MyCupcakes

I love the fact that such a little cupcake could bring so much joy and happiness just by the initial look at the wonderful toppings/decoration (especially when these little cupcakes suit your functions) and later as you yummy-liciously bite into their “just nice” little sizes… and if you go online and see all the wonderful photos uploaded by equally passionate for cupcakes people… you’d just cant help and goes uuuhhh…and aaahhh…

This blog will be about my journey baking cupcakes and decorating them and loving it… and hopefully my skills too will develop and become so much better that I’d surprise myself hahaha… and others in the process … in coming up with new flavours and decorating them.. especially decorating them…

So people, so far I have come up with and quite happy with (not contented but insya allah will improve in due time) with MyCupcakes.. so do follow my blog and any inputs and encouragement will be most welcomed!

I just love giving them out... so far I’ve given them to Kak meem, Kak aishah, Kak norma, Herman and wife (for their little Ms Elisa – whom later I heard from her mom that she refused to eat MyCupcakes cause they were too pretty to eat – so I told Azreeny, her mama that I’d happily bake her more once she has finished MyCupcakes that I gave her).. I’m so happy with MyCupcakes and happy that the fact that MyCupcakes makes other people happy…

So much so that I’m looking for excuses just to bake and find ideas to decorate them…

My first attempt at making MyCupcakes :

Initially all I wanted to do was just try out my mother in law’s recipe (which I found in one of her baking books) and it was chocolate chip cupcakes recipe. Please bear in mind that this is my first time baking cupcakes. I didn’t quite like the recipe at first because the cupcakes turned out to be quite “too hard” for my liking.. but the fact of the matter is that it turned out looking and tasting “ok” which surprisingly made me so happy … am so easily pleased, what can I say… and that was it, there was no turning back… the cupcake bug got to me and am now loving every moment baking and decorating them… I’ve got friends who are equally passionate about these little ones and am so happy sharing cupcakes stories and tips with them…

So here they are, My FIRST Cupcakes EVER:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
My first Cupcake (Choc chip cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting)
Not bad if I would say myself for a first timer :)

For Erwin’s Birthday

Then I was un-stoppable… looking for reasons to bake MyCupcakes… to brush up on my amateurish skills and the fact that I just cant wait to see how they would turn out… Remember I told you I wasn’t quite happy with the first recipe I got… so diligently.. yes am proud to say diligently… I began to do research on cupcakes, I went online, watched YouTube.. bought myself books (have to get more books soon :) )… and my gosh… there was so many recipes for cupcakes/how to decorate them.. I was in la-la land by this time and was so happy to try them out for Erwin’s bday…

This time around they were Vanilla Cupcakes (and I loved this recipe – it is so simple yet the result is yummy-licious!)

So here they are My VANILLA Cupcakes:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting)
Obviously ERWIN’s name should be on one of MyCupcakes hehehe
(Thanks a lot sayang for taking care of our little boy Emir while I bake and deco)

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting)
At this stage I was happy decorating with sprinkles and
Experimenting with my SWIRL

For Erwin’s Mom’s birthday (13.4.2009)

Ok, now that I was happy with how MyCupcakes turned out for Erwin’s birthday.. The vanilla flavour was yummy and so was the texture… soft and moist to my liking… am also happy in the sense that I have gathered all the information I needed (which I think requires more – am thinking of actually joining an actually class – will see how that goes – reading on your own is different but having a proper teacher would be wonderful!)… that they turned out better than My FIRST Cupcakes EVER … there is no doubt that I would want to do better for MyCupcakes.. and am happy to say that Erwin’s mother’s b’day is just around the corner yeay!!!!

So I was already contemplating in my head on how to deco MyCupcakes … that I was having cupcakes dreams.. sigh… so teruk already me!

So then comes along MyCupcakes: RED COLLECTION

We got Erwin’s mom a RED scarf for her birthday so was inspired to do a RED collection… and this time around I manage to make my deco more clean looking…

So here they are MyCupcakes: RED COLLECTION

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting – RED COLLECTION)
Me like-y …

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting – RED Collection)
At this stage I was happy that my SWIRL has improved tremendously!!!
I was more confident with my piping.. insya allah will do better!

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting – RED Collection)
I thought my deco looked more re-fined and clean looking.. what do you think?

Note: Please draw your attention to Right hand corner of picture of two white flowers with pink centre and green leave – my first time using fondant for decoration.

For Emir’s nursery

So far I have done choc chip and vanilla flavoured cupcakes… and was slowly improving my self-taught decorating skills (well atleast that’s what I think I’m doing hahaha)… so I have decided to try a new flavour… and the choice was easy... chocolate!!!

