I don't just have fun in class, I'm actually learning something too

I can't believe my first semester of pastry school is one month from being complete. It's a week before Thanksgiving break and it's amazing what I have learned and already put into practice. My chef is a firm believer of thin layers of cake with equal layers of frosting. As seen here:

This produces a much more flavorful cake than having two inch thick cake layers with a quarter inch thick frosting in between. Also, I only had to bake one cake instead of two.

This cake I made for my mom's birthday. German chocolate is her favorite, but I wanted to make it Cloud 9 style, so I made a chocolate ganache filling for the bottom layer and toasted the coconut before adding it to the german chocolate frosting. Then I topped it with ganache rosettes. I was really happy with the way it turned out. This one will definitely be on my cafes menu.

I have also realized that I really enjoy making bread. I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. It can be very temperamental and time consuming, but there is nothing like a fresh piece of bread right out of the oven slathered with European butter. And yes European butter has a much better flavor than the stateside butter and no I don't know why. Bread is very versatile. So many different things can come out of what is essentially the same dough. There's a really great book that chef uses a little in class called "Artisan Breads". I really want a copy of it. It's available at your local Barnes and Noble, just in case you're wondering what to get me for my upcoming birthday or Christmas this year. :)

But don't worry, I won't abandon my love for cakes and other desserts for my newly found love for making breads. I have no plans to change Cloud 9 Pastries to Cloud 9 Breads. I will just have to expand my plans for my future cafe.

Sugar-free...Really?

As previously mentioned, I was tasked to make a sugar-free dessert recently. I gave the client three options: peach cobbler, chocolate cake, or peanut butter cookies. I bought Stevia in the Raw which measures cup for cup like sugar for what ever dessert she chose. I am not advocating the complete use of Stevia, but if I had to make another sugar-free dessert, I would definitely use it again. It's made from plants and is more natural than Splenda and other artificial sweetners.

She eventually decided on the peach cobbler and it was probably the best choice she could have made. The cobbler didn't taste like it was missing something. It was actually good and the Stevia didn't give off a nasty after taste like Splenda can. I was actually happy with the cobbler. It had a homemade biscuit topping and I made vanilla whipped cream to go with it. I used the good mexican vanilla that my wonderful friend and coworker Donna gave me in both the whipped cream and the cobbler. The rich vanilla flavor added another depth of flavor to mask the lack of sugar in the desserts.

I also wanted to try to make my chocolate bundt cake sugar-free. It really didn't turn out. The cake was more bitter than usual, but it still had the dense moistness that the cake should. It also didn't rise as much as the regular cake would have. I would have to experiment with that one again before making it for someone else.

Roger was really excited about the desserts. He said it was so thoughtful for someone to take that much time and effort to make him a dessert. I didn't tell him that Kacy asked me to.

It was a really good experience and I am glad to have done it.

Client vs. Beliefs

One of my managers recently asked me to make a dessert for someone who does not eat sugar. He is not diabetic, but had a close scare and has stopped eating sugar completely. He told me that he's more afraid that if he eats a little bit of something sweet, that he won't be able to stop and he will be right back where he was before. I understand wanting to prevent diabetes and other health issues. However, I do not agree with artificial sweeteners. They are all made of chemicals that I believe will eventually cause more health problems including cancer. I would rather eat the full fat, full sugar item and just not eat a lot of it. It's what the Europeans do and they have a much lower obesity rate than we do. It's all about eating less processed, all-natural foods. We have forgotten that food should be grown, not developed in a chemical lab. The only thing that should have zero calories is WATER!

I will step off my soap box now.

Anyways...the client for this order wants me to use the new Splenda for Baking. I told her I would do some research and get back to her. I thought it over and I just can't bring myself to actually purchase The splenda and sell a product to a client that I did not think was 100% me. It's like on Project Runway where the judges tell the loser that week they lost their design aesthetic in order to please the client. I refuse to let that happen to me.

In my research, I found that Stevia is now available in a large bag for cooking and baking use. For those that are not familiar with Stevia, it's a plant. It looks kinda like a mint plant, but if you taste the leaves, they are sweet like sugar. I am much more comfortable with the idea of using Stevia in place of the sugar. The manufactuer says it can be used cup-for-cup, but with further reading, I found people have reduced the amount of Stevia because it is much sweeter than regular sugar. This might take a couple of trials to make sure I have the right ratio of Stevia. But I guess I should first choose a recipe.

