Cookies ‘n cream cuppies

Note to self: go buy another Wilton cupcake pan. That other one sucks and totally ruined 9 potentially perfect cuppies.

I’m learning that I need to trust my instincts more often. I thought it was extremely odd that the recipe asked me to cream the butter with milk. Creaming, by general definition, is beating together butter (or shortening) with sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Now, I’ve never gone to pastry school or anything, but it struck me as very odd that I would be asked to cream butter with milk, and then, several steps later, STIR in the sugar. But the recipe said to…so I tried…and then got irritated, threw out the lumpy butter/milk mixture and started over. I creamed the butter and sugar together, added the vanilla and then decided whoever wrote this recipe was on crack.

Flour is the protein of a recipe, and if you overbeat the protein, your end product will be dense and disappointing. I have learned, from the one baking class I took, that you should always add your flour last and only mix until fully integrated. So why on earth did the recipe ask me to add the flour, beat for 2 minutes, then add egg whites (which you usually beat separately and then fold in) and beat for two more minutes????

I said screw it. I added the whites next, beat them with the sugar and butter for two minutes, and then added my flour mixture. Since this is the first time I’ve ever make cookies ‘n cream cupcakes, I don’t have anything to compare the end result to, but I’d say my way came out pretty tasty. I wasn’t a huge fan of the icing recipe I used, but all in all, I’m satisfied with the result. Oh, and another note to self: next time you pipe the icing on the cuppies, double the icing recipe. I only got to ice three cuppies my way before having to just slather a little on the top to get them all iced with what I had.

Here’s the end result:

Oreos + cupcake + icing = happy birthday!

I hope the birthday girl enjoys her treat! Isn’t that cupcake box adorable? I just love it - I hope she loves it, too. Happy Birthday, Amanda!

Oh, and I know my photography skills suck. Leave me alone. It’s hard enough learning to ignore recipes!

SassyCakes, out!

The trouble with German chocolate cake

I’m thinking it was more the recipe than anything, but seriously, this cake was traumatizing. It’s a German chocolate cake, right? So why didn’t I need to use…German chocolate????? Not an ounce. After researching the origins of the cake on Wikipedia, I’m even more baffled - the name of the cake CAME FROM the name of the Baker’s brand chocolate (which used to be German’s chocolate but has since dropped the possessive).

Anyway, that alone should have been sign enough for me to find a new recipe. Then, I notice that the “frosting” is definitely not a frosting - it’s a ganache plus corn syrup. Sure, the corn syrup was supposed to be a thickening agent, but a whole lot of thickening needs to happen to take ganache to icing, much less frosting. But, the recipe image showed successful piping, so I figured it had to be right. Should have gone with my gut. It was NOT right. Yummy, yes. Attractive, not so much.

Add to that the fact that I’ve never made a custard, and never toasted coconut or pecans before, and you’ve got one unsure baker on your hands. In the end, however, the cake was super tasty and my mom was thrilled with it. She even took it to work today and her coworkers loved it, too.

No making fun of me! Here are the pictures:

See where I dropped some chocolate?

The chocolate was so thin, I couldn't use my edger

The custard filling turned out pretty well

The rum syrup on each layer, under the filling, made it so moist

Ultimately, I’m really happy I experimented with such a complex recipe (cake, filling, syrup and *ahem* “frosting”). New techniques are always good to learn, and now I know what to look for in the next German chocolate cake recipe I find - and how to change it to make it even better. I need an icing, not a ganache. Maybe I could just chill the ganache and it would become thick enough for this. Or add more corn syrup? Definitely going to use German chocolate next time, and add more chocolate chunks to decorate the top - maybe even maraschino cherries. Yep, I’ve got a game plan. But next on the list isn’t GCC Take 2…it’s cookies ‘n cream cupcakes!

I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when I bake something that’s not for me or my friends! Must.eat.cake.

SassyCakes, out! (BTW - this is me making fun of Ryan Seacrest. I hate that guy.)

Tada! The cake…

Before I post the pictures, allow me to preface them with a few comments.

First, I have never attempted to smooth buttercream icing on a cake before. All prior cakes I have done have used only the star method - dotting icing onto the cake with the star tip. So, although it’s not perfectly smooth and the edges are not crisp how I would like them, I’m not completely unhappy with my first attempt.

Second, I have never hand-piped a cake before. Ever. The scroll work is messy for sure and I was not thrilled with it at all.

Third, I had made several store runs already and was too tired to run out for cake boards, so it’s on a silver platter, which is sitting on plywood that I eventually wrapped in paper to make it look nice. Also, I don’t have a turntable yet, so my brilliant husband cut a hole in the plywood so we could put our microwave turntable on it. How ingenious is that? Love him.

