I am feeling geeky...

Last week, my sister and her husband invited us to their house for a house warming party and her husband's surprise birthday party.  She asked me to make them some cupcakes for the party and she asked me to decorated some of them to the stuffs her husband likes.  Play Station 2 (PS2), XBox, Honda Civic Si, and books (all the manly and geeky stuffs).

Based on her information, I crafted the cupcake toppers to all the geeky stuffs he likes.  I made two different favors based on my sister's request.  They are lemon-fresh blueberry cupcakes with rasberry frosting and chocolater cupcake with rose water frosting.  They are so summer-y and refreshing! 

Here are some pictures I want to share with everyone:

Enjoying my lemon zest cupcakes in this beautiful summer

Summer is finally here!  Last weekend was hot, sunny and beautiful!  And finally we got to clean up the house a bits and got some new patio furniture for our lovely little patio.  I am going to put our paito in a good use this summer.  I enjoy reading, eating, having my cupcakes and chatting with Mr. G at our patio. 

I made some lemon zest cupcakes with lemon zest raspberry butter cream frosting and some chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting with chocolate ganache.  They both tasted lovely and I enjoyed every bite of them!  Tell us what are your favorite Summer cupcakes.

Lemon zest cupcake with lemon rasberry butter cream frosting

Chocoalte cupcake with peanut butter frosting with chocolate ganache

Enjoy the beautiful summer day

Frosting and Cupcake (Part I)

Last time we talked about our Top 10 cupcakes in America.  This time I am going to share some tips with you of how we choose the right frosting to go with your favorite cupcakes. 

• Vanilla cupcake is a very classic flavor.  And this flavor can almost pair up with any flavors of frosting.  If you like very light frosting, I suggest you to pair with our classic white chocolate frosting or home-made whipped cream.  If you like fresh fruit, our classic strawberry buttercream will be a great choice.  If you like chocolate (who doesn't?!), pair it with our classic chocolate buttercream or hazelnut buttercream. 

• Pumpin cupcake is a seasonal cupcake for Fall and Winter.  It's great pair with classic cream cheese frosting.

• Banana cupcake pair with banana frosting is always a great choice.  Banana flavor also goes well with fresh fruit icing, such as strawberry, raspberry or any other berry-flavored icing. Also, any type of chocolate frosting will be a great match with this cupcake also, but if you're in the mood for something really different and light, try adding a dollop of whipped cream. It's simple and delicious!

• Coffee is featured prominently in desserts because it goes well with just about anything that tastes sweet. Therefore, there are a myriad of possible frosting options for coffee cupcakes. Chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, almond, raspberry -- really, any flavor that might go with a cup of joe is a possible contender for the cake or icing part of your cupcake.

• Chocolate is another popular and classic flavor at our Cupcakery!  If you are choco-holic, top with a heavy dark chocolate frosting.  If you like chocolate, but would like something lighter on top, go with our classic white chocolate.  If you like fresh fruit, rasberry or strawberry frostings will be another great choice. 

• Lemon cupcakes typically pair up with sweet but slightly tangy yellow frosting. Last time I made a lemon flavored frosting with a candied orange on top and it was a great hit!  If the combination of lemon cake and lemon frosting is too tart for your taste, ask for an unfrosted cupcake with just a light dusting of powdered sugar for a subtle dose of extra sweetness.

Orangina, My Favorite Soda

I don't usually drink sodas.  I used to love it when I was a kid.  All of a sudden, ever since I graduated from high school, I lose interest of drinking them.  However, there is one soda, I cannot image I could give up in my life. 

Her name is Orangina! 

We first encountered each other when I was in France when my family and I were visiting my aunt and her family.  After the first taste of her, I could not forget about her.  I lose touch with her after I got back to my home town, Macau.  Frankly, thing started changing after I moved to the States for college, my sister came home one day and told me that she found her at Trader Joe.  I was in heaven!  We reconnected again!  I seriously missed her during all those years.  I am glad that we reconnected. 

Enjoying my Orangina at South Beach, Miami.

In my opinion, the differences between Orangina and regular sodas are -

Orangina is about half as carbonated as most sodas, sweet but not overly done, with a nice citrusy flavor and slightly bitter aftertaste, like the natural oil from orange peel and probably from the grapefruit juice too.  Imagine you drop a piece of lemon in your water.  Your mouth always has that bitter sweet aftertaste from the water with lemon.

Plus, look at the bottle of her, how could you not fall in love with her curve (I am talking about the small bottle of her)?  LOL!  If you have never tried this soda, you need to go to Trader Joes to grab some for yourself, open it, taste it and you will know what I mean.  They have two different sizes at Trader Joe's:  4 small bottles package (see the poster for the size) for $2.99usd, and the 1 liter bottle you saw from my above picture for $1.89usd.

Jamprint Cookies Recipe from OddFellows Cafe + Bar (Seattle, Wa)

Imagine from Cakespy.com

Ever since our first visit in Seattle, I have been falling in love with this city, the food, the culture and the people there.  I have been chasing after few Seattle food and dessert blogs since we had gotten back from our trip last year.  Few months ago, I made these Jamprints Cookies based on the recipe I found from the OddFellows Cafe + Bar's facebook page.  I altered the recipe a little bits by adding some fresh lemon zest.