Bringing a little Autumn into the Summer Heat

On Monday, I made my first ever pumpkin pie for one of the managers at Barnes & Noble. It's his favorite type of pie and it was his birthday.

The filling was not going to be difficult. I just followed the recipe on the can. (I accidently bought pumpkin pie filling instead of just regular canned pumpkin last fall, so I didn't have to search long and hard to find pumpkin in the middle of summer.) The thing I was worried about was the crust. The most perfect pie filling is only as good as the crust. And a good pie crust recipe is one to treasure. I am still on the hunt for the perfect pie crust recipe.

I decided to give one of the many recipes I have collected over the past two years a try. It turned out really well. I was really happy with how easy it was to work it. I want to try it again only this time with a fruit filling to see how the double crust tastes.

Because the filling was so easy to make, I wanted to give it that Cloud 9 touch. I made a cinnamon whipped cream to go on top. Oh my, was it wonderful.

I really enjoy making whipped cream. I like the idea of adding different flavors to make each batch unique. It's also gotten me thinking about making my own marshmellows. But again, that might have to wait until the temps actually start dropping. Until then, I will have to experiment with homemade ice cream to beat this crazy heat we are having.

Trying something new

Recently, I have been playing around with different flavor combinations for cookies. Last month, I made Almond Joy cookies. I took my earthy chocolate chip cookie recipe and adapted it for adding toasted almond pieces and shredded coconut. They are really good and I don't think there is anything to change as far as the recipe is concerned. For once, I am really happy with the first attempt of an original recipe.

After making the almond joy cookies a couple of times, I wanted something new. I found dried cherries while shopping at Costco and instantly thought about combining white and dark chocolate chips with the dried cherries. I wanted the dough to be more of a sugar cookie dough, not the brown sugar dough that the earthy cookies are made with. I decided to try substituting equal parts white granulated sugar for the brown sugar in the dough recipe. It worked pretty well and the cookies were good, but really sweet. I was already thinking of ways to change them when Alison suggested adding some nuts for a crunch in the cookie. I really liked the idea and will definitely add some toasted almonds to the batter the next time I make those. (Which, knowing me, will probably be really soon.)

Friday, my mom and I made lemon bars with homemade lemon curd. I had made the lemon curd before, but had never made lemon bars, even from a box. They are so good and tart. Very refreshing on a hot summer day.

While we were making the lemon bars, I took dried pineapple and rehydrated it using banana liqueur. I allowed it to sit until yesterday afternoon. They were a main ingredient in Pina Colada Cookies. I took the same sugar cookie base from the Black & White Chocolate Cherry Chip Cookies and replaced most of the vanilla extract with white rum, used coconut milk instead of regular milk, added shredded coconut, the rehydrated pineapple, and some toasted almonds pieces. I really like toasted almonds in cookies if you didn't already figure that out. I like the flavor in these cookies, but I was not happy with how thin the cookies came out. The batter spread a lot while baking. I'm not sure what's causing it, but you can bet that I will find out. Bring on lots of experiments.

Cakes. cakes, and more cakes

The last few weeks have been quite busy for Cloud 9 Pastries. The middle of June marked the 30th anniversary of employment for one of my co-workers at Barnes & Noble. We had a surprise party for her and I was asked to make the cake. In fact, I got to make my very first formal invoice. Since it was a surprise party, I had to be sneaky about how I asked her what flavor of cake she would like to have. In the end she suggested the chocolate cake I have made in the past is wonderful and that she would recommend that flavor to other people. So chocolate cake it was. It had almond buttercream frosting and the chocolate cream filling. Here's a picture of the cake:

Two weeks later, I made two sheet cakes for my Nana's 80th birthday party on June 26th. The party went very well. Everyone commented on how great the food was especially my Mom's brisket and the chocolate cake.

The chocolate cake was the same recipe as for Carolyn's cake, but I reduced the recipe a little bit so the cake wasn't so tall and therefore much easier to cut. It was just as moist and delicious as ever though.

In addition to the chocolate cake, I made a white cake with lemon filling and lemon-scented vanilla buttercream frosting. The white cake was good. The lemon filling went really well with the white cake. But it still was not my favorite. I was not extremely pleased with it in the end.

Also, I was commissioned to make a light, summer, cake with fresh fruit for my uncle's mother-in-law, in which he delivered to her on the morning of Nana's party. I made a 7-inch white chiffon cake. In between the two layers I spread strawberry preserves and homemade whipped cream. I repeated the jam and the whip cream on the top and topped it with fresh strawberry halves. I left the sides unfrosted and it looked kinda like a large strawberry shortcake.

