Valentine's Day Recap. Cupcakes Galore!

I won't bore you with the stories of the Valentine's Day cupcakes because, luckily, everything went smoothly. Instead I'll just give you a quick photo recap. That way I can start talking about other fun stuff. Like swirls and sprinkles. No idea what that means? Never fear—you'll find out soon enough. :-)

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Mint leaves used as garnish on the chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes.

Pink malt ball toppers for red velvet-vanilla malt cupcakes.

Boxed up and ready to go!

Red velvet cupcakes with vanilla malt frosting—a lush classic!

Chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes: strawberry cake, strawberry frosting, dipped in ganache and garnished with a mint leaf.

Screw flowers. Valentine's day is for CUPCAKES!

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I have something to confess. Valentine's Day... is one of my favorite holidays. But not b/c I'm a sap. I'm actually not much of a sap at all. You know why I love it? B/c everything's pink. (Yup, it's that easy.) And red & white. AND CUTE. And full of hearts! I flippin' love hearts. You see my logo? Yeah, hearts. Lacey doiley things? Totally appropriate for Valentine's Day. If this was how Arbor Day was celebrated, I'd probably be all about Arbor Day. But turns out, it's Valentine's Day so dang it, I'm gonna embrace it.

Valentine's Day is also a perfect time to promote cupcakes. Everyone's buying random gifty things. It's not like Christmas where you have a list (or I dunno, it may be like that for some people—not me). It's not like a birthday. If you need something, you don't ask for it for Valentine's Day. You just give & get... nice, happy stuff. THUS THE CUPCAKES. They're celebratory, they're cute, they're a delicious treat, & the holiday gives people a reason to order them so really, I couldn't be happier! My Valentine's Day promo is a pretty darn good deal if you ask me. Six cupcakes for $10—you can choose between one of the two flavors offered or mix it up for 3 & 3. This year's flavor options? Red velvet cake with vanilla malt frosting, & strawberry cake with strawberry frosting, then dipped in chocolate.

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This year I had 9 total orders. It's less than last year, but still a good bit of work. Pictured above are the order cards. I had a spark of inspiration one day while perusing the online shop Paper Valise when I saw old-school library cards. Library cards... THAT COULD WORK!! As long as I design my own, that is. But hell, that's not hard! The card could actually have the order on it. I could stamp the date. Mark whether it's pick-up or delivery. Place it in a little pocket on the box, which also gives me a place to put a business card to give people... it's just crazy enough to work! Plus, I get to use that sweet date stamp like SERIOUS old school library style. I feel like I'm back in grade school!

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Below is pretty self-explanatory. It's the naked cakes! Top is red velvet. Bottom is strawberry.

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And here we go. The GOOD stuff. Below are the strawberry cupcakes. They turned out very well, & I was super psyched about how they looked. In my head, everything was going to work. But sometimes what's in your head doesn't match what comes out of your kitchen. That day, luckily, it did. So here you're seeing the strawberry cake, topped with strawberry frosting, dipped in rich chocolate ganache, topped with a very light sprinkling of thin chocolate sprinkles topped with a mint leaf for garnish.

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Next up are the red velvet-vanilla malts! This is one of my personal favorite cupcake combos, if not THE favorite. The pairing is just so classic, but still different b/c quite frankly I'm the only one here doing vanilla malt frosting! And if I'm not the only one, I'll bet you $$ that mine's the best. The light chocolately flavor of the red velvet cake & the creamy, sweet vanilla bite of the malt frosting compliment each other perfectly. SO GOOD. On top is a Whopper malt ball of "strawberry" flavor. I put "strawberry" in quotes because I have a feel it's more the color than the actual flavor that makes them "strawberry."

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The next photo is one of my favorite shots. The image is just so graphic—I really love it. Strawberry on the left, red velvet on the right (duh).

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And here we are! The final packaging. Authentic library card pocket & all. The pockets were purchased from the local United Art & Education. The library order cards were designed by yours truly. When my design world & baking world compliment each other—that makes me a happy camper.

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And there we have it, in somewhat of a nutshell. Now don't you wish you ordered some?? ;-)

BE A LUSH on Valentine's Day!