So, without further ado, the cake:

Homemade buttercream icing, tinted purple

With hand-piped scroll work, which was a lighter shade of purple

What kind of cake was it, you ask? Well, it was white butter cake with a raspberry filling, all made from scratch, and it was DEEELISH! Don’t you want a bite?

I'm no scrooge when it comes to filling!

I also made cake balls, which went really fast! I got a picture of them before anyone laid a hand on them, although it’s a bit blurry. Like I said, I had to act fast.

A tray of chocolatey goodness

The brownies were also a success, but I didn’t bother with pictures. Everyone really seemed to love the desserts, and that made the late nights worth it. Up next, my first attempt at german chocolate cake!

SassyCakes, out!

Busy, busy!

Wow, what a busy week! It’s my stepmom’s surprise 50th birthday party tomorrow, and I am doing all the desserts. I have planned quite a few yummy treats, but I’m most nervous about the cake. I’m doing a white cake with raspberry filling - 10″ round, 4 (thin) layers - and will be frosting it with purple buttercream and then decorating it with white scroll work (which I have never done before and hope I can pull off!). All of this is from scratch, so I hope it turns out well! Even if it doesn’t, I’ll post pictures.

I am also doing this wonderful brownie/cookie recipe with chocolate ganache. I’m using a brownie mix (oh, for shame!), but doing homemade chocolate chip cookie dough and ganache. I’m going to double the batter and make extra cookies, too.

Then I’m doing cake balls. I made a boxed devil’s food cake last night and homemade cream cheese icing. The richness of the icing really masks the cake, and it was a time saver, so I don’t feel bad about using a box for this one. I rolled all the balls last night (teehee), wrapped them really well with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. When I get home, I’ll pop them in the freezer for a few to get them nice and firm (teehee again), and then dip them in melted dark chocolate candy melts. While that sets, I’ll melt purple candy melts and decorate the tops.

Whew, I’m going to have a long evening, but it will be SOOOO worth it. I can’t wait to see the final results! It’s weird to not be doing cupcakes, but that’s a good thing. I hope. Wish me luck.

Oh, and then I have my mom’s birthday on Tuesday and my sister’s surprise 30th birthday party on the 7th - which is the first day of my Wilton cake decorating class! I love it!

SassyCakes, out!

The joys of cost accounting

I am not quite sure how to figure out what to charge for my first few “orders” (actually just requests from friends, but hey - it’s practice!). I obviously don’t buy ingredients at wholesale, so I made a price list of the ingredients I will need to use based on my favorite grocery store’s prices. Now, the tricky part. How many teaspoons of vanilla are in one small bottle? How many cups of flour are in the bag? How the heck do I factor in a teaspoon of salt when an ENTIRE package only costs $.46?

Luckily, I currently work for a start-up and our accounting chica is muy inteligente, so she and talked about spreadsheets and all sorts of fun stuff this morning. Next week, I am going to start my own spreadsheets and get all this crazy math stuff worked out so I can plug and chug in the future. I have a teensy confession…I’m REALLY excited to make spreadsheets. I secretly adore Excel. But please don’t tell Bill Gates; I still think he’s the devil.

I know I’m so extremely part-time at this, but if I’m serious about seeing this dream come true, I want to do it right from the beginning. For now, I’m obviously not doing this for profit - I just need to cover the ingredient costs. Once I see if I have a real chance at this, I’ll beef up my meager business plan and put it in writing. Then I’ll file for all the proper business tax ID shtuff, lease a kitchen and take it from there.

In the meantime, though, I’m going to keep learning, baking and researching. And, of course, posting the highlights and lowlights for all to see. Let’s hope the lowlights stay in my hair.

SassyCakes, OUT!

Look! Cupcakes!

Welcome to the Sassy SweetShop blog! This obviously isn’t the permanent look for the Sassy SweetShop, but it’ll do for now.

What is the Sassy SweetShop, you ask? Allow me to explain. It’s a dream - potentially an unreachable one - but one that deserves a chance. I firmly believe that everyone should find what they love and pursue that as a career. You spend the majority of your life working and sleeping, so why not do the work you dream so much about?

I’m Sarah (you can call me Captain SassyCakes if you want) and this is the beginning of my dream - a bakery with attitude. Perhaps, someday, the Sassy SweetShop will be a real bakery, but for now, a hope-filled blog will have to do. I’ll post pictures of my baking adventures (the good, the bad, the ugly and the insane), and explore what it takes to make a dream a reality.

Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. I’m starting here.

Consider yourself warned. The Sassy SweetShop is open for biznass! (Well, kind of…)