Cupcake Bouquet

I have seen lots of images of Cupcake Bouquets but never thought I would be able to pull one off myself. Then, a client asked me if I could make one for her. Of course, I said, "Sure! No problem." All I kept thinking was, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Well, I should have never doubted myself, because I made one and on my first try it turned out beautiful!! If I do say so myself. :)

Here's the finished product!

Cupcake Bouquet

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below. :)

Handmade By Latdao

Well, I started my Etsy shop, set up my Facebook fan page...now what? No idea. I was feeling kinda lost. So, what do I do when I feel lost? I bake cupcakes. :) Puts me in my happy zone.

This past weekend I have decided to add my gourmet cupcakes to the list of "handmade" items I plan on selling. Success! I got an order to make seven, that's right SEVEN, dozen cupcakes for a baby shower. Here are just a few flavours which were ordered:

Mint Chocolate

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Today, I tested another cookie recipe for my cookie boxes. Yes, it was another vegan cookie. Yes, it was another success! :)

Zucchini Apple Pecan Cake

I love zucchinis! They're so yummy! I bake it, roast it, bbq it, stir fry it, and bread it, so I always have lots in my fridge. Since, it's apple season, I have tons in my fridge too. I don't usually have nuts kicking around in my house, but I did make pralines recently. I was craving zucchini cake (or bread) but wanted to change it up a little. I have been working on this recipe for a little while now. I have tried making a vegan, sugar and gluten free version, but haven't had much luck. However, when I used all-purpose flour and sugar, it was great! :)

Squash Day

Today was my ode to squash day. :)

On the menu today was Pumpkin Syrup, Homemade Butternut Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce, and Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes topped with Cream Cheese Buttercream, Pumpkin Syrup and Cinnamon. It was a pretty aggressive cooking day for me, especially making homemade ravioli.

The Pumpkin Syrup took longer then expected, so I was a little discouraged. (We didn't get to eat it over our pancakes.) But I sucked it up and on with the next recipe, homemade ravioli. I have been looking forward to this dish for a while. Making the pasta was pretty simple, a little time consuming, but worth the time and effort. I love fresh pasta, but always thought it was too complicated to make it at home. I decided to do the "easy" method and use my food processor. Never again! It wasn't any easier. I still had to kneed the dough, so not much time saving. Here's a YouTube video I found, which made pasta making not so scary. But here's my finished product. :)

Alfajores with Dulche de Leche

Oh how I love my dulche de leche. I can eat it right out of the jar or can. I have had it on cheesecake and had it dipped with toast. Yum!

I have been trying to find more things to make with dulce de leche. I was going to make cupcakes filled with it, but I just haven't mange to get myself to make them, yet. So I did a short search and came up with Alfajores. They are basically short bread cookies with dulche de leche sandwiched in between. Very popular in South America, specifically Argentina. Alfajores are made differently depending where you go in South America, but it is a traditional Arabic sweet.

Well, I found a recipe from the Martha Stewart website, which is a recipe from fellow blogger Matt Armendariz of mattbites.com, who has been blogging since 2005 and has about 50-60 THOUSAND HITS A DAY!! WOW!! (I'm just happy to see 1 or 2 from people who are not myself, friends or family. LOL!)

Here are my first attempt at Alfajores. They turned out pretty yummy. They looked cute too, but there were way to big to sandwich together. I don't have a mini cookie scoop, so I used my cupcake one. LOL!

Alfajores with Dulche de Leche and Chocolate

Baby Shower Cupcakes

Today, I sold (for actual money) my first batch of cupcakes. It was pretty random. A lady whom I use to work with was having a baby shower and asked if I could make her some cupcakes. Yay! She thought of me. :)  I think know it's because of my many, many pictures of previous cupcakes, I have posted on my Facebook page - which are all posted here too.

She requested chocolate cupcakes with blue and white frosting. Simple, yes. Did I make them simple, no. Yes, I am a total gluten for punishment. *sigh* I worked so hard to make an impression. I think I succeeded. She sent me an e-mail right after her shower to thank me and tell me how wonderful the cupcakes looked.