The Valentine's Day Special is back y'all!!!! HOLLA!!!!!! Click on the pic to see it at full-size.

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Click me, s'il vous plait.

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Here's the deal. Like it says, $10 for one box of 6 (that's a half-dozen) cupcakes. There are two flavor combo options:

[1] Strawberry cupcake with strawberry frosting, dipped in chocolate

[2] Red velvet cupcake with vanilla malt frosting

They're both delicious, I promise you. You pick them up on Saturday, February 13 between 2pm-4pm.

Want to order? OF COURSE you do. Send me an email at sugarlushcupcakes@gmail.com. Orders must be made by WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd! You have ONE WEEK FROM TODAY to think about it! I take cash & Paypal. I'll send out Paypal invoices so both of us have a record of your order and payment status, but feel free to pay with cash if you prefer (just let me know if that's how you plan to pay).

sugarlush goes public.

i'm a bit of a cupcake connoisseur. most of the time, i'm a little let down. the cake's not moist enough. the icing's too thick and sugary. and what disappoints me most of the time: FLAVORS THAT ARE PROMISED BUT NOT DELIVERED.

i took matters into my own hands. we're lacking sophisticated, "couture" cupcakes here in columbus. i love to bake, so i've been practicing--JUST FOR YOU. i bake a mean cupcake, whether they're vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, or carrot. BUT i make an even better frosting. i can't define it by any technical terms because it's my own creation--it's just a fluffy piece of heaven full of flavor and beauty. and if i say it's a certain flavor, it packs a whollop--not just a teaspoon of some sort of extract.

so let's talk guys. do you need cupcakes? yes. you do.

think about it. they're perfect individual portions. they're a little trendy but always a classic. they're fluffy and delicious and face it...they're really stinkin cute. whether you need them for a birthday, baby shower, trying to impress somebody, or just having a really bad craving, you should call me or email me. here's the details:

:::cake flavors:::
• vanilla (yellow)
• chocolate
• red velvet
• spice
• pumpkin
• brown sugar
• strawberry
• carrot

:::frostings, or as i like to say, where the magic happens:::
• cream cheese (basic)
• vanilla malt (a delicious twist on a classic)
• amaretto
• chocolate fluff
• chocolate ganache (a gorgeous, rich, smooth and oozy goo as opposed to big and fluffy)
• spicy chocolate ganache
• cinnamon cream cheese
• strawberry
• raspberry amaretto (SERIOUSLY, guys. this one is a real crowd pleaser.)
• salty caramel (also a very popular crowd pleaser)
• creamy citrus glaze (amazing on chocolate cupcakes)
• chai spice
• cookies & cream

other: caramel cheesecake with a chocolate chip cookie crust.

I need to know AT LEAST a week in advance. For orders of 4 dozen or more, I require two weeks notice.

I charge $15/dozen. it's more than kroger, yes, i know. It's a little over a dollar per cupcake, which is cheaper than most fancy, formal bakery places in town. PLUS, they're better. So it all evens out. For the amount of ingredients I use and the extra love and care that goes into each batch, it's worth every penny. I accept cash, check, or credit card. (yes, credit card. b/c my generation doesn't carry cash anymore.)

For extra special orders or expensive recipes, there will be an additional charge of $5-15. What does that mean? It means I need to go out and buy a lot of really expensive chocolate, I need to garish your lovely darlings with something special (fruit, candy bars, etc), that sort of thing. I'll let you know if you will incur this charge once I receive your request. contact info. email me at mlpenner@gmail.com xoxo, sugarlush.

Strawberry Cream Parfait

This is based on a recipe for a Strawberry Ricotta Parfait on Epicurious/from SELF Magazine.

Recently, my bf and I had dinner with some friends of ours. My mission was to bring dessert, but as it turned out, the week was extremely busy w/ late work nights in order to meet a big deadline that week (Hah, what else is new?). I can never make up my mind about what I really want to do for a recipe, which just added to the stress of "WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE FOR FRIDAY NIGHT?!?!" Then it hit me. A PARFAIT OF SORTS! Yes! I can buy some pound cake, throw together some layers of goo, make it look pretty and voila! Dessert in less than an hour--I just need prep time.

