Wedding Cupcakes - {Anniversary #2 Edition!}

I interrupt these recaps to bring you...a CUPCAKE recipe!

As you know, I have had a long, torrid affair with cupcakes. I'll not deny it. It's all over this blog! Well, our cupcakes were amazing! Beautifully crafted by Patticakes bakery, they were as delicious as they looked...

In addition to those beauts, P and I wanted to have a small cake to cut, like a top tier that we could use for a cake cutting and of course freeze and nom on for our one year anniversary! My grandmother made ours with an amazing recipe she used to make her own daughter's (my aunts) wedding cake. It was DELICIOUS! And even one year later, (my SUPER-preggo self was gleeful to have it) it was so tasty. We enjoyed it our wedding night and our first anniversary celebration. Check it.

(I guess this is turning into a cake/cupcake recap!)

Anyway. Deliciousness for days! We were so happy with the cupcakes and so in love with my grandmother's recipe. Since we only saved enough from the original cake for our first anniversary (also, I don't think two years would be healthy or even edible for saving a wedding cake in the freezer), I asked my grandmother for the recipe - here it is folks! The BEST wedding cake recipe, ever.

Wedding Cake Recipe 

(OK well, I made cupcakes - I cut the recipe in half for the cupcakes. I will include the full cake (which makes two 10 inch pans) in parenthesis next to my measurements)

Cupcakes -You will need..

2 1/8 cups flour (4 1/4 cups)

1 1/2 cups sugar (3 cups)

3 tablespoons baking powder (6 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon salt (2 teaspoons)

1 cup of milk (2 cups)

3/4 cups of Crisco Shortening (1 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (3 teaspoons)

3 eggs (6)

Frosting - You will need...

1/2 cup of Crisco per 1 box of Confectioner's sugar (you should really just eye-ball this, watch for the consistency you want)

4-5 tablespoons of water or milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cupcakes

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the milk, Crisco, vanilla and eggs and beat until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

Add the Crisco and confectioner's sugar to a large bowl, mix until thoroughly combined. Add milk or water and more confectioner's sugar to get to the consistency you want. Frost cupcakes and enjoy!

I know they aren't pretty, but they were good!!!

I made them first as a surprise, but I spilled the beans before long! I was too excited. We shared our cupcakes at the Tower House where we stayed for our wedding (because we're huge saps like that), and they were so great. I hope you find enjoyment in them too!

Enjoy!

With love,

Micah

Cake Balls! {A Tasty, Not-Too-Naughty Treat!}

Though my heart will forever belong to cupcakes, (Sorry, Patrick) but I thought these cute cake balls would be nice Spring treats!

I have lately been obsessed with a wonderful cooking blog called Skinnytaste! Gina is the author of the blog, and she creates tasty, healthy, low-fat recipes for her family and shares them weekly! Seriously, I'm obsessed. I've been on Weight Watchers to aid me in getting back into pre-pregnancy shape (that's another post), and she creates such delicious recipes and even includes the Weight Watchers PointsPlus value! They aren't your typical diet recipes either --- the other night, P and I enjoyed homemade buffalo tenders for dinner and they were delicious and not too bad for us! Healthy comfort food? You betcha! She creates innovative recipes to make foods that are normally much worse for you (be they loaded with sugar, carbs, butter or worse!) and makes substitutions to make them healthier! 

Along with a large assortment of recipes for dinners, lunches, breakfasts, desserts, smoothies and snacks she posted this one that caught my eye...

Skinny Cake Balls!!!

We were visiting both sides of the family for Easter this year and I thought they'd be the perfect treat to bring along. So I raided my favorite craft store for supplies and got to work!!!

You Need:
16 oz Box Cake Mix, 6 oz Non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt, 2 Large Egg Whites, 1 Tsp. Vanilla, 1 Cup of Water, 48 oz of Colored Candy Melts, Sprinkles, Baking Spray

It Would Help If You Had:
Cake Ball or Mini-Donut Pan*, lollipop sticks, wax paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray your pan with baking spray. Combine all the ingredients (except the candy melts) in a large bowl. Transfer your batter into a pastry bag, or a gallon bag, (cut a corner off the gallon bag and BOOM! Pastry bag) and squeeze into the pans. Fill a little over 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. 

