Bake It Pretty Cupcake Ornaments

Adorable...what more can I say? These cupcake ornaments on Bake It Pretty's blog are easy to make especially since she posted directions on how to make them. I did her combination of sparkly and regular snow - and they turned out perfect for my tree and for gifts to my other cupcake friends! I can't wait to order some of her colored wrappers and to try some fun designs and themes...oh, my little brain is going into overload on this craft!!! Be ready friends because you are now going to be overwhelmed with cupcake ornaments....thank goodness it is Christmas time!

Cupcakes Squared - San Diego

Well...the third time was a charm! We had attempted to go to Cupcakes Squared two times on previous visits to San Diego but once it was closed and the other time we were there too early. So on this visit...I checked my trusty iphone for hours of operation and made plans for a little cupcake tasting. The staff (especially Jen) were friendly and helpful...and shared samples of cupcakes!!! Jen gave me some tips on buttercream frosting since I have found this to be my weak link in cupcake baking - I will let you know if her tips work. But back to the cupcakes...we tried the lemon, chocolate macadamia nut, chocolate mocha, almond and not so red velvet. The cupcakes were dense and moist - but it was the frosting that was truly wonderful. Each cupcake had a buttercream flavor that was smooth and fluffy...it didn't leave you with that aftertaste of "butter" that some buttercream frostings have. It was worth the third visit - and it will be a stop on my next trip to San Diego! Disclaimer: The Chocolate Mocha cupcake got a little bit squished on our way home...it was beautiful when purchased!

Frosty the Lolli-Man!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas-the house is fully decorated, cards are ordered, Christmas movies are ready to be watched, and Lollicakes are being created in the kitchen!!! Kristin & I made Frosty the Lolli-Man, Rudolphs, Santa Hats, and decorations for our Christmas themed lollicakes. The snowman came out super cute especially with his hat and carrot nose! Doesn't he just melt your heart...

Jack & Coke Lollicakes

My friend, Forrest, likes his Jack & Coke - but he also loves my lollicakes...so I made him some Jack & Coke Lollicakes. I baked a chocolate coca-cola cake which was a first for me...wasn't sure exactly how long to boil the coke down but it worked out. I added the Jack to the finished cake...I used the pour, sip, pour, sip method! I do believe that next time I will add a LOT more! I put those cute little coke bottles as the decoration on top of each lollicake and did clear sprinkles so it would sort of look like ice. I created a bucket of lollicakes and miniatures of Jack as my finished masterpiece!!! Hopefully, they will be a hit - we will be using the sip, bite, sip, bite method to eat them up...

Elmo & Cookie Monster Lollcakes

My daughter, Kristin, made these a few months ago for a birthday party...are they just not SOOOOOO adorable!!! How do you like the little cookie in Cookie Monster's mouth...makes you just want to bite his head off,right?

Thanksgiving Lollicakes for Silent Auction

My friend, Pat, requested Lollicakes for an event she was attending to be used as silent auction items. We created four Thanksgiving baskets containing red velvet and pumpkin Lollicakes...the pumpkin Lollicakes are delicious! We made turkeys, pumpkins, apples and other themed Lollicakes for the baskets...let's hope they bring in some money for her event!

Halloween Lollicakes

It's that time of year again when witches and goblins come knocking at your door...too bad children can't receive homemade treats anymore. I can remember getting candy apples, caramel corn and chocolate chip cookies in my treat bag as a kid - I guess that is really dating me! Anyway...if you could give out homemade treats - lollicakes would be a treasured and non-tradeable treat in any kid's bag!

What is even more fun is the black "goth" look you get when you eat a spider or rat lollicake...as displayed by Kailyn!

My Little Lollicake Baker

Obviously Kailyn has been watching Grammy quite closely as you can see by this video clip. I was amazed at the good job she did - although she did squash the cake truffle but that was fixable! I only let her "touch" the ones that she was going to eat. Oh...child labor at its' best!!!

Fall Lollicakes

Fall is in the air...the leaves are beginning to turn color...and yes, there is snow up in the mountains! Must be time for some Fall Lollicakes...pumpkins, apples, candy corn - what more could you ask for!

Black Forest Cupcakes

Nick once again requested a new cupcake for his birthday. So I decided to go with a Black Forest Cupcake with cherry brandy in it. The frosting had equal amounts of whipping cream and powdered sugar which was a new recipe to me but came out with a nice thick consistency for frosting. Hopefully, Nick will like them....they do look pretty!

