Star Wars Cupcakes

What does one do when they get a 3-days notice order for 150 cupcakes with 6 individual designs to be made on an agreed upon number of them? Well.. If you're as crazy as I am, you accept that order, of course! Never mind that I had another order due on the same day as well. Never mind that the day I was to deliver my order was my friend's bridal shower. Never mind that I also had a lot of course work to tend to. Every day, I come closer to the conclusion that I'm insane. But, I also know that I love a challenge and I really didn't want to say no to this one.

Mr. Nerdy Face (a.k.a Fahed) of Nerdyface held an event last Friday; NerdyCon: Star Wars Day Celebration. I was asked to make Star Wars cupcakes for the event. Fahed had sent over cupcakes ideas that he liked. So, I got to doing a bit of my research on what could possibly be done in the short span of time I had. We agreed on 6 designs and both seemed happy with it. That was before I realized I had to hand carve around 80 designs individually and make them all look somehow identical. But anywaayyyy :P 


On the day of baking, my lovely assistant and ball of positive energy Majed came over to help me out in the evening. We had started cutting, carving, icing, shaping, laughing, crying, singing, plotting against anyone who would say something bad about the cupcakes hoping everyone would love the cupcakes, all up till 7:00am. Yes, you read correct. We were in the kitchen till just a bit after sunrise. I'm not sure how we did it (the force must have been with us). And I'm not sure what I would have done without Majed's help. But I am SO glad we got it done and that it's over. Majed, if you're reading this, I am ever so grateful for everything you've helped me with!

Galactic Empire

Cutest little munchkin! - Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Mandelorian (boba fett)

General Grievous & Rebel Alliance

On the day of the event, after getting just 3 hours of sleep, I headed down with my stepdad to deliver the goods. I can't tell you how amazing it felt when Fahed quietly said, "Wicked" Yup, my job there was done :D I hope whomever tried the cupcakes enjoyed them! And I hope I didn't disappoint any Star Wars mega fans.

Princess Leia

Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Shou Droids? - Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Happy Baking and May The Force Be With You!

Pink & Purple Cakes

It's Spring Break and man, am I relaxed! I have tons of university work to tend to but being the procrastinator that I am, I can't help but sleep in those extra few hours and go out spontaneously with friends. I'm going to miss being a student..

The other day I received an order for a lovely lady's daughter's birthday party. She wanted two cakes to match her pink and purple theme. She didn't ask for anything else in specific and told me to just be creative about it and keep it girly. I gotta say, it's quite refreshing to get cake orders where I can do as I please ;)

The pink cake, with a bit of a Spring theme:

Tried my hand at a basket weave

And the elegant purple cake:

Sparkles

And part of the order was 50 mini cupcakes in, of course, pink and purple:

Did I mention how much fun it is to decorate with edible glitter?

Happy Baking!

Lemon Loaf Cake

I'm writing this post as I lie down on my bed, covered in a big blanket, with a tissue box to my left and my cat cuddled up next to me on my right. I'm still recovering from a flu which doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon. But with a little bit of Jack Johnson, a dam to my river of worries about my midterms (nerd alert) and some happy blogging vibes, a flu won't be the end of me.

I've been baking this cake quite a lot in the past 2 months, it has now become another family favorite. Frankly, this list keeps growing so I'm no longer keeping count. I must say that this sometimes works against my favor on busy days when I have no time nor energy to bake. But my mom pulls out the puppy-dog eyes and I'm sold; running to the kitchen to start mixing and baking.

Lemon zest, anyone?

This cake's very simple to make (as most of what I love to bake is) and is one of those cakes you can keep in an air-tight container all week long without it getting spoiled. I love having a slice of this for breakfast with some green tea: HEAVEN! Seriously, who has cereal in the morning when you have a beautiful cake waiting for you to indulge in?

A ray of sunshine

If you've got extra cake batter left then I suggest you have some fun with it by making some cupcakes. Top them off with ever-so-light cream cheese frosting and a touch of lemon zest.

Looks like a party, doesn't it?

Lemon Loaf Cake adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

For the cake:
2 sticks of butter (approx. 200g), softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups self-rising flour
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of lemon essence/flavoring

zest of 2 lemons

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F)
• Grease and lightly flour a large loaf pan; line the bottom with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.
• Add the sugar gradually and beat for 3 minutes until fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. (Note: you can simply mix in the vanilla extract with the milk to make the alternation easier)
• Add the lemon essence/flavoring and the lemon zest and mix until well incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes.
• Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
• Slice a nice big piece. Enjoy!

For the cream cheese frosting, I've used my favorite: Sweetapolita's Fluffy Cream Cheese Icing recipe. 

Happy Baking!