                                 

If you notice above there are seams on some of the cake balls, because of their rising while baking. You can use a serrated knife to cut the seams off and make them more rounded. 

Stick the completed baked cake balls in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, this makes it easier for the chocolate to stick to the cake ball. Melt the chocolate according the the packages' instructions. I used glass cups to hold the chocolate, and did one color at a time. I also took out five of the cake balls at a time to maximize the coolness of the cake balls! (Also, get your sprinkles ready!)

                                 

Dip the tip of the lollipop stick into the melted chocolate, then into the cake ball, and dip the cake ball into the chocolate. If you are using sprinkles, sprinkle them on immediately before the chocolate hardens.

                                 

This recipe makes about 48 cake balls AND they are at only 3 PointsPlus value from Weight Watchers --- which is a really good thing for me! They're delicious, and such a cute little treat for any occasion. 

                                 

                                 

They were a big hit at the Easter dinners! So was a certain little bunny! ;-)

*For this recipe, you really do need the rounded mini-donut or cake ball pan. If you don't have one of these you can follow this recipe from Epicurious!

Happy Spring!

Micah

Patti Cakes!

I may have said that we were deciding between two cupcake bakeries for the vendor. Also that the first one we tried, was delicious! Those cupcakes were great that were from Newport Sweet Shoppe, but I knew we wouldn't be satisfied with a decision without at least trying the other bakery option. That was Patticakes, located in Wakefield, RI.

http://www.patticakesri.com/


All it took was one chance visit to the bake shop, and Patrick and I (well, maybe just me --- I am obsessed) re-fell in love with cupcakes! They were so flexible with what we wanted, affordable and best off - the cupcakes looked and tasted better than any I have tasted before! And - they are willing to use my cupcake stands, cupcake toppers and wrappers that I recently bought! And again, the cupcakes were to DIE for. Poor Patrick, didn't get much of the tasting as my mom and I swooped down on the Red Velvet and the Salted Caramel!

From top left: Salted Caramel, Coconut, Espresso,
Bottom: Mint Chocolate and Red Velvet

Ohhhh --- the Red Velvet

And the demolition, destruction and ruin of those cupcakes.

After that, well -- we were decided. Only thing was, to pick flavors! Once we sat down with the menu, that was an easy task! Here's what we've got for our wedding cupcake flavors:

• Lemon Drop
• Salted Caramel
• Vanilla with Vanilla Frosting
• Chocolate PB cup
• Red Velvet

Sounds like deliciousness!!!

Look how pretty the Lemon Drop cupcake is!

At the Cupcake Madness fair!

Our treasure trove!

Before this post get's too long, here's the cupcake wrappers I bought (and two silver pillar candle holders I plan on using to display the Bride and Groom cupcake picks!).

Blue mini cupcake wrappers. That's right --- we are having mini
cupcakes as well as regular ones!

Fluffy white regular sized cupcake wraps!

The silver cupcake stand!

So, if you couldn't tell, we're excited about this! 

Best,

Micah

Visiting the Venue

Last weekend, I traveled down to my home-state, not only for a visit with the venue and a meeting with our site coordinator, but I met with my FMIL and FSIL for breakfast and to check out the hotels and B&Bs our guests would be staying at. Guys, what a fun day it turned out to be!

Firstly, early I met with Kate our site coordinator. We did a walk through of the venue with Patrick's mother. Whenever I walk through the Towers, I am again floored with the elegance and beauty of them.

Here's what my view will be like before walking down the aisle!
(plus our decorations and flowers, chairs, guests, Patrick, and the wedding party)

See the GORG lights? So romantic!

The location of the marriage ceremony!
Before a balcony and the Atlantic Ocean!

This is what it will be like for Patrick and I during the ceremony!
(plus our decorations, guests, etc, etc)

This is where the Cocktail Hour (weather permitting) will be!
Complete with bubbling fountain and rose bushes in bloom.

 Now, I don't want to overwhelm the Towers with so many decorations and flowers. I mean, it kind of stands on it's own. So, I am creating minimal DIY decorations some of which I have revealed, some are yet to be posted.

We also walked around the "Bridal Suite" which is just downstairs. I'm sure that's where me and the 'maids will be putting on our final touches/I'll officially be putting my dress on!

My head is swimming with the thoughts of fun bridal portraits and pics of the girls in this room!!!

