Cupcake Transportation stories…

So I just need to say that the thing that scares me the most about the cupcakes has NOTHING to do with how they are made, how they taste, what people are going to say… it’s the part where they leave the kitchen and go into “The Real World” full of people who don’t know how to merge, people that ride their brakes, the ones that never signal… that is when some of my cupcakes turn into little adrenaline filled action packed blobs of sugar that think they should be doing more than sitting in their assigned little box spots where they have been so delicately placed… They don’t usually have a triumphant moment at the end of their stunt-action-hero-lives. Let’s look at a few:

1. THE CUPCAKE VS. THE  TIRE REPAIR SET:

You ask, WHY would this little cupcake tray CHOOSE to ride on a short quest to Matthew’s work with a tire repair kit sitting next to it? I don’t know who to blame really besides myself and thinking that my driving skills had progressed speed-wise… (I’ve given the state of Oregon several dollars with my California speed limit habits) Apparently a turn was a bit too fast… it’s amazing how quickly they go from these delicate little iced cuties to messed up creations that I MUST eat quickly before anyone sees them!!!   Yeah for me!

2. THE CUPCAKE VS. THE BACKSEAT:

Well… this was technically MY fault (again!) as we were leaving for the airport at 3:00 am. I had left-over cupcakes from a U of O Football game party and was sending them to work with my husband. What I failed to tell him was that this open plastic tupperware container should really NOT ride on the car seat but be on the car floor…  One quick stop later and we heard this little “thunk” … and at 3:10 am the backseat of our Chrysler 300 was covered in bright green and gold frosting. I must say that it was a tasty snack on the way to the airport and I don’t think that anyone from his work actually got cupcakes that day. Sad times… It’s a bit dark in the photo- give me a break- it was taken on my phone at 3:15 in the morning!!! HA!!! It’s too bad we don’t have a slow motion shot of them flying through the air in the car though- that would really be amazing! These really look like a gardening experiment gone wrong:

Imagine these beauties flying out and onto the leather interior...

… and just so you know, this is what they looked like prior to their little flight in the car!

This would be the "BEFORE"!

3. THE CUPCAKE VS. THE OVERHEAD LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT:

Later that same morning the beautiful box of one dozen cupcakes meant for one of my Chicago families had made it from Eugene to Seattle and was settled in the first class compartment (Where the flight attendant had promised to guard them with her life… whatever, I think she was mad I didn’t give her one- haha!) and there was such little turbulence I can’t blame the pilot… I don’t know. The kiddos said they still tasted good. Apparently I need to perfect the traveling cupcake containers a little bit more. We still had a fun trip and most people we walked by with this pink box were very jealous of it… I could really make money on the planes this way!!!

From Eugene to Chicago...

So those were the biggies. The great thing is that every event where we have had 200-2500 cupcakes at has really had smooth transportation! (Yeah to my friends with the mini-vans!) I look forward to the day when I get this amazing F-250 that has some really great covered top- like the kind they advertise for tail-gaters, but this one is set for cupcakers!!! HAHAHA! Neiman Marcus actually has a ‘cupcake car’ that is around $17,000 and is shaped like a cupcake. It’s wierd but apparently there is a demand for it….?  Until then we will have photos of random cupcake accidents… there is always something to laugh at!!!

Since I have been showing you the ones that didn’t make it… I really need to have a few that did make their delivery date and time! For those of you reading this for the first time I would hate for you to ONLY see the squishers here! HAHA! Here they are all lined up and ready to go for the morning!

Packed and ready to go...

This lantern probably wouldn't get too far...!!!

More to come…!!! I usually close with a photo of myself with a cupcake, but my nephew’s face pretty much sums up my excitement every time I decorate, bake and give away cupcakes to my friends and fellow cupcake admirers!!!

CUPCAKE JOY!!!

Enjoy your holiday baking! More photos and stories to come!!!

Melissa!!!

How we got here…parts of the story!

So… The Sassy Cupcake technically started years ago- when I would experiment with my Grandmother’s peanut butter cookie recipe (and it turned into something the consistency of barbie doll legs) and create ‘new recipes’ with pretty much butter and brown sugar just so that I could eat two of my favorite ingredients EVER…

I always enjoyed baking and bringing treats to school, church, work, parties… and when I moved to Oregon I was doing this so much that people started ordering in advance and paying me- what a fun way to make money on the side, I thought! I was doing all sorts of desserts but I really loved how the cupcakes looked and tasted… and slowly I (along with help from my loyal tasters!) whittled the list down to the favorite cupcakes that I could enjoy making – whether 20 or 2,000 of them!