Mini Rosey Red Cupcakes

Personally, I never thought Valentine's Day was a big deal. To me (and a lot of people), it's really just a way for organizations to get consumers to buy their products by convincing them that there's a special/important occasion they can't ignore. And of course, they feel obligated to do so or else their other half will probably throw a fit. It's a little silly how worked up some people can get over days like these. But really, if it makes people happy then that's alright. I enjoyed Valentine's Day this year simply because I was surrounded by good friends and my family. And for that, I am grateful.

This year I decided I should spread some love. I proposed to a group of my friends that we play a little game of Secret Valentine with a limit of 50 dirhams per gift; just a fun way to get everyone to spread some good vibes. Truly, it's just a way for me to guarantee I'm getting a gift.. But yeah, let's get back to selflessness. We all met up in university during lunchtime, (im)patiently waited for the latecomers, and finally exchanged our gifts. I was probably the only person who stuck to the price limit. Stingy or creative? I'm not sure anymore :P It was super fun and was a nice way of getting to know each other better. 

Gifting just one person wasn't enough, though. Since I can't afford to give out more than a dozen roses (student allowance wohoo!) to all my family and friends, I thought roses on mini cupcakes would be more appropriate. The whole goal was to make someone happy so, I hope these put a smile on someone's face.



These cupcakes are just like the ones I made last year except I used this vanilla cupcake recipe instead. A lot of people thought they looked like roses before so tinting the cream red was just too tempting not to do this time around. It can't be healthy to get this excited over colored frosting. I hope you enjoyed Valentine's Day if you do celebrate it and if you don't, then just keep spreading the love anyway.

Happy Baking!

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes With Blue Vanilla Frosting

I'm a sucker for miniature food, especially desserts. No matter how simple they are, they always impress me. They also take way more time to make than when they are made in their normal size but it's always worth it in the end. 

I usually shamelessly attack the miniature desserts at buffets right after I'm done eating my main course. I then go on to tell myself, in vain, that they're so small, how could they possibly be bad for you?

Here's a simple way to add the element of 'cute' to any gathering or occasion: Mini Cupcakes! I added blue food coloring to my frosting and tried them in two different tints. I plan to experiment some more with different colors and different flavors.

For the chocolate cupcakes: (This makes around 200 mini cupcakes)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
9 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your mini cupcake/muffin tin with mini paper cups.
• In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. 
• In a separate small bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, about 2 minutes. Add the beaten yolks to the butter mixture and beat well. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. 
• In a separate small bowl, beat the egg whites on the high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter. Scoop the batter in the mini cups.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack. 

For the frosting: Scroll down and check out Sweetapolita's easy recipe for Sugary Birthday Buttercream Frosting!

Happy Baking!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes With Dulce De Leche Frosting

As I type out this post in the middle of the night, I can't help but daydream (okay, I'm sorta half asleep already, so let's just say dream) about where I'll be in 8 days. Turkey: I just can't wait to discover your beauty! On Monday, I'll finally be done with my summer courses which have been a ruthless 5 weeks of endless assignments, exams and final projects. After the whirlwind that is university calms down and takes almost 2 months off, I will finally have the time to focus on other activities. I'll be able to dedicate more time to my blog (YAY!), read the whole stack of books that I bought 2 weeks ago and learn some more buttercream frosting techniques. But mostly, I'm just excited to be able to take a breather for a while.

If you haven't guessed it yet, I am obsessed with dulce de leche. I secretly wish I could make dulce de leche chips so I can carry a bag of them around with me and pop a few every once in a while. I think that would probably make life complete for me.

Sadly, that's not going to turn into reality anytime soon so, instead, I incorporate dulce de leche it into simpler things. I was getting a little bored of the usual vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting so I decided that a dulce de leche buttercream frosting would do the trick. After doing my research, I found that Joy the Baker's recipe was the keeper. This recipe is very versatile, too. I've tried it on chocolate cupcakes and fallen in love with the results. Looks like this frosting just makes anything taste good!

I promise that once you make these cupcakes, you'll have everyone coming back for more. I've been selling them at events and they are usually a best seller amongst the cupcake elitists. I've also managed to convert quite a few people into die-hard dulce de leche fans with this one, so I'm definitely doing something right.
I'd like to point out that there's no need to fuss with real vanilla beans for these cupcakes, they can definitely be made with vanilla extract or vanilla essence and taste just as good.

These cupcakes can be made to order, 1 dozen minimum. They are always made fresh. E-mail me for rates :)



Traditional Vanilla Birthday Cake from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
Makes around 45 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers
• In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition.
• Spoon the batter into the cups about three-quarters full. Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20 to 22 minutes. 
• Remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on a rack before icing. 

For the dulce de leche frosting

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened

3 Tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup prepared dulce de leche

• Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar on low using an electric mixer.  
• Add cream, vanilla and salt and beat on medium speed until smooth and no lumps appear. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
• Add the prepared dulce de leche and beat to incorporate.  
• Frost cooled cupcakes using a knife or a pastry bag and tip.

Happy Baking!