Doing a Little Sampling

A few months ago I was asked by one of my father's coworkers to create some sample cupcakes for his wife. She had seen my portfolio on Facebook and wanted to see for herself if my treats tasted as good as they looked. I knew that I didn't just want to go the traditional "vanilla, chocolate, red velvet" route, although those were the flavors I made the most. I decided it was time to step outside of my comfort zone and experiment.

Originally I had planned on making these samples right away so that neither of us would forget about them, however, I was right in the middle of a killer semester at school, dealing with papers every week and so much homework I am surprised I even got any sleep. Sadly, and this has never happened before, there was no time for cupcakes.

Fast Forward to January--I know, I know, it was long overdue. School was finally over; the hustle and bustle of a very busy (and crazy) Holiday season was past; and I finally found myself with time on my hands (a very rare occurrence.) So I set out to create a list of magnificent cupcakes that would be equally delicious and beautiful. I spent a week planning the flavors of the cakes and frosting's, as well as the designs that each would sport. I finally nailed down a list of flavors that would be unforgettable and classic.

I decided to go with orange cream, raspberry swirl, cookies 'n' cream, peanut butter, spice, apple pie, mocha, banana, vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet. I spent an entire afternoon chopping, measuring, mixing, scooping, and baking and created 3 each of 11 different flavors. After cooling, I held an informal tasting party in the kitchen--as in I sliced up the cupcakes and solicited opinions from my parents. Sadly, Mocha did not make the cut. The rest, I am proud to say, were successful! I was a "mad scientist" in the kitchen and did not even have to fail first to become one.

I put my best efforts into decorating each with a complimenting frosting and design and created 11 one-of-a-kind treats to send off.

Orange cream with Orange frosting; banana with vanilla buttercream; red velvet with vanilla bc; chocolate with chocolate fudge frosting; vanilla with vanilla bc; peanut butter with chocolate bc; apple pie with vanilla bc; apple pie with Caramel bc; spice with vanilla bc; raspberry swirl with raspberry bc; and cookies 'n' cream with vanilla bc.

I am proud to say that they were very warmly received and got rave reviews.