One Girl and A Cupcake Shoppe ♥

I just celebrated a year at the Cupcake Mansion in New London.
I even invited a unicorn.

Plus 300 people standing underneath a sparkly ceiling buying cupcakes.

...in a small farmhouse that I named The Cupcake Mansion a year ago.

In the same week as my Cupcake Mansion celebration..I started selling cupcakes at Woodmans (one of the biggest most awesome grocery stores in Wisconsin).  My first big box retailer.  What an honor.  We sold out in 2 days the first week! ♥ (this is me and one of my sidekicks, Katarina at Woodmans demo-ing our product).

Everything seems like a big blur, and when I look back at myself a year ago..
I see myself as an artist. A baby.
Now I see myself as an artist and a business woman. ♥
I wonder who I'll be this time next year?

At my grand opening party, my dream was to run a cupcake fashion show.
Every model dressed up like a different version of  (me) Amanda Cupcake.
There was..Lucille Ball Cupcake, Unicorn Amanda Cupcake, Rainbow Brite Amanda Cupcake, Zombie Amanda Cupcake, Cupcake Superhero Amanda Cupcake, Business Amanda Cupcake, Betsey Johnson (fashion designer) Amanda Cupcake...the list goes on ♥

But I have to be honest here.
This model... defined the true Amanda Cupcake at this moment in my career.
We named her "At Night Baking Amanda Cupcake."
Amanda Cupcake's true identity revealed.
Frosting, candy melts, flour caked onto jeans.
Glitter or frosting on my face and in my hair.
Half asleep from working so hard..

but still happy & satisfied, because creating is everything ♥
Even if it means you have to sacrifice to turn a dream into a living!

When the model blew powdered sugar at the audience, tears welled up in my eyes.  To me it was more than just a funny and fun fashion show.  The fashion show was my story, unfolding in action before my eyes.  

Me♥
In the past year..
I've made so many wishes.
(and I'm making one in this picture as I blow the sprinkles!)

I've made many mistakes but they've made me an amazing problem solver.
I've shed tears in my own cupcake batter trying to resolve them!
I've gained about 15 lbs, sigh :)
I've accepted peacefully that while the rest of the world is out partying on a Saturday night, I'm at home enjoying a bubble bath, a glass of wine, or a snooze.
I've experienced more love than I ever have!

...and sadly I've managed to figure out how to handle the criticism of haters too.
And while I am on this divine cupcake rollercoaster..
I'm gonna keep the faith♥.

That's my recipe for you in this blog entry.
It may not fill your tummy, but I hope it fills your heart.
Thank you all for your support in the past year.
Let's show everyone that cupcakes can change the world.
Perhaps a cupcake is a path to World Peace?!

quote by Kurt Vonnegut ♥
Photos by Maison Meredith Photography & Tommy Trout Photo

Twinklies, Unicorns, Minions, and Throwing Glitter In The Air!!!

I made "Twinklie" Cupcakes.

♥

Inspired by Twinkies.  I call them Twinklies. Because they *sparkle*.  Yellow Cupcakes..stuffed with Marshmallow Cream Buttercream..  Swirled with the same fluffy buttercream on top.  I made these awhile ago, when the world was sad and void of Hostess Twinkies.

You know what Twinkies have inspired (now that they have returned)?

Minion Cupcakes ♥ from Despicable Me.
I know you've seen them..all over the internet!
People turning Twinkies into yellow minion cupcake toppers!

I had so many friends posting the yellow Twinkie Minion Cupcake photos on my personal Facebook timeline, begging me to make them.   But I knew that I had to do something a little different. A little more Amanda Cupcake-esque.  Waiting is sometimes worth it because *I* was inspired when I went to see.....Despicable Me 2!

I made these:

The Purple Minion Clones.

The whole movie Despicable Me 2 is based out of a cupcake bakery.

And when I saw the purple Minion Clones..I just knew they'd make the perfect cupcake minion army!Purple hair, funny chompy teeth, crossed eyes!  I love how the minion clones try so hard to be mean but they are still such kind souls underneath the purple. 

I cut Twinkies in half, and froze them for about an hour on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper so they'd be solid enough to make it through a cupcake fondue process!  In the meantime, I melted white candy melts in  a deep bowl (deep enough to dip twinkies in).  I colored the candy melts with purple candy color gels after after the candy melts were melted and smooth.