It’s been awhile since I last Sedekah for Emir’s nursery so hehehe.. of course I decided to do some cupcaking… to add new flavour and of course to improve my decorating skills… so here goes… MyCupcakes CHOC collection:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate buttercream frosting with sprinkles
–CHOC collection)

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate buttercream frosting with sprinkles –
CHOC collection)
Ready to be delivered to Emir’s nursery

Note: Was so happy that I made these for all of Emir’s nanny(ies) at the nursery… These are the people you trust and you leave your anak (heart and soul) there from morning till afternoon… a little cupcake is just a token of my appreciation and thanks to them for taking care of our little boy Emir Effendy).

Not only that I believe now that I have found my so-called “calling” in life hahaha… I told Erwin that we will never go empty handed every again to every function and the fact that I like the idea that each of MyCupcakes are made individually with love and good intent.. I’ll hold my head high when I bring a box of MyCupcakes made specially for my dear loved ones)

So far, MyCupcakes were made for own consumption and I have shared a few of MyCupcakes photos on my facebook and a few friends requested some… so was happy to obliged.. was kind of a bit nervous but the response were surprisingly positive (there were views that MyCupcakes were a bit small and too sweet – but my thanks as these inputs are put to good use to improve MyCupcakes along the way).. both the good and the bad comments shall be put to good use!

So these were for 3 of MyCupcakes for Kak Meem and 6 for Kak Aishah (for her to share with her 3 PPG (Powerpuff Girls) daughters:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate buttercream frosting with sprinkles –
CHOC collection)
Kak Meem was lucky because there were just a few left at home :) after I’ve delivered 12 pieces of MyCupcakes to Emir’s Nursery

I’d love it if MyCupcakes packaging would be like this:
Packaging for Kak Meem
Thought it gave the box a personal touch to it… simple but elegant.

For Cousin’s birthday (23.4.2009)

I told you that I was looking for reasons to do bake some of MyCupcakes and yes am so blessed that my family member’s birthdays are very close apart hahaha

So I decided to bake some for Misah… remember my RED collection for Erwin’s mom, if you would take a close look - (refer to note) - that my dear readers is my first experiment with FONDANT!!!! I am proud to say that I made them myself from scratch…. FONDANT decorations are indeed the sweetest thing made of a whole lotta sugar but it does wonders to your cupcakes and it gives a very clean deco which I strive to do for each and every single one of MyCupcakes :)

So I came up with the LUUURVEEE (LOVE) Collection and here they are:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Oreo cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting With Red Love Fondant –
LUURVE (LOVE) Collection)
They turned out luuurrveee-ly if I might say myself…
I like it when my cupcake deco turns out clean and refined – looks professional looking despite done by my amateur hands and skills.

For Grass and Flowers (experiment) – made together with LUURVE (LOVE) Collection

It’s going to be Mother’s day soon and am already looking forward to MOTHER’S day theme (made some doodles on my drawing book already)… I’ve not done any “GRASS” deco before and I just bought myself a Grass decorating tip and just wanted to see how it will look like… I was thinking of making Erwin’s mom MyCupcakes with themes of flowers.. Let’s see how it goes because my brain is constantly thinking on how to deco MyCupcakes and here they are:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Oreo cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting With Red/Pink FondantFlower/ green buttercream for the grass – made together with LUURVE (LOVE) Collection)
I thought my grass looked kinda limp hahaha.. gotta work on my “pressure” to get better looking grass.. it’s ok.. next time…

For Erwin’s daddy’s birthday (experiment) – made together with MyCupcakes LUURVE (LOVE) Collection)

I experimented with decorating “grass” for MyCupcakes and the extra fondant flowers I made together with Red heart fondant.. so that is when I decided to experiment for Erwin’s father’s birthday.. what better gift to give him but a personal gift made from my heart and humble hands… look and behold I’ve already decided to bake MyCupcakes for him hahahha surprise surprise … golf cupcakes to be exact… hahaha

Erwin’ father’s birthday is on the 30.5.2009 but … I told you I’m walking on clouds thinking of my cupcakes decoration hahaha… equipped with my drawing book and colour pencils and I’m ready to go!!

So since he is an avid fan of GOLF I decided to experiment with fondant and see how it goes… and here is a photo for you:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Oreo cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting With Green Fondant for the Golf field/green buttercream frosting for the grass/white fondant golf ball/self-made flag on toothpick – made together with LUURVE (LOVE) Collection)
I think having a theme for your cupcakes make the work much easier and I believe ideas would easily flow to fit the theme…

For Ellyn’s daughter’s (Qaisara Khadijah) Aqiqah (24.4.2009)

My dear friend Ellyn gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Qaisara Khadijah last 10.2.2009 and I am so happy for her.. having been a mommy myself for the past 1 year plus after giving birth to my boy Emir Effendy on 28.2.2008… I know how much love she has for her little bundle of joy as I do for my little Emir.. and when she invited me to her baby’s Aqiqah last 24.4.2009.. I thought what better way to give her and her husband little cupcakes for their day… and so here they are:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting With pink baby bootie –
BABY Collection)
Do they look like baby booties to you?

