I watch a TON of cake/cupcake shows and it looks like fun so I decided to try my own. First, let me say it's not as easy as it looks! On Tv they make it seem so easy to work with fondant. It isn't. At all. It's a pain in the ass actually. I was using store bought fondant though, perhaps if I make my own it will be easier to work with? (The question mark is because I am not sure.) Anyway, on to the cupcakes!
First, I did carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They smelled so good coming out of the oven and I cannot wait to stuff my face with them tomorrow! I used purple spray food coloring to give the white icing some color. Coming out it smelled like nail polish remover. No joke. My daughter, Autumn, cut out the flowers with cookie cutters. I then used the ball tool to thin the petals a bit. We "painted" the flowers with pink sparkle dust and I added the candy pearls (that's what I call them anyway!) to the middle of the flowers. I used a very small amount of icing as "glue."
End result:
The next batch we did was vanilla cake with chocolate chips and chocolate icing. Because the color of chocolate isn't very Easter-y, I thought I would cut out fondant circles to cover the whole top of the cupcake. This turned out to be messy, and did not look very good. I gave Autumn 4 fondant covered cupcakes to do whatever she wanted with. (She's 10yrs old btw.) She used the big flower cut out and put some huge white flowers onto the fondant. She also used the candy pearls for the middle.
Because the fondant circles weren't working out too well I tried a different approach. I took the paper cups off 3 cupcakes and thought I'd cover the whole entire cupcake with fondant. A mini cake! This was a bad idea. But it was too late. Oh well. I made 3 lilies for 3 cupcakes. They turned out pretty awesome. I also used some of the pink sparkle dust on them, but very little.
I then gave up on the fondant and decided that chocolate was indeed an Easter color. I used tiny yellow flowers cut out from fondant and added the candy pearls.
I may not be winning any cupcake contests any time soon, but I think I did a pretty awesome job for my first time! What do you think?
"And I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you, And I don't know how we separate the lies here from the truth; And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew Exactly what we're supposed to do."
British singer-songwriter-guitarist Bobby Long's anticipated debut studio album 'A WINTER TALE', produced by Liam Watson (White Stripes) will be released February 1st, 2011 on ATO Records. Currently residing in New York City, the 24-year old Long has been writing finely-crafted songs since taking up the guitar at age 17; from then on he's been creating memorable songs inhabited by hauntingly poetic lyrics. After relocating to London from the countryside of South West England, he became a fixture at London's open-mic nights while attending London Metropolitan University where he studied Music in Film and wrote his thesis on The Social Impact of American Folk Music. He quickly established himself on the local open mic circuit, finding his voice and beginning to develop songs characterized by catchy melodies paired with elusive, imaginative lyrics. via Bobby Long Official Site
On March 4th I had the chance to go see Bobby Long at the World Live Cafe in downtown Philadelphia. It was my first time there, as well as seeing him live. The venue was small and intimate. Dark colors with an amber glow to the room. My friend and I arrived early, thinking it would be somewhat packed. It wasn't. An opening band played, similar to Bobby's style, and I actually quite enjoyed them. (I apologize that I do not remember the name of the band.) After two beers, and a lot of waiting with Twilight Moms surrounding us (Bobby Long is the Twilight actor, Robert Pattinson's, good friend) Bobby finally hit the stage. And it was a-maz-ing. I wish I wrote this sooner so that I could remember what song he opened with, etc. I swear I'd forget body parts if they're weren't attached. He sang with such emotion that you could almost feel what he was feeling when he wrote the song. And that ladies and gentlemen is how you write music, good music. I've been to many concerts in my life and I can honestly say that this ranks in the top 3, maybe even takes the number 1 spot. Bobby Long performed harder than a lot of people I see out there. He barely made eye contact with the crowd, most of the performance his eyes were closed. He did interact a bit by talking in-between songs, most of which I couldn't make out all that well. (His British accent is heavy). I've also never saw a man sweat as much as he did. Every time he moves a shower of sweat would shake from his hair. And it definitely added to the atomosphere. You haven't seen a real music performance until you go to the World Live Cafe.
Some of the highlights for me were Bounty of Mary Jane which included a pretty long jam session and Dead and Done. It is my favorite song he has written so far. Luckily for you, my friend video recorded three songs (two of which are the above mentioned) and another one In the Frost. She also recorded some of his talking between songs, but hasn't uploaded that yet. Bummer.
Dead and Done:
Bounty of Mary Jane:
In the Frost:
Great, right? Even if you're not into the folky/acoustic thing you can't deny the kid had talent.
After the show, my friend and I decided to wait outside to see if we could meet Bobby. We waited probably about an hour and a half to realize the tour bus we were at was not his. I jokingly had told my friend that we should have followed the Twilight Moms. She said, "Why would they have the inside information?" We laughed, and started walking to our car. Then as we walked over an overpass and looked down what did we see? The Twilight Moms standing next to the tour bus. I turned and yelled, "See I told you!" and we followed the steps down to the street. The Twilight Moms left about 5min after we got there. And about 10min later who do we see walking out of the venue but Mr. Bobby Long himself. There were two girls there besides us who got to him first. Talked to him about nonsense, gave him a hat, I dunno. He seemed like he just wanted on that bus. I walked up and completely lost my ability to speak. My friend asked him for a quick picture (thank god) and he said, "If we can make it really quick. I'm freezing my fucking ass off!" (In sexy British accent). And he wasn't lying. He was literally shivering when he put his arm around me. (HE PUT HIS ARM AROUND ME!). Afterwards I managed to blurt out that his show was awesome and he said, "Thanks. Thanks for coming out." He got on the bus, and I tried to hold my composure until we were out of sight. Then proceeded to be cheesy like a 15yr old girl. Here's the pic:
I entered a tattoo contest for my local radio station. Help me win and vote for my tattoo!
Signing up only takes a second. I'd really appreciate your help!
*Every time you vote you get entered to win $500!!! (US only)
*You can vote once every 24hrs!
