Kitchen Updates & iPhone Apps & Cupcakes!!!

I know it has been a while since I last updated... but its for great reasons!  Like the title says, I have kitchen updates, fun new iPhone Apps, and Cupcake Orders.... Lets jump right in:

Kitchen Updates:
At this point our fridge & stove have been installed, the 1970's wallpaper is long gone (cue the choir!!!) I asked Mark to take a picture before we started ripping off the wallpaper, but I guess he thought I was kidding? Because when it was all done, I asked to see the pictures he took, and his response was "um, what pictures?"  hahaha MEN, gotta love 'em.  :) 

So for now, all we have as our before are the pictures of how the previous owner kept her kitchen (WAYY tooo cluttered in my opinion, and I'm normally ok with messes.) 

Here is a picture of the wall paper removal & painting stage:

No more wallpaper:

Nice blue paint:

New fridge & final goodbye to the stove :

NEW STOVE & NEW FRIDGE!!!:

I am one happy happy camper right now.  Next step is learning how to use a convection oven, and updating all my recipes and cook times (I'm guessing 24 cupcakes will no longer take 45+ mins) No one wants a burnt cupcake. ;)

Now lets move on to my fun iPhone app + my latest orders.  First I'll start with orders...

Over the Hill Cupcakes:

(Order: 2 dozen Flavor: 1 dz Original Oreo, 1 dz Golden Oreo)

Happy 50th Birthday Cathy!!  In honor of her "Over the Hill" milestone birthday we did 2 varieties of the OREO with black and white frosting. Black frosting cupcakes are original Oreo's, and the white frosting cupcakes are golden Oreo's.  No pictures of insides, but by now you should know all about the surprise center.

Close up:

"Just Because" Cupcakes:

(Order:  2 dozen Flavor: 1 dz Oreo, 1 dz WhiteChocolate Raspberry)

Is there a better reason for cupcakes than "just because"?? I think not!  Diana ordered 2 dozen cupcakes for her co-workers at Dr. Holly's office (don't you wish your co-workers brought you cupcakes just because?) She ordered my #1 seller (Oreo) & #3 seller (WhiteChocolate Raspberry) 

You could be the hit of your office like Diana... order some cupcakes and surprise them!

Close Up:

Last but not least... my fun iPhone app:  Hipstamatic

I love it.. its so much fun, it makes me feel like a fancy photographer.  I just wanted to share the pictures, hope you like them!!

 

Next time I hope to have updated pictures of our new counter top, microwave and cabinets!  Don't forget, surprise your coworkers with some "Just Because" cupcakes from Cupcakes. Love, Mona soon!!

Well, that's all kids!  :)  Have a great weekend.

Love,

Mona

More Parties!!

So much has been going on.... we went on a little shopping spree last weekend.  We bought a fridge, a convection oven, and a stand mixer!!! We ripped off the 1970's wall paper, painted, and installed the fridge.  Now all we need is for the contractor to come and install the oven.  I can hardly contain myself.  Soon I'll be able to bake double the batches in half the time! 

Pictures of the new kitchen will be up soon.  In the mean time, I want to share some more party cupcakes & one very special cake.  I love the fact that my cupcakes are being served at parties... makes me feel like I get to be part of the celebrations.

Dinner Party:

(Order: 5 Dozen.  Flavors: Elvis Who?;  S'mores; White Chocolate Raspberry; & Chocolate M&M's)

I was very lucky to be asked to make cupcakes for a dinner party that a friends family was having.  From what I hear they were a huge hit.

Toy Story Birthday Party!

(Order: 2 Dozen  Flavor: Oreo)

Happy Happy birthday Peter!  My wonderful co-worker, co-Junior league member, and friend asked me to make some toy story themed cupcakes for her son's birthday. I decided on doing tie dye cake with homemade Toy Story toppers.

Peter enjoying his birthday cupcakes!!! Happy Birthday Peter!

 

Oreo Insides:

All of the characters:

Above View:

Last but not least... A Very Special Birthday:

(Flavor:  Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip w. CreamCheese frosting)

My amazing fiance Mark turned 28 on July 10th. He is the kindest, most fantastic man I have ever met.  He takes care of me, cleans (yes ladies, my man cleans!), listens to me pretend to be Celine Dion in the car, and sooo much more.   He's so amazing... I love you baby! Happy Birthday.

In case you didn't know, he is a HUGEEEE PENNSTATE fan. (It seems like every PennState alumni I've ever met has been.) So I made his cake a PennState cake. 

Cream Cheese Frosting Filling

Soon I hope to have pictures of my kitchen!!! yay!

Hope you liked the pictures!

Love,

Mona

My Final Class Project:

So today was our final cake decorating (basics) class.  I have to say, it was $22 well spent! There wasn't anything crazy that the class taught me, but it did give me more confidence to try new things with my decorations.  Here is my final project:

This cake is Oreo Overdose. Basically its my very popular Oreo madness but to the infinite power!  Its Oreo frosting, Oreo cake, and Oreo center.  I will be sure to post a picture of its insides.

Bacon WHAT?!

.. back by popular demand

The class instructor saw my previous post and asked me to make these for her.  We already know what these are... chocolate bacon cake, chocolate frosting, hand dipped bacon toppers.