The cookies came out so moist and yummy.  Here is their secret:

Jamprints Cookies

Imagine from PRZman.com

Ingredients

• 0.75 lbs butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3.5 cups flour
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• flaked coconut, for edges
• jam (of your choosing), about 1 teaspoon per cookie

Instruction:
Preheat oven to 350

1.     Cream butter + sugar in mixer w/ paddle attachment, add vanilla + salt

2.     Sift in the flour, mix until dough comes together

*Optional:  Adding lemon zest in the batter

3.     Wrap in plastic, chill for 1 hr
4.     Roll it into 1 ounce balls, dip balls in egg wash + roll in flaked coconut

5.     Put ball on a baking sheet + indent the top, fill with jam.

6.    Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until coconut is toasted and jam thickens.

Very easy to make and very tasty! 

Thanks Oddfellows to share their recipe.

"The Top 10 Most Popular Cupcakes"

When I first came up with our classic flavor for my cupcakery, I was just casually thinking of some flavors I or my family like.  After I got my classic flavor set, I was curious to find out if those are the flavors most Americans like as well?! So I went on the internet and did a little bits of research, and saw a list of "10 Most Popular Cupcake Flavors - and Why?" on TLC website, and...BINGO!  I got most of them right!!!


(Note:  If you don't see your favorite flavors on our Classic Flavors List, please don't stress or worry.  Contact us and tell us what's your favorites are; we will make the flavors just for you.)

Vanilla cupcake by C for Cupcake Cupcakery

10. Vanilla - Chances are you've had a vanilla cupcake at one time or another. As you probably already know, vanilla is one of the most common flavors found in candies, pastries and various sweet treats. In fact, like chocolate, the taste of vanilla typifies sweet desserts and confections for many of us, so it's not surprising that these cupcakes are so popular and easy to find.

Seasonal Pumpkin Cupcake by C for Cupcake Cupcakery

9. Pumpkin - Pumpkin-flavored foods are extremely popular during the fall and winter months. The pleasant taste of these large orange fruits appears in everything from pie to beer, so it should come as no surprise that pumpkin cupcakes are all the rage leading up to Halloween and throughout the holidays. Although they're typically available for just a few months out of the year, pumpkin cupcakes are extremely popular. It's not unusual to find them at parties, grocery stores, bakeries or even on restaurant dessert menus.

Roasted Banana Cupcake by C for Cupcake Cupcakery

8. Banana - There's something comforting and nostalgic about a steaming loaf of banana bread. Banana cupcakes taste a lot like banana bread -- only you probably won't be eating one for breakfast. These surprisingly popular desserts are more common than you might think, and like their pumpkin-flavored cousins, they go well with a variety of toppings and icings.


7. Coffee - Coffee-flavored cupcakes may sound bizarre to some people, but they make perfect sense when you think about it. After all, there's coffee cake (though typically sans icing), ice cream, candy -- even tiramisu contains a distinctive coffee taste. Coffee made the jump from a pick-me-up drink in the morning to a popular dessert staple a long time ago, so don't be surprised if you see coffee cupcakes sharing shelf space with their chocolate and vanilla counterparts at your local supermarket or bakery.

Devil Chocolate Cupcake (Vegetarian Cake) by C for Cupcake Cupcakery

6. Chocolate - Let's face it, just about everyone loves chocolate. And no wonder -- many of the compounds contained in chocolate cause receptors in the brain to chemically induce feelings of pleasure (Read more about this in Can chocolate give me a happy high?). Chocolate is eaten by people all over the world, and for many of us, dessert and sweet treats are synonymous with the flavor.

Lemon Zest Cupcake by C for Cupcake Cupcakery 

5. Lemon - Biting into a lemon cupcake isn't anything like sinking your teeth into an actual lemon. Although there will be a definite bit of tartness with the cupcake -- the amount of which is determined by the recipe -- the overriding sensation should be sweet. In fact, that's what makes this variety so popular. People who like a little sour with their sweet have found an answer to their dessert dilemma after years of passing upchocolate and red velvet cupcakes. Lemon cupcakes have really gained popularity in recent years, and you'd be hard-pressed to walk into a specialty cupcake store and not find one.


4. Peanut Butter - When you think of peanut butter, cupcakes probably aren't the first thing that comes to your mind. However, peanut butter cupcakes have become quite popular in recent years, and, like many of the other cakes featured in this article, they aren't too sweet, which makes them extremely versatile and likeable.


3. Carrot Cake - Carrots have been a principal ingredient in European sweet cakes since the Middle Ages. The reason for this is simple: Carrots have more sugar than just about any other vegetable [source: Davidson]. Even if you have an aversion to carrots, you'll probably still like carrot cake cupcakes. 

Red Velvet Cupcake by C for Cupcake Cupcakery

2. Red Velvet - Like carrot cake cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes are big treats in miniature form. Instead of ordering an entire red velvet cake, why not choose a portion-controlled red velvet cupcake, which you can eat in about five or six big bites? This variety is moderately decadent and easier on both the wallet and the waistline than a full-sized cake, a fact that has helped red velvet cupcakes become virtually synonymous with the modern cupcake movement. It's a trendy, grown-up flavor in a kid-sized form that appeals to sweet-lovers of all ages. In fact, red velvet cupcakes often outsell all other flavors, including such traditional favorites as chocolate and vanilla, in some specialty cupcake stores [source: cupcake].

Marble Cupcake by C for Cupcake Cupcakery

1. Chocolate and Vanilla - Forget the fads -- chocolate and vanilla cupcakes are timeless. These scrumptious desserts combine the two most essential sweet tastes into an unbeatable concoction that's always in style. You can find chocolate and vanilla cupcakes everywhere from the trendiest cupcake shops to elementary school cafeterias.

We are going to find out what icings or frostings should pair with our Top 10 Cupcakes!  

Stay tuned for more "sweet" information!