Friday marked the wedding day for Ashley and Bryan. The bride and groom requested a two-tiered offset square cake. The bottom tier was white cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and the top tier was red velvet with the chocolate cream filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. I was worried about the white cake. Since it was the majority of the cake, I didn't want it to turn out like the previous white cake. I made sure to mix the batter well and they both came out of the oven perfectly. They felt moist and soft. A little relief set in. I had made the red velvet in cake form previously and was not worried too much about that.

The most nerve wracking part of the whole night was carrying it from the car up into Dave and Buster's. I had a slight problem arise when getting off the escaltor, and my arms felt like Jell0 so much that I was worried about dropping it. Thankfully one of the managers carried the cake back to the room for me.

The cakes were a hit though. Everyone loved both kinds. The red velvet was gone pretty quickly that I didn't get a chance to eat a piece. I did eat a piece of the white though. Oh my goodness, was it 100 times better than the cake that I made for Nana's party. The cake was moist and fluffy. It had excellent flavor. The frosting was quite good too, especially in between the two layers. I was very pleased with how the cake turned out both the flavor and decoration. The bride wanted minimalistic decorations. The frosting was to be smooth with a black ribbon trim.

A farewell to LOST

Sunday marked the end of one of the best television shows ever. Kevin and I are huge fans of LOST, and therefore we gathered our friends at our house to watch the finale. Of course, I made lots of food, which was almost completely gluten-free. One of my friends just recently was diagnosed with celiacs disease and I didn't want her to be surrounded by food that she couldn't eat. I was planning to make kebabs and sushi rice prior to her diagnosis. I wasn't worried about the main course.

Dessert was where I was worried. I had never made any gluten-free desserts. After doing a little research and some searching in the grocery store, I found GF oreos. I could make a cheesecake, I thought. I had been wanting to try this recipe I found in a magazine for a while, so it was settled. I was going to make a gluten-free cheesecake. After looking over the recipe, I found that it called for 2 tablespoons of flour. I realized that it was only in there as a thickener and stablizer. My initial thought was to subsitute corn starch, but on the day I used some tapioca flakes used in making fruit pies thicker. I flavored the cheesecake with white chocolate and used the GF oreos as the crust and topped it with homemade caramel. I love this flavor combination, which is why it's called the Cloud 9.

In addition to the cheesecake, Kevin wanted to decorate cupcakes with hieroglyphics and words significant to LOST. I had to make some sample cupcakes for a wedding cake, so it worked out well. I made vanilla cupcakes and red velvet. The bride really wanted to try the red velvet, but the groom really wants vanilla cake only. To top the remaining cupcakes, I made a white chocolate buttercream frosting and dyed some of the frosting black for the writing. They turned out pretty good.

Baking with Tea

After months of thinking about it, I finally made the vanilla cupcakes with lemon filling and earl grey frosting. I used a new vanilla cake recipe specifically designed for cupcakes. They looked like muffins when I pulled them out of the oven. I had never seen cupcakes dome that much. The cake was light and fluffy and the lemon filling piped in the middle made for a nice surprise.

As for the frosting, I was disappointed in the weak earl grey flavor. I first steeped the tea in some hot milk needed to thin the buttercream frosting making it spreadable. After tasting it and not tasting a strong tea flavor, I took the tea bag and steeped it in hot water for a few minutes. I added a 4 tablespoons of the tea to the frosting. I was afraid to add too much more liquid for fear of making the frosting too thin. In the end, I was still disappointed in the flavor, but I frosted the cupcakes anyways.

The next day I took them into work, where they were pretty much devoured. Everyone told me the frosting was the best part. It was just different than what I originally envisioned. I guess I am too hard on myself. It was really nice to hear that people would pay money for these cupcakes if they could.

Yesterday, I decided to pair chocolate with the earl grey tea. This combination I was much happier with. The tea enriched the chocolate flavor in the cake. It was not overwhelming or truly noticable, but I feel that if someone ate a piece of cake with the tea and one without, they would say the one with the tea had more chocolate flavor.

I decided to make the cake in bundt cake form and top it with cream cheese frosting and I drizzled over caramel. It was quite good and I hope to make it again soon.

Unfortunately, I failed to get any photos of the vanilla cupcakes, but here are some pics of the bundt cake.

