Post-Turkey thoughts

Happy Post-Thanksgiving y'all. When I was thinking of everything that I was thankful for this year, one of the things that was on my mind was all the support I have received from friends and family to start this adventure in my life. Thanks to a company called EVERSAVE .VCVC Cupcakes sold about 98 "saves" and our name really got out there. I have enjoyed meeting so many new clients and working with them to create the frostitution of their dreams. Thus far the feed back has been wonderful!!

My fabulous Fiance has loaned me his iPad, and my mother is working with me to help with my accounting. So post-it-notes have disappeared and been replaced with organization and I am feeling much better about how things are running. Again, thanks to the wonderful support of my family.

I also wanted to thank everyone who ordered cupcakes for Thanksgiving... and for those who were patient when they were turned away because we were so busy. We do our best to make sure we get everyone their dream cupcakes... so question... what is your dream?? Tell us... Christmas is coming... order early, Santa eats enough cookies... try leaving cupcakes!!!

www.vcvccupcakes.com

Officiall Official!

We passed our inspection and today we got all of our permits finalized!!! So VCVC Cupcakes is up and running in the city of Melrose MA!!! I am so excited and so happy. It has been a long road to get this far. But so worth it. Thanks to all who supported me, and gave me a shot. Now order some cupcakes to celebrate!

www.vcvccupcakes.com

FIND US ON THE WEB

NEW WEBSITE

WWW.VCVCCUPCAKES.COM

or email your order to info@vcvccupcakes.com

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEB PAGE

Because I have not printed new business cards yet. **I will soon I promise** I just want to remind everyone to visit www.vcvccupcakes.com . Now that we are back from the Cape and a wonderful family vacation we are back to business.... ORDER UP!!!!

Incredible Day

I am so busy today. But I wanted to share some wonderful news with you all. VCVC Cupcakes teamed up with Doms Sausage of Malden this am to help out with the cupcake part of their catering!! Also we launched www.vcvccupcakes.com today... that is now our official webpage. I am so excited I could burst!!! Check it out and pass it on!

BIG CHANGES

There are some HUGE changes afoot. VCVC Cupcakes has been established!!! It is officials. Today I worked with a great graphic designer who created this wonderful logo for me. I really like it!!! I also signed on with a wonderful girl to create me a wonderful website. I can't wait to launch that. I am so excited. On top of all that I am looking forward to working with a very popular local business and helping them with all of their cupcake needs :) Things are really looking up for VCVC Cupcakes. For now please "like" us on Facebook and spread the word. (just search for VCVC Cupcakes because I don't know how to shorten our URL on there). Word of mouth is the best form of flattery, even if it is talking while full of frosting :)

Dancing the Days Away

Days are simply flying by between planning the engagement party, family, work and trying to start the cupcake business. Several big steps have been taken thought. First off, I received my ServSafe Certification. I am pretty proud of that, some of the things I learned were pretty frightening. Also a name has been decided upon. VCVC Cupcakes. Do you like it? I do!!! It is my initials. After the name was decided upon, business cards were printed!!! This is all becoming so real!! I am also working on getting a formal website with ordering info on it, prices, flavor combination ideas and a decent portfolio on it.

So with that I shall leave you with some pictures of some recent project photos. I really enjoy doing this. A passion that I sort of fell into. I never thought of myself as creative, maybe I was wrong... maybe I found my talent. PS... the ballet cupcakes... were a HUGE hit!!!

Just when you thought the water was safe....

I went for my ServSafe certification on Saturday. I am super excited. Another big step towards the shop. Well ok, maybe a small step, but a step I can take now! On Sunday I had to work for a few hours and then I had a challenge... in Weston a water main broke. Long story short my town is under a "water boil order". This means under no circumstances should you ingest any of the tap water. No drinking it, washing your dishes, brushing your teeth, washing your hands etc without special precautions, which can be seen here http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/cdc/mwra_water_break/water_break_faq_gen.pdf Of course, I had cupcakes to make!! The teacher appreciation luncheon was fast approaching and they HAD to have some vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting... of course!! So I did my research, sanitized EVERYTHING and went to work. It was so much fun. I was psyched. About 3 hours later I found out that the teachers luncheon was postponed until further notice. Bummer. And they were so cute too! But I do have to admit, it was interesting.

At this point I am glad I do not have the shop. Even the major companies like Dunks and Starbucks are hurting. They can not make coffee to sell, it just is not safe. So while people are worried about the pain in the butt of having to boil water or the panic of finding bottled water because they are too lazy or afraid to boil water, there are businesses out there who could lose their lively hood. I hope they don't.