These are my minions in progress.. after, dipping in purple candy melts, setting down on parchment paper and sprinkling on eyes.  I was thinking that the Minions might end up looking like Grimace (from McDonalds) or the ghosts (from Pac Man).  New inspirations for a cupcake in the future perhaps?!

♥

How I got this far:  After the Twinkies were frozen, I dipped cake pop sticks in the melted purple candy melts, and immediately stuck them into the bottom flat side of the Twinkie to "glue" the Twinkie to the cake pop stick and let the cake pop stick set for a few minutes for easy dipping!

Hint:  It's easier to add eyes to the purple Twinkie clones while the candy melts are still wet.  It only took the eyeballs a few minutes to dry onto the Twinkie..and I was on my way to the next step....

Piping Goggles around the eyeballs!

Using a 7/16" Round Tip inside of a disposable piping bag.

I folded a few dots of black color gel paste into white buttercream to achieve the grey goggle color

♥

Another Hint:  I love to make all my cupcake creatures look cross eyed (it gives them character--especially Minions!)  So  don't be afraid to have crazy fun sticking the eyeballs on the candy coated Twinkies!

I piped white teeth on to the Purple coated Twinkie using another small round tip.  The purple hair was piped on with a small open star tip.  (The "lavender" hair color was achieved by adding a small dot of purple gel paste color to white buttercream).   

♥

I baked the cupcakes using my "Twinklie" recipe and colored the batter Regal Purple (using Americolor Gel Paste).  I didn't fill the cupcakes with the Marshmallow Fluff Buttercream, since the cupcake had to be pretty stable to hold the Minion Clones on top. 

However..

A Twinkie Coated in Candy Melts..

On top of a Cupcake frosted with Marshmallow Fluff Buttercream..was double the cupcake love.  Maybe even triple..

...or Army Sized Cupcake Love!! ♥♥♥

My Minion Clone Cupcakes.

♥

Another reason I love Despicable Me..Unicorns ♥

Unicorn Cupcakes were simple.

♥Bugles-for the horns

♥Mini Pastel Licorice Candies for the ears

♥Sugar Eyes

♥Marshmallows cut in half for the noses

♥Edible Ink marker in black for the nostrils!

(if you want to know how to make the rainbow frosting, see my Rainbow Cupcake tutorial!)
"It's Beautiful!"
(this was a quote by Agnes referring to her pet unicorn in Despicable Me 2)!


Your own "Twinklie" recipe

Easy to bake at home ♥♥♥♥

Ingredients for the Cupcake:

1 Box of Yellow Cake Mix

1 Box of Instant Vanilla Pudding, as Powder (3-4 oz)

1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

4 Eggs

Directions:

♥Preheat Oven to 325.
♥Line Prepared Cupcake Pans with 18 cupcake liners.

♥Using your stand mixer, blend ingredients together: Yellow Cake Mix, Vanilla Pudding, Buttermilk, Vanilla Extract, Vegetable Oil, and Eggs.

♥After 30 seconds of mixing ingredients together, scrape your bowl with a rubber spatula to incorporate all ingredients together.

♥Mix again for 1-2 minutes until batter is creamy.
♥Use an ice cream scoop to fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full.
♥Bake in your oven at 325 for approximately 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of cupcake comes out clean.
♥Let cool before decorating.



Colorful Twinklies!

 

The Filling and Frosting
You can leave the cupcakes with the filling inside only without frosting on top.
Or..you can go the extra mile and pipe frosting on top of the cupcakes after filling.
Either way, this filling recipe works as both a frosting and a filling for the Twinklies.

Marshmallow Cream Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients:
14 oz Marshmallow Cream
1 lb butter-softened but not melted (yes, 1 lb. Everything is better with butter!)
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
8 Cups Powdered Sugar or more, depending on how thick you want frosting to be.

♥Use a spatula to scrape the fluff and the butter out into your stand mixer.
♥Mix well until fluffy and well blended.
♥Gradually add vanilla extract.
♥Now add your powdered sugar, slowly until the frosting reaches desired consistency.
(The more powdered sugar you add--the more stiff the frosting will be for decorating).

Decorating:
♥Use a cupcake corer to form a hole in the center of your Twinklie Cupcakes.
♥Slide an open star tip down to the end of a disposable piping bag and cut a hole large enough to fit the piping tip.

