Pink Moon Cupcake Bakery

Again, I apologize for my lack of updates. Between school, two small jobs, and an internship, I've been super-busy. I have a handful of cupcake recipes that I'm very anxious to try out but haven't really had the opportunity to do so. My friend, Amy, has an apartment and has graciously offered her kitchen to me a number of times...but I just haven't gone for it. Granted, we've baked some tasty shortbread, pie, and cookie, but I've stayed away from cupcakes. Once I'm home for summer, I'll be baking up a cupcake storm :)
Anyway, I'm a little off-topic. So...


My internship involves traveling to a number of schools in Delaware County and today's lesson was at Tyler Run in Powell, Ohio. A couple months ago, I read about a cupcake bakery in Powell and so I mentioned this to Ashley, the prevention educator I was observing today. Surprisingly, she had noticed the little bakery on her trips out to this particular school. Ashley said we could possibly stop on our way back to the office, but I figured she'd forget or decide against the idea. Fortunately, I assumed wrong! Pink Moon Bakery is located in a small building [formerly a home] in Powell, Ohio. The smell of cupcakes was AMAZING and I think my mouth began watering before we even walked in the door. The room had a long table that was covered in an assortment of cupcakes - Buckeye [chocolate with peanut butter frosting], Pumpkin Buttercream, Apple Crumb, and more. After a good 10 minutes or so of debating, Ashley and I finally settled on our cupcakes. Ashley went with a Pretty, Pretty Princess for Julie [vanilla with vanilla frosting and a "Diva" ring on top], Raspberry Margarita, Devil's Food with Buttercream, and Chocolate with Vanilla Frosting. I also went with Devil's Food, along with Snickerdoodle with Buttercream, and Strawberry [which had real pieces of strawberry in the cupcake!].
Back at the office, we all dug in and I thought Julie was going to die [from happiness, of course]. These cupcakes are really good...really good. My only complaint was the frosting to cake ratio. I prefer more cake than frosting and these are the complete opposite. I ended up ditching a lot of the frosting, as did Ashley. Now I'm not saying the frosting wasn't enjoyable...it was DELICIOUS, just a little too much for my liking.
I enjoyed my strawberry cupcake at the office and a co-worker took the Snickerdoodle one [she wasn't aware the second box belonged to me, rather than to the agency...]. Yes, I was a little bummed, but I'm very glad she enjoyed it. The only reason I bought three cupcakes was because I couldn't make up my mind. I would have had far too many cupcakes, so that mishap was for the best. I have yet to try my devil's food cupcake, but my roommate, Claire, and I were both dipping our fingers into the silky and light frosting...



I may end up going back tomorrow...one of the specials for Friday is a Coconut cupcake with Coconut frosting...Hmmmm...

The Spring Break baking binge continues...

Sadly, my Spring Break is over and I'm back at OWU. And while that means no more baking for a while [or so I feared...], that doesn't mean I don't have anything to post. I did quite a bit of baking while I was at home last week - 3 batches of cupcakes and 2 batches of frosting, to be exact. Do I have a problem? Maybe. I don't think so, but others might. Baking actually serves as my personal therapy. The experience is calming for me and serves as an escape from everything else. The cupcakes I'm writing about tonight were especially therapeutic, considering they followed a horrible experience involving my keys being locked in my car...at a gas station. Okay, it wasn't that horrible, but I was shaken up. I was in a less-than-favorable location, my dad had to leave work to help me out, and I was convinced every guy at the gas station was going to attack me. So, obviously, some serious pastry therapy was necessary.

My second batch of cupcakes in as many days was a bunch of lovely Coconut Cupcakes, again from 52 Cupcakes. I had originally planned to make a cream cheese frosting to go with the cupcakes, but I had so much leftover chocolate buttercream that it seemed silly not to use that. I went a little light on the frosting this time around because I feared the chocolate would overwhelm the possibly subtle coconut flavor. I ended up with a great balance between the two, but I probably could have done with even less frosting - a little goes a long way with this stuff. The cupcakes were awesome - a light and fluffy cake and the coconut added an interesting and contrasting texture, as well as some additional sweetness. I slightly altered the recipe and substituted cake flour for half of the all-purpose flour and I also used only vanilla extract, rather than using vanilla and almond extracts. I definitely plan on making these cupcakes again and I am thinking about trying a pineapple cream cheese frosting for that batch...We'll see what happens!

More vanilla cupcakes!

I know, I know...It's been quite a while since I last posted. No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I just haven't been sure what else to do with it aside from posting cupcakes and other baking escapades. More than once I considered posting reviews of different food items - Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper [never again will I touch a bottle of that drink], Chocolate Skittles [not as bad as I had anticipated, but definitely not tasty], and Wild Cherry M&Ms [okay...not too bad, but nothing great] - but I was afraid it would either be yawn-worthy or, well, silly. But now that I'm on Spring Break I can get back to the cupcakes!

I made plans prior to break to try a new cupcake recipe - Peaches and Cream cupcakes - but after much thought and deliberation [probably far too much of both], the vanilla cupcakes I made for my birthday were the obvious choice. Don't worry, I won't be posting the exact same cupcakes as the previous post. I opted to go with a chocolate buttercream frosting, rather than the vanilla buttercream. Oh my gosh. I could eat the entire batch of frosting with a giant spoon. Screw the cupcakes, give me the frosting! Sure, I'd be suffering later for my gluttony but I'd completely fail to consider that consequence. Mmm...

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, cupcakes. I stuck with "Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes" and paired them with the simple chocolate buttercream, creating a heavenly result. The frosting is light & fluffy, and the semi-sweet chocolate cuts the sometimes overwhelming sweetness of the powdered sugar. The cupcakes were light & soft & airy & every other adjective that could be used to describe fabulous cupcakes. The family is absolutely in love with this batch, especially the frosting. I caught my dad sticking his finger in the leftover frosting more than once and he ended up with some on his nose after diving into a cupcake earlier this evening.

First post!

Well, here goes nothing.

I was home last weekend to celebrate two birthdays - my dad's and my own - and after showing a family friend some pictures I had taken earlier in the night, she suggested I start my own food blog. After much contemplation I caved and this is the final product. I don't know how often I'll be posting because I rarely get the opportunity to bake during the school year.

Anyway, on with the food!

Most 21 year-olds opt to celebrate that fateful birthday by treating themselves to a drink or two (or twenty-one). I celebrated with baking my own birthday cupcakes. As of late, I've become addicted to food blogs and 52 Cupcakes is one of my favorites. I decided to stick with simple chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for the occasion [although I was VERY tempted by a peaches and cream cupcake recipe...] in order to make sure Dad enjoyed the cupcakes just as much as I would. I used the recipes for Billy's Chocolate Cupcakes and Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes and intended on making both a vanilla and chocolate buttercream frosting, but after hours of cupcake baking before the birthday party I decided one frosting would be enough and went with vanilla.

These were the BEST cupcakes I have ever tasted. Both were light and fluffy, and full of flavor. The buttercream complimented both flavors perfectly and didn't over-power the cake in the slightest. Mom and I had a blast decorating the cupcakes, even though I did yell at her a few times for being overzealous with her sprinkles [here's where I should note that the cupcake featured in my banner is one she decorated and it provided beautiful pictures].

Party guests devoured the cupcakes, some taking one of each. I split the remaining cupcakes with my family, bring half of them back to Ohio Wesleyan with me. My roommates and boyfriend were more than happy to taste the cupcakes and less than a week later, we have one lonely chocolate cupcake left in the container.