DIY: Cupcake Liner Jar

I pinterest.  Do you pinterest?  It's how i take up my time in between tasks at work.  Or how i end up wasting hours at a time.  Mostly i look at things like all white kitchens with baby blue appliances that would look perfect in my pretend kitchen in my pretend house.

I found this pin though, and fell in love with it.  In loooove.

So easy.  So simple.  So pretty.  I had to try it.  I forced counter space in my small little kitchen.  I went to Wal-Mart and spent 8 bucks on a 1 gallon jar and 2 dollars at Michaels for ribbon. Then I added my oodles of cupcake liners.

The result was super awesome.  No, my picture is not as pretty as the one above. Yes, the lighting is horrible.  And i am aware you are probably sick of seeing my white tile and red brick counterspace.   But this one's mine and its pretty and it make me smile every time i walk by it.

Also, it lives next to my pink love birdies and cupcake spatulas so that automatically adds a layer of cool to it.

xoxo,
Anna

Give Me Back My Calories : Cupcake Cove Review

Le Sigh.  I hate it when i waste calories on things that aren't yummy.  Especially if i know i won't be headed to the gym that day.

And that's how i feel now, sitting at my desk at work reflecting on my lunch time cheat with Cupcake Cove in San Francisco's Financial District. 

I actually literally ran into this place two weeks ago when I went to Miette with a friend.  We had just had macaroons though, so we said we'd try these later.  And later was today.  I checked Yelp first and they got decent reviews, 4 stars.  But that was not our experience.

They do have a lot of flavors, which seem to change daily.  You can see their menu (and website)  here.  They also sell cookies - which i did not try.

The store front is TINY though.  No seats.  (Which is why all the pictures you will dirty SF streets in the background.)  It's okay though... because they give you your cupcake in a little plastic container fit for one cupcake.  ITS SO CUTE.  It looks a little like the cupcake carriers I got this year for Christmas.  I will have to try mine out ASAP!

In any case, the cupcake that was given to me in the cute plastic bubble was a Guava & Passion Fruit/Vanilla cupcake.

What this means, apparently is that its a Guava-Passion Fruit frosting on a plain Vanilla cupcake.

It's pretty.  My friend got a Coconut/Vanilla. Same thing.  Coconut frosting on a vanilla cupcake.

So far so good right?  Convenient location?  Check.  Variety? Check.  Cool flavors?  Check.  Pretty containers?  Check.

But I mean at three dollars a pop, it is a lot about how it tastes.  And I was underwhelmed.  For two reasons.  The first and most important is that is WAS three dollars for a cupcake whose frosting was wayyyyy dry.  As in I question if these were even today's cupcakes.  It was the same for both my Guava and my friend's Coconut.  The cupcake itself was all right, it was moist (enough) but the frosting was not up to par with what you can get in this area, what you can MAKE at home.   I could probably get a fresher cupcake at Walgreens... and that was the biggest issue for me.  It was at 1PM, they open at 11AM.  If you cant make them stay fresh for 2 hours, or even worse yet if you're giving me frosting you prepared earlier this week and shoved in the fridge to be used throughout the week?  Come on.  Really disappointing.

The second problem I had was the flavor combinations.   Let me explain.  All but one (maybe two) of the cupcakes there were EITHER a plain vanilla or a chocolate cupcake with a flavored frosting.  That's kind of taking the easy way out isn't it?  You're only baking two kinds of cakes and putting (old) flavored frostings on top?  No thanks.

That being said, the actual flavor of both of the cupcake frosting were not bad.  (If i wasn't totally aware that I was eating refrigerated 3 day old frosting, that is.)  The guava came through nicely, the coconut wasn't overwhelming and neither were sickeningly sweet.  If they had been FRESH I would have forgiven their lazy approach to baking.

But I bake cupcakes with 4-5 elements to them (cake, filling, frosting, garnish, sauces etc) so coupled with the old frosting issue, I cannot forgive Cupcake Cove.  Not when i have CupKates down the street.  The extra block is worth it anyways.  Burn more calories getting there?  Anyways, needless to say I will not be going back to Cupcake Cove anytime soon.  

xoxo,

Anna 

Special Delivery

So I have this awesome friend named Christine.  She's a busy bee and we seem to be on opposite schedules, but every now and then i get messages on my gchat of her raving about how she loves her cricut machine and wants to marry it and have its babies.  (Paraphrasing, of course.)