Well, that's all for tonight...enjoy!!

Love,

Mona

It's Not A Party Without Cupcakes

Hello Hello!  The past few weeks have been super busy (which is AWESOME!) from work (ahh the life of a financial analyst at quarter points), orders, cake decorating classes, and last (but most importantly) kitchen makeover planning! 

For those who don't know... I currently have a 1970's kitchen.  I'm not joking.. it's old, and it's tiny!! I can only bake 24 cupcakes at a time, which makes big batches pretty difficult to do. 

So we are looking at ovens, calling contractors and getting estimates.  We are also looking for a second fridge because my cupcakes have been taking over the entire fridge! All this new kitchen excitement aside, I have cupcakes to share!

This past week I was lucky enough to bake cupcakes for two very special events:

 An engagement party & a high school graduation party. 

Engagement Party

( Order:  5 dozen cupcakes.  30 Ultimate Carrot Cake, 30 Oreo Madness)

The bride & groom-to-be each picked a flavor they liked.  The blushing bride chose Oreo Madness, while the groom chose ultimate carrot cake.  For the decorations I incorporated their wedding colors and the first initial of both the bride and groom.  The pink frosting with the "A" topper is Oreo madness cupcakes, while the green frosting and the "M" toppers are Ultimate Carrot Cake. 

You maybe asking what make the cakes "ultimate"?  These are traditional carrot cake + pineapple + coconut + pecans + raisins.  YUM!

High School Graduation

( Order: 4 dozen cupcakes. 24 Chocolate Oreo, 24 Golden Oreo)

This was a last minute request, I got the call Thursday, and the cupcakes were baked and decorated by Friday.  I recommended my #1 flavor.. Oreo but with a twist.  Normally I do vanilla cake and original Oreos, this time I did vanilla cake with Golden Oreos and chocolate cake with original Oreos.  They were a big hit!

I am so lucky to have been asked to be apart of these special events.  Thank you!!

Well, that's all I have to share for tonight.  I hope you enjoy!

Love,
Mona

Cupcakes & Cakes

Shhhhh...

I have a little secret:  I'm taking cake decorating classes! And though my loyalty will always remain with cupcakes, I have to practice cakes for my class.  This week I had a request for half a dozen  birthday peanut butter cupcakes, so I used the rest of the batter for a practice birthday cake!

 

I did orange & yellow theme to match the colors of Reese's Pieces.  Both the cake & the cupcakes are filled with peanut butter mousse. 

Also, this week for class we practiced picture cake decorations... we could pick any picture, and obviously I picked my favorite little image:

This cake is a classic yellow cake with a raspberry white chocolate chip filling.  Everyone in the class picked one big, easy, image: a cupcake, a caterpillar, a hamburger... etc.   I (in classic Mona fashion) decided to do take on a good challenge.

Needless to say, I was the last one left in class, even the instructor left!  But all in all... it was a great class, and a fantastic week. 

Well lovies... I'm off to bed (aside from baking & eating, sleeping is my favorite.)  I hope you enjoy!

Love,

Mona

My First Customer!!!!

I can't even begin to explain how amazing this feels.  My first customer... Melissa... gave me the freedom to pick my flavors, so I decided to make one brand new flavor (S'mores) & one relatively new flavor (Snickerdoodle). Thank you to Melissa for letting me make these for you!

Lets jump right in to my newest adventure!

My newest flavor: S'mores

Normally, I can resist "sampling" my creations (twice)... but I could not resist these! Wow... that's all I can say.  All you are missing is the camp fire.  Just beware, making marshmallow frosting is just as messy as trying to roast marshmallows on a stick over a fire.  The mess was big, but this flavor is bigger!  I searched and searched for a good S'mores cupcake recipe, but most of them start with a chocolate cake base.  I did not want that, I wanted a graham cracker base... so I just made it up. 

I tried to get artistic with this next picture, Rien's amazing photography has inspired me:

These creations are:

• 
  
  Graham cracker cake, with Hershey bits inside
• 
  
  Marshmallow Frosting
• 
  
  Graham cracker & Hershey Bar toppers.

My (relatively) New Flavor:  Snickerdoodle

I call these relatively new because the first time I made them for a birthday party, they were great.  Then I changed the recipe just a bit... and they bombed! (the whole batch went into the trash) So this was my attempt to redeem myself, and I did it!

Here are two more artistic pictures:

These are:

• 
  
  Vanilla cake with Cinnamon-Sugar swirled in
• 
  
  Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Well kiddies, I am off.  Hope you enjoyed!!

Love,

Mona

Pretty Pretty Princess!

My first mass-production ever!!! I made 180 tie-dye Oreo cupcakes for the Junior League’s annual Mother-Daughter dance this past Saturday. The cupcakes were a huge hit, and so was the party. The first year of the dance there were about 50 people, last year the number was up to 120, this year we had 250 mothers/grandmothers and the special girls in their life.

I wanted to make super girly "Princess" cakes for this special event. I decided on doing a bright pink & purple tie-dye cake (with an Oreo center) topped with vanilla frosting also tie-dyed and princess crown….perfect for any little princess!

I hope you enjoy!

Love,

Mona