Dessert 'bar'!

This was a dessert bar where I couldn’t stop adding new desserts! Everything from Chocolate Peanut Butter mini cheesecakes, Chocolate Raspberry Tarts, Chocolate Peppermint topped Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, Chocolate Dipped Cheesecakes on a stick, White Chocolate Cups with Butterscotch Cream topped with Blackberries, Chocolate Mousse in champagne cups topped with raspberries, and the list goes on! I had so much fun and I just love that much sugar!

lemon raspberry tarts

These were done for a dear friend who was having a welcome reception at their house- and wanted a dessert bar!

Christmas Party

Desserts for a party- that’s the part I think about the most! I usually have to have 3 or 4 places like this set up around our house to hold everything that I have prepared for our guests! Everyone usually shows up hungry and leaves stuffed! That’s the plan!

Brownies!

For this reception all we had was 900 miniature brownies- it was the first time I put my DeMarle pans to the test with large orders and we did this whole event with two pans! (Each holding 20 cupcakes) WOW… everyone loved them and there were only about 40 left over! What a success!

Rice Krispy Cupcakes

For our friend Danielle, we created a whole dessert bar with favorite desserts shaped like mini cupcakes- peanut butter rice krispie cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting… MMM I can’t tell you how many of those DID NOT make it to the wedding! Ha!

Dessert Trays

Here are all of the desserts lined up- we had this same display on the other side as well!

I would LOVE to go to another wedding where ALL they serve is desserts!

The 'cake' area!

It was fun seeing the people come up for desserts (for which we had planned 3-4 per person) and all of a sudden there are napkins with 7 and 8 desserts on them… and I’m thinking “Oh NO there is not this much to go around” but… we made it with just a few to spare at the end! (I was sure glad I had brought all of my extras along with me just in case! People were hungry… and people were happy!!!

ball cake

Every once in a while I do cakes… which I love, but I can’t eat any of them and test them out before giving them away- or save one for myself for breakfast the next morning- so cakes are not quite as fun for me- although I LOVE them! And… I love eating them! This was a baseball cake I made for our friends Garth and Jen for their baby shower~ it was baseball themed and I had a blast!

Go Dodgers!

Not quite as much of a round shape for this baseball-I TOTALLY used the wrong shape of pan to bake it in and am not really good with ‘trimming’ a cake… I don’t have to do that with cupcakes THANK goodness! The only reason I love this photo is because I love the Dodgers logo and the grass cupcakes surrounding it- this was for a surprise party for Matthew. I told him a few family members might drop by… (along with 40 friends- haha!) Yeah, the more I look at the shape of the baseball the more I laugh now! It’s like a strange paper mache thing I lumped together as a kid!

Sandi and Becca getting ready

So this is what happens when we are setting up before an event- you know, making sure everything is ready… haha… just kidding, I asked Sandi and Becca to do this – we all had fun getting ready for Julie & Matt’s wedding… which was another dessert buffet! Yes- that’s my style! I really had amazing helpers for this day though- they persevered through the sugar fest with me!

Me and the Girls

Ta-Da it’s ready… that was ALOT of work and I learned how heavy cheesecake filling really is when you fill a 24 inch frosting bag with it and pipe it into 125 champagne cups… WOW… that is also my kind of workout if I ever had to choose one!

The cake...

So those are just a few of the parties along the way… and we’ll add photos from others as I go back and re-discover them!

Want some? Let’s do a party!!!

The Bite of Eugene

I had the opportunity to be a vendor this past August at the Bite of Eugene – thanks to my friend Elizabeth Allen and her help in getting me involved

We served over 2,000 cupcakes that day- our booth had mini cupcakes and they were $1 each or a 6 pack for $5… People kept coming back for more!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!!!

The types we served that day were:

S’mores Cupcakes, Pink Lemonadies, The Sassy Cupcake, Creme De Menthe Brownie Cupcakes and Kahlua & Creme Cupcakes!

mmmmm…. alot of people took advantage of the 6 pack offer and tried each on – doubling up on their favorite! It was funny watching people not want to share what they were trying because they liked them so much- I love customer satisfaction!

