Whoopie Pies cookbook giveaway

My sister and I are hosting a cookbook giveaway through our Etsy design studio, Frost and Fete, where we sell cupcake toppers and other fun decorations.

We're giving away the book Whoopie Pies: Fun Recipes for Filled Cookie Cakes to one lucky winner.

Martha Stewart's Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

I'm always on the lookout for great-tasting frosting, which pipes well, and isn't necessarily buttercream. I was in a bind one afternoon when I realized I had to make a quick frosting. 

I needed to take photos of our Famous 'Stache Movember cupcake toppers and wrappers for our Etsy shop Frost and Fete (see the entire set here) but I didn't want to waste all my butter on making buttercream I didn't even like.

I quickly rifled through my well-loved edition of Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" and found something I hoped, and prayed would work out. The photo in the book didn't reveal whether it would pipe beautifully or if it was just one of those slather and smear frostings.

Fortunately for me this honey-cinnamon frosting came together just beautifully, piped easily, and to top it all off -- it's delicious. Normally I don't dedicate an entire post to frosting, but this one is a winner and this post jumped to the front of the line. If you don't like honey, you might find this a bit strong and a bit too sweet, but that's how I like it.

Also, you'll need a touch more food colouring than you're used to because this frosting is not snow-white but if you use the good quality colouring you'll be fine.

Trick or Treat Halloween cupcake toppers and wrappers

Forgive me for bragging a bit, but if you love cupcakes as much as I do (and I'm pretty sure you do) then you'll see why this is a big deal. As you might know if you've been reading my blog, my sister and I have an Etsy shop in which we sell custom-made cupcake toppers and wrappers.

The scrumptiously amazing blog, Cupcakes Take The Cake, featured our Halloween cupcake toppers and wrappers in one of their posts this week! They are absolute authorities on cupcakes, and have even been on the Martha Stewart Show. This is what they had to say about us: "These creepy cobweb, grinning jack o'lantern, spooky black cat and bat cupcake toppers are for sale on Etsy by Frost and Fete, 6 wrappers for $10. Fun!"

If you want to see what else we've been up to, check out our Etsy page.

My son's airplane-themed second birthday

I get nervous whenever I am hosting more than two people at my house. It's not that I don't like to entertain. I just want it to be perfect, and expectations are always high - especially when it comes to the dessert. People always ask me, where do you find the time? I start planning months in advance (for something like this), and create a schedule for myself that sets out my tasks for up to two weeks beforehand. I don't have the time to procrastinate.

This time, I decided not to get so hung up on the sweet table that I'd be stressed the entire time, especially for an important occasion like my son's second birthday. Last year, the theme was Elmo, this year I decided to make it an aviation theme for my airplane-obsessed toddler.

Wedding cupcakes class at Le Dolci

It's no secret that I sometimes find decorating cakes and cupcakes intimidating. Over the years I have attended some classes, and learned some tricks that have helped me decorate cupcakes, cakes and pastries to a much higher standard than what I used to produce.

I was able to overcome my fears of working with butter cream and piping tips after taking a cupcake decorating class at the Bonnie Gordon School of Confectionary Arts. 

But despite the fact we worked with fondant at the class, and I brought a tub home, I rarely decorated with the stuff. So when Lisa, of Le Dolci Cupcakes and Cakes invited me to attend one of their cupcake decorating classes, I eagerly accepted and signed up for the wedding cupcakes class at this fun food education studio. And you can see from the amazing cupcakes I decorated with my own two hands in the photo above that it was a huge success.

Oh Canada! cupcakes

Canada Day is creeping up upon us and it's the perfect occasion for a swanky summer soiree. Not sure what to make? Take the stress out of dessert by making some red velvet cupcakes (heck you can even buy them) and plopping these stunning cupcake toppers on top. Voila. A beautiful sweet table.

My sister designed these and they've been our biggest hit over at our Etsy shop, we even had sales as far away as Texas and Alabama, and mentions in dozens of hand-picked treasuries from Etsy sellers all over North America.

Have a wonderful Canada Day!

Whimsical daisies, precious hearts, and I do! cupcake toppers

Between a sick baby, royal wedding coverage, and the election campaign, life's been trotting along at a quick clip. So I haven't had much time to blog.

But I wanted to give you a quick sneak peek at what my sister's been designing over at Frost and Fete.
How precious are these toppers?

I wish we had thought of doing these back when I got married, I would have served cupcakes for sure.

This is the Whimsical Daisy cupcake topper, I'd serve these with mint butter cream on a plain vanilla sponge cupcake.

These are the Sweet Heart cupcake toppers. I'd probably serve them with strawberry butter cream at a tea party. Wearing a fascinator.

And these are the ones I wish I had at my wedding, the I Do! modern wedding cupcake toppers, and just maybe my favourite ones so far.

My cake was delicious, but the peonies that were supposed to get placed here and there on my wedding cake were forgotten, and so it was white. Just white. These would have added that a much needed dose of colour. (But you live and you learn, right?)

Hatching Chick Cupcake Toppers

This is the latest creation for Frost and Fete, the Etsy shop my sister and I launched recently.

When my mother and sister hosted my bridal shower, their hunt for cupcakes became a bit of a family joke as it literally spanned weeks.

I wish this solution had presented itself to us - cupcake toppers that would fit the decor and theme of the party. It would have been much easier to top plain old cupcakes than to search for the perfect cupcakes covered in piped flowers. Plus, we could have saved the toppers for another event.

No matter though. You live and you learn. So, check out our Hatching Chick Cupcake Toppers, which I will be using when I make a batch of cupcakes for my pregnant friend's upcoming baby shower at the end of this month. (And, she can also save them and use them for an Easter event, if she wants).

Canadian federal election cupcake toppers

It's already April and if you are Canadian, a federal election is just weeks away.

This campaign is all-consuming for me these days, especially with my day job as a news producer.

And so when I wanted to bake cupcakes for my colleagues on Budget Day, I wanted to decorate them appropriately. At first, I thought chocolate numbers might make be the ideal cupcake toppers, but then in talking to my sister, the idea of the party leaders came up.

I went on the hunt on Etsy and eBay but couldn't find anything nearly close to what I wanted.