Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: Cake Dreams is a Little Taste of Heaven!

Layla admires the Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting 

Cupcake from Cake Dreams!

Have you ever had people you know tell you that you should go someplace...that it's really great, the best, etc? Well, several people who know the Queen have asked her if she'd been to Cake Dreams in Rockville, MD. The answer was always not yet...they only opened last January...I'm just sayin'...The fact is CQ hardly ever buys cupcakes.

So, when CQ pulled into the parking lot last Friday night to pick up dinner from Bombay Bistro, she realized she was right there...right there at Cake Dream and they were open until 7:00! CQ was in luck and she was lookin' to purchase six cupcakes to try out...and share with her readers!

CQ opened the door and there was a guy behind the counter...who turned out to be Michelle's (the cake and cupcake creator) husband, Kevin. CQ mentioned to him that she baked cupcakes and had a blog. He asked CQ what the name of her blog was...when she said 52 Cupcakes, Kevin said "We were wondering when you'd come in!"

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake

Then CQ met Michelle. She was awesome!

Vanilla Lemon (CQ's fav!)

Okay...now on to the cupcakes CQ and her entourage of four divvied up: Chocolate with Peanut Butter Frosting, Sweet Chocolate with Sweet Vanilla Frosting, Carrot with Vanilla Frosting, Yellow with Lemon Frosting (CQ's Fav), Chocolate with Raspberry Frosting, and Yellow Caramel!

The over-the-top reviews are in...here are some of the comments: Each and every one of the cupcakes that were bought were eaten (what else??), there were sighs of contentment all around, the flavors were deep when they needed to be (see Chocolate Peanut Butter), and light where needed (see Vanilla Caramel)...one a scale of from 1 to 10, with 10 being the BEST!, CQ and her band of cupcake eaters concluded that the Cake Dreams cupcakes were some of the most excellent cupcakes they have ever bought! Hooray for Cake Dreams. The royal "We" will be visiting them again soon.

Now, get in your car and go visit them! Tell them that the Cupcake Queen sent you! This is the address: 90 W. Montgomery Ave, Rockville, MD.

You might want to follow them on Facebook...(sometimes they give FB fans one free cupcake).

Have a great week...remember to Rock On!

CQ and Layla

Baby Shower Martha Stewart Cupcakes Heading to North Carolina!

These cupcakes are all so happy that they are going to Durham, North Carolina for Shelley's baby shower which is tomorrow...she and Dav-EE are having a baby girl at the end of August. Then we'll be able to say "Hello Genevieve!" I can't wait!



Pre-baking I went to Michaels to pick up the naked little babies that I have used on baby shower cupcakes before...but they were no where to be found...CQ was not happy. She had to cruise the aisles...which she usually doesn't mind...quite a while until......



she found these wooden baby heads at Michaels AND they also had the red doll baby hair. CQ cut off little wisps and super-glued a ringlet to each of their heads...Shelley has red hair...and Dav-EE has a reddish tinge in his hair.



The cupcakes are Martha Stewart's Vanilla Cupcakes and the frosting is Pink Lemonade Frosting! The recipes are below. Hope you enjoy them!

Here's the recipe for the Martha Stewart Vanilla Cupcakes:

Ingredients

Makes 24

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/4 cups milk

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl, beat in vanilla.
2. Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to assure the batter is thoroughly mixed. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling papers about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack of the oven until tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Here is the recipe for the Pink Lemonade Frosting:

Ingredients:

* 1/3 c. butter
* 4 1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar
* 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
* 1/4 c. fresh lemon juices
* 1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peels

Beat butter in a mixing bowl until it is fluffy.

Add 2 c. of the powdered sugar gradually, beating constantly.

Slowly beat in lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla.

Slowly beat in the rest of the powdered sugar. If necessary, add a little more lemon juice if frosting is not spreadable.

No matter where you go there you are.

CQ

Apple Cider Vinegar Honey Syrup Sponge Cupcakes

	Wow....this recipe seemed crazy at first...in all my cupcake adventures, this is the FIRST time I've made cupcakes using bread crumbs instead of flour!
	I made these for my sister, Robin's 50th...that's the BIG 50!...birthday. Her BIG DAY was actually Jan. 25th, but she wanted a slumber party at our Mom's house so we did it last night. Three of our relatives came down from New York, and two of her Suitland High School buddies came, too.
	The recipe for the these is in the book called Tempt...Cupcakes to Excite by Betty Saw, who is a chef in Malaysia. The recipe was so easy...literally eggs, castor sugar, grated lemon rind and white fine breadcrumbs!
	This is my Mom's dog, Arby...he is investigating the cupcake! Arby is an 8 year old cocker spaniel and a real lover!
These are people at the slumber party: Marie, Noelle, and Maddie from New York::and our Mom!
Laura and Catherine made all the wonderful appetizers! Robin and Jean having a nice hug!
	And, this is today, Sunday....breakfast at Bob Evans...we love the Bob Evans...what a great ending to a great party!
Here's the recipe: Apple Cider Vinegar Honey Syrup Sponge Cupcake "This is a soft spngy cupcake made usng ony fresh white breadcrumbs without flour soaked in a tangy spice-flavoured syrup." Large paper cases--makes 10 cupcakes Ingredients (sponge batter) Eggs (2 large separated) Castor sugar (80 grams, divided into 2 portions Grated lemon rind (1 tsp) Fresh white breadcrumbs (75 g) Apple Cider Vinegar Honey Syrup Apple Cider Vinegar + Honey (100 ml) Caster sugar (40 g) Orange or apple juice (2 Tbsp) Cinnamon stick (1 cm piece) Clove (1 whole) Cointreau (1 Tbsp, optional Topping: Fresh grated white coconut for sprinkling ------------------------- Method: Line muffin pans with paper cases. Place egg yolks with 40 g sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whisk. Whisk