♥Fill your piping bag with the Marshmallow Cream Buttercream you just made.
♥Now fill the inside of your cupcake and continue to swirl on top of the cupcake, as pictured above!
♥Sprinkle with edible sparkles, gems, or confetti! Whatever you fancy ♥

♥...or..don't fill it all and top it with a Twinkie disguised as a purple Minion!!

"Always be yourself unless you can be a unicorn. Then always be a unicorn."

Yes my cupcake friends here are...Wearing Unicorn Horns, Throwing Glitter in the air, and Making Wishes at my Cupcake Mansion in New London ♥♥

The Cupcake Dance!

A few weeks ago, a dream of mine came true.

I opened my cupcake shoppe!

And it isn't just any cupcake shoppe.

It is my vision.

A home for my cupcakes.

I call it The Cupcake Mansion because it should be a destination.

A place for people to fill their bellies (and mustaches, hair, skin!) with sugar and frosting and sparkles.  But also a place with purpose, a place that fills you up with happiness like when you were a little kid.  

This is the action. My friends & I preparing the cupcake mansion for lots o love. We were GLITTERIZING the wall in the shoppe. Yes, just throwing sparkles at the wet wall. (People asked how we did it.. we painted the wall with clear glaze and threw glitter all over it while it was still wet. Lots and lots of glitter!)

When I say this place has purpose..

it is more than just about making people happy.

I'm on a mission to use my God given gift of cupcake making to change lives :).  

(which you may or may not have already known, but now I'm announcing it loud and clear!)

(cupcake skirt with glitter hearts!)

I painted some lives with delicious dreams a few days after my successful grand opening!

I hosted a cupcake *surprise* party at my mansion for the New London Girls Dance Team.

22 girls who had just found out they were on the dance team.  Their coach surprised them with a trip here ♥. And the girls thought they were going bowling!   I can't even imagine what a  wondrous shock it was when we threw glitter at them and exclaimed, "Welcome to the Cupcake Mansion!" when they walked through the door! ! ! !

my adorable assistant Billie who helped me throw glitter on the girls!

I taught them how to make rainbow cupcakes and how to make edible gems out of delights like m&ms, peanut butter cups, and Hershey kisses. ♥  I even prepared 22 edible words and ballet slippers out of pink candy melts so their cupcake could dance!

Some of their creations ♥

While I was teaching cupcakes in one room, my fairy godmother (Jane) taught the girls how to make ribbon headbands that they could wear.  (So the ribbons would move with the girls when they danced)!  

♥

An adorable dance team/exchange student from Germany exclaimed the cutest thing ever: "I want to take my cupcake back to Germany!

There was one rule at this party.

If you stepped on the rug in front of the counter of goodies..(inevitable!!) you absolutely had to DANCE ♥♥♥!!

I asked the girls to make up a "cupcake dance".  As I recall it involved a mixer..and the motion of eating a cupcake ♥ Hmm I am thinking cupcake dance flash mob in the near future?! Or a visit from Ellen Degeneres (it is STILL my goal to dance with her and eat a red velvet vegan cupcake with her and her audience)!

Glitter, smiles, sugar, music, dance, cupcakes.

"A laugh is a smile that bursts."

..or so I have heard!:

Sparkly tutus!

Our "toast" to sparkly marshmallows and hot cocoa.

My Irish fairy godmother's sparkly marshmallow and hot cocoa toast:

An Irish Toast to Liars, Cheaters & Stealers:

May you lie your life down for family and friends,

May you cheat death & dishonor at every chance

And may you steal the hearts of those you love all life long.

The girls enchanted by her Irish toast ♥.

During the party I stepped back for a second to watch everything happening. And that was just it. This dream of a cupcake mission was "happening."  My glittery cupcake heart was being shared with 22 amazing girls.    

Their completed cupcakes on the cupcake skirt♥

Wrapped up in that little cupcake liner was a memory of a lifetime. D

Learning all about Amanda Cupcake ♥ on my wall of fame :)

Maybe you should make a wall of fame.

It really highlights all the wonderful people & experiences you meet when you take on life's adventures, no matter what they are!    Do you have any idea of how rewarding it is to use all your seconds and minutes in life to do good for the world..and then sit back and watch it all unfold!? (or perhaps,  watch it dance in this case).