Red Velvet Revision Part II

I have written before that I was working on tweaking the red velvet cupcake recipe. It has morphed from following a red velvet cake recipe from www.foodnetwork.com and adding a Hershey's kiss to each one to creating my own recipe and piping chocolate ganache in the center. I am really happy with the current recipe that it got me thinking about how I started making this highly requested item.

The first batch was made because a former co-worker had such a bad day that I told him that I would bake him something to cheer him up. He asked for red velvet. I had never made red velvet before so I looked up recipes. I found one I liked and it didn't sound too difficult. I thought that red velvet was just a chocolate cake with red food coloring and cream cheese frosting, but I was very wrong. I noticed that the recipes didn't have a lot of chocolate, so I decided to add the Kiss in the middle.

When looking back on that first batch, they really weren't very good. The frosting was stringy cause of the melted marshmellows and the Kisses stuck to the bottom of the wrapper. The cake however had a really good flavor and the added chocolate was a nice surprise. Everyone at work liked them, but I knew I could do better. I had been working on bettering the recipe ever since.

Until now. The current recipe is great. The batter domes giving the cupcake a traditional shape, and I switched out the Hershey's Kiss for chocolate ganache. I still won't say the recipe is final since I will be going to pastry school in the fall and with my new knowledge the recipe may change yet again.

Cheesecake Wontons

I love these little guys. I first had them when my good friend and fellow culinary artist, Alison, made them for a catering event. She then made them again for my wedding shower. I wanted to eat the entire plate. I even have a photo of them hanging in my kitchen. Like I said, I love this dessert.

So when Brittany asked me to make some desserts for her engagement party, my mind instantly went to the cheesecake wontons. I gave her some other choices, like lemon squares and brownie bites with white chocolate buttercream filling, but in the end she chose the wontons. An excellent choice if I do say so myself.

Red Velvet Revision

After much deliberation, I decided to revise my red velvet cupcake recipe, or rather make it more my own. I love the flavor of the original recipe, but was disappointed by the lack of classic cupcake shape, ie no dome. After looking at other recipes, I found that all pretty much called for the same amount of flour, baking soda, vinegar, all things that would add to the fluffiness. However, some recipes called for baking powder, which mine did not. Knowing that baking powder would add height I decided to try it.

In addition to the dome effect I was after, I wanted to also try something new with the center. I took out the Hershey's Kiss and added chocolate ganache. I used a combination of bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate in the ganache, then piped a small amount into each cupcake.

The overall reaction was a total hit. The ganache is definitely a keeper. The additional baking powder did give a little bit more fluffiness to the cupcakes, but they still did not dome like expected. I have some more ideas on how to get the perfect red velvet cupcake.

A Red Velvet Afternoon

Saturday marked a big day for Ryan and Sarah as well as for me. After figuring out the logistics of getting 250 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to the outdoor reception location, and waiting an hour until someone who knew how the bride and groom wanted the tables and chairs setup, Kevin, my friend Taylor, and I got all 250 cupcakes onto one table in the shade. It was an great experience and I learned a lot. Mostly that I need another freezer and fridge and more counter space.

I really appreciate them trusting me to be part of their wedding.

A Sweet Vacation

Last week, Kevin and I visited my sister in Phoenix. She bought us tickets to see Love in Las Vegas, so we road tripped it 5 hours northwest the day after arriving. We stayed at the Mirage for two days. It was our first time in Sin City and Kevin and I spent a lot of time wandering the strip. One of my favorite sights was the Conservatory in the Bellagio. The garden in there was one of the most stunning things I had ever seen. Here is one of my favorites:

Vegas is known for many things and one of those things is food. One goal I had while there was to eat a truly decadent pastry chef made dessert, however, this did not happen. Hopefully next time.

We did enjoy some great treats in Phoenix though. My sister, Heather, who is also a baker, took us to Sprinkles. For those that don't know, Sprinkles is one of the first cupcakeries that made it big. Oprah raves about these cupcakes. They started in Beverly Hills, I think, and now have quite a few locations, including a location in Kansas City opening in the near future.

