Your Special Day
Whether you are the bride or party host, we know you are preparing for a special day that only happens once. That's why we are committed to your experience with one of our cupcake towers being easy, seamless, affordable and most of all a stunning addition to enhance your special day.
Cupcakes vs. Wedding Cakes
Cupcakes used to be considered more "casual" and wedding cakes more "formal." Not anymore. Cupcakes are in, and they're hot. No matter how formal your wedding plans are, there are cupcakes available to meet your look, need and budget. Plus, everyone is watching their budget these days. Even fancy, professional cupcakes are signficantly more affordable than a basic wedding cake... not to mention cleaner, more fun, quicker to serve and easier to handle. (No more messy cake cutting or mutilated wedding cake.) The bottom line? You get more bang for your buck with cupcakes.
DIY Cupcakes- Budget Friendly & Seriously Yummy
On a budget? We understand because we were too! So we created a Family Baking Day during the week of our wedding. We recieved this fantastic cupcake recipe from a cake-baker friend. My sisters, Mom and female in-laws borrowed cupcake tins, and baked, frosted and decorated 250 cupcakes in one afternoon. It was one of my fondest memories of the wedding... and you wouldn't believe the great comments from guests that these were the tastiest cupcakes they'd ever had. Here's the recipe:
DIY Professional Cupcakes Recipe (print version)
Cupcakes
Add 2 teaspoons Almond flavoring to boxed white cake mix; prepare as directed (Almond flavoring is the secret. Believe it or not, it's really that easy)
Buttercream Icing
1 1/4 c Crisco
2 lb. Powdered sugar
1/2 c. cold water
1 Tblsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients, beat with mixer 25 min.
Baking Tips From Mama Tubbs:
> Making the icing color match with each batch can be tricky…count the drops so the next batch of icing will be exactly the same shade.
> Make half chocolate and half vanilla (or other) flavored cupcakes.
> Use a small ice cream scoop to transfer batter from mixer bowl to cupcake pans…it’s fast and they will all be uniform in size.
> Pipe icing onto cupcake using pastry bag with "Star Pastry Tip", starting at outside perimeter, spiraling to center.
> Silk flowers, cut from a multi-bloom stem, make a nice, inexpensive cupcake topper…just make sure youngsters don’t try to eat the flowers!
> Iced cupcakes freeze well for up to 3 weeks, so you can make them ahead of time. IF YOU DO, make sure the icing completely covers to the edge of the cupcake, or the cupcakes will have a dried edge on the top dry when they are thawed.
Where to Start? Deciding on the Type of Cupcake Look for your Event
- Many cupcake wrapper options exist. Fancy Cupcake Filagree Wrappers are beautiful, but pricey. In the Oven has a great selection of regular wrappers in different colors and patterns at good prices. But sometimes a simple silver wrapper is the best if you have a colorful Center Theme and/or decorations for your cupcakes. (You can find these at any grocery or craft store for next to nothing.)
- To decorate your cupcakes, you can use toppers, edible decorations, silk flowers or just fun frosting design. A good source for ideas is searching "cupcakes" in Google Images. We love silk flowers because one stalk at a craft store sometimes has over a dozen blooms-- all of which easily pop off and can be gently poked into the cupcake, along with one of its corresponding leaves. It makes for an absolutely stunning presentation. (Tip: Don't use real flowers until you've made sure they don't contain any poison that could seep into the cupcake. You'd be surprised how many do.)
- If you make your own cupcakes, they can easily be made ahead of time and frozen until the day of the event. They'll be completely thawed and moist within 1 hour, and look as good and fresh as when you put them in the freezer.
Creative Tips for Your Customizable Cupcake Tower
- Use the top shelf of the your cupcake tower for an actual cake that can be cut by the bride and groom. The 9" shelf fits an 8" cake. It's fun to reach up to the top and cut that cake! The cake should be decorated right on this shelf. Just take the shelf straight to the bakery (any grocery store will decorate an 8" round cake for cheap). Give them a sample of the icing used on the cupcakes if you want the color to match.
- Or, don't use the top shelf; instead, fill the top cylider with overflowing flowers. Looks great with a flower or earthy theme.
- When thinking about how to customize your tower's center, remember that a center rod reaches up the middle and acts as the stabilizing force to your tower, thereby decreasing the surface size of inside decor items to about 2 1/2", or about the size of a regular Christmas bulb ornament.
- Customizable Cupcake Towers look great on a 4' round table. Feel free to let the cupcakes "spill" out onto the table if you need extra room.
- The creative things you can do with your Customizable Cupcake Tower is limitless, so let your imagination go! Host a "Brainstorming Party" with friends for plenty of ideas-- you'll be amazed at what you'll come up with.
Preferred Fancy Cupcake Vendor
If you'd like to opt for the ease and fanciness of professional cupcakes, you'll soon find your options for creative, beautiful and yummy cupcakes are endless. However, our preferred vendor hands-down is Enjoy Cupcakes (Los Olivos, CA). Combining art and baking, Enjoy Cupcakes is famous throughout California for their wine-infused line of cupcakes that will be the Talk of Your Party. Promise. Plus, they're great people to work with. If you are in the central California area, you can also arrange for them to personally deliver and set up your cupcakes with your caterer.