So cheers to clean water... hopefully in the near future. I am off to find someone who is hungry for a cupcake... and not a teacher. :-)

Spring is here!!!

Officially the calendar says that spring is here! Mother Nature seems not so sure. But with all the rain we have had I figured some pretty cupcakes would brighten everyone's mood. Since I last wrote so much has happened. I went away to Costa Rica with the Editor and he proposed while we were there. I was in heaven. Of course I could not help but think about what to make for engagement cupcakes. While I was there I had no access to baking but I did have a dream about how I was going to make some Mario Cupcakes for a friend's son's birthday when I got home. Then when I got home I found out that he changed his mind and was going with Spiderman. No problem. I am also working with lactose free and gluten free on this order. It will be interesting but I am optimistic. I like a challenge lately.

Today I made some Easter Cupcakes. Easter is one of those holidays that always seems to sneak up on me. Since it is never on the same day each year and can even change months it seems to pop out of nowhere for me. I had fun today though. The kids seem to like how they came out. So here they are!!!

To All My Valentines-

What a weekend! At one point in my life Valentines Day meant nothing. But The Editor changed that around for me! This year he treated me to 2 dozen roses at work, tickets to New Kids On the Block (yes I know I am sooo 90's). He also treated me to a Chocolate Buffet at the Ritz Carlton in Boston. Oh my what an experience. We sat in a decadent lobby watching all sorts of people wander in and out of the hotel. People watching is my 2nd favorite hobby (following closely behind baking). They had a table all decked out in chocolate. Chocolate milk, strawberries, home made marshmallows with sauce and truffles. There had to be at least 30 kinds of chocolate there. When the chef came out I chatted her up for a few, she recommended the mouse. It was so light and airy, like angels wings. Simply amazing. I think I tried everything that was there, some twice.

Before I was treated to this decadence, I spent all day finishing off the last of the Valentine Cupcake orders. I made 3 kinds of cupcakes, I did Mocha with mocha butter cream, lemon zest with lemon butter cream, and "better than sex chocolate". I had tried several chocolate cupcake recipes, but had not found one that I truly loved, until I came across Katie's page at The Cupcake Project. Boy was she right!!! These are *almost* better than sex chocolate cupcakes. But as far as cupcakes go... I think they are amazing. I chose not to put the chocolate chips into them for now, but I can't WAIT to try that.

The recipe is as follows, definitely worth a try if you have time **if not call me, I will make them for you!! ;-)**

Makes 16 regular cupcakes.

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

I am off to finish some of the cleaning and laundry I have neglected while I have had fun filling orders for friends and family... for now, here are some pictures to enjoy.

Mission #1 complete

I made it through my first order pick up! It was a tad hectic, but we made it! My friend T called and asked for some cupcakes for her boyfriend's birthday. He wanted 12 strawberry "OMG those are big ass" cupcakes. Since he likes to hunt and is a tad redneck I decided he could not just have pink cupcakes with white frosting. NO WAY! This is a guy who goes camping and likes to hunt!! Heck he kicks my butt at Big Buck Hunter whenever I am over. Anyhow I decided he needed camo cupcakes.

The first batch I was not a big fan of. I used a few too many egg whites and cake flour. So on the 2nd batch I used more pureed strawberries and regular flower and of course fewer egg whites. Perfection!! And much to my shock, I loved how my camo came out. Even the editor was impressed!! T sent a picture of the birthday boy chowing down on his cupcake and said they were a huge hit!! The batter tasted like strawberry ice cream and the cuppies were fluffy and tasty. So for now I leave you with some pictures. Drool... then email me and tell me what I can make for you!

Cupcakes for a King Y'all

Yup I know. I slacked on posting, what can I say? Life gets a little busy around here sometimes.

My Mom and Gram have always backed me, even when my choices were not the best. I have to admit there was about 7 years when I am sure they were afraid to pick up the phone. Some of those calls included "I'm getting married!" then the "buying an house" call and of course few months later the "we are moving up the wedding day about 9 months because I'm having a baby" call. There was also the "I quit my job and I'm not going back after the baby" call and the "baby #2" call and of course the crushing "I'm getting divorced and will need more help then ever before" call. So when I called saying I was thinking about trying to start a cupcake business, Gram jumped on board right away, so did Mom. I mean hello, who better as taste testers right? Well after tasting some of my cupcakes gram had one suggestion "BIGGER" she said! Bigger is almost always better right? While in Laconia she went to an outlet store and got me some "Texas Size" cupcake pans, as well as TONS of other supplies to help me on my journey into the cupcake world. I had planned on going to the MassICEs convention today. But do to budget restraints and wanting to spend a little more time with the Editor, I decided not to go. But he had hockey so I decided to do a little therapeutic baking with all my new toys. So in honor of Gram I made Valentines cupcakes, lemon zest with pink lemon frosting-- Texas Size Y'all!!!
PS- when recipes say "yields 24 cupcakes" they have never "been to Texas" in Texas 24 means 9!!!

