Showing posts with label Party Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Party Tips. Show all posts

For the Love of Cupcakes


          I have a love/hate relationship with cupcakes. I just think that they are the perfect party dessert. I love them so much, that I have a tendency to go over board when throwing parties. I just make too many. I love giving my party guests options, and I end up making too many. This leaves me with 2 problems. One, I end up spending so much more money than I should have on the ingredients. And two, when the party is over, I am left with a boat load of cupcakes. And you know, you can't waste a good cupcake. Sooooo.... they get eaten (hence, the "hate" part of the relationship). 
        These mini cupcakes are the perfect solution to my problem. Not only would a table full of different mini cupcakes look adorable, but it would be SO cost effective too! Think of how many mini cupcakes you could get out of one batch! Another plus, these are perfect for little fingers who are always asking for "just one more" cupcake.               
            I saw these adorable mini cupcakes on Pinterest. They were originally posted on Marion's Vintage Bakeshop. She has a TON of amazing recipies. Here is her recipe for her "Old Fashion Chocolate-Sour Cream Cupcakes". It sounds DIVINE! She also has an amazing recipe for her "1960's Creamy Butter Frosting". I can just imagine how much fun my girls would have decorating these mini cupcakes. They will definitely be making an appearance at the next party I throw!

                                               "Old Fashion Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes"
1 C. All-Purpose, unbleached flour
3/4 C. Swans Down Cake Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 C. Butter or Oleo ( Margarine)
1/4 C. Crisco Shortening
1-1/2 C. White Sugar
1-1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla
2 large eggs
3 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 C. Dairy Sour Cream
1 C. room temperature, black coffee
Directions
1. Combine the flours, salt and Baking soda, set aside.
2. Beat Butter ( or Oleo) and shortening. Add the sugar and the vanilla and cream until light and fluffy.  Scrape the bowl.
3.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat one minute between the addition of each egg. Scrape the bowl again.
4.  Add the cooled chocolate and sour cream, and blend until no white streaks remain.
5. Blend in the coffee and dry ingredients alternately, mix briefly until smooth and blended.
6.  Line 24- 28 muffin cups with liners. Spray the liners with Baker’s Joy spray, and using a small pastry brush, brush the inside folds and bottom of the cups to ensure even coverage; they will peel off more easily.  Fill each cup halfway with the battter. Bake 28-30 minutes, cool on wire rack completely and then frost. ( Garnish with sprinkles while the frosting is still fresh-otherwise a crust will form after being frosted and the sprinkles will not stick to the buttercream)
*Use a medium or small star tip to pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes
* Oven temps. vary; keep a timer handy and watch the cupcakes after 15 minutes to record how long they take to bake in your own oven.


1960′s Creamy Butter Frosting
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter or Oleo ( margarine)
9 to 9-1/2 Cups icing sugar ( confectioner’s sugar)
1/4 C. warmed Heavy Whipping Cream ( you may also substitute evaporated milk or buttermilk)
1/4 C. hot water
1 Tbs. Pure Vanilla ( or almond or lemon)
1 tsp. Butter flavoring
1. Cream the butter or margarine until light and fluffy.  Add one half of the sugar, beating until combined, and scraping the bowl once or twice  during the process.
2. Add one half of the heavy cream,the rest of the sugar and blend in, then add remaining heavy cream and hot water ( not boiling water), vanilla and butter flavoring.  Whip until the consistency is what you are looking for, frost cupcakes, or use to frost the tops and sides of  an 8 or 9 inch four layer cake.
Now….Baking time will differ according to your oven, but it took only about 15 miutes to bake these cupcakes and it made a WHOLE bunch…about 6 dozen
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I'm Just Getting Started...

        I absolutely love it when a seemingly normal event can have such a tremendous effect on your life. You wake up one morning, pretty sure of where you are heading and what you need to do to get there, and the next thing you know, everything changes. I guess I should back up a little bit.
 
   This is my Melanie Rose. She is the younger of my two daughters. Melanie is the sweetest, silliest, most loving little girl... until the attitude surfaces. This little girl has more attitude than any other I have ever met. And she can dish all out with the sweetest smile on her face. A smile so bright, it makes you forget that you are even upset.
   
    Melanie just turned 5. We start planning parties months before hand. I find, especially with Melanie, her theme seems to change from day to day. So I like to do my research (Thank you Pinterest) ahead of time, so I can have time to "DIY" it up. And for the past few months we have gone back and forth between a few themes. About a month before her birthday, Melanie finally narrowed it down to 3 party themes. The first theme, was a Brave Party. She was excited about that theme for about 2 days. So our "Brave" board is fairly limited (Jessica Michelle's Brave Pinterest Board).  Once we decided that Brave was out of the picture, Melanie decided that she would go with a Barbie theme (Jessica Michelle's Barbie Pinterest Board) rather then a Little Mermaid themed party. Figuring that she would probably change her mind to the Little Mermaid Party, I continued to pin away for both themes (Jessica Michelle's Little Mermaid Pinterest Board). And, just as I expected. With about a week and a half to spare, she changed that pretty little mind of hers. But, at least I was ready!

       With two little girls, it is definitely a challenge to give them everything they desire (in moderation). When it comes to my daughter's birthday days, I always try to give them the birthdays that I wish I could have had growing up. I would much rather spend money on gifts, then on the food and the decorations. So, I try to DIY it up as much as possible. Some say I am over the top... to those people I say, "I'm just getting started".

       Here are a few pictures from Mellie's party. DIY tutorials on the streamers and the "poof balls" (as Mellie called them) coming soon! I had so much fun making these decorations and setting up everything for the party. But, what really made everything worth it, was Mellie saying to me that everything looked so "magical". Every time the balloons would get caught in the wind, the girls would say that fairies were carrying the balloons through the air.


                            {Photo credit Dangie Grathoff - http://dangiemariephotos.wordpress.com/)
                            {Photo credit Dangie Grathoff - http://dangiemariephotos.wordpress.com/)
                          {Just me and my IPhone -follow me on Instagram @ _Jessica_Goetke_)

      I'm definitely a DIY kind of girl. If I can do. I will. And, if I can't... then oh well, there is someone else who can. I fully admit that I am one of MANY women, who spend way too much time on Pinterest. And that doesn't bother me in the least. I definitely tried out a few of the projects I found on Pinterest for Mellie's party. Some turned out amazingly... and some, well, some didn't happen. But at the end of the day, I had one very happy, cupcake loving, little birthday girl.

    After all of the planning, decorating, and running around I realized something. This is what I love. I love the stress of it all. I love creating magical days for people. For months I had been searching for a new career, but nothing was jumping out at me. Nothing was exciting me. Until now. I realized, this is what I want to do with my life. I want to create lasting memories. I want to help people be able to look back and remember these moments as some of the most magical moments they have ever experienced. So... I am going back to school to be an event planner. And I couldn't be happier.

                  


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