108 Cupcakes, 79 cookies, 2 cakes....all in a week's work!

Wow. I can't believe it's actually been 18 days since my last post. I have been feverishly baking. Just last week, alone, I baked, frosted, filled, and delivered 108 cupcakes, 79 cookies, and two cakes. WHEW! I'm not sure my oven was off at any time except for when we were all asleep! It was FANTASTIC!!!! I cannot believe how joyful it feels to be baking and creating. There is nothing more satisfying than making people smile as beautiful baked creations are delivered to their special event. It's truly the most fun job in the world!!

This week I had the pure enjoyment of taking goodies to three birthday parties! What fun! Birthdays are such fun. There are never ending possibilities for cake creations. The first birthday party was for a very fashionable young lady with a passion for zebra print and hot pink! She requested a zebra cake with Oreo filling-YUM-O!! I created a classic white cake with an Oreo buttercream filling. The cake was so darned cute! I just wish I'd have taken a picture with my camera! Instead, I took one with my cell and I absolutely cannot figure out how to download the picture!! However, later in the week this great little gal requested zebra cupcakes for her 'friend' party. I had a very fun time creating these yummy Oreo-filled cupcakes decorated to resemble zebra print.


The second birthday was for one of my favorite 22 year-old people! Miss Lindsay also wanted the zebra/Oreo combination. Once, again, I realized too late that my camera battery was dead! UGH! So...no picture, currently, but Lindsay's mom assures me that there is a picture forthcoming! It was so fun to 'repeat' the zebra cake from the previous day. I learned so much about how to contour the black fondant so that the zebra print would be just enough to make the cake look 'zebraish' and not 'zebra tacky'. Hee hee! I had an absolute ball making both of these cakes. They were small cakes which allowed for lots of time to really attend to detail and enjoy the process. Thanks, Lindsay and Claire, for allowing me to be a part of your celebrations!

I also got to be a part of my favorite Husker's birthday. Mr. Carson was turning seven and really wanted to celebrate with a Nebraska Cornhusker cupcake. (Did I mention that I LOVE this kid???) Carson requested strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate cupcakes. I wanted to kick it up a little, so I also created some sugar cookie footballs to place on top of the cupcakes. Each kiddo at the party received a 'two for one'...a cupcake AND a cookie!! Sorry parents, the kids were probably very highly sugared when they left the party! I had so much fun working on these cupcakes...especially since I got to make 24 bright red letter Ns! WHOO HOO!!




The third, and final, birthday celebration of the week was for sweet Morgan. Morgan is a freak of nature in that she doesn't love chocolate. WHAT is up with that??? Just kidding, Morgie! Morgan is a hip, cool cat of a kid who was having a huge bonfire party for her 17th birthday, and asked me to be a part of the festivities. I created three new flavors for her party.

The 'Holy Heath' was born out of Super Husband's love of Heath candy bars AND out of his very direct request for a cupcake with caramel filling. So, the Holy Heath was born! This cupcake is a chocolate butter cake base with caramel filling, topped with whipped chocolate ganache, toffee bits, and a miniature Heath candy bar. YUM!!



The second flavor I created was per Miss Morgan's request. Morgan wanted something 'cheesecaky'. I thought strawberries and cheesecake sounded fabulous together, so the 'Strawberry Fields Forever' (thanks Beatles) was born! This cupcake is a strawberry cake base, filled with cheesecake and topped with vanilla buttercream. It is soooo rich, but so pretty to look at!




Finally, I wanted to replicate one of my favorite summer drinks in a cupcake. I absolutely love Raspberry lemonades from Sonic. The 'Raspberry Beret' is a lemon cupcake with raspberry buttercream icing. It's tangy and tart, sweet and sassy, but unlike it's Sonic relative CANNOT be delivered on rollerskates!!




I've had lots of fun perfecting Royal icing for cookies this week, and can't wait to try out my new Halloween cookie cutters tomorrow. I created some fun Bearcat football cookies for a trip to an away Bearcat game this week. They were gobbled up quite quickly! I was lucky to get a few shots before my 14 year-old nephew absconded with the goods!






I had one more fun flavor experiment this week. I am very intrigued with the combination of regular cake batter and the infusion of fresh fruit. I had a blast creating 'The Great Berry' (named after Matt's uncle, Barry, who is affectionately referred to as Great Barry). The Great Berry is a true berry cupcake infused with raspberries and strawberries and topped with vanilla buttercream. It's a pretty little cupcake with a refreshing and light taste and texture.



I am SOOOO excited that I can now deliver my little pieces of art in artful and funky packages. I found a wholesaler for my fun pink polka dotted boxes. I love the way they look and create a very professional presentation. You can see them behind several of the cupcakes in the pictures!

Be looking for a Facebook page for Just Like Mom's launching on Tuesday of this week. Become a fan and receive 10% off your order!!


It's off to bed now. I can't wait to share more creations with you in a few days!!

Good eats,
Jill