So Couture

What can be better than shoes, purses and cupcakes. Absolutely nothing. 

A couple of weeks ago I drew the silhouette of the soles of my stilettos and reduced them using my copier. I cut them out and used them to create fondant soles. Then I needed to let them dry so they had an arch to fit the heel. My solution? I propped them up using the side of a medicine bottle. The rest was fun, the heel was easy to mold and the details on the strap took some time but nothing too painful. 

The purse, well, that I used a fabulous mold I found. 

What's next? I'm thinking pink pumps with a black ribbon.

I love my job.

Too Cute

I was playing around with some left over fondant and thought...how cute would it be to create little bumble bees. So I molded some, painted them and placed them on some cupcakes I made for a magazine editorial. I decided that it would be even more charming to include little ladybugs. I'm thinking of creating a line of these little sugar items and make them available for sale through Couture Cupcakes. I think decorations are so limited for cakes and cupcakes. They look generic. 

But these....too cute!

Traveling in Pink

Just recently I made an order that I just had so much fun doing. A client called me to create a dozen cupcakes for her birthday. She told me that this was the first birthday she was spending at home. Her past birthdays were spent in exotic countries. So she wanted a travel theme. She also told me her favorite color was pink and whatever I did had to have pink incorporated in it. So I thought long and hard and came up with luggage tags...in pink of course. These took me some time to make as I had to also include her name in the lug tags. The long hours paid off. Above is a picture of the order. Aren't they adorable?

Developing New Ones

Summer is the best time for Couture Cupcakes. This is our time to play!!! Orders slow down around mid-July through August, so we use this time to develop fun new flavors and items for the Fall and Holidays.
This weekend is dedicated to a new coconut. While in France I experimented with a recipe I found there. My goal is to finish with a coconut pineapple rum cupcake topped with a light frosting rolled in fresh coconut. I'm debating whether to soak the pineapple in rum or to just add the rum to the cake batter.
And then comes the name, I thought of a friend of mine's little girl named Mia, but since the cupcake carries rum...doesn't feel like a good fit. I need an exotic name, something sassy. Hmmmm. Any ideas?

My next 2 flavors are a Boston Cream Pie cupcake and a brownie cupcake. The Boston Cream Pie is going to be fabulous. I found a great custard recipe from Lady Bourman. I stayed with her while attending boarding school in England. She was an amazing baker. Her custard recipe is superb. So I will probably name the cupcake Lady Bourman. As for the brownie cupcake. I have had this recipe for a while. I developed it while recovering from a terrible car accident. I had broken my wrist and dislocated my arm ...I was a mess. But if it wasn't for the kindness of the firemen that took such good care of me, I'm sure I would of suffered more injuries. So as a thank you, I decided to make them brownies. Of course, I chose the wrong time to create them as I was on Darvocet ( a pain killer) for about a week. But I was determined. I also only had the use of one arm. So everything I added was estimated, I measured nothing as I couldn't be bothered. When they came out of the oven I was shocked that they had baked. I cut them up and placed them in a cookie tin. My dear friend Pamela helped me deliver them. I kept assuring myself that even if they were awful the firemen would still appreciate the thought and effort. Well, a day later I received a call from Fireman Steve saying that the cupcakes were the best they had ever had and if I could make more.  And I got a date with Firemen Steve, which was a nice bonus. The problem was, I couldn't remember what I added and how much. I had an idea. So, I made another batch adding the items I had used...which some were not traditionally used in making brownies. And the end result was even better than the first. Thereafter I started making these brownies every year for the fire station, mostly for holidays. They are super moist and delicious. So now I will be taking my accident brownies and turning them into a new cupcake flavor. The name? I am going to name the brownie after Pamela (Pam), who took such great care of me after the accident. Without her, I would of never recovered.