I knew I wanted to do something like strawberry shortcake, and I already had some ricotta waiting for me in my fridge. After watching the Food Network as much as I do, you eventually figure out that as long as you have a few of the following--ricotta and/or marscapone, pound cake, chocolate and/or Nutella, and an alcohol of sorts--your possibilities for dessert are endless. Hah, it actually feels like a rather Taco Bell-type approach to dessert--same ingredients everytime, just a slightly different formation.

I used the Epicurious/SELF magazine recipe as my "base recipe," but altered it for my own taste. I get yelled at lot for this. I alter the recipe to my liking before even trying the pure form of the recipe. Baking/cooking is probably the one area in life I can actually be spontaneous! Hell, why not throw in a little extra alcohol? Some pudding maybe? Sure, sounds great! As I read in a recent issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray, a young but wise culinary student said that a recipe is merely a template for you to use as a guide to make your own creation--edit as you wish (something to that affect, anyway).

AMEN, BROTHER.

Strawberry Cream Parfait (I renamed it since I altered it. I guess that's okay.)

• For the strawberry layer

4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced, or 1 cup frozen, sliced

(I totally used the frozen sweetened kind, due to lack of time and primo produce at my Kroger that evening)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)

1 tbsp rosewater

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch, to thicken mixture (optional)

1 tbsp cold water (for cornstarch only)

• For the cream layer:

15 ounces lowfat ricotta

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 snack-cup of vanilla pudding (yeah, those little things you ate as a kid. one of those)

Sugar, to taste (I used about 4 tbsp, the original recipe recommends only 2.)

• For the cake layer

2 tbsp spiced rum

2 tbsp juice from strawberries (if using frozen)

1 pound cake (Sara Lee from the frozen section is pretty good. Entenmann's is a close second.)

• Garnish: This could be mint leaves, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, etc. I used a single Nilla Wafer cookie to top each parfait.

4-6 cups/glasses in which to distribute the parfaits.

• Directions:

Prep the strawberries, whether that means washing/chopping/hulling or just thawing and draining. If using frozen berries, reserve the juice. If your natural strawberries have been in a container and have juices, you can use that as well. If not, don't worry about it. I chose to boil the strawberries for a few minutes to bring the ingredients together and to thicken the sauce. I probably would not have done this if I were using fresh berries, but since my berries were frozen and mushy anyway, it seemed like a good idea. Either way, mix all the ingredient for the strawberry layer together. If simmering, mix 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp cold water until completely dissolved, then add to strawberry mixture and simmer until mixture thickens. Let cool.

Remember the strawberry juice you reserved? Now's the time to do something with it. Mix 2 tbsp of juice w/ 2 tbsp spiced rum (you could also use wine, champagne, Grand Marnier, triple sec, schnapps, you get the picture.) and get out your pastry brush.

Next, slice pound cake anywhere from .75" to 1" thick. Obviously, slice enough to allow at least one slice per serving. If your cups (and the pound cake!) allow for multiple slice, then power to you. I was working w/ short small glasses, so I only fit one slice. Also, make sure you trim the slice to fit in the cup. Alternatively, you could also crumble the cake and use that as a layer instead of using a solid piece.

Mix cream filling ingredients together, adding the sugar slowly and occasionally tasting (with a clean spoon!) in between additions to make sure you get the sweetness you prefer. Blend well, until nice and smooth.

Here comes the fun. LAYERING. The assembly order:

1. Strawberry mixture. Spoon into glass/cup.

2. Pound cake

3. Juice + Rum mixture. Brush this onto the cake--I recommend brushing each slice a few times.

4. Ricotta Cream mixture

5. Garnish.

The longer these sit, the better the flavors will blend together. Whatever you do, make sure you refrigerate this stuff until you eat it.

You might also have some stuff leftover, like the ricotta cream mixture. Refrigerate and use however you like. Perhaps as a base for a cannoli filling? Another parfait? A delightful dip for cookies/wafers/biscuits? Use your imagination. Be wild!