Last week she told me to look out in the mail for an early birthday/xmas present.

And so on Saturday morning it arrived.  And i of course ripped into it, not even taking care to open it like a lady.

And i found something awesome inside.  It was a very special delivery.

Do you know what these are?  These are hand made cupcake sleeves.  They go on the outside of the cupcake liner.  

There are so many cute ones it's ridiculous.  You just hook the back of it to itself and it fits around a cupcake all snuggly. 

I have no idea when I am going to use them yet.  Not because i don't like them, i do.   But i can't think of anyone that deserves these awesome little things. >.<  Not just anyone can get a pirate ship...

Then to top it off was when I unrolled this.

I literally got all ridiculously giddy.  No like really i did.  Notice how it is on my list of things i really wanted?  I'll have to take that off soon. <3  Luckily its contact paper and i can stick it more than once.  I'll need to move stuff around so i can stick it up somewhere in my room.  And (one day soon i hope) when I have a kitchen of my own, i can use it there too.

Summary and Conclusion of this post:  Christine is so awesome. <3<3<3

xoxo,

Anna

P.S.  And her bf San helped.  ;)  So he's awesome too.  

Baking is Expensive

It is.  The flour.  The sugar.  The eggs.  The 2011Kitchenaid 10 year anniversary Susan G. Komen stand mixer from Williams-Sonoma...

It looks so pretty and perfect in the kitchen! No i have not used it yet but it has only been four days!  And the possibilities are endless.  >.<

This is like Christmas for me.  Except better because i don't end up with anything awkward.  I end up with exactly what i wanted.  (And for fifty bucks less because of a price mistake!)

At the latest I will have to bake for my mom's birthday in the beginning of October.  And i hope it's the strawberry cheesecake cupcakes i have been dying to make. Can't wait!!!

xoxo,
Anna

How To Tell If Your Cupcakes Are Done

Easiest sure fire way is to stick a tooth pick in it.


Obviously, if you keep your toothpicks in uber cute tooth pick holders than this task is made so much more pleasant. Like my little piggy that i found in NYC. I brought him home with me, and now he lives with my baking stuff. I kind of want to eat him. (Don't tell him though.)

I start stalking all my cupcakes around minute 15 and when they look good i stick a toothpick in the center of the cupcake. If the tooth pick comes out clean than i take them out. If the toothpick has batter in it, than i leave them be.

This is what a "clean" toothpick looks like. A few cupcake crumbs, but no wet batter to dirty the wood.

Also, in lighter colored cupcakes check for just the edges turning golden brown and pulling way from the side of the liners. They should be done then too.

xoxo,
Anna

A Very Cupcake December

December is not only Christmas, but also my Birthday month. Which means that i got lots and lots of cupcake goodies this month. I won't post every single one, but these are some of my favorites.


I cannot wait until i have my own kitchen. Real talk. It will be so ridiculously girly and pink and cupcakey. Pretty sure no male will ever want to step inside.

Yes, i have a hot pink suit case so the fact that the cupcake tag matches it only adds to the awesome.

Dainty little silver cupcake. Maybe i need to start collecting some matching earrings too?


Now this one is pretty freaking awesome. In case you can't tell what they are -- they are labels. Little circular sticker labels that can seal baking boxes closed. :)

One day maybe they will be for real. (Oh they also came with hot pink zebra cupcake liners. Extra cool!)

Also, i obviously have the best, most awesome friends who spoil me more than i deserve.

Happy New Year!

xoxo,
Anna

Nude! Cupcake Shirt

$15.00 "Fresh Cake" shirt sold by shirt.woot.com

Real post coming soon. Promise. Like this week soon! In the mean time let us look at this naughty little cupcake who appears to be somewhat of a nudist. I figure if im going to dress down in t shirt they should at least have adorableness all over them, right?

xoxo,
Anna

P.S. Last Wilton class is tomorrow. It's not worth reviewing them individually so i will as a whole next week (maybe).