Birthdays, Experiments, and Fundraisers!

It's the end of March...and I have yet to post any stories. I'll make up for it in this one weekend! It has been a crazy couple of days. I had a cake order for my friend's grandpa's 90th birthday, cupcakes for a bake sale, and a giraffe cake for my friend's birthday. AND my weekly experimental cupcakes. On top of all that craziness...my mixer broke in the middle of it all! It's just an old hand mixer (probably 10 years old) but still necessary when making my buttercream. BUT, I made it through. The cakes are done and eaten. 

So...Birthdays are my favorite! And today, the very lovely Alexis turned 22! 

We've been baking friend's birthday cakes together all year, so OF COURSE I had to make her a special one. Giraffes are her favorite animal (they're tall and yellow!), so I searched the internet for cute ideas. There are some adorable 3-D giraffe cakes out there, but nothing I could do with my current pans. It wasn't until the day before that I found the winner! He was covered in fondant, but I knew I wanted to stay true to buttercream. I used a star tip and covered the two layer 8-inch cake in a brown and yellow pattern. I had to use fondant for the head, neck and tail. He was a little funky...the head kind of looks like a cow skull and the neck is snake like...but I think he's one of the cutest things I've ever made :)

I am attempting to experiment with cupcake flavors every week or two. So far, it's been going well. Last week I tried Neapolitan cupcakes. Layer of chocolate cake, then strawberry, all topped with vanilla frosting. Received good marks from my "tasting committees." :) (Thanks Miller Movie Night and Steelcase)

This week's flavor was Strawberry Lemonade! Lemon cupcake, strawberry filling, strawberry/lemon swirl frosting. I have yet to hear the test-taste results on the Strawberry Lemonade, but they're hoping for a spot on the menu! (P.S. - better picture to come for these babies)

Next on the list...fundraiser. This may be a shameless plug...but it's for a good cause. Nationwide, Family Video is currently doing a fundraiser for Lymphoma research. We ask each customer if they'd like to "round it up for lymphoma." (In case you can't figure it out...round up your total bill a few cents to make it an even dollar = donation to cancer research) Most of us are or know someone who has suffered from cancer. This cause is near and dear to my manager's heart because both of his sons have struggled with the disease. My store (Lowell Family Video) will be holding a bake sale tomorrow (March 24). If you're in the area, please come! Rent movies and buy a cupcake! The profits from all our baked goods will go towards the research.

That's it for now. My next plan is to make a Disney princess cake! So be thinking which one I should bake :)

Sweet Dreams!