Chelsea Lately Round Dos!

It's officially Valentine's Day where I am so happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you all have a great day with your valentine! If you don't have a valentine, don't fret. Just think of all of the chocolates that'll be on sale tomorrow! ;) Heh Anyways, so yesterday (2/1313), I went to yet, another Chelsea Lately taping! The last time I went, I brought Holiday/Christmas themed cupcakes to the Chelsea crew. This time I came and brought Valentine's Day themed cupcakes! Here they are! P.S. if you happen to catch Chelsea Lately tonight, look out for a girl wearing a bright red cardigan and headband! ;) Hehe

Valentine's themed cupcakes!

I'm a girl with an iPhone, it's hard for me to not use instagram to filter/"edit" pictures. [Photographers, you must hate me. I'm sorry! I've tried "editing" pictures on my computer countless amounts of times but they always seem to look very odd...]

Super Heroes Unite!

Literally a week ago I got a call from a woman named Doris. She left a voicemail (I failed to pick up because I was still sleeping..heh oops :P) saying that she had found me on Yelp. I recently added Karess Kreations on Yelp about 2 or 3 weeks ago but I wasn't ready to tell everyone, but hey if she was able to find me then I guess the secret is out! Soo... if you wish, here is my Yelp! Feel free to bookmark me! ;) Anyways, back to the story - She called to ask if I could make her daughter a super hero cake. Not going to lie, but when I first heard the message, I was a bit hesitant. One, I had no idea who this woman was nor have I ever met her (all of my previous cakes and cupcakes were made for people I have met before/knew). Two, I basically pretty much absolutely knew nothing about super heroes. & well.. that's pretty much it! Any who, after speaking and e-mailing each other throughout the week, all of the details of the cake were confirmed. Initially, we spoke about doing a cake with just batman's and superman's symbols on a two tiered mini-ish cake (the cake was only needed to feed 15 people), but later my friend, Tiffany sent me a picture of a cake that had fondant figures of super heroes. I thought they looked absolutely adorable and challenging (I haven't had the besssst luck with making fondant people...remember this?). After I sent her that picture, she agreed that we should add the fondant heroes of Superman, Batman, the Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, and Iron Man. She also requested that I add cow somewhere in the cake due to her daughter's wish to have a pet cow one day. I think that's enough story time, don't cha think? Sooo look below for the cake! :)

Here's the cake! My very first super hero cake and not to mention one of the first non-fondant covered cakes that I've made in a very very very long time! Haha

The fondant super heroes, featuring the birthday girl, Alicia in the top middle picture! (I know it wasn't asked but I thought it'd be cute to top the cake with the birthday girl)

The cake probably looks somewhat big-ish but in real life it was pretty minuscule looking so I wasn't quite sure that it would feed the 15 people that Doris had said would be needed to feed. The cake itself looked like it could either feed the exact amount or a few servings less so to be on the safe side, I included about 17 cake pops varying of these red and yellow sprinkled cake pops along with the blue sprinkled cake pops below. 

On another note... Valentine's Day is coming up and what better way to show your love to your special someone then with cupcakes?! & as a special for Valentine's Day, you can surprise your loved one with a heart filled cupcake! :)

Ooh Ooh Baby

So I'm not really sure if this is supposed to be on the down low or whatnot but let's just say that I got asked to make baby shower cupcakes for one of my favorite teachers in high school! I've known about the pregnancy since I want to say Halloween (..?), but it wasn't until today that I'd be making the actual cupcakes for the shower. Ah, I'm so excited for her! I forgot to take pictures of what I gave her, but I made her a grey cardigan and blue with a hint of white sweater for her baby. Hopefully, she'll send pictures when/if he wears it! :D Any who, I was told to make jungle themed cupcakes, so here's my take on them! 

This was used as inspiration to make some of the toppers

On a more depressing note (sorry..), earlier this week, my friend asked me to make cupcakes for her and her friends back in college. Let's just say they didn't have the most pleasant trip ever... :| Also, sorry for the terrible quality pictures.. I was in a rush..

It's About Time!

I apologize in advance for this super brief post... but many of you have asked me if I had business cards, and I can now officially say that I do!!

