News Taffy

Surprises are SO Sweet!

Do you know what is wonderful about our new friend August? I do! One, it is the last month before the glory that is football season returns, two, it's my birthday month, and three, my mother (who works at International Studies school) has to end her bragging days of summers off and go back to work. Sorry teacher friends, time for you to break up with Regis and Kelly and join the rest of us! HEHE.

Most of my friends know that my one and only real "hobby" in this world is my liking of (very amateur) cake decorating, but not many of them know how I came into this sweet and sugary world. I have this friend, her name is Stacy, who has dabbled in these things for many years, and I swear to you I BEGGED this woman to teach me how to make them for FOREVER. Anyway, about three years ago, I hosted a wedding shower in my home for a sorority sister who just looooooved zebra print, and hinted around that she'd love it on a cake. Crud... So when Kroger said "No way, Jose," I begged, pleadedand whined to Stacy to PLEEEEASE help me with this cake, and I don't know what possessed the poor woman to say yes, but at any rate, she did (see photo of the dear zebra cake, awww). We had a most marvelous time not only with the cake, but with the girl talk that ensues over buttercream and sprinkles, and in a very short time, it just sort of became our "thing." Ours is quite an interesting partnership...she loves to bake, and I have more of the creative genes, so typically she bakes em, and I decorate em. (I have tried baking my own a time or two...she does NOT approve of my baking skills!) We just do it for the fun and girl time and only make them for family and friends, but I think our skills have evolved past the olden days of zebra stripes!

Recently we got into the new fad of cupcaking, and let me tell you why: cupcaking is cool...because it's EASY! I'm even allowed to bake my own cupcakes, which are perfect in a time crunch (cakes take two forevers to decorate if you're a perfectionist like us). Anyway, thank God we starting dabbling in the cupcakes because Stacy's birthday was last week, and her sweet husband and kids decided it was time to throw momma a surprise party....and you know what that means: "Lacey we need a cake." Of course I was happy to oblige, but there's no way I'm making an actual cake without my partner's expertise (and remember my baking skills are tragic), so cupcakes it becomes. Anyway, in light of Stacy's sweet cupcake surprise party (which, by the way, was a smashing success...don't you just LOVE surprises?), I thought I would share a few amateur's cupcaking tips for some of you who might be intimidated by what you see on Cake Boss!

Tip one: It is OK to use boxed cake mix! Just because the pros make these giant batches on TV doesn't mean they're homemade. Pick your favorite brand and stick with it. My personal favorite is the Pillsbury Funfetti. Funfetti just tastes better. I promise it does. And it has sprinkles. YEA!

Tip two: Thou shalt not use icing in a can!! Yeah it tastes fine and everything but nothing says "this cupcake better be worth the hour I'll spend on the treadmill later" like real-deal buttercream. Here in Jonesboro, you can buy the good stuff at J&M Cake Supplies on Matthews, or a lot of times if you just visit the bakery at your grocery store, you can buy it from them too. A side tip with the icing: aside fromtaste, buttercream is also better because it's easier to work with. It's much softer than the storebought stuff.

Tip three: BUY a cupcake decorating set. Sounds simple enough, but most of the reason you probably end up disappointed in your home-made cupcakes is because you ice them with a knife. Spring for a cupcake decorating set and a few icing decorator bags (we buy ours at Hobby Lobby). The set will have icing tips you can use to have all kinds of fun making icing swirls on top of your masterpieces, and it only costs about $10 but you can keep it forever.

Tip four: PRACTICE with your icing technique! No joke, just get on YouTube and search "cupcake icing techniques" and WATCH the videos. It's so easy, you'll be mad you didn't do it sooner.

Tip five: HAVE FUN with colors and decorations! You can use icing coloring (also available at Hobby Lobby or cake suppliers) in your icing OR in your cake batter! (See photo.) Stacy's birthday was Tiffany-themed, so I dyed the cupcakes Tiffany Blue with a combination of teal and turquoise coloring, and iced them white like the Tiffany bow. Some of them even had edible pearls on top! You can also see on Stacy's cupcake the wrapper...these are a new fad in cupcaking, where you bake them in plain-jane baking cups, and you buy these "wrappers" to dress them up later. I got the ones you see here from Bella Cupcake Couture (www.bellacupcake.com). If you don't want to go that far, you can always buy cutesy traditional baking cups all over town to go with your party theme. Stacy's special cupcake also had to have a bit of BLING, so I topped hers with a little rhinestone brooch. The possibilities are endless!

Have a SWEET August my friends!

Lacey