Vanilla Cupcakes and How I got my First Commercial Order

Last week I got a message on my mobile that a female saw my FB page and wanted to contact me if I can make a birthday cake for her daughter who will turn 1 next month. I was intrigued... someone somewhere is noticing my work!!!

Being skeptical, thinking this could be a spam message, I finally dialed the number I got the message from. The other side was a mother from my locality planning her first kid's first birthday party and saw some photos from my FB page and wanted me to bake the first birthday cake for her cute little daughter. Her name was Meenakshi and she was planing to make fondant cake for her daughter Samara. She asked me if I can give some samples of different flavours for her to taste.

Until now, I have always made delights for my home or for my friends but never for unknown people in a professional way. And fondant cakes... that's really professional. I have made a  fondant cake once before but that was in a class and someone was there to correct me for any mistakes. I was soo nervous! But I kinda liked the challenge and wanted to see if I was good enough to be judged by some unknown person. Hence, I told her that I would send her some vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for her to decide the flavours for her daughters birthday cake.

Here it is, what I made for her taste samples, some vanilla and some chocolate cupcakes. For the recipe of Chocolate cupcakes, see the link here. 

I frosted these cupcakes with some strawberry butter-cream frosting. What would you think, would she liked the cupcake??? Sure she did! She simply loved it and wanted to me to make the birthday cake for her daughter. And that's how I got my first commercial order.... (Yayyy!!!)

I am sure you would also want to know how did I make these yummy looking cupcakes. Don't you? So, here is the recipe for you...

Do you have any such "first" stories to share with me??? What did you make for your kid's first birthday??? Don't forget to share it with me...

(Print this recipe)

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Butter-cream Frosting

Here's what you would need to make Vanilla Cupcakes:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Prepares - 12 cupcakes

For Vanilla Cupcakes

1 cup/ (200 gms) granulated sugar

1 stick/ (115 gms) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt (ignore if using salted butter)

1 1/3 cup (175 gms) all purpose flour

1/3 (80 ml) cup whole milk

Strawberry Butter-cream Frosting

1/2 cup/ (115 gms) butter (at room temperature)

2 cups/ (230 gms) confectioner's or icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp strawberry preserves/ jam

2 tbsp milk (optional)

Here's how you can make it:

Preheat your oven to 180 degree C/ 350 degree F. Line cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

• In a bowl, add all purpose flour, baking powder and salt and whisk it all together.
• In the bowl of your electric mixer or in another large bowl using your hand held mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. 
• Add in eggs, one at a time, beating continue at a medium speed until nice and combined.
• Add vanilla extract and beat it to incorporate in the batter
• Add all the dry ingredients and mix it just until all the dry ingredients are combined in the batter using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERMIX THE BATTER!
• Scoop out the batter in the pre-lined cupcake tin till 3/4 full. Do not fill the liner to the full as the batter will rise during baking.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of one of the cupcake comes out clean.
• Let the cupcakes cool for 10 minutes in the cupcake tin kept over cooling tray before taking them out from the tin. Let the cupcakes cool on the cooling tray for atleast 1 hour before frosting the cupcakes

Strawberry Butter-cream Frosting:

• In the bowl of your electric mixer or in a large bowl using your hand held mixer, cream butter until smooth.
• Add vanilla extract and whisk
• With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the icing sugar. Scrap down the sides of the bowl 
• Add strawberry preserves and beat on high speed for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy
• If the butter-cream is too thick, add more preserves or milk, if needed
• Pipe the frosting in a disposable piping bag using star tip nozzle and frost the cupcakes making swirls of frosting
• Decorate as desired.

Hope you would also enjoy making these cupcakes as much as I did and also liked its flavour just the way Meenakshi liked it!

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Butter-cream Frostng

Have you checked my recent post on Vanilla Cupcakes?? If yes, then you would know that this post is in continuation of that post as I sent two choices to Meenakshi for choosing the flavour for her daughter first birthday and how I got the first commercial order. Don't miss the full story here.

This was the second thing I made the same day! I made vanilla cupcakes first and while that batch was baking in the oven I whipped up another batch of these chocolate cupcakes. By the time these chocolates cupcakes baked, my entire house started to smell soo heavenly with the magic of how the buttery - sugary goodness turned into soft and moist cupcakes. I can spend all my days to live in this smell of freshly baked buttery goodness. This kinda gives me therapeutic treatment to my mind. 

Once i put my chocolate cupcakes in the oven, I got into making some chocolate decorations for the cupcakes by simply tempering the dark chocolate and putting it in the decorating molds and kept in the refrigerator to set.

The cupcakes were soo soft and moist and just melts in the mouth leaving behind the buttery crumbs that lingers in the mouth for a long time. These cupcakes are a MUST TRY for the chocolate lovers!

(Print this recipe)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Butter-cream Frostng

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Prepares - 16 cupcakes




Here's what you would need to make Chocolate Cupcakes:

For Chocolate Cupcakes

1-1/3 cup/ (175 gms) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup/ (115 gms) butter, at room temperature
1 cup/ (200 gms) caster sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup/ (50 gms) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup/ (240 ml) boiling hot water

For Chocolate Butter-cream Frosting

1/2 cup/ (115 gms) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups/ (230 gms) icing or confectioner's sugar, sifted
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk or heavy cream

Here's how you can make it:
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degree C/ 350 degree F. Line the cupcake tin with cupcake liners

• Add cocoa powder into boiling hot water and stir it until smooth. Keep it aside to cool.
• In a bowl, sift all purpose flour, baking soda and salt together and give it a good whisk to combine all the dry ingredients together
• In the bowl of your electric mixer, or in another bowl using hand held mixer, add butter and sugar and beat it until creamy and fluffy
• Add one egg at a time and beat until combined
• Add vanilla extract and beat to incorporate into the batter
• Add all the dry ingredients into the batter and mix it using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon just until combined.
• Add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir it in until smooth.
• Scoop out the batter into the cupcake tin filing 3/4 to the top. Do not fill the batter to the top as the batter will rise during baking and will develop cracks on the top surface if the batter is overfilled.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the cupcakes feel spongy to the touch and a tooth pick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
• Once baked, let the cupcakes cool in the tin kept over a cooling rack for 10 minutes before taking them out of the tin. Let the cupcakes cool for about an hour on the cooling rack before frosting them.

Chocolate Butter-cream Frosting;

• While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting. Start with creaming butter using a hand held mixer until smooth.
• Sift together icing sugar and cocoa powder in the butter and beat on a low speed until sugar and cocoa powder are absorbed by the butter
• Scrap down the sides of the bowl and add vanilla beat it in.
• Turn the speed to medium and milk/ heavy cream and beat for 4-5 minutes. 
• Add more milk or sugar, if needed.
• Pour the buttercream into the disposable piping bag fitted with star tip nozzle and frost the cupcakes making swirl patterns
• Decorate as desired.

Hope you would enjoy making these cupcakes as much as I did!

Happy Baking!