Back to basics and to share or not to share

Salted Lime Margarita Cuptail

When I first started this journey of creating cuptails, I thought I would need very different recipes for each cuptail with different ratios of different ingredients and I was on the verge of being overwhelmed. I really liked my idea and I wasn't ready to give up or just have 1 or 2 cupcake recipes that I would be known for bringing to every social event I attended. Then, like a light bulb turning on, I had another "bright" idea. Of all the recipes I had looked up, they all had some very basic ingredients: Sugar, butter/oil, eggs, milk, flour, baking powder/soda.....hmmmm there must be a reason for those to be used. I did some research online and discovered a few things. 1st off, my baking powder was probably 7 years old and no longer any good, therefore, I probably wasn't going to get much of a rise from it. That butter and oil were interchangable and really, it comes down to taste preference - butter, definitley butter. I also realized that there is a ratio involved that will help bind the ingredients and give you a moist and tasty cake - too much of one or not enough of another can cause various issues. So I figured out my preferences and my ratios and I created a Basic Recipe. Now all I needed to do was figure out how to get the flavors that I needed in each recipe to make it have the cocktail flavor I wanted. For example, a Lemon Drop consists of lemon, simple syrup and vodka. So my Lemon Drop Cuptail needed to have the basic recipe + lemon + vodka .......and voila - it worked! In fact in worked so well that most of my recipes work the first time around. I have a few that are still in the works but most are great!

So once I figured out the basic's, I started creating new flavors like a mad scientist. Well, all these cupcakes have to go somewhere, so I would send them to my husbands work and to my son's work and to my step-son and his friends. The more I gave out the more praises I received. Then my husband came home one day and said a co-worker really wants the recipe for my Salted Lime Margarita cuptail. I said "no". Along with my basic recipe, I have figured out a way to infuse the alcohols without throwing the balance off of the wet/dry ratio in my cupcake. I can make "virgin" variations of my cuptails and they are still moist and tasty. (I know the alcohols are all baked out but for certain events, I just feel the virgin version is more appropriate.) Anyway, I have looked all over the Internet to see if someone else uses this technique and have not seen it. In fact when I've watched TV shows like "Cupcake Wars" and others like it, they will usually put the alcohols in the frosting or only a tbsp. in the batter and then the flavor gets lost. I did see one person put the alcohol in straws and then put the straws in the cakes but I think I have come up with a whole new technique. I'm not sharing it either. Not yet anyway. BUT now the quandry is this, my husband, who is from the South says everyone shares recipes in the South and this co-worker is also from the South. So by not sharing, I'm being selfish and rude........but to be quite honest, I am thinking that I want to make cupcakes for a living.......wouldn't it be bad business to give out my secrets? I struggle with this one, and I'm thinking that I may give her a modified version that will still taste just fine but it won't give out any secrets......is that so wrong?

Light bulbs, trials and errors

In the cartoons when someone has a great idea (or so they think), a mysterious floating light bulb right above their head turns on. That is what it felt like when I had the ingenious idea of creating my cuptails. My first thought was a Merlot cupcake with a ganache frosting.....the rich, deep flavors of merlot, sweetened and paired with a dark chocolate....yum. Like I have stated previously, I'm not a baker, so I had no idea how to create such a recipe so I put my thinking cap on and figured I would use a red velvet recipe that I had (Paula Deen's to be exact) input merlot somehow and then use Ina Garden's ganache recipe. This all made sense in my non-bakers mind. So I knew that the merlot by itself would probably not have enough flavor in a tablespoon or two so I made a merlot reduction - half sugar/half merlot boiled down to a honey like syrup. The merlot flavor was still very prominent but very sweet. I made the cuptails using some of the merlot reduction but what I ended up with was a red velvet cupcake with a ganache and not much else. I was bummed because I thought it would be so easy.

So back to the drawing board. I went online to try and figure out how to enhance flavors in baking and saw the suggestion to use just a dash of cayenne. Attempt 2. I made the recipe again, this time using wine, a thickening agent and a dash plus of cayenne. Not bad but the cayenne left behind a burn that you really only experience when drinking bad merlot - not what I was looking for........but on the bright side - I nailed the frosting by using a chocolate butter cream and adding the merlot reduction. Attempt 3. This time I followed the recipe I had, used the merlot reduction plus a thickening agent, less cayenne, more cocoa and purple food coloring, in hopes it would look more like wine. This was the worst one yet!!!! It was flat, Barney poop purple and tasted like play doh. How frustrating, I was getting worse, not better and thoughts of quitting and breaking that stupid light bulb flittered through my mind. The thing that kept me going was that the merlot cuptail was not my only experiment at that time. I had also created Lemon Drop and Pina Colada cuptails that were really good (although the Pina Colada was a bit too sweet in the frosting - easy fix). I had also created a Kahlua Coffee Mocha cuptail that was delish! So I thought maybe the merlot isn't going to happen at this time.

But I'm relentless at times. I went online, found that someone else had created a red wine cupcake and I tried her recipe. It wasn't bad, still not enough of the merlot flavor and she used oil instead of butter and I must admit, I have come to the conclusion that there is NO substitute for butter! This was attempt 4. So my 5th attempt I decided to use a zinfandel instead. It was the closest yet. I used butter, and a berry puree this time, some of the same old stuff and rose food coloring. I still would not consider this recipe perfected but I haven't given up.....the problem is, I have so many idea's for new cupcakes that are turning out so well that I haven't taken the time to work this one out yet, but I will.....oh yes, I will.

The joy of baking and a mid-life crisis?