My business cards!! Yayayayaya! I'm so excited!

DIY: Fortune Cookies! (First Tutorial)

Happy Halloween everybody! I know it's taken me a long time to post this, but here's my first tutorial!! I know improvements can be made but I hope you all can cut me some slack :P .  ALSO some of you may not know but today also marks the one year anniversary of my blog! Unfortunately as of now, I haven't done anything too special for it but it's only 12:43 AM right now (for me) soo who knows the day has barely just started! ;D I'll update you all if I do end up making something! 

Update!
As of now it is now 1:28 PM for me and not doing anything special today would just be wrong so I made halloween themed cupcakes! Nothin' too fancy~ Again, happy halloween everyone! Remember to be safe!!

Fortune Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:
3 oz flour
3 oz sugar
pinch of salt
3 oz egg whites
2 oz melted unsalted butter
(not pictured but I also added 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract)

Step 1: Get all of your ingredients ready!
Step 2: Whisk and/or sift all of your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt) to make sure that they are combined well.
Step 3: Pour in the egg whites to your dry mixture until combined.
Step 4: After you have combined your dry ingredients with the egg whites, add the melted butter.

Step 5: Prepare your baking sheet by placing on a piece of parchment (you can also use a silipat if you have one).
Step 6: Spoon out however much of the batter you want (I used amount a teaspoon for each cookie). *note: you may only want to try to make one cookie at a time until you get the hang of it.
Step 7: Place the batter on the parchment paper and create circles. *You'll want to make the circles thin and even as possible.
Step 8: If you are wanting to add your own "fortunes" make sure to have those ready! The next steps go by VERY quickly!

Unfortunately I was not able to get pictures of the next steps but don't fret! I can still tell you how to complete a fortune cookie! :)
Step 9: Put your baking sheet in the oven until it is golden brown. Times will vary depending on how thick or large you made your circle to be. My cookies ranged from 6-10 minutes. *Warning: The browner the cookies get, the crispier they will be, therefore making the folding quite difficult.
*Note: Steps 10-12 will need to be done in a span of about 8 seconds...so beware!
Step 10: When your cookies are golden brown, take them out as quick as you can! Using a spatula, wipe off your cookie from the parchment paper. If you are inserting a "fortune," this is the time where you would want to place your message in the middle of the cookie.
Step 11: Once you have placed your message in the middle of the cookie (if you chose to do so), you will fold your cookie in half like a taco.
Step 12: After folding your cookie as a taco, you will need to pinch the two ends of the taco and bend the middle of the cookie to a cup (as shown in the picture above). This is how you will get the "fortune cookie" shape! :)

And that's it! Keep repeating this process until you get the amount of fortune cookies you would like! :)

Also, in case any of you guys wanted an update on whether or not the first "Karess Kreations" delivery made it okay...

Yay Summer!

Wooo! It's finally summertime! I'm finally graduated from high school and I don't have to worry about school until the fall! :D Congrats to the class of 2012! WE DID IT! Nevertheless I am oh so very sorry for lagging with my posts! But don't fret! I'll catch you guys up! ;)


June 15th (Rose themed cupcakes for Mrs. Crowley):

Flavor: Peanut butter chocolate chip with chocolate buttercream

Flavor: Chai with cream cheese buttercream

I'll try to sum this up as much as a I can, but basically Mrs. Crowley was my TA teacher for the past four years and June 15th was my last day of high school so I thought I'd thank her for all of the things she's done for me. :)

P.S. you see that person to the left of me? That's Mrs. Crowley! Isn't she fabulous?! ;)
Also thank you to Allen Chiu for taking this picture!

June 17th (Father's Day):

Flavor: Chocolate with chocolate buttercream

June 29th (Dodgers/baseball themed cake and cupcakes for Sean's birthday):

Flavor: Red velvet with cream cheese buttercream

Once again...

CONGRATS CLASS OF 2012! :D

June 8 - June 13

Normally I like to make a weekly post (depending on if I even have orders haha) but nevertheless, I forgot to add on two orders I got when I posted the post about Dance Dance Evolution!! Soo to catch you all up on what I've been up to.... ;)


Order #1 (June 8): Pig cupcakes for Jacqueline's mom.

