beer + cupcakes

Last week we featured a chocolate stout peanut butter caramel cupcake flavor & it was definitely one of the more popular choices that week.  It was a chocolate stout cake, filled with peanut butter caramel, topped with sweet cream frosting & more p.b. caramel.

This flavor reminded me of some custom craft beer cupcakes we made for a wedding last fall.  The groom makes his own beer and gave us some vanilla coffee porter to douse the cupcake batter with and, of course, his beer was also served at the wedding.  If you're going to serve beer at your wedding, I thought it would be a fun idea for brides & grooms to collect vintage beer mugs throughout their engagement and have one for each guest, which could also serve as their wedding favor.  Since I love searching for unique vintage finds (even if I don't buy them!), I sourced some cool mugs...

silver mugs, "happy days are here" mug, green mugs, amber mug

pastel mugs, pink depression glass mug, yellow depression glass mugs, aqua mug

glass mugs, milk glass mugs, copper mug, engraved mugs

simply beautiful rancho dos pueblos wedding

Last fall we worked 5 weekends in a row with photographer Braedon Flynn and each wedding was entirely unique from the next.  It's been fun to see the weddings pop up on Ruffled Blog, Style Me Pretty and Braedon's own blog.  I always get a bit giddy when brides tell me that Braedon will be shooting their wedding because we love his work so much, and then when they tell me the venue is Rancho Dos Pueblos, I am over the moon! 

I wanted to share some pics from Stephanie and Rob's wedding because they are gorgeous photos and I think they are a great testament that most of the couples we work with narrow down their flavor selections (from our ridiculously long list) based on flavor preference, rather than color, looks, etc.  I've been meeting with a lot of couples over the last few weeks regarding their upcoming weddings and they all ask, "how should we go about selecting our flavors?"  I think it's best to pick the flavors you love and let the set-up (table, linens, backdrop, stands & platters) tie the desserts in with the rest of the wedding, rather than the trying to match the actual cupcakes to the wedding decor. Below you'll see a classic, lovely, elegant wedding (and couple!) combined with BACON cupcakes...I love it!  I used vintage soft pink glass, clear glass and silver stands with glass domes for the dessert table set up. 

You can check out more eye candy from this wedding here and here!

Photography: Braedon Flynn of Braedon Photography / Coordination + Design: Joy de Vivre / Florals: NLC Productions / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Lighting + Drapery: Bella Vista Designs / Venue: Rancho dos Pueblos / Catering: Duo Events / Cupcakes: Enjoy Cupcakes / Transportation: Santa Barbara Airbus / Linens: La Tavola Linen / Ceremony Music: Classic IV Quartet / DJ + Photobooth: Gavin Roy / Linens: La Tavola

ingredient spotlight...carrots

We have spiced carrot cake cupcakes on the menu this week...

and before you start to feeling guilty about coming in for a carrot cupcake, I'll try to help convince you that it will be good for you :)

Carrots are very high in fiber and improve stomach and gastrointestinal health.  Consistent consumption of carrots prevents the formation of gastric ulcer and other digestive disorders.

The body better absorbs the nutrients when the carrots are slightly cooked, rather than eaten raw (perfect since they are baked into the cupcakes!).

½ cup cooked carrots = over 4x amount of RDA of Vitamin A, which is important for eye health.  While they make won’t your vision better, they will help prevent cataracts. 

grapefruit + lavender

The grapefruit & lavender chardonnay cupcakes are for sure the best smelling cupcakes we've ever made!  When I was mixing together the lavender scented sugar with grapefruit zest for the top of the cupcakes, I wanted to turn it into a lotion!  But, aside from smelling good, the flavor combination is delicious too (which is way more important that how it smells)!

Grapefruit Lavender Chardonnay...chardonnay cake, filled with grapefruit lavender curd, topped with grapefruit frosting & lavender, grapefruit infused sugar

I love soft shades of lavender & lilac with hints of gray just like the pretty things shown below ~

anthropologie

urban outfitters

shop ruche

etsy

pottery barn

new bakery kitchen...

inspiration board for our commerical bakery kitchen ~

ingredient spotlight...lemon

Meyer Lemon Meringue Chardonnay Cupcakes...chardonnay cake, filled with meyer lemon curd (made ith fresh squeezed meyer lemons), topped with toasted meringue frosting.

Why eat lemons?  Because they are extremelly high in vitamin C, which helps protect & cleanses our bodies from toxins.  Do you need anymore reason than that?  They also are rich in potassium, which makes sure that fluids reach our cells and keep us hydrated.  So have a lemon cupcake :) or if you don't feel like something sweet try this...

When I was growing up my mom made the most amazing salads.  I don't think we ever had a dinner at home that didn't include an intricate salad.  The best home-made salad dressing she concocted was simply 1/3 fresh lemon juice, combined with 2/3 olive oil and a few pinches of salt and pepper.  Add a few sprigs of rosemary to the mixture and let sit overnight...delicious!

tangerine tango

flavor board #36

Since I love color, and since Pantone color Tangerine Tango has been deemed the 2012 color of the year, it seems appropriate that we'd start the first week of the year off with a tangerine cupcake!  Specifically, a Wild Hibiscus Tangerine Chardonnay...chardonnay cake, filled with tangerine hibiscus curd, topped with hibiscus frosting & sugared tangerine.

Tangerine Tango, Hibiscus Tangerine Chardonnay Cupcakes, Tangerine infused room, Purse

little cakes + cupcake "pies" @ Jen Huang's Workshop

We had such a wonderful time being a part of Jen Huang's Photography Workshop in November.  It was a great creative outlet for us to try some new cake designs and even a new product.  You can view more pics and details from the workshop on Green Wedding Shoes & Jen's blog. 

Before the three day workshop officially started, Jen graciously hosted a beautiful dinner and we made litte individual cakes for each guest to enjoy.  We knew that Poppies and Posies were going to incorporate fresh fall fruit into their beautiful florals & wanted to tie that concept into the dessert.

For the inspirational shoot, in one of our email exchanges, Jen suggested pies.  Instead of making pies, we created something new...cake & cupcake "pies"...

We also made some cakes for the attendees to shoot.  Kevin had a fun idea in mind & took charge of one of the cakes - can you tell which one is his?

Thank you, Jen, for inviting us to be a part of  your workshop, for the beautiful photos and for snapping a pic of Kevin & I.  I was newly pregnant and we were holding that information close until I was further along, so when I look at the below pic, I just think of the special secret we had at this moment (yes, Brian, that's why I almost fainted on you!).