On a side note, people can be quite picky about cupcakes, more specifically, the ratio of cake to frosting. For me, I enjoy a good frosting. I think that is why I am experimenting with lots of unique frosting flavors. But that is another blog post. However, I don't want the frosting to do all of the talking though. With Sprinkles, the amount of frosting is quite small compared to the cake. The cupcakes are average size and the frosting is spread on like a shell, not a rosette like mine. They have many flavors, but only offer certain ones each day. One such flavor was a Chai cupcake. I had never seen such a thing before and had to have one. It was good, but unfortunately, nothing special. Probably my favorite was the Vanilla with Milk Chocolate frosting. Neither one of those things are my go-to choice, but it sounded really good and in our dozen, I wanted to try as many different frostings as I could. It turned out to be fantastic.

Another fantastic sweet treat we found was Nothing Bundt Cakes. Heather told me about it and Kevin and I found it while wandering Scottsdale by ourselves. If you ever get the chance to try one, DO IT. The closest location is in Colorado and a bunch in Texas and California. We tried the White Chocolate Raspberry in the Bundtlet size (about 4-inch diameter). The cake was super dense, but oh so moist and tender. The frosting was piped on in pieces, in order to see the cake underneath. It was probably my favorite thing I ate all trip.

What to do with leftover frosting...

Make cupcakes!!! Chocolate cupcakes to be exact.

Kevin and I leave for Phoenix and Las Vegas on Wednesday and I had leftover frosting from the two sheet cakes for 3rd paying customer that I wanted to use before we left. Therefore cupcakes!

Many people at work were jealous and curious about the cakes that I made for Carolyn, that I decided to make the same chocolate cake recipe as I did for her. This recipe is probably my new favorite chocolate cake recipe. It's dense, but yet tender and airy, and oh so moist. The chocolate flavor is rich for only using cocoa powder. I expect a flavor like that to come from a melted chocolate and butter mixture. Butter is also another thing not included in the cake. The cake is really easy to make and without butter, I don't have to worry about having to let the butter come to room temp in order to make the cake. Read: Can make with little notice.

As for the frosting, it was just a simple buttercream, but I flavored it with almond. Since I was using oils instead of extracts, the almond flavor was strong. For some it might have been too strong, but most people liked it a lot. The decorating turned out as good as I expected. I have not had the chance to really frost and decorate many cakes, so I need more practice. And a few more tools, which will make Kevin very happy...

I also wanted to thank Carolyn for trusting me to make cakes for a large party she threw in honor of her husband's 60th birthday. She is my 3rd client and I was really hoping to make a good impression. She did say that the cakes were a hit especially the chocolate. Thank you very much Carolyn. I really appreciate everything.

Here are a few pictures of the cakes and cupcakes:

3rd time is the charm on the Cloud 9 Cupcake

Monday I decided to revisit the caramel cupcakes since I had leftover white chocolate buttercream frosting to use. I really like the combination of caramel and white chocolate. It's one of my favorite lattes at work, so I figured it would be a good in a non-liquid form as well. The first time around, the idea was good, but the final product was less then stellar. I was really not happy with it, but everyone else liked them a lot.

So Monday was attempt number 2...and 3. I figured out the recipe I used worked much better as a bundt cake rather than cupcakes. Therefore, I scrapped those and made a different recipe. It only made 14 cupcakes, but turned out much better then attempt #1 & 2 and I was even able to frost them and take half to work with me that afternoon. They were not quite as light as I would like them to be, but I finally feel I am on the right track.

Tie Dye Cupcakes Part Deux

After making the Tie Dyed Cupcakes last night, I needed to make the white chocolate frosting today. I chose to revisit the white chocolate frosting from the Caramel Cupcake disaster. I was really unhappy with that frosting and those cupcakes, but that is a different story. The original frosting was not smooth, I found it complicated to make, and it did not go through the pastry bag. But I did not want to give up on something that everyone who tried one said the frosting was wonderful. I really was not a huge fan of it, but what the hell, I tried it again.

Before venturing back, I did some research on different white chocolate buttercream frostings and the basic procedure of making frostings in general. I learned that the type of buttercream that the frosting falls under is a "french buttercream". The french buttercream is a richer flavored frosting. It uses a soft ball candy liquid instead of the traditional powdered sugar and egg yolks instead of just the whites traditionally found in simple buttercream frostings. Armed with more information and a better candy thermometer, I was ready to try again.

The end result was much smoother than the previous batch, and I didn't find it that hard to make. Maybe it was knowing the procedure already, but I felt this time was much better. However, the frosting still didn't pipe through the pastry bag, so I just spread it on the cupcakes by hand.

