Tag: Cupcakes

Baking!

Baking!

Baking is a fun and enjoyable thing to do. It gets your mind off of problems and in the end, you get to make a wonderful and yummy baked good. Back in high school, I always baked. Since I was on Student Government, I had to help do fundraising for prom by baking cupcakes and brownies. Now, if you don’t know me by now, I like to do things with perfection. If I were to want a cupcake, how would I make it look and taste appealing? Well, my dear readers, I went to the extreme on cupcake baking. Everyone loved the cupcakes and bought all of them, even before the lunch period had started.

Some cupcakes had sprinkles on them, some had full pieces of candy and chocolate, maraschino cherries, and more. In general, my cupcakes were huge. They could even be compared size-wise to muffins. With that being said, one cupcake only costed $1. Maybe I was being too generous, but on the positive side, all of them sold.

Baking is like a form of art. You get to design a cupcake that would be appealing to the eye and mouth, through color, symmetry, smells, size, and texture. It simply has to be presentable.

Here are some of the cupcakes I made:

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The Cupcake Crawl

The Cupcake Crawl

Confession time. I have a problem. Or, more accurately, an addiction. An addiction to only the most delicious dessert and food item in the history of the world: CUPCAKES.

One of my favorite parts about Chicago is the plethora of places where you can pick up some of these delicious treats. In fact, last year, for an APO event, we had a “cupcake crawl,” where we consecutively went to three cupcake bakeries within 2 hours.

It might have been the best day in my entire life.

Inspired by that highlight of my existence as a human being, I thought I’d leave you with a list of some of my favorite cupcake places in the city to explore when you’re here! Enjoy!

1. Molly’s Cupcakes

NBD. Just some birthday cake and chocolate chip cookie cupcakes - SO GOOD!

Molly’s is located in Lincoln Park, and it is one of my absolute favorite places. The decor is funky and fun, and I could probably eat at least 10 of their birthday cake cupcakes in a single day. They taste a little like a combination of real birthday cake and unicorns and miracles.

2. Swirlz Cupcakes

They've got cupcakes down to a science!

Swirlz is also located in Lincoln Park. The shop is small, but they have an awesome selection of both regular sized and mini cupcakes. The minis are just as yummy and perfect for deluding yourself into thinking that 5 minis aren’t as bad as 1 big one. (Heehee…)

3. more

Some serious Facebook taggin'

more is located downtown, by LUC’s Water Tower Campus. more’s cupcakes are not only delicious (like all cupcakes in the history of the world), but they have this awesome deal on Tuesdays, when more posts a picture of one of their cupcakes on Facebook. If one of your friends tags you in time, you get a COMPLETELY FREE NO STRINGS ATTACHED CUPCAKE. Considering the fact that the “poor college student” myth is actually not a myth, but a sad reality, getting tagged in a more cupcake is literally the highlight of many of my friends’ weeks.

4. A Taste of Heaven

The smallness of this picture is made up in deliciousness content.

Sorry this picture is so small! I actually took it on my cellphone last year when my APO Big and I had an exciting evening filled with sushi and cupcakes. A Taste of Heaven is within walking distance of the Lake Shore Campus, and their fancy cupcakes add class and sass to any event.

5. Sprinkles

My friend's mom, Rusty, and the infamous Cupcake ATM!

Sprinkles, located close to the downtown campus, is a close second to my favorite cupcake place ever. During the aforementioned cupcake crawl, I may or may not have bought four cupcakes from Sprinkles, which may or may not have all been consumed within the next four hours. Sprinkles also has a fantastic cupcake ATM; no explanation is needed, since it’s exactly what it sounds like. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.

Anatomy of a Cupcake attributed to the Swirlz website.

more Facebook picture attributed to the more Facebook page.

Sprinkles Cupcake ATM picture attributed to the wonderful Elizabeth Mohs.

Cupcake Crazy

Cupcake Crazy

I’m surprised I haven’t thought to bring this up yet, but picking up a cupcake from More, reminded me of the cupcake craze that has hit in recent years.  More has a particularly exciting way to score free cupcakes and has become a pretty popular thing to do, especially if you live on the Water Tower Campus.

It’s simple and slightly addictive.  Once you “like” the More Facebook page, you are able to tag yourself in photos of cupcakes.  The owner will pick a type of cupcake for the week, and every Tuesday she will post pictures of that cupcake periodically throughout the day.  The limit of taggers in a picture is 50, and it is quite surprising how quickly a picture will fill up– usually within a few seconds.  When you go to the store, you simply present your ID and they check you off a  list.

I’ve seen some seasoned taggers work their magic, tagging not only themselves but several friends in a single cupcake. Fortunately, having friends as tagging vets, usually means a guaranteed free cupcake. I’ve become fairly skilled myself.

If you find that tagging isn’t your style, Sprinkles has a system similar to More that requires tweeting to get a free cupcake.

And if all else fails, even the poorest of college students can manage a few dollars for a delicious cupcake treat!

Owl Cupcakes From A College Dorm

Owl Cupcakes From A College Dorm

Today, Friday, November 18, is my best friend Kelly’s birthday and she absolutely loves owls so I decided to make her some owl cupcakes!

I found a picture online but did not have all the correct supplies so I improvised. This is what I started with: vanilla icing, Oreos, strawberry Jello,  Raman Noodles, M&Ms, Kraft cheese slices and Doritos.

I used the strawberry Jello to color the icing so that it was pink. I then frosted all but four of the cupcakes with the pink icing. I used the extra Jello powder to make his stomach a darker pink. The Oreos were used for the wings, the eyes and the eyebrows. I used a Diorito for the beak. The cheese slices were cut up and used for the claws on the feet. The finishing touch was broken up Ramen Noodles on the two bottom cupcakes that made a nest for the owl.

It took about fifteen minuets to decorate them and voilà, owl cupcakes.

My owl made out of cupcakes.