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

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). 

You are the Cookie On My Cupcake. ♥

I am Amanda Cupcake, and I've been hiding the cookie monster within me for far too long.

I love cookies.

I can probably eat more cookie dough than you can imagine. ♥ It's all gone before I even realize.

So I am in big trouble.

And you might be too.

For one, the word cookie is so cute.
Cookie.

Say it.

It draws you in.

Now say "Snickerdoodle Cookie". (so cute, right)?

Add some edible sparkles and call it a "Sparkledoodle".

Awwww. ♥

Now add your Sparkledoodles to a creamy dreamy white swirl of heavenly frosting fluffed like a dream on top of a vanilla cinnamon cupcake.

A Sparkledoodle Cupcake!

♥

A cookie to add to my cupcake.

Cherry Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cherry Red Velvet Cupcakes too ♥

My cupcake darlings, it is up to you to decide how you will eat these cupcakes!

Cookie First, then Cupcake?
Use the cookie as a scoop to eat the frosting?

Or pretend it's your first birthday and eat the whole thing at once?!

♥

Recipe for Cherry Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies:

(Adapted from Forme-Foryou chocolate chip cookie recipe!)

Dry Ingredients:

2 Cups Minus 2 Tablespoons of Cake Flour

1 2/3 Cups Bread Flour

1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt or kosher salt

Creaming Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cups Unsalted Butter

1 1/4 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

2 Eggs (large)

2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

My little magical addition:

1 Bag of Mini Chocolate Chips

1 Bag of Cherry Chips

A *hint* of almond extract.

This is how magical it is:

1.  Combine your Cake Flour, Bread Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt in one bowl. Whisk together.

2.  In your stand mixer, Cream Room Temperature Butter with Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar.

3.  Gradually add eggs and vanilla.

4.  Now gradually add your dry ingredients to the blend, and you have cookie dough.

4.  When you add your chips to the cookie dough use, a spatula to mix in-you don't need to use a mixer attachment.

5.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

6.  Using a small cookie scoop, scoop little mounds of cookie dough onto your cookie sheet. Make sure they are spaced out enough so they have room to puff ♥. 

5.  Bake for appx 10-15 minutes at a preheated 350 degrees (ovens vary so just watch to see if the tops of the cookies turn slightly golden. I like my cookies somewhat underbaked so they stay really soft as they cool).

Tip: There are rumors that this cookie tastes *BEST* when cooled for 24-36 hours and then baked. I think they are wonderful either way.

A Sparkly Apple Cupcake Kiss. ♥

 I am very happy to say that people *love* that I add sparkles to my cupcakes.

This is what happened to my lips the other day after I ate one of my cupcakes:

The best thing is when a man comes to visit me while I am working in the kitchen (whether it be friend, potential romance, or even my dad)..and the second he graces my presence, I see a speck of glitter on him.  I don't know how it happens so fast, but it does. I don't even have to touch him! It is quite endearing seeing a speck of glitter on a man's face, t-shirt, anywhere..really! The thing is, none of the men that have graced my glittery presence have seemed to mind at all.

                                                             ♥

Wouldn't James Franco look great with a speck of Amanda Cupcake glitter on him?

♥

So yesterday I went out looking for my dreams, a trail of sparkles leading me.
For a place to call home. My future cupcakery.  I am not sure when it will happen, but I know that it has to!

This is a quote my sister-in-law posted on facebook this week and it is so true to any of us who have creative dreams. The creative dreams that live in our mind that we want to become tangible!

Wouldn't it be great if Audrey was eyeing my cupcakes in this window? Cupcakes for breakfast. Quite a vision and a dream I have.

After my search for my dreams yesterday, I went straight to the kitchen to work on a new cupcake.  I was inspired, and I think I reached a whole new level with these:

Apple Crisp-Pie Cupcakes ♥

I baked  mini apple pies inside of a spiced cupcake. So it sort of became this moist autumn spiced cinnamon-a-licious apple pie cake masterpiece in my mouth. 

I always like to cut my cupcakes in half to reveal the beauty that is yummy.

Just so people know what they are in store for.. I baked additional mini apple crisp pies to top the swirl of salted caramel that is on top of the spiced apple-crisp pie cupcake!

♥

The cupcakes sold out today at Cronie's in Waupaca.

♥

My friend that was watching me create this concoction (and yes..I saw glitter on him).. said that I looked like a mad scientist! (In a cutesy cupcake-ish polka dot apron sort of way).

I love being the mad sparkly cupcake scientist who wears polka dots and gets my apron "dirty" with glitter.

Or if I forget an apron, I sacrifice my jeans to the glitter and frosting.   I didn't even really want to wash them.

You can be a mad sparkly scientist who goes all crazy surprising people with edible gifts inside of cupcakes too:

My recipe for mini apple crisp pies:

(These are also perfect alone. Think....delicious finger food at a Fall Soiree!)

I tested the Apple Crisp recipe from one of my mentors Martha Stewart and adapted it to fit Amanda Cupcake.

You will need:

Stuff:

• Mini Pie Tins or Tart Tins (make as many as you want.  You might eat some of them while on your baking journey).
• An Apron
• Disco Dust (Preferably in Rainbow or Hologram Gold)
• An Apple Corer

Yum:

• 3 Pounds of Baking Apples (sliced into tiny tiny tiny thin slices so they fit inside of the mini pie crusts)
• Pillsbury Pie Crust
• 3/4 Cups of All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

(you can store any leftover crisp in your freezer to use later)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare your mini pies.  Roll out your pie crust, and use your mini pie tins as "cutters" to cut out the pie crust that will fit nicely into your mini pie tin!

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and the 2 Tablespoons of Granulated Sugar.

3.  Cut up the butter and use a pastry blender (or you can use other things if you don't have a pastry blender-like your clean hands, or two knives). Just make sure you mix all together until the mixture is clumpy and coarse. You can freeze this while you move on to your next step.

4.  In another bowl, toss your mini apple slices with the fall flavors of cinnamon, remaining sugar, a tiny bit of flour, and lemon juice.

5. Line your cookie sheet with mini pie tins.  Fill each prepared pie crust with your seasoned apples.

6.  Top your seasoned apples with apple crisp mixture.

7.  Bake in oven at 375 for about 20-25 minutes (ovens vary).

8. The crusts should look light brown when finished, and people should nearby should be exclaiming while drooling, "It smells like fall in here!

To continue the sparkle trail of dreams..

Sprinkle some sparkles on the top of your mini pie!

Follow my blog instructions here on how to bake a mini pie inside of a cupcake!