Look Grammy - no hands!!!

I love how Kailyn eats a cupcake without using her hands...it's almost like she doesn't want to get them sticky! She does look like she is in a trance...a yummy cupcake trance!!!

Everything Irish!

I had a cupcake while in Napa at Sift that was a Guinness Stout with Bailey's frosting and HAD to try to make one myself. While searching the internet, I found cupcakes with not only these ingredients but also with a Jamison whiskey ganache filling. How could I resist my Irish roots calling to me to create this liquor filled cupcake...the results were wonderful!!! The Guinness in the cupcake gives it quite an interesting and delightful taste - and then you get the surprise of the ganache in the center. The frosting with the flavor of Bailey's was just the right amount of sweetness to not overtake the cupcake. All-in-all, me sainted mother would be pleased!

We are not so far removed from the animal world...

Ok, I am sure Kailyn (or her parents) wouldn't appreciate the "animal" reference, but her tapping the lollicake to get it off the stick reminded me of the monkeys at the zoo...sorry, princess baby! The looks on her face are priceless as she devours her lollicake. There is the look of joy...the look of bliss...and the look of satisfaction of how smart she is when she gets the lollicake off the stick.

Northern California Cupcakes...and the winner is - Kara's Cupcakes!

We just got back from a trip to Wine Country up in Napa County, California, with our friends Sally and Doc. My mission on this trip was to try out some new bakeries...my husband's mission was to try out all of the wineries he could visit! We both succeeded beautifully...I was able to taste Kara's Cupcakes and Sift in Napa with another visit to Kara's in San Francisco along with Loves Cupcakes in San Jose. Kara's cupcakes were moist and flavorable with frosting that was smooth and just the right consistency. Her Fleur de Sel was a chocolate cake with caramel filling, ganache frosting and fleur de sel sprinkled on top...to say it was orgasmic would be an understatement!!! Sally's favorite was the Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Ganache. We ended up buying two dozen little cupcakes (one dozen each on two separate visits) and a half-dozen of the regular sized cupcakes for our week long stay. Kara's cupcakes were just as good three days after buying them, having them travel in the car, and sitting out in a hotel room. We also visited Sift because I wanted to try out the Irish Car Bomb (Guiness cake and Baileys frosting). It was good but didn't leave me quite as happy as Kara's cupcakes. I do want to attempt duplicating this one at home though. Loves cupcakes, which I believe is brand new in San Jose, were also good. I tried the coconut but was in too much of a rush to truly enjoy it. I will have to go back again to visit. It was a cute shop, and they are going to sell cupcakes on a stick (sounded like lollicakes to me!) So - overall, Kara's was my favorite...and her cupcakes also went quite well with Berringer's Leaning Oak Chardonnay...I will tell you that lollicakes could make a killing there by doing wine lollicakes for each vineyard - too bad Napa is so far away from Colorado.....

Hummingbird Cupcakes

Jessie - of the famed CakeSpy site - inspired me to create Hummingbird Cupcakes after she did a piece about Hummingbird Cake. I had never heard of such a cake, but it did sound delicious! So my little baker helper, Kailyn, and I created a simplier version (ok, I'm lazy and cake mix is my very good friend) that turned out quite tasty! Thanks, Jessie...any more fattening ideas?

Cuppie Cone Display

We all thought the lollicake cones were super cute - but, how would we display them??? No problem...the Queen of the Glue Gun comes up with a display that honors the integrity of the Cuppie Cone!!! Check out all the rhinestones...yes, I think I did use to own a Bedazzler - why do you ask? You should see what I can do with duct tape....

Lolli-TaTas???

Ok...so I had a request to do some lollicakes for a Passion Party. We all know about Passion Parties, right...my contribution of lollicakes became lolli-tatas!

The Cupcake Princess!

At seventeen months old, sweet Kailyn now says cupcake...it is beyond cute!!

Lollicakes for Baby Showers & Birthdays!!!

I've been busy making lollicakes...my friend's son, Noah, had his third birthday party which had a Pirate and Princess theme. I did skulls and pink wands...I think the skulls were the bigger hit with both the boys and girls - arrrg, a pirate's life for me. The following week, I had two baby showers - one boy and one girl! I did pink and blue bears...wouldn't these be cute to bring to the hospital for the birth of a baby? My next creation are some lollicakes for a "passion party" - hmmmmmmmm

I scream - You scream - We all scream for Lollicake cones!!!

