How to bake 60 cupcakes for K's wedding. And decorate 300 of them.
How I did it: This would have been a one week project, except I insisted on practicing. I actually made the Pink Lady Cake and Key Lime and Coconut cupcakes before K came to visit earlier in the summer, and she decided she'd rather have Carrot Cake than the Key Lime and Coconut. I froze a batch of PL make sure they'd survive the trip. It was so good to know that at least those would be ok. I made the Swiss Buttercream twice, and the second time, learned what happens if you don't whip the egg whites before adding the butter (no lift!).
The Carrot Cake recipe barely made enough cupcakes. It took me forever to get THE recipe from a college roommate, so I never got to practice. Just as well...it's a pain in the ass...but there's a reason we do it. It's the most amazing carrot cake ever. I grated the carrots by hand: they come out softer that way. It took forever. I watched all of Reservoir Dogs in the time it took me to grate them.
The Pink Lady cake is such a keeper...easy, delicate white cake with a bit of strawberry flavor. I put a bit of pink food coloring it in, just to highlight the color it wants to have.
I made the cupcakes the weekend before the wedding, triple wrapped each in saran wrap, put it in a Ziploc bag and dropped them in the freezer. Barely fit them all.
Thursday before the wedding, the cupcakes came out of the bags and were packed into the Couriers. Carried them on the plane...you get a LOT of comments when you travel with cupcakes. By the time we got to the hotel, the cupcakes were thawed, so we packed them in the fridge and prayed they wouldn't get stale.
Friday afternoon we went to K's house, whipped up a double batch of Swiss Buttercream and Cream Cheese Frosting. Tinted the Swiss Buttercream pink, and piped it with a large closed star tip in a tall spiral...sprinkled some sanding sugar on...very elegant. Cream Cheese frosting went on the (admittedly short) Carrot Cakes with a large round tip, making a nice smooth spiral.
Cupcakes sat in the Couriers overnight in a fridge, and were GREAT at the wedding the next day. They were the only ones to travel 400 miles to the wedding, and were the first ones gone. Granted, I probably didn't bring as many cupcakes as the local bakers, but still! Win!
Lessons & tips: Practicing is great for your confidence, but not necessary.
Don't assume you have to do everything. I had only thought I had to decorate all the cupcakes. Granted, mine were the prettiest...but that was a stupid assumption. When people make cupcakes, they do the whole thing.
Get a non-disposable icing bag and some good tips. Disposable bags split up the seam if there's too much pressure on the bag. Good tips wash up nicely and let the icing flow smoothly.
Don't be too ambitious. We had an hour to ice 65 cupcakes, and it was obvious I wouldn't get to do little iced carrots. Really glad it wasn't an option...I'm sure I could have spent hours on it.
Have help. The cupcakes filled two Couriers, and I had a carryon, so a friend took one as her carryon. She's a saint...it got jammed in the security x-ray and someone had to climb in after it. We had limited time to ice on Friday, so I had J (whose carrot cake recipe it is) whip up the frosting while I piped the Pink Lady cakes and washed the icing bag. The cupcakes sat in a neighbor's fridge, who brought them to the wedding for us.
Resources: The Cupcake Courier was invaluable (http://www.cupcakecourier.com/). They're hard to find, but since they carry 36 cupcakes and fit as a carryone, I recommend trying to get one while you can.
Wilton's decorating advice and products (http://www.wilton.com/cupcakes/decorating-cupcakes/) are awesome. I used their food coloring - it mixes in nicely and makes a nice bright color without having to use very much or changing the icing/batter consistency. I got some icing tips from JoAnn Fabric's that happen to be theirs as well...a closed star tip and a round tip are all I use to make pretty spirals.
The Pink Lady cake recipe and the Swiss Buttercream recipe are from SmittenKitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/).
