cupcake trials

so after I decided to do cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake, my darling fiance informed me that we must taste a bunch of flavors. (he does have a sweet tooth at times)

The cupcake tree I found can hold up to 300 cupcakes, we will make possibly more than that and have them on the table around the tree. I want there to be plenty, and even have leftovers for guests to take home in to-go boxes we got.

I thought of doing cupcakes in just a few basic flavors and decorate them all in wedding colors, but I figured I would get enough wedding color decor when I decorate the stand and when I started looking at cupcakes I liked the ones that had little clues on the frosting as to whats inside.

so I thought of some flavor ideas and decorating ideas and here are some of the ones i came up with:

almond joy 1 chocolate cake mix with almond extract added, 1 white cake made with coconut milk and coconut extract added. topped with shredded coconut and a roasted almond. first, I put some chocolate batter in, then some coconut batter and swirled with a toothpick.

the frosting is a can of chocolate that has almond flavored syrup mixed in.

I can also make some of these Mounds by waiting to add the almond extract to the chocolate until half of them are made, then top with all coconut and no almond. because some times you feel like a nut, and sometimes, you dont.

raspberry lemonade 1 lemon cake made with lemonade concentrate instead of half of the water(i tried with all concentrate and it was on the strong side) and 1 lemon cake made with half lemonade concentrate, mashed fresh raspberries (or chopped frozen) and some raspberry jello powder (or kool-ade) mixed in (dont forget the eggs like i did btw).

i put the lemon cake batter in the cups first, then topped with some raspberry cake and swirled with a toothpick. (the seperate color/flavor part can be skipped but i wanted them to look fancier than a solid color) they're topped with lemon frosting (from a can), fresh raspberry and a lemon peel or lemon candy and a sprinkling of more jello powder

this can be done with only 1 mix if you fill all the cupcake cups halfway with lemon then add some raspberry stuff then finish. i was making 4 dozen anyway so I used 2 boxes.

for testing, I made these for my late uncle's celebration of life that we held instead of a funeral. I opted for the lemon drops because they were my Grammies favorite candy before she passed away 22 years ago (and every candy is uncle Keith's favorite). Also, they were easier to work with than a lemon slice or peel in the mornings while pregnant.

Everyone raved about how yummy these were, but people suggested that for the wedding, to do either do a gummy candy, or lemon slice. the lemon drop was too much, to have to suck on, in addition to eating the cupcake.

strawberry cheesecake strawberry cake mix with chopped strawberries mixed in. frosted with cream cheese frosting and top rolled in crushed graham crackers and a strawberry slice.

I decided to frost the cupcakes with the same as the filling, it was so much yummier than the canned frosting.

for the filling, I mixed softened cream cheese with powdered sugar is all. to do the filling, I poked the handle end of a wooden spoon in the middle of the cupcake, then using a "pastry bag" (corner cut off ziplock baggie) to pipe the filling into the hole.

i also made a full sized cake the same way, but poked bunches of holes all around the cake.

i have yet to try:

andies mint 1 chocolate cake mix with mint extract added in and possibly andies mint chips mixed in also. one white cake mix with green food coloring and mint extract mixed in. frosted in chocolate(or green mint) frosting and sprinkled with andies mint chips or a full or half mint.

photo courtesy of adam on flickr

chocolate covered cherry chocolate cake mix made with cherry pepsi instead of water and possibly chopped cherries mixed in. filled with cherry pie filling, like 1 cherry in the middle. frosted with chocolate and a chocolate covered marachino cherry on top.

chocolate frosting, unlike this photo i found on theknot
(ETA I ended up not doing this one)

cafe java yellow? cake mix made with very strong coffee instead of water, java chips mixed in, frosted with whipped cream frosting and some coffee beans and cinnamon on top. might look up a better recipe for this

ETA I ended up mixing Via powder in the mix and using very strong Via coffee instead of the water in the cake mix.

photo courtesy of cupcake carrie on flickr

oreo cookies and cream i will look for a recipe for this one, probably just a white cake with oreo crumbs/cream mixed in, topped with a cream frosting and a mini oreo.

ETA I ended up putting half of an oreo at the bottom of the cupcake liner)

i did mini cheesecakes for our annual Daytona 500 party, because oreos look like tires. cheesecake is a lot of work though, so i will stick with cupcakes.

photo courtesy of theknot


Mikey also suggested doing "like a rainbow cake with lots of colors, because it would look neat" i said "like funfetti cake?" he didnt know what funfetti was. How can i marry a man who doesnt know what funfetti is? so i showed him the box at the grocery store and he said that is exactly what i had in mind.

recipe for homemade funfetti cupcakes here

(ETA I ended up doing box funfetti cake with solid blue and orange sprinkles to go with the wedding theme, I considered using the homemade recipe with just orange and blue but liked the rainbows of color.

we will also have just basic chocolate and white cakes for the boring or less courageous guests. (ETA we also had Gluten Free and Sugar Free cupcakes.)