I found these cute baby cones and thought how cute it would be to do lollicakes in them...like mini ice cream cones! I made some for my daughter's going away party and they were a hit with all of her friends...I even did a couple of double-dippers!!!

A future milk mustache star!

Kailyn's favorite word is probably "more!" While I was baking my cakes for an upcoming lollicake order, Kailyn stared into the oven repeating over and over "more!" Then when it was time to put the lollicakes together, Kailyn crawled up onto the kitchen stool and requested "more!" Her mom and I gave her the white chocolate stirring spoon instead...and when she finished it - of course, she demanded "more!" Kailyn also has become quite the helper - here she is counting up the lollicakes to make sure that there is at least one extra for her!

Wedding Lollicakes

I just finished creating 250 lollicakes for my son-in-law's friend who is getting married next week. As you can see her colors are red, white and black...I did red velvet and carrot cake. It ended up taking maybe ten hours -not too bad since I did it in shifts. So now I need to pack them up for their trip to Utah...lucky for all of us that they are going by car versus overnight mail -I can't even imagine what that would cost!!!

The Cupcake Cure

Poor sweet little Kailyn had a stomach virus a week ago and lost a few pounds that she didn't need to lose...she didn't want to eat until she discovered "The Cupcake Cure!" Disclaimer: She did not eat ALL of these cupcakes...her mommy and I helped!

Just a cute Lollicake bouquet for spring

Banana Caramel Cupcake

The Bagel Bakery up the street from me also is getting into making cupcakes. Michelle, the owner, and I have been sharing cupcake ideas - and she also is selling my lollicakes! She makes a banana caramel cupcake that is soooooo moist that I just had to try to create my own. The trick is using caramel sauce in place of the water...which gets me thinking what other cupcakes could I create using the same process - strawberry sauce? raspberry sauce? chocolate sauce? Hmmmmmm...why do my jeans suddenly feel tighter???

What - Cupcake Wine???

Today I discovered an item that every Cupcake Diva should have in her bar...Cupcake wine bottled by Cupcake Vineyard out of California.

I happened to be in the liquor store with my husband and what did I spot but a GIANT cupcake!!! I, of course, had to go and see what this was all about, and there before me was a display of wine bottles labeled Cupcake. The Vineyard produces four wines - Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. Their ad slogan states what we would all like out of life - "Live Deliciously!"

The rep for the line was in the store, and I suggested to him that if he was going to do a tasting that he might want to pair it up with something "cupcake" and that I made lollicakes. I showed him pictures of my work (always have that camera with me) and he liked the idea. Maybe I can get paid in wine even though I am not the wine drinker in the family (that title would go to my husband) but I do plan on having this wine proudly displayed in the wine rack next to my Cakespy pictures. I may let my husband uncork a bottle to ensure that this vineyard is carrying on the tradition of excellence by using the name "Cupcake!"

They are "Magically Delicious" Irish Lollicakes!

Think outside the box...and that is just what I did! I decided that Lucky Charms Lollicakes sounded pretty good - I mean they are, afterall, magically delicious . So I created some for Saint Patrick's Day... and they would make my sainted mother smile. Then I decided to use my box of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies to create a mint flavored Lollicake...and himself even gave a thumbs up for them! Being Irish, I will pass on this little Irish proverb to you in honor of our great holiday on March 17th:

May your baking bring you happiness.
May your cupcakes bring delight.
May the calories be hidden
and kept well out of sight!

The Fine Art of Eating a Lollicake!

Being One is Just WONDERFUL!

Hi Cupcake Lovers
Who knew that the Rites of Passage would be this delicious! This turning one thing has been great...I have been initiated into "cupcake tasting" by Mommy, Aunt Kiki and Grammy. This is where we go to a cupcake shop and order many flavors of cupcakes and then pass them around to see which ones we like best. We went to Tees & Cakes up in Boulder, and I liked the Strawberry Milkshake cupcake the best. I can't wait to visit another cupcake shop soon. And then today, I finally got to actually eat a lollicake and YUM! After watching Grammy make these for the past year, it's about time I got my teeth into one...Yep, this getting older thing is truly proving to be a tasteful experience!
Love & Cupcake Kisses
Kailyn - Lollicake Taster in Training

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Kailyn celebrated her first birthday on New Year's Eve with her very first giant-sized cupcake. She was unsure at first but then realized that the frosting and sprinkles were yummy!!! She was a little unhappy with Uncle David because he ate the cherry on top. Now that she has had her first cupcake taste - Kailyn wants to know when she can have her first Lollicake...Mom???