Next, we checked out hotels. Man oh man, are the hotels lovely! I didn't take any pictures (naughty blogger!) of those, but they are beautiful! The one I hope most OOT guests will stay in is the Village Inn. Some family are already booked in there. It's about a five minute walk to the Towers. That's right. WALK. Parking issue (there's only roadside parking) SOLVED...kinda.

Anyway, that day somehow resolved into us stumbling into a Cupcake bake-off competition of sorts called...

Omigod. This is happening, like, the one day I've come
down in awhile for wedding stuff?!?!?!

Our cupcake baker was there, and she WON! She was in the top six cupcake bakeries in RI, not only that but she was at the top of the LIST! Woot! So, not only did we have a lovely day strolling our venue, but we got to sample and even take home some cupcakes from our cupcake vendor! What's that you say? Wait a minute, did I still not tell you who our beloved Vendor of the Cupcakes are? Well, that's for tomorrow's post!

See you then!!!

Best,

Micah

Cupcake Fiend

Image via Hyperbole and a Half

Yes, that's what I think of too, when I read "Cupcake Fiend." I think also that this title can also be attributed to me. I mean, I talk about them ALL THE TIME. It's an obsession, spurred from Patrick's birthday last year at which cupcakes were present. You could say we met, we wooed and the rest is history (I'm still talking about cupcakes, yes). So, in all my fiendish-ness---I want to bring you my personal favorite flavor picks! Here is my perfect half dozen flavor cupcake box (suitable for almost any palette, perfect for a party or just for a sweet treat). These cupcakes are from Kick*ss Cupcakes in Davis Square.

• Plain Vanilla Cake with Vanilla frosting - Classic, and can be dressed up with sprinkles or food coloring. Always tasty and almost everyone will love it!
• Plain Vanilla Cake with Chocolate frosting - If you're going to serve vanilla, there needs must be a chocolate option.
• Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting - This is becoming more and more my favorite flavor. The sweet-but-not-overwhelming frosting, the lucious red velvet-y cake! SO good. And so pretty!

Those are my classic choices, now for the funky flavors to spice things up!

• Chocolate chip Cookie Dough with Cookie Dough filling - This is exactly as delicious as it sounds it is.
• Pink Lemonade - It's a citrus-y summer-y piece of heaven that never fails to look adorable and taste amazing!
• Strawberry Shortcake - So yummy, so tasty and it's healthy (kind of) because it has a strawberry on it...no? Ok.

You know you want one.

 

So those are my favorites! Oooh! I also love a good chocolate PB cup. No one can resist that. Now we just have to narrow our two bakers down and decide on flavors together! (Patrick, these options I laid down for ya, whatcha' think? Eh? Eh?)

 

Enjoy your friday and have a cupcake! Totally worth it, will make you smile.

 

Best,

 

Micah

 

Engage-aversary!

Today is our one year anniversary of being an engaged couple. A year ago, Patrick sweetly cooked his parents and I a lovely breakfast and sent me off to get my nails done with his mother. I, completely oblivious, went along with it and in the evening we rushed off for our dinner reservation at the Coast Guard House near what would be our venue, the Towers!

Me, about 20 minutes before Patrick proposed!
During our lobster ravioli dinner!

After some loving words and a tasty dinner, we decided to take a walk on the beach that we knew so well. Little did I know, our friends were waiting there for us! Patrick took me on a quick walk, and then suggested we head back. As we did, he pointed to what I would find out to be a gorgeous bouquet of blue roses, and I turned and found him on his knee! He asked me to be his wife and I said YES!!!!

It was such a beautiful moment. One that I will never forget!

Today, a year later, we celebrated with a yummy brunch together! Followed by a tasting of cupcakes from one of the bakeries that might end up doing the cupcakes for our wedding! It was lovely. It's nice to take the time to reflect on our year, and what's to come. 

Hello love!
(I may have finished the entire mountain of food I had)

The flavors we tried were Chocolate-frosted Vanilla, Boston Creme, Tiramisu, Vanilla-frosted Vanilla, Red Velvet and Carrot Cake! They were from the Newport Sweet Shoppe in Rhode Island and they were SOOOO good! It's going to be super hard to pick flavors (but we still have got one more bakery to try). (More on that later, of course!)

Patrick,

I love you so much. I can't wait for our wedding. Your proposal was the best night of my life. I love you forever. *****

Best,

Micah