Happy Birthday To You

Is there anything that says kids's birthday party more than cupcakes with brightly coloured frosting? I don't know about you, but it's the first thing I think of when I look at these pictures, and I guess it's a good thing because that's exactly what they were for. My cousin's little girl is turning five and to help celebrate, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with blue, yellow and pink buttercream icing topped with rainbow sprinkles were ordered.

Now I may be a little biased, but I think cupcakes are the perfect choice for a kids party, especially if there is going to be a lot of kids. For one, it's so easy! Put a cupcake on a plate and hand it over...no ice cream, no cutting, definitely minimizes some of the chaos and very little mess. Also, they are so versatile, available in every colour of the rainbow, they easily compliment any party theme. And don't forget the many flavour options. Not only can your child pick their favourite(s) you also have the ability to provide their friends a choice as well. How often is a guest allowed to choose they're favourite cake at a party? It's just one more way of making your child's birthday party a huge hit.

So the next time you find yourself planning a child's birthday party (or any birthday party for that matter!) consider cupcakes, consider Oh So Sweet Cupcakery!

Cupcake Tasting

Last week I held a wedding cupcake tasting for three lovely girls, the bride-to-be and two of her bridesmaids. They came over at 7:00pm, bottle of wine in hand, ready to try out several different cupcake variations. The Bride had requested vanilla, chocolate, cookies n'cream and almond for the cake flavours and for buttercream she chose vanilla, chocolate, mint and almond. Once the wine glasses were filled the tasting began. The girls were able to pick and choose which icing they'd like to try with a particular cake and then top it off with their choice of sprinkles from the selection I had provided. Many combos were tested out but in the end it was the chocolate and vanilla combinations topped with pearlized sugar sprinkles that won out.

I really enjoyed being be a part of this "girls night". The girls were a lot of fun, bubbling with excitement about the New Years Eve wedding and all the plans that have been made so far. Lots of laughter, good wine, wedding talk and cupcakes, all in all I would say it was a good night!

Easy To Please

The results from the last poll "What type of cupcake would you most likely order?" are in. Well, to be honest the poll closed about a week ago, I've just been too busy to post anything new! Anyways, it seems as though the majority of you just like cupcakes! It doesn't matter if they are simple, chocolatey, nutty or fruity...just get you a cupcake, any cupcake, and you are happy!

I was surprised again with this poll because the second place winner was "fresh and fruity". Again, I fully anticipated chocolate would be right up there at the top but it came in at the bottom. Good to know! I'd like to add a new flavour for spring and I'm thinking it should be something fruity, any suggestions?

And The Winner Is....

Chocolate! The results of last weeks poll are in, 52% of voters prefer chocolate to vanilla. I can't say I'm surprised, I fully anticipated that chocolate would win the vote. What does surprise me is how narrowly it won by.

I myself am a vanilla fan (well sorta, I'll explain in a second), I love a good vanilla cake smothered in a rich chocolate buttercream. I was surprised because my most popular flavours are typically those with a chocolate cake base. This got me thinking...is vanilla really my favourite? Well I guess that depends on my options. If I had to choose my own birthday cake from the grocery store it would hands down be a vanilla cake with chocolate icing. But give me a few more choices and the decision is not so easy. I would likely choose a chocolate cake topped with peanut butter buttercream or chocolate cake with mint buttercream or some other ice cream inspired flavour combo.

This all leads me to my next question. Not a lot of people voted, is this because their answer is not so cut and dry? I realize that a real possibility as to why people did not vote is that they simply did not care to but, I am going to choose to ignore this and go ahead with my next poll.

This week, rather than trying to figure out cake flavour, we'll move on to the cupcake as a whole. Let me know what type of cupcake you would be most likely to order, your choices are

1. Keep it simple (typically vanilla or some classic variation of it)
2. Chocolate, Chocolate and more Chocolate (pretty self explanatory)
3. Fresh and Fruity (citrus, banana, berry flavoured etc.)
4. I go nuts over the nutty (peanut butter, almond etc.)
5. I'll take one of each please! (for the ultimate cupcake fan) and finally,
6. This is ridiculous (a cupcake is a cupcake and you have better things to do with your time than debate such a silly topic)

Can't wait to see the results (that's my subtle way of telling you all to vote!).