Pink Lemonadies

Getting ready the day of was no easy feat- how do you transport 2500 mini-cupcakes (a little bit high maintenance and temperamental, I might add- I am like a stunt driver for Driving Miss Daisy when I drive these babies around!) HA- since the Chrysler 300 is not really cupcake friendly, I gladly accepted the offer of my dear friend Becky – who has a mini van that rocks the cupcake world! We got almost half of them over there in ONE trip with her car- while a few of us took supplies and things in our other cars… it was quite the adventure and we were giggling through it! We WERE those slow drivers that you complain about- so next time you get upset at a slow driver- think to yourself, “oooooh! what if they are transporting cupcakes!”… but that might not really work because then you’d just want to ram them and run off with the cupcakes. NEVER MIND!

Sarah and me getting ready in the morning

I really had amazing servers- they were so excited to be around the cupcakes and help me give away these little morsels of amazing-ness! We had a blast and were all WIPED OUT by the end of the day- the event opened at 11 a.m. and was over at 10 p.m. now that is a TON of cupcake happiness waiting to be served up! The greatest thing was that Parties to Go (Eugene Party Rentals) had this FABULOUS deal that supplied us with the tables, linens and tents… oh, and the two super cute black chairs I rented that I didn’t sit in once because we were THAT busy during the day- but they looked really cute!!! It was so wonderful having everything set up and waiting for us when we got there, and especially at the end of the day to have that service of not having to tear it all down! Thanks, Parties to Go and Elizabeth Allen for really making that happen!!!

http://www.parties-to-go.com/

Traci, myself and Sarah getting ready for the morning shift!

Here’s a few shots of the booth… The name was going to be “Dessert Girl & The Sassy Cupcake” but that really doesn’t roll off of the tongue (special thanks to my husband who told me that initially (because he is AMAZING and the greatest support ever!!!) and then Mindy from Manner of the Month, who helped me figure through a few things in my brainstorming of this new venture… I really love doing cupcakes and wanted to have just a cupcake menu to start with, so we thought it best to continue to be “The Sassy Cupcake”… partly because I was never allowed to be sassy as a child and NOW… I can deal with it by just having sassy cupcakes for everyone! Ha!

www.mannerofthemonth.com

My fun booth!

The part I love is seeing the reaction of the guests once they have taken a bite- it’s this contagious smile and alot of times they laugh… and I just get this big goofy grin on my face seeing them so happy! One man came up and bought a Sassy Cupcake… about 5 minutes later he came back for another one… and THEN he came back and bought a box of 20! That’s my kind of shopper! It was fun watching the kids take a few moments to decide which cupcake they were going to eat- and then watch half of the icing get all over their little faces! I think that the Pink Lemonadies were the biggest hit with the kiddos… a great summertime treat!

mmmm.... kiddos loved the pink lemonadies!

Oooh… and we had giant cupcakes to go in little boxes – the kids loved those and a few guys wandering around bought them to take home to their ladies… good choice, guys!!! These are also used as thank you’s from clients to their customers and as company presents to their employees- we personalize them to the occasion… and have a blast in the process!

I wonder if the cupcake really made it home!

Giant Cupcakes in their carryout boxes!

So… a big thank you to everyone who helped make this day a success! Many pounds of powdered sugar later… I still love what I do!!!

Melissa!

Me & the SUPERSIZED Cupcake!

Allison & David’s Wedding

So on July 25th of this past summer I had the joy of making 900 cupcakes for my little sister Allison’s wedding… yes, over 900 piped chocolate daisies (thank you Becca for putting the pink candies in the centers of ALL 900!) and it was so warm that we made plenty extra to make sure they made the transfer to the cupcakes! The giant cupcake on the top was the fun cake for the bride and groom! We actually did that up the morning of the wedding …(while I was at my 5:15 a.m. hair appointment with the FABULOUS Jay-C Becca was making the cake) I ran over and frosted it at 7am – the night before I wasn’t happy with how the first one was looking and it ended up in the trash can- I wish that I had taken a photo of it but WOW I was wiped out!!! It was such a fun day and an amazing week together!

900 cupcakes later on July 25th!!!

Chocolate Daisies on the White Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes...

SO I’m not sure how to get my photos to turn 90 degrees.

You’ll just have to lean weird to see this one- you get the point

I LOVE CUPCAKES!