The Incredible Reeces Cupcake

One day I got to thinking, "Hmm, I wonder if I could bake a Reece's peanut butter cup in the middle of a cupcake?" During the same week that I had this thought, my sister's boyfriend, Jason sent me a text asking, "Can you make cupcakes for me with Reece's peanut butter cups inside?" For some strange reason we both had the same brilliant idea! Jason's birthday was a couple weeks later so I decided to make these cupcakes not knowing if and how they would turn out. The cupcake was a fudge cake with peanut butter frosting and a Reece's baked in the middle. Lo and behold they turned out so yummy and were a complete hit, especially if you are a chocolate and peanut butter lover!

Candies and Colors

Last week I made cupcakes for my friend Kait's daughter's birthday. Her little one LOVES candies! So we thought it would be fun to do a sort of Willy Wonka theme for all the cupcakes. Bright colors and of course...Candy!






































































The best part...eating them!

Black & White

This June I worked on cupcakes for a wedding. It was a pretty big project, 5 different flavors and I had to create a tier for the cupcakes to be displayed on. The Bride's wedding theme was black and white which I always think is classy and elegant.

So, 240 cupcakes later, here's the final results.

A Birthday Surprise

My birthday was last week and my husband decided that he would take on my birthday cake since I am usually the one who is making the cakes. Little did I know how amazing it would turn out. I picked out the flavors that I wanted: Honey butter cake with peanut butter frosting. (I LOVE Peanut Butter!) This was the only detail he let me know about the cake and the rest of the details were all done in secrecy. We went out to dinner with some friends and family and the cake came along. It was such a hit, that the sous chef at Nopa even took a picture of it. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce the most fabulous cake that I have ever had on my birthday...

















PB& Jelly Sandwich Cake! With jumbo cupcakes that look like cups of milk and ants on a log to boot!















































Even oozed out like a true sandwich!

Shubert's Ice Cream

Shubert's
178 East 7th Street
Chico, CA




























There is nothing more satisfying as a summertime treat than ice cream. In downtown Chico there is an ice cream & candy shop called Shubert's which has been there for a really long time. It's as cute as can be with jars of candy lining the walls along with their own line of chocolates and truffles. But of course, the best part about Shubert's is their ice cream. I dived into a waffle cone consisting of one scoop Strawberry Cheesecake and another scoop of Pistachio ice cream. It was heaven! The ice cream was so creamy and fresh. The Pistachio ice cream was amazing and I'm sure my grandma was looking down from heaven enjoying it along with me. My husband, Steve had the most wonderful scoop of Rocky Road ice cream. The marshmallows were plump and soft and not freeze dried and shrunken like most Rocky Roads. I'd have to say, both our bellies were very content after devouring all the ice cream.

So, if you happen to be in Chico, don't forget to stop by Shubert's for a scoop or two.

May Cakes

Here are some cakes that I worked on from the last couple weeks of this month.

My Little Cupcake, Studio City

My Little Cupcake
11925 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604

Cupcakes tried: hi hat, Reese's, opera, strawberry and red velvet cake balls

Overall reaction: Oh My!

While my husband (Steve) was in Los Angeles he stopped at My Little Cupcake with my sister Gina to try out their cupcakes and bring some home for me to try as well. Lucky me! Their cupcakes were definitely eye candy, large and scrumptious looking. I was told that the guy managing/running the shop was really nice and gave them free samples.

I dived into the Hi Hat cupcake first which is devil's food cake topped with marshmallow and then dipped in chocolate. It was most definitely high. If you like marshmallow fluff then you will like the topping, however the cake was miserably dry...such a shame.

































Next, I tried the Opera cupcake. This cupcake was much better. It's a vanilla cake soaked with coffee syrup and layered with chocolate ganache and coffee frosting. My only gripe is that I had hoped that it would have a distinct coffee taste and there was only a hint of it.

















The Reece's cupcake had the same problem as the Hi Hat...dry, dry and more dry. They must have been baked at the same time or they were just plain old. The peanut butter mouse filling was really yummy though.

The Strawberry cupcake proved to be the winner out of the four. It was a vanilla cake with chunks of strawberry baked in. This cake was moist, light and delicious!

















And of course I saved the best for last...
TA-DA! Red Velvet cake balls! These were bite sized cake balls dipped in chocolate. And they really were the most perfect bite.

My words of advice: If you are traveling along Ventura Blvd., definitely make a stop at this little cupcake shop and don't pass up on the cake balls.