You're Mocha'ing Me Crazy

So my friend Anna S. went to the Mall today and sent me these pictures. Yup, you're not seeing things. It's a Cupcake Camper! How cute is that? Not to mention it is a Old School Airstream type camper. I adore it! What a great idea! Cupcakes are all the rage. The more I look and see what is out there the more I am astonished by the ideas that people have. I only hope my creativity can keep up with theirs. Today I made Mocha Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream frosting (See a theme here?) I used Starbucks Via brew for the coffee taste in the Mocha. It is a strong flavor but one I really like. Via Brew is a favorite product of mine because I can literally keep coffee in my purse. As if I need more places to keep it. I can drink it anywhere that has water. Anyhow enough about my Starbucks addiction, I am taking the cupcakes to work tomorrow because I don't want to fill my kids with coffee and sugar and all that and then watch them bounce off the walls. If I am going to do that I will wait for the summer when I can send them to the park. Who knows maybe there will be a Cupcake Camper at the park too!

Todays Samples:



Editor's Note: An Editor's job is never done. 12am midnight and I am up helping HER post about Cupcakes! Something tells me I will have plenty to eat this weekend. None of which will be healthy for me!

Our Day Off

My idea of a day off generally consists of a slightly shorter than normal list of things to do. With a few chores for others tossed haphazardly in to make like slight less convenient. But this weekend is not most. This weekend. I planned nothing. Literally nothing. The Editor and I decided to sit on the couch/bed all day for 48 hours and watch TV. And 26.5 hours in, we are pretty successful! We have only left The Editor's apartment to procure breakfast at Denny's, a Blu Ray player at Wally World and a candle at Walgreens. That was it. We have sat and watched TV. The Editor doesn't have the tools of the trade like I do at home. But unable to sit still for that long and a slight fear of couch sores made me get off my butt and make some white chocolate cups with chocolate pudding and fruit. Said fruit was growing fur in the fridge and I think it talked back to me when I took it out. So I substituted some frozen fruit instead. They came out pretty good. Easier than I thought. I would prefer to use some custard type filling and some fresh fruit. But like I said, this is a start. Boy is it fun.

I talked to Little Bear about what he thought about opening a cupcake shop. He said it was a good idea, and he would be my chief helper. We love to watch Food Network Challenge together. So who knows, maybe this will develop into a family thing. The lemon zest cupcakes went over really well. Gram suggested they be bigger and I have to agree with her. But a start is a start.


Editor's Note: They were good. Very very good. Especially considering they were only our 2nd meal of our incredibly productive day.

Legalized Frostitution

Welcome to my site-

My name is Cathy and I have huge Cupcake dreams! I have decided that I want to open up a cupcake and coffee café. The name and slogan have yet to be decided but I am taking suggestions. I am on the slow track… working on the 5 year plan here. I am a single Mom with 2 kids, Punkin *girl age 4* and Little Bear *boy age 6 almost 7*. I also have a boyfriend a.k.a. The Editor. I write the Blog, he makes it sound good. We also have a cat, Fuzz *almost 2*. I currently work in Medical Billing, my job is well… undefined. But I like it. I work for the OBGYN Department mostly. The Editor lives about 75 miles away but we are incredibly close as a family. Closer than most I would say.

All things considered I tend to be a little short on time quite often and I am careful with costs. So culinary school, is well, OUT. Wait does 2 hours of FOOD NETWORK a day count as Culinary school? If so I should have a diploma by now! Other than that most of what I know comes from watching my Gram as a kid, reading cookbooks and recipes, reading other cupcake blogs and Courses 1 and 2 of Wilton Cake Decorating at Michaels Craft Store. Yes I bow at the alter of Wilton. Is there any other cake decoration alter?

Thus far I have attempted Peanutbutter cupcakes… which were too dry. Must figure that one out. But gosh darn it smelled good. Gram asked for some lemon cupcakes. So I made some with lemon buttercream frosting. Thanks to the Editor who got me a Kitchen Aid *a HUGE surprise, I may or may not have squeeled like a little girl for hours* they came out much better. I used my traditional butter cream frosting recipe and it just tasted better and fluffier. Much nicer consistency. Not nearly as heavy.

See for yourself

So here is a question for those of you out there… if you are out there… what is your favorite cupcake related site??? What makes it your favorite??