In the end, I was happy with the frosting, but very unhappy with the cupcakes themselves. They are way too dense. More like a frosted muffin then a light and fluffy cupcake. I added too much flour and made a rookie mistake. If I want to do this for a living, I cannot afford to make these mistakes. But I have learned my lesson and will not be making it again.

Here are some finished product pictures. I just wish they tasted as good as they look.

Tie Dye Cupcakes

Tonight I made the cake part of the white chocolate raspberry cupcakes that I have been thinking about for the entire week. I wanted to make a raspberry cake then top it with white chocolate frosting, but I wasn't sure how a full raspberry cupcake would taste. I decided to attempt to swirl the raspberry batter with a regular vanilla cake batter. The end result was like I imagined except the raspberry batter was much lighter in color than I thought it would be. I am calling them "Tie Dyed Cupcakes". Now all I have to do is frost them, but I think that will have to wait until the morning.

Here are some before pictures:

Wishing for more time

As I sit here waiting for Kevin to come home before I leave for class, I should be thinking about the soups that we will be preparing tonight and try to remember the readings for this week, but all I can think of are new dessert recipes. The newest idea was inspired by a co-worker Aaron who was raving about the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. That is a favorite flavor combination for lots of people. I don't think it's a favorite of mine, but it's quite tasty nonetheless. Therefore, I was thinking about a redux of the classic WC & R pairing. There are so many possibilities for this going through my head. My first instinct was to, of course, make a raspberry cupcake with white chocolate buttercream frosting. I still can't get out of that cupcake rut. But, I think I have come up with an even better idea that still allows me to tweak the WC buttercream frosting recipe. But even as I write this my brain is still working on an even better idea. However, I don't know when I will be able to get to make it, which is why I am wishing for more time.

Cara Cara's and Cookies

Last Wednesday, I was fortunate to taste some of the best cookies I have ever had. The chef was a girl in my professional cooking class who is also trying to get into the baking and pastry program at JCCC. These cookies were huge and not just traditional chocolate chip cookies. I was a pig and grabbed 3 different varieties. The first one I had was a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips and pretzels. AMAZING. The sweetness of the chocolate balanced beautifully with the saltiness of the peanuts and the crunch of the surprising pretzels. The other two I took home to share with my husband, Kevin. We split a white cookie with dark chocolate, white chocolate, and raspberry chips that was good, but not as good as the peanut butter. We saved the best for last. It was what she called her "earthy" cookie. It was a oatmeal chocolate chip cookie with walnuts and dried cranberries.



Because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I am trying to emulate these cookies without losing, as they say in Project Runway, my design aesthetic. These cookies have two of my favorite combinations: oatmeal and chocolate chips, and peanut butter and chocolate. I also decided to add craisins for half of the batch. YUM.



While I was making the cookie dough batter, Kevin decided to be a foodie too and wanted to figure out the difference between a Cara Cara orange and a Navel orange. He asked me about it, but I had no clue. When he cut into the two of them, the Cara Cara had a much darker almost reddish color, while the Navel was the traditional orange. The flavor of the Cara Cara was much richer and more complex. After eating it, the navel orange was almost bland. It got my creative juices flowing for creating something using the flavorful Cara Cara's.

Cupcake Rut

Recently, I have found myself in a cupcake rut. Many of my new ideas and recipes have come to me in the baby cake form. I love cupcakes. I love the versitility and portablity of them, but I feel that they are our current bakery fad. A few years ago, it was cookie shops and now cupcake shops are popping up all over the place. I don't want to fall into that fad and never be able to get out. But nonetheless, my cupcakes are what people want.

Last week while trying to fall asleep I came up with an idea for Caramel Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. The idea was sound, but the recipe needs some tweeking. Like my husband, the artist, I am finding that I am getting very picky about my work, and was really not happy with those cupcakes.

My next babycake adventure will be Salted Caramel Cupcakes. I have been kicking that idea around for a while, but haven't decided on the exact recipe as of yet.

Before I do that, though, I have to get started on the Red Velvet cupcakes for a friends wedding. The wedding is in April, but with my work schedule and other Cloud 9 Pastries clients, I want to get started on those as soon as possible. Don't worry, they freeze really well and I won't frost all 250 of them until the day before the wedding.

Welcome

Welcome to the Cloud 9 Pastries blog. I wanted to create this to talk about different baking adventures; the good and the not so good. All part of the journey of starting a home business.

I plan to use this as a sounding board for different recipes and photos of my work. I would love to hear comments and feed back.