Well, here are some pictures and you can be the judge. Oh, I also decorated the box with little words and ribbon. Totally over the top! LOL!

Molded little bears - cupcake toppers

Experiment #1-2: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Cupcake

Well, my second attempt of my everything bad free, but taste yummy was kind of a 50/50. I didn't actually make a frosting for it because I could not figure out how to make sugar free frosting. However, I did find a recipe to substitute powdered sugar, but I didn't have an Stevia on hand. Oh well, next time.  :)

Well, this time I did a mixture of Corn and Coconut Flour, sweetened the muffin with honey and used my usual vegan recipe. Well, it turn out more like a brownie then a muffin. It was dence but not dry - does that make sense? My mother-in-law was here when I took them out of the oven, so she tried one. She has been staying away from high-gluten foods. They have been upsetting her stomach, hence me, trying to score huge "brownie" points for making a dessert she can have.

My husband did take them to work, there are a few diabetics there. There were some pretty good reviews as well, only because there were presented as brownies, not muffins. Like I said, there were 50/50. Yes, yummy, but no, not as muffins or cupcakes.

My Brownie Muffin

Experiment #1-1: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Cupcake

I have been meaning to find a traditional sugar alternative for a while. My sister-in-law is diabetic, so is my mom. I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Alyssa. My doctor warned me because I had gestational diabetes and there is history of diabetes in my family, I should be aware of the fact I am a candidate for diabetes later on in life. GREAT!! So, I have been pretty cautious of what I eat, well I TRY to be cautious. As everyone knows, I like to bake cupcakes and a lot of them. I think I should really find an alternative.

At first, I was looking into Agave Nectar (pronounced ah-GAH-vay). Agave Nectar is sap  is extracted from the plant from which tequila is made, filtered, and heated at a low temperature, which breaks down the carbohydrates into sugars. It is very sweet and has no after taste like Stevia has. However, with all my research, I have found that although it maybe better then sugar and has a low GI level, it contains the highest fructose content of any other sugar alternatives. I do use Agave Nectar to sweeten my tea, but only is small amounts. I do not cook or bake with it.

Blueberry Scones

Well, after our trip from our favourite coffee shop, my husband and I were commenting on the lack scones and biscottis to dip into our favourite coffee drinks. Of course, it got me thinking and craving....well, more craving then thinking! I have some lovely blueberries I picked up from the Farmer's Market. I also picked up a wonderful bar of barrel churned - made from fresh cream - butter. So why not make some fresh blueberry scones?

OH MY GOD!! They were so good! Just toasty enough outside, but so moist and fluffy inside. I originally planned to make them to enjoy with my tea, but my husband and kids were eating them once they were cool enough to touch.

Cake! - Katerina's Birthday Cake

Well, I would like to say this is my first cake I have ever made, but that's not true. I did make a huge Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting a few months ago. Which turn out to be wonderful.

This time I am making a themed cake. Harry Potter to be exact. My eldest is now a teenager and I wanted to surprise her with a themed cake. I have been really into all things cupcakes, then Cake Pops! and now this is my first themed cake. I have done TONS and TONS of research into making a Harry Potter Cake. I have searched  Google for hundreds of examples. I have seen some amazing cakes and some not so amazing cakes.

Cake Pops! - Sock Monkeys :)

I saw these online and had to make them. They were the cutest little monkeys. I made them for birthday party we were attending for our neighbour's little girl. She will be attending the same school as Alyssa in September. They might even be in the same class, how awesome is that! :)

Cake Pops! - Pokeballs

Well, since I don't like to do things simple...EVER!! I decided to make cake pops. Since, I have gotten pretty good with my cupcakes and the flavours are getting better and better. I thought I would try the latest craze - Cake Pops!

Like, I said never doing anything simple...I decided on making Pokeball Cake Pops and covering them with Fondant, to boot!! *sigh* I'll never learn. LOL!

Sweet Adventures!

In addition to cooking lots, I have done quite a bit of baking. Here's just a few of my sweet yummies!! :)

Chocolate Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting.

Next time, I won't waste my Bailey's in the cupcake and just use it in the frosting. The chocolate just overpowered the Bailey's flavour.