I can't think of a better way to bid farewell to winter and usher in the start of spring than my newest cupcake, the Chocolate Covered Strawberry. I know I haven't been posting a lot lately on the blog. I've been keeping pretty busy with Suzy Sweet Tooth orders, as well as work and getting ready for my upcoming wedding in May. These new cupcakes are the perfect thing to get me back in the swing of things. They are super cute, super tasty, and look fabulous on my brand new cupcake stand (thank you Crate & Barrel clearance!).
The cake for these cupcakes is a recipe I just came up with today for a dark chocolate cake. It is moist but fluffy, like my normal chocolate cake, thanks to some sour cream and buttermilk and a few other yummy ingredients. But unlike my normal chocolate cake it is made with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder. And I think I struck gold with this one-- it's so rich and decadent while still light and fluffy.
Each cupcake is frosted with a cream cheese icing made with fresh strawberries. It's just the right pair with the rich cake, because it adds a bright, fruity note to counter the decadence of the cake, just like a chocolate dipped strawberry itself. On top of that is a little swirl of my chocolate buttercream. And to finish them off is a drizzle of melted semisweet chocolate. I love the look of the drizzle; it conjures up the image of a chocolate covered strawberry. They look good enough to eat. ...And they taste good enough for seconds!
Somebody call Kool & the Gang because it's time to celebrate good times. I'm celebrating, birthday boys and girls are celebrating, and you can celebrate, too.
Celebration for some Pisces: Here are some photos of some vanilla birthday cupcakes I made for a birthday boy named Matthew. He and his classmates enjoyed vanilla cupcakes with my favorite chocolate buttercream and festive birthday sprinkles. And to make sure he knows how special he is, his name was spelled out in fun fondant letters. I will be doing another personalized birthday cupcake order on Tuesday, some fun CocoNilla and Cookie Dough cupcakes in posh black and white for the stylish birthday girl. So make a wish you guys!
Celebration for me: I've had a busy week with a slew of orders and a few more super fun ones to bake still in the next few days. My most exciting news is that I just gave out one dozen free cupcakes on Thursday to the lovely Bethany who redeemed my first punch card since I started them in December! I could not be more excited about this. Suzy Sweet Tooth is slowing but surely building some speed. I am so thrilled to get new customers and new orders. I hope to be able to redeem many more punch card freebies in the future.
Celebration for you: To celebrate the fun of the last week and get more punch cards rolling I'll be doing another cupcake BoGo! Any cupcake orders placed for next weekend (March 25-27) will be eligible for a buy one dozen, get one dozen free offer! Contact me at susangietl@hotmail.com with any questions or orders!
This week I made these adorable little red velvet cake pops. They are just like my cake truffles, but they're on a lollipop stick and topped with some sprinkles. Not only are they super cute in pop form, but they're fun to eat this way, too. They can be made with any flavor of cake. These are a very moist red velvet. They are covered with a pink candy coating, but they can also be covered with milk or white chocolate. I think they make a very cute (and delicious) bouquet in a little tin pail.
I am neither Catholic nor Southern, but one thing is for sure... for Suzy Sweet Tooth every Tuesday is Fat Tuesday. So, as the French would say, laissez les bons temps rouler! Happy Mardi Gras!
These celebratory cupcakes should be gobbled up before Ash Wednesday, and because they are so tasty, I'm sure they will be. They are CocoNilla cupcakes that are decked out in festive purple (justice), green (faith), and shiny gold wrappers (power). With a few of these, anyone would be ready to party.