Wishing you a sweet day,

Kirstyn

Java Blues

What a night! Last Night was the 4th annual Java Blues at Southview Alliance Church, a night full of great coffee, yummy treats and FANTASTIC music! One of my nearest and dearest friends, along with her husband, put on this great event. Each year they do such an amazing job of organizing it and the musicians are always incredible. This year I was hired out to do the cupcakes, 300 in total. They ordered 4 different flavours; Coconut, Chocolate Indulgence, Plain Jane - dressed up for a party, and The Mocha. The theme for the night was "British Invasion" so we dressed Jane in blue and topped her off with red sprinkles to keep in theme with Great Britain and the colours of its flag.

After cleaning up the kitchen (which looked as though it had an invasion of it's own, icing sugar everywhere) and myself (who looked to be the victim of an icing sugar explosion), my husband and I made our way to the church. We really enjoyed this night out, it was such a great way to finish off a busy day of cupcaking. My husband particularly enjoyed eating all my hard work, I stopped counting after cupcake # 5!

The day past by so quickly that I was unable to take many pictures. Here's a couple that show two of the different cupcakes that were in attendance last night, Plain Jane and The Mocha.

Cupcakes...for supper?!!!

I have been spending a ridiculous amount of time on the internet reading other cupcaker's blogs. It's amazing how many different varieties of cupcakes are out there! From sweet to savoury and everything in between. I personally feel that a true cupcake is sweet; delicious moist cake, covered with melt in your mouth creamy frosting and topped with something sugary or better yet, chocolate. Now I've been accused of being a bit of a traditionalist and I suppose this is just another area where I'm stuck in my traditional ways of thinking. But, I saw a picture of a meatloaf cupcake topped with mashed potatoes and was inspired to be open minded and give it a try for supper tonight. Really my hope was that my kids would love them. That I would be able to fool them into eating meat because it was prepared in cupcake form. My kids initial reaction was one of surprise and excitement, "what? cupcakes! for supper! are you joking?!". I was quickly reminded that my kids are not easily fooled and, much to my disappointment, the excitement didn't last long. I really can't blame them, the thought of meat cupcakes is not nearly as appealing as the cupcakes they are used to. However, despite the complaints and protests, I did receive smiles as their plates were placed in front of them. They were good sports and gave it a try, two out of three giving it a thumbs up. That's pretty typical for our household, I think if Tayah had the choice she'd give up meat altogether.

So... will I make meatloaf cupcakes again for supper? Maybe, but I don't think I can get away with calling them cupcakes! Will I add them to my menu? Um....definitely not, I'll stick to the sweet variety!

My interpretation of Meatloaf "cupcakes" with mashed potato "frosting"

How It All Began...

I am often asked how I got into cupcakes. Well, Oh So Sweet Cupcakery came to be somewhat unexpectedly. In May of 2009 I volunteered to help my Aunt with the baking for my cousin's dessert wedding reception. Cupcakes were on the menu and this inspired many conversations about today's current cupcake craze. I was encouraged by several family members to pursue the cupcake business. I've always enjoyed a good cupcake but going into the business wasn't something that I had given much thought. It got me thinking and for some reason I just couldn't seem to let it go. All I could think about were cupcakes...flavours, names, packaging, logos. I lay awake many nights from the excitement of it all, the wheels simply refused to stop spinning. The compliments the cupcakes received the day of the wedding encouraged me to go ahead with starting up my own company and in July, Oh So Sweet Cupcakery was born. I have been having so much fun! I have loved coming up with my flavours and naming my cupcakes. I really enjoy baking and creating and this has been an exciting beginning of what I hope will be a long and successful adventure!

I operate out of my home, this allows me stay home with my three cupcake lovin' kids. Tayah (6), Jamison (4) and Logan (1) are my official taste testers, and I'd have to say they love their job! They, along with my husband Jason, have been very supportive. Always quick to offer encouragement, suggestions or a willingness to sample, my family has been very helpful in coming up with flavours. My basic menu of 15 flavours is now finalized. It will change some from time to time, depending on the season and on feedback from customers, so feel free to offer up some suggestions.

Thanks so much for checking out Oh So Sweet's Blog, I hope you'll continue to visit often!

Wishing you a sweet day,

Kirstyn Kloster

two of my taste testers