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting With pink hearts with silver balls sprinkles – BABY Collection)

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Vanilla cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting With BIGGEST HEART fondant– BABY Collection)
This is the biggest heart fondant I’ve made so far – at first I didn’t know what to do with it then
I decided to add to BABY collection as a Centre Piece…
MyCupcakes BIG LOVE for baby Qaisara Khadijah …
(hugs and kisses from Aunty Anor, Uncle Erwin and Bro Emir)

For MyCupcakes First Official Order
(Emma’s Daughter’s 5th birthday (experiment))

So far my dear readers (if there are any out there… yuuuu huuuuuu.. anyone out there… hahaha)… MyCupcakes were accidentally discovered/so called "calling" for me and MyCupcakes were initially made for own consumption/own satisfaction… I think my family members cannot tahan see-ing me baking and baking already and as a friend said “Jangan lemas dalam buttercream” (I’ll keep that in mind Dr Kim)…. hahaha….

Anyhow people, MyCupcakes got its first official order! I was excited! Butterflies (fondant ones hikhik) as big as elephants inside my tummy…. And happy too! But baking for somebody’s function and the fact that they’re actually paying for MyCupcakes is a whole different ball game all together…so of course I practiced and … ate them later!!

MyCupcakes First Official Order came for a dear friend Emma for the her daughter Faizah’s 5th birthday… 30 pieces to be exact.. and the first thing that came to mind was COLOURS!!!!

(Cause so far from MyCupcakes collection I have so far made/used RED/PINK/CHOC (BROWN) colour as you can see above) – so for a 5 year old, there should be COLOURS!!!! Of course I practiced and here they are:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Oreo cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting–
made together with LUURVE (LOVE) Collection)
I was very hard on myself – based on the above I knew that I had to use a smaller tip to make the strings for the ballons looked nicer, have to put extra fondant clouds to make it look more real and the rainbows have to be made longer and curvy-er. I was kinda happy with my butterfly except that it had to be cleaner and refined looking)



This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Oreo cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting–
made together with LUURVE (LOVE) Collection)
(I saw the above deco on YouTube and thought I’d give it a try – I thought it looked ok but still not sure whether to add this for Emma’s daughter’s collection)

For MyCupcakes First Official Order (30 pieces)(25.4.2009)
(Emma’s Daughter FAIZAH’s 5th birthday party)

Emma’s daughter FAIZAH’s birthday was to be held on a Saturday and the party was going to be held at night so I thought I’d have ample time to prepare for Emma but then again I forgot that it was a working Saturday for me… so half the day was gone but thank goodness that the order was only for 30 pieces and Emma trusts me enough to deco MyCupcakes for her daughter. Oohhh… terharunya and so was adamant to be make the best for her. Emma said she’ll come and pick up around 6-6ish, which is fine by me.

I started baking at 130pm after Zohor prayers and played with Emir then thanks to my husband Erwin, who gladly babysat Emir while I baked… so roughly around 3 to 330-ish my baking was done… freshly baked choc cupcakes for Emma.

Then, I rested while waiting for MyCupcakes to cool down and started decorating after Asar prayers roughly about 430pm.

So, here they are - MyCupcakes First Official Order for FAIZAH’s 5th Birthday Party:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Choc cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting–
together with fondant decoration especially for Faizah)
I did quite a lot of fondant deco for my own collection and purposes so thought I’d just add into all the cupcakes I’ve made so far and thought it’d be nice to spell out her name using these fondant lettering.

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Choc cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting–
together with fondant decoration especially for Faizah)
Told ya I’d play with colours for her.
What do you think?

Note: I’m happy with the colours but I think I was too nervous with the piping and do wished that the piping could have been much clean-er but kind hearted Emma told me they looked fine and ok to her… but knowing me, I would want MyCupcakes to be much better for her!

For MyCupcakes Second Official Order
(Ordered by Erwin’s Mother (For Azilawati’s (Ilot) birthday))

This is MyCupcakes Second Official Order, for Ilot’s birthday on 26.4.2009.

Actually I told Erwin that I was planning to give Ilot MyCupcakes for her birthday but then Erwin’s mother decided to order six (6) pieces of MyCupcakes to give her and so I decided to give her extra three (3) of MyCupcakes for her big day. Erwin’s mother requested for choc cupcakes and here they are:

This is how MyCupcakes turned out:
(Choc cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream frosting - PURPLE collection)
The PURPLE collection was inspired see-ing a friends’ creation using different shades of purple and thought it might look nice…
What do you think of MyCupcakes PURPLE collection?