More Than Cupcakes

I do make more than cupcakes. Sometimes it's whole cakes. I can make them in pretty much any of the flavors I make the cupcakes.

Work In Progress

We haven't had a Flavor of the Week in a while due to vacations, holidays and being held hostage by three crazy small people that keep calling me mom (well two do, one just grins and kind of coos at me). Anyways, we will be back up and running next week with new flavors and now a facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hot-Sugar-Confections/224481014290674?sk=wall

A Little Experimenting

So the bagel place we go to a lot has this bagel that I really like. It's really the only kind I get there. Rosemary olive oil with plain cream cheese. It is tasty. Lots of flavor but light at the same time. So I thought I would try and do a savory cupcake within the same concept of the bagel.

As I was assembling ingredients I remembered an amazing lemonade that I had recently that was peach and rosemary lemonade. So I combined. Fresh peaches simmered with sugar, lemon juice, and rosemary. Pureed and added to batter with olive oil instead of veggie oil. The buttercream is made with cream cheese and a bit of goat cheese for kick.

Muses and the Fall

I have a Muse. She is wonderful and she inspires tasty treats. Last week's oh so decadent Short Dark and Sexy were inspired by her in honor of her birthday. This week she has worked her magic again in a special flavor to kick off a (slow) start of fall.

Apparently September is apple month or something. I don't know if this is actually true, I'm just going with my Muse told me. I do know they are a perfect representation of fall though. Cutting up the apples for the cupcakes made my whole kitchen smell all fall-like. Better than any fancy candle.

This week's cupcake is a Caramel Apple Cupcake. White cake flavored with apple cider and filled with diced red and green apples. Topped with a caramelly (which is totally a word despite what spell check may say) brown butter frosting and a drizzle of caramel.

This is the same frosting from the bacon cupcakes and goes perfectly with the apples. In fact, it goes perfectly by itself which is why I am currently trying to keep my distance from the piping bag.

Short, Dark, and Sexy.... Cupcakes!

The rest of this month is going to have quite a lot of baking. This week it's cupcakes for a wonderful lady's birthday, as well as a cake for a contest with the Mommas.

So first off is the cupcakes. It was requested that I make a super amazing chocolate cupcakes. They needed to be rich, decadent, sexy. Because you know, chocolate is sexy. So here ya go, Short, Dark, and Sexy.

Devil's food cake made with an amazing Russian Imperial stout, French vanilla coffee, and cinnamon. Filled with a spicy milk chocolate pastry cream and topped with a dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate drizzle.

Cupcakes of Weeks Past

Past cupcakes.

Sometimes you need a savory cupcake. Especially one with bacon. It is very dense, very rich, and can double as dinner. In fact, that is what I had for dinner. Bacon and cheddar in a corn cake with a brown butter buttercream. The buttercream is incredibly rich and sweet. Makes me think of fall and butterscotch.
On our last beach trip we found a fantastic shop that sells infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Though I wanted to go home with half the store, I ended up with a vanilla bean balsamic vinegar. Which I immediately planned on pairing with strawberries in either an ice cream or cupcakes. Obviously cupcakes won. Strawberry cupcake with a balsamic buttercream. I love fresh strawberries in a cupcake. It was the end of the season so the flavor wasn't as strong but still, quite tasty. The balsamic gave the buttercream a very dense texture.

End of Summer Cupcakes

The days are ever so slightly cooler. Kids are going back to school this week. Many of us are flocking to the pools and beaches to soak up some last minute sun. It seems like the summer just began and now it's winding to an end.

This week's cupcake is a lemon sponge cake with a lemon mint buttercream. Something light and refreshing for those last hot days of summer.