Motorcycle cupcakes

I always find it a little challenging to make masculine cupcakes. It's easy to stick a flower, heart or even a tiny shoe on top of a cupcake but what do you do for a dude?

Put a Harley on top!!!

I was really happy with how these little bikes turned out. They were inspired by these and the flames were inspired by these. I often find my inspiration on Cake Central or Google images.

Has anyone else made cupcakes for men? I usually try to focus more on a flavour theme for men than the decorations.

BACON!

This week was my good friend and running buddy Joanne's birthday. Joanne has a passionate love for bacon! She burns it all off by running and cycling like crazy. She also has a great blog about running that you can find here.

I decided to make some very special cupcakes for Joanne. They are called Elvis cupcakes, based on the foods that Elvis loved including bananas, peanut butter and bacon.

I started with banana cupcakes. These are more fluffy than a regular banana muffin but still have that delicious banana flavour. I found this recipe and altered it a little by using regular milk and a little less baking soda (I often find I can taste the baking soda when a recipe calls for too much).

I topped them with Peanut Butter Dream buttercream. This is one of my favourite recipes and I use it a ton!!

Finally, the best part, CANDIED BACON!!

To make it you just cover regular bacon with a thin coat of brown sugar.

Make sure to line your pan with foil or you will have a terrible mess to clean up. Put the bacon on a wire rack and bake at 350 degrees.

  I can't remember how long this took but I checked on it often and took it out when it was lightly crisped. Let it cool and then cut into small pieces.

Here's Joanne with her sweet and savory treat! Happy Birthday Joanne!!!

Experimenting!

Last week I had 3 projects that just ended up working out perfectly together!

Engagement BBQ:
1 dozen key lime

1 dozen red velvet
1 dozen my choice

Chiropractor:
1 dozen of anything I felt like making

Parents anniversay:
A surprise for my family

Since most recipes make 2 dozen cupcakes, this worked out perfectly! I decided to make the third flavour a toasted coconut creation.

I started with the red velvet. I decided to try Martha Stewart's recipe. BAD IDEA!! It took over an hour before they were ready to go in the over and when I tasted them, they were disgusting! I ended up throwing them all out! I'm pretty sure I followed the recipe exactly but they just tasted like baking soda.

Then I started again with Bakerella's recipe. This took about 10 minutes, they were a better colour and tasted delicious!

I added some classic cream cheese buttercream and fondant flowers. Voila!

Next were the key lime cupcakes. I searched through tons of recipes and finally ended up mixing and matching a number of different recipes. I also added just a touch of leaf green food colouring. I loved the colour of the cake itself.

I added some vanilla buttercream that was flavoured with key lime juice and lime zest and decorated with a wedge of lime gummy candy and some more key lime zest.

Lastly I made the coconut cupcakes. These called for reduced coconut milk which took a LONG time to make. You have to boil coconut milk on the stove for 45 minutes until it reduces and gets thick. Then it goes in the fridge for a couple of hours until it separates. What you are left with is the most rich and delicious liquid that you add to the batter and the icing. They were decorated with toasted coconut.

I ended up filling all three orders for the weekend with variety packs of cupcakes! Most people loved the red velvet and the key lime and liked the coconut. I'm gonna have to work on that one.

What is your favourite cupcake flavour/recipe??  What should I try next?