, Rick Castle.  Beckett is the base for the main character, Nikki Heat, of his most recent book series and follows her around and uses their cases for inspiration.  (And the best part of it is that ABC actually releases a new Nikki Heat book every fall.  The book lover in me is very, very happy about this!)

Castle just wrapped its fourth season with an incredibly epic season finale.  Stephanie and I made sure we watched together and to commemorate the occasion we made Nikki Heat inspired cupcakes!

Our Nikki Heat cupcakes are a spiced chocolate cake with a spiced cinnamon butter cream.  And can I just say they were AMAZING! 

Had to do a little photo shoot with the books! 

We used the Perfect Chocolate recipe from the Minty Goodness post and just added some cinnamon, cayenne, and crushed red pepper flakes.  We were worried about putting in too much cayenne so we added it a ½ teaspoon at a time until we were happy with the kick that it gave.  It wasn’t too overpowering, but it had a nice little bite.  The butter cream was pretty much a normal butter cream with cinnamon (and a little bit of cayenne too) and it was delicious! 

We finished them with a few Hot Tamales candies on top of their swirls and then settled in for Castle.  (Such an incredible episode too!  *sigh* I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.  But one of my favorites, for sure!  Now we just have to make it through the summer…)

We have more TV inspired cupcakes in the works that we are super excited about and can’t wait to share them!  Thankfully Stephanie is moving home now that she’s graduated from college (yay her!) and we can bake more together!

Ooo…and I almost forgot, but more exciting things have been happening in the Cupcake Nerds world lately!  I catered my 2^nd wedding two weekends ago and we got our finished logo back from the girl who was working on it for us!  And we got business cards!  (Had a chance to give out a few at the wedding too!  So exciting for us!)

Thanks everyone for the support!  See you again soon with another cupcake!!

May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor...

There is something about the purchase of a new book that never fails to make me smile. (Well, as long as it isn’t for school…and even then, they aren’t ALL bad.)  The feel of fresh pages, still crisp, the smell of the ink…it is something I will never grow tired of. It’s a jump into world’s unknown and different times and two years ago when I picked up The Hunger Games for the first time it was an instant catapult into a world that would not let me go.  It was recommended to me by a friend and I’m so thankful that it was.

Despite my initial concern about the brutality of the story I figured I would give it a try.  The next thing I knew I was closing the first book completely finished and on my way to the store to pick up the other books in the series.  I finished all three books in two days because I simply could not put them down.

And then they made the movie.  (And they did a superb job with it!) 

With the movie I decided that it was time for Hunger Games inspired cupcakes.  A friend of mine on Twitter suggested a “Nightlock” cupcake and I ran with it.

But I wanted to do more than just my basic blueberry cupcake recipe and I wanted to tie in more aspects of the book and movie and that is how these cupcakes generated into being.

Where It All Started...

So, you know how I said I've been baking for about six months or so?  Very true.  But it wasn't my intention to make this into a business when I started.  I was doing it for fun then, just as a stress reliever.  I started baking for family events and work parties, and in January my sister asked me to make cupcakes for a bridal shower she was helping to throw.  

At the end of that the bride asked me to make them for the wedding.  And it was at that point that I started to seriously consider making this into a business.  

Minty Goodness

I have done it.  I have perfected a chocolate cupcake recipe that is so perfect you would think it was a box mix.  It was chocolaty and moist and just perfect. 

It is so rewarding to have a cupcake come out so perfectly you just want to stare at them, pre-frosting, because of how perfect they are.  (Not saying I did, or didn’t…for ten full minutes.)

And they were a hit at work.

It started from a box of Thin Mints that was taunting me from the pantry shelf and I decided I needed to do something cupcake-y to put with my favorite Girl Scout cookies.  I figured a simple chocolate cupcake with mint butter cream would be the perfect way to accent my extra box of Thin Mints.

Best Cookies Ever

And then it happened.  The. Perfect. Chocolate. Cupcake.

I’m so excited.

And here it is.

Welcome to my kitchen...

Hi!  I started baking cupcakes about six months ago as a way to let off some steam and relax.  Next thing I knew I was baking all the time and getting some real praise for all of the creations.  I was encouraged by a large group of people to make it into a business.

It's going to take some real time to become anything big, but I decided that I'm going to blog my way through my cupcake making.

I've made lots of different kinds of cupcakes so far and I've got a lot I still want to make and perfect so look for lots of recipes and pictures and adventures.

Cupcake baking isn't always pretty but it is always going to be fun.

Hope you stick around for the fun! :)

~Hannah

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Dr. Pepper Cupcakes

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Pineapple Banana Cupcakes

Thin Mint Cupcakes

Samoa's Cupcakes