the last thursday of the holiday at the beach market

the last thursday before christmas i spent the day at the holiday at the beach market.  i was hoping to be there more before christmas but i was feeling under the weather and was only able to do the one day.  i am so thankful to cowboy george of blaze gourmet for letting me get involved with the market, and i also owe a big thanks to tino who really helped amp up the sales and bring a great energy to the room.  i was able to also connect with lakewood cookies', who is so nice and makes wonderful & beautiful cookies!  if you need some, you should look her up!  all of the vendors were just really great and i feel lucky to have been able to met and shared this holiday season with them at the beach market :)  for my final day, i made my mexican hot chocolate cupcakes, apple spice cupcakes with caramelized apple swiss meringue buttercream and gingerbread cupcakes with marshmallow fluff frosting.  everything came out perfect during baking the day before and i owe my success to the christmas jams my mom had going in the background for me.  baking really helped amp up my christmas cheer this holiday season.  speaking of, i hope everyone reading this had a wonderful holiday :)  and may the new year bring you even more joy!

 

mexican hot chocolate cupcake

gingerbread fluff cupcake

apple spice cupcake with caramelized apple swiss meringue cupcake

i also have some exciting developments in the works, but it is too soon to go spreading the word yet.  i'll have a post next week about it :)  again, wishing you all a very happy new year.

last minute market

 

here is my table at the last minute market outside of michael's studio!  i brought chocolate chai cupcakes, pumpkin graham cracker cheesecake cupcakes, vanilla filled lemon curd with raspberry swiss meringue cupcakes, and chestnut cupcakes.  i made the chestnut puree myself!  it was pretty fun.  the squirrels were happy because they got the extra chestnuts too.  michael was also pretty happy because he got to eat the extra lemon curd i made for the vanilla cupcakes.  the same day i sent these same flavors over to the holiday at the beach market in rocky river.  i couldn't be there but i had some little elves who looked after me :)

 

chocolate chai cupcakes

 

vanilla cupcakes filled with lemon curd topped with raspberry swiss meringue buttercream

 

the famed chestnut cupcakes with cream cheese chocolate swirl frosting!  one of my top 5 for sure :)

pumpkin graham cracker cupcakes with pumpkin cheesecake frosting

dog birthday cupcakes

i've inserted this extra large picture because a dog cupcake is worthy of an extra large picture!  i made a batch of dog birthday cupcakes for stella's first birthday.  she LOVES peanut butter, so katie asked me if i could make a peanut butter dog cupcake for stella.  and what did the dog think of them?  well she LOVED them, ate it in one big bite!  i gave my dog zooey one of the extras and she was so cute about it.  she licked the frosting off and then wouldn't eat the cupcake until i cut it up for her.  sometimes she is such a lady, but other times she can be a little gassy and clear a room.  i guess that is what makes her so special.  anyways, happy birthday stella!  i am glad i was able to make your birthday treat come to life.

holiday at the beach

 

this past weekend i did the holiday at the beach market in rocky river.  i will be there again possibly this weekend, but definitely the few days leading up until christmas.  this weekend i will be selling my cupcakes out of michael's studio at the lake erie screw factory for the last minute market.  please come visit us!  anyways this past weekend i had a great time at the market and met a lot of really fun people.  i made peppermint tea cupcakes, almond blackberry cupcakes, marbled lavender cupcakes, blueberry & raspberry ricotta almond cupcakes, eggnog latte cupcakes and chocolate orange cupcakes.  the eggnog latte cupcake frosting is honestly the best frosting i have made to date.  i was eating the leftovers by the spoonful!  here are some pictures of my cupcakes:

i had made a different peppermint cupcake the weekend before, but found the peppermint flavor to be a little too intense and toned it down for this past weekend's version.

 

i used the lavender leaves i got from cathy's baby shower to make these cupcakes!

almost the end of the summer frozen blackberries!  sad.

i do however still have a good amount of frozen raspberries leftover :)  look forward to some of them appearing in the next couple weeks!

the eggnog frosting i was raving about!  so delicious!!!

and the simple and beautiful chocolate orange cupcake!

so i hope to see you at the last minute market or at the holiday at the beach market!  mention you follow by blog and i'll happily give you a little something extra ;)  the flavors i am hoping for this weekend are chesnut cupcakes, hot chocolate & lemon curd something.  i am debating a few recipes with lemon curd filling involved and i just can't decide which one i want to make.  i might also delay the hot chocolate cupcake and swap it for a chocolate chai.  really, it all depends on what i can find at the store and what i feel like making!  i will also be making some puppycakes for stella.  i took care of stella during the day while katie (her mama) was workin the long hours at the clinic and that little sneak is going to be one soon!

thanksgiving desserts

i hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving and your bellies are still full from all of the food you ate.  were you expecting me to make cupcakes for my thanksgiving dinner?  well i didn't, not a one!  i did however make pumpkin bread pudding, an almond poppyseed cake for my cousin's birthday and a coconut cake for ned and his family.  a spiced apple caramel sauce was used for the bread pudding, which of course i forgot to take a picture of and the poppyseed cake didn't get photographed at all.  it was made early thursday morning and i had SO MUCH to do that i just didn't have time.  all of the desserts were a success and michael and i just finished off the last of the leftover cake yesterday but today i am wishing i had just a slice more!  i don't think i could ever get sick of that almond poppyseed cake.  it's my all time favorite, probably because it doesn't have frosting.  confession time, i don't really like frosting!  i much prefer my cakes plain.  frosting often tastes too sweet to me, which is why i always cut the sugar in half for the frostings i make, often causing the consistency to be a tad off.  so if you were wondering why my buttercreams aren't as rich as others, it is because i just don't like that much sugar.  anyways, here are some pictures of the coconut cake & pumpkin bread pudding sans dessert.