Flavor: Vanilla with coconut custard filling
*the fondant is almond flavored

Order #2 (June 9): Princess cupcakes for Tori (to give to Mr. Case's daughter)

Flavor: Red velvet with cream cheese buttercream

Order #3 (June 11): A Northwood Timberwolf cake for the Distinguished Timberwolves Award Ceremony (to give to Mr. Banks)

Flavor: Vanilla with cream cheese buttercream

*This is the first cake I've made in awhile where I didn't cover it with fondant! Just a random fun fact! Haha

Last but not least...

Order #4 (June 13): Graduation cupcakes for Kennedy High's graduation

Flavor: Red velvet with cream cheese buttercream

*Another fun fact: this order was both ordered and finished on the same day! I surprisingly was able to successfully finish this order in about 3-5 hours! I'm still shocked. 

For future orders: I would not recommend anyone to order last minute! I cannot guarantee that I will be able to always finish the order you wish to have. Nevertheless, it never hurts to ask for your desired baked good! Ideally, 4 days or more is a good amount to place an order (the more in advance the better). :)

Priscilla

This is a tad bit late for me to post buuuut this past Friday I had an order from a girl at school named Priscilla. She'd seen my cupcakes and cakes over Facebook and wanted to order cupcakes in honor of her parents' anniversary.

Don't forget: I'll be making cupcakes for Northwood High School's "Dance Dance Evolution" Dance Show this Thursday and Friday! Dances in the show will feature time periods such as the 80s, scientific development, neanderthals, and so much more! I really shouldn't... buuuuut here's a preview of some of the fondant decorations you can find if you come to the show ;)

In case you needed more convincing, a very cool promo video was also made! Check it out here.

Amy, Stephanie, and Sami

This week I had three orders:
1. Mini Tiffany & Co. colored cakes for Amy's 17th birthday
2. Cupcakes with cat decorations for Stephanie's 17th birthday
3. Cupcakes with car decorations for Sami's 17th birthday

Side note: I also made a Facebook to display my cakes and cupcakes! If you wish to, "like" my page ! ;)

Amy's mini cakes.

Stephanie's cupcakes.

Sami's fondant car decoration for his cupcakes.

Another thing that happened this week was my final in ROP! Our task was to create a plated dessert with our assigned groups to showcase to our friends and family in a restaurant-like environment.

Coming soon: Cupcakes for Northwood High School's "Dance Dance Evolution" Dance Show, so stay tuned and come to support the dance program!! :)

Mother's Day Weekend

Wow! Word travels fast and in this case, I'm loving it! It's been such a busy weekend! Since last week, I've been passing out flyers at my school about my cupcakes/cakes and with this weekend being mother's day, people decided to order cupcakes from me...22 to be exact! :D I'm still so shocked! I went from basically never getting any orders in one week to 22 orders?! WHAT?! Well I guess I never really advertised that I sell baked goods, but still! I'm beyond amazed! Technically though, four of the orders were for different reasons ;). One was to help someone ask a girl to prom, one was for one of my teacher's daughters who were sick and two were from people who just wanted cupcakes for themselves. However, the rest were for mother's day and all I can ask is that everyone's mother's liked what they got! :)



Most of the things I made this week...

Vanilla and red velvet cupcakes with a Belle and Barney fondant topper for my teacher, Mr. Gates daughters.

Carrot and red velvet mother's day cupcakes for the Orosco family.

Chocolate with vanilla buttercream birthday cake for Garret.  

Vanilla, peanut butter chocolate chip, and a red velvet cupcake for  Mother's Day for the Seaton family.

Mother's day banana cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream for the Shim family.

Banana cupcakes with banana toppers for Arnold to help ask a girl to prom.

Mother's Day red velvet cupcakes for the Chandrans.

Mother's Day vanilla cupcakes for the Jang family.

Mother's Day red velvet cupcakes for the Bui family.

Mother's Day fruit tart for the Li family.

Mother's Day vanilla cupcake for the Nguyen family.