Two-Toned Frosting

So I've been sick and therefore not baking as much.  Boo.  However I did make "purple velvet" cupcakes for my co-worker's birthday.  Since starting my blog I actually have made a version of red velvet at least 3 times.  Mainly because you can't really go wrong with red velvet.

To make it interesting this time I attempted to dye the cupcakes purple.  This was a little difficult because purple doesn't really cover brown too well.  They looked like this...

Looks like an elementary school science project.  Remember making Gak?

  Under the right light they look purple right? :)

I saw this video online on how to make two-tone frosting and decided to give it a try.  I think I used too much purple dye on my first batch.  It was a pretty lilac color but there was no way I could make the other color too much darker.  So they are slightly two-toned.  Basically you use either two different colors or two shades of the same color to pipe your frosting.  When your piping bag is put together you can put one color on one side and the other color on the other.  Simple right...Kinda.  I suggest having two pairs (or a husband) of hands or a really large cup to hold up the bag.  Then pipe away.  The other way to do it was to put the food dye in the pastry bag around the tip and then put your frosting in.  This also works but is not the way I made the "purple velvet" roses :).



Reminds me of Beauty and the Beast for some reason



Also makes me think of Alice in Wonderland and Painting the Roses Red




Source:  http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alice2d.html

 
Hmmm that seems like a good idea for a theme cupcake.....Alice in Wonderland....! 

Also considering implementing a cupcake rating system and a vote for cupcake challenge flavor of the week.  I feel like I need a challenge (a la Cupcake Wars). 

-Kristi

Traveling Cupcakes

In addition to baking my own cupcakes I love to try other people's sweet creations.  This week we (as in hubby and I) tried some traveling cupcakes from Sugar Babies Cupcakery.  We discovered this treat at Los Al Din Din A Go Go which is just down the street from us every Tuesday night from 5:30 to 9 PM.  This another thing I like, food trucks.  No longer does mobile food have to come from a "roach coach" they are gourmet!

Anyways, back to the cupcakes.

We got a 4-pack for $5.00.  Like the name implies Sugar Babies Cupcakery serves mini-cupcakes!  We got the following:

1.  With All My Heart - Semi-sweet chocolate cake, dark chocolate mousse frosting, dark chocolate candy heart. (Husband ate this one before I could take a picture)

2.  Sugar Baby -Vanilla cake, rich chocolate buttercream frosting, white chocolate candy heart.

3.  Strawberries 'n' Cream - Moist vanilla cake with a sweet strawberry champagne cream cheese frosting.

4.  Red Rose - Our rich, classic red velvet cake, sumptuous cream cheese frosting*

*Descriptions from the Sugar Babies website

Front Left - Red Rose, Back Center - Sugar Baby, Front Right Strawberries 'n Cream

I really liked that the easily identifiable pink pastry box color was on the inside of the box instead of the outside.  I also liked that they were minis and were in cute little plastic cups.  Hubby had the "With All My Heart" and the "Sugar Baby" and I had the "Red Rose" and "Strawberries 'n Cream".  My favorite was the strawberry cupcake (I'm kinda picky when it comes to red velvet - see previous posts).  I really liked the frosting it was really really good and may make an appearance on an upcoming cupcake I make :) . The cake portion was a little different, it's not one I would want to eat on its own but with the frosting it was better.  Overall, you should probably get some if they ever stop by near  you.