I have to admit that I have been a little concerned that perhaps my cupcake obsession is actually some form of a mid-life crisis. I can't say for sure but it even seems weird to me that I have gone a little crazy for baking. In less than 2 months I have gone from a self confirmed non-baker to a woman who now owns 4 cupcake pans, 6 frosting tips, 2 sizes of decorating bags, multiple styles of cupcake liners, sparkles & dust, pounds of butter, sugar and flour and a fresh can of baking powder (turns out the stuff I bought probably 7 years ago was no good). I have spent hours researching why certain ingredients are used over other ingredients for example; butter versus oil, or what are the ratios of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour.White Chocolate powder - who knew they even made that? Turns out Ghiradelli did. I have baked well over 600 mini cupcakes and probably 100 large. I have created 17 recipes (I'm attempting 2 new ones today) and I have spent enough money that I don't want to know how much I've spent. At this point, I have eaten more cupcakes in the last two months than I think I've eaten in the last 20 years (I'm not a sweets person either). I thank God for my husbands co-workers, my sons and their friends, the ladies at church, friends and many others who have tried my creations. I hate wasting food but I have even thrown whole batches out because they didn't taste right. Reading all this I have now decided that yes, I'm either a little touched or I have driven straight on into a mid-life crisis.

I realized fairly early on that I have been obsessing but I really realized it when I gave ALL my cupcakes to my step-son for his birthday. As soon as he left with 3 dozen of my babies, I immediately felt empty. I didn't have any plans to bake for a few days since I have now begun to create only for certain occasions since I have perfected most of my recipes. I craved cupcakes, I longed to open my fridge and see them sitting there so pretty just egging me on to eat one. I missed fondling my Kitchen-Aid (also acquired in the last few month - and may be partially to blame for this mid-life crisis).

..............WAIT a sec.......my husband bought a motorcycle for his mid-life crisis and I got a Kitchen-Aid........somethings not right about that but that is for a different time, a different blog.

Anyway back to my withdrawals, it was then that I realized this baking thing is more than just a hobby, it's becoming a way of life for me and I love it. I look forward to creating and baking and decorating and sharing. So what if it's a mid-life crisis, I love it, others are reaping the benefits and no one is getting creamed (except the butter).

So I'm off to try out two new cupcakes today, Bailey's and an Almond Roca. Then tonight I'm taking a cake decorating class. Tomorrow I'm sharing cupcakes and then the process of baking and sharing will start all over again........ Cupcakes anyone?

Egg Nog, Red Velvet and Madame Prez

How it all began........
I'm not a baker. I don't like to measure and I don't fancy myself a "sweets" person. Nope, I want to be able to throw food together without measuring anything. I want to have the freedom to add more ingredients or leave something out. I don't want to have to add something to a recipe if I don't like it.......hence, I don't bake.

But recently that all changed. First of all, I must confess my love for one Mrs. Betty Crocker. I love her and I love her recipes. She is my "go to gal" for just about everything. Out of all my cook books, that is the one with the most food stains, torn pages and notes. She has been my inspiration for many a dinner. The savory section of the book has been well used over the years.......until I tried to bake a cake. Since I like to know what goes into my food, I decided a store bought cake or cake in a box, was not an option. So I baked one of Mrs. Crocker's cakes and well, it wasn't so hard and it actually tasted pretty good. I still wasn't a baker at this point, I was just trying something new.

The Egg Nog Cake
Christmas time means parties and many social events where you are required to bring something in exchange for the seasons festivities. Well, I went back to Betty and noticed a recipe for an Egg Nog cake - ooh now that sounded good. I knew I could make it since by this point I had already made 2 or 3 other cakes from scratch so I purchased the ingredients and away I went. My husband who doesn't like Egg Nog, loved this cake, so I have since made it multiple times.

The Red Velvet cupcakes and Madame Prez.
I volunteer at the high school and last year was asked to help with the music boosters. Well before I could finish saying, "sure I'd like to help" the title of President was thrust upon me, along with all the responsibility and no clue as to what I was doing. Boosters are about fundraising so I figured we could sell refreshments at the concerts. For our Christmas concert I asked parents to bring in baked goods and thought to myself, "well I should also bake something". I had wanted to try Red Velvet so I went to Betty and that woman didn't have a red velvet recipe in the book. So I went to the source of probably the best and richest red velvet cupcake baker I could think of, Paula Deen. Well, I made them, sold them at the refreshment table and they were a hit! FYI - so was the refreshment table. Because the refreshement table was such a hit, we decided to continue to do a bake sale during every concert but not wanting to bake the same things again and again, I started thinking about what I could bake next.

OK, I'm finally getting the main part of this story. The Egg Nog cake - great but definitely seasonal, Red Velvet - good but it's been done.......hmmmmm what could I make that would be new, fun, original.....boozy cake good.....and here is where the light bulb clicked on! What if I started making cupcakes that tasted like drinks (like the egg nog cake)? Can't be that hard right? I searched the Internet for a recipe for a Merlot cupcake but really didn't see anything, so I thought, what if I take the Red Velvet recipe and tweak it to make a Merlot cupcake. My first try was edible but not the taste I was going for, my second attempt was even worse, but I nailed the frosting. So I thought, well I don't want to just make Merlot cupcakes and my mind began to go a little crazy and I started baking cupcakes like a wild baker woman.

It's been about 2 months since I started baking and I have about 15 recipes that I have created and the reviews, mostly friends and co-workers, have been great. But I'm not going into detail on my first blog as to all that I have created. I will share but only if you will follow.

I do have Facebook page "Happy Hour Cuptails" if you should like to peek ahead.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1830044676675&set=o.171552039557264&theater

Until next time......