In an effort to lure my coworkers to a 45 minute presentation about my unit’s spring priorities and initiatives last Friday, I promised to provide a cupcake bar. It was really selfish on my part, as I’ve had a number of recipes from the Martha Stewart cupcake cookbook I’ve been wanting try, and this provided a perfect opportunity.
I baked five batches on Thursday night, and I also made the caramel and lemon fillings. That part of the process took about four hours—I was surprised at how quickly it went. I made the frosting recipes the next morning, which took about a hour and a half. I decorated the cupcakes in the office breakroom with the help from my coworkers (“other duties as assigned,” they joked).
We saved back one of each of the cupcakes and split them into four pieces so we could each try a bit of each one. I had two clear favorites–these strawberry cupcakes with strawberry meringue buttercream (possibly the best frosting ever)….
And these salted caramel cupcakes with chocolate buttercream, topped with sea salt:
I also made lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling:
And the S’mores cupcakes I’ve made before:
These red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting went pretty quickly!
I loved the volume of this project. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately…) there weren’t many leftovers!
Smith Family Weblog 
Posted by Dawn on February 14, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Delicious!
Posted by Double L on February 14, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Oh, my! These cupcakes are making me hungry! When do you find the time to do all this cooking and designing?
Posted by Stefanie on February 14, 2010 at 9:43 pm
I actually think that one day you will not work in the field that you do. I totally see you as running your own bakery. It’s something you are so creative with and always enjoy….
Posted by Bec on February 15, 2010 at 10:53 am
I have honestly thought about it, Stef. In fact, this exercise had a dual purpose–I have been toying with the idea of a booth at the farmers’ market. I think this showed me that I could do all of the prep after work on Friday night and be ready by 6 am on Saturday. However, I am not 100 percent sure I would enjoy it as much once it became a task instead of a hobby. Right now, it’s something I can do with the girls, and something I can do to relax. I did look into opening a shop, but I have a few requirements–I want to be downtown, I want to make the same amount of money I’m making now, and I want to hire help to cover the hours outside of 8 am – 5 pm. To make that happen, I’d need to sell roughly 700 cupcakes a day. š Also, I LOVE my job, so really, I am not in much of a rush to make any changes there. So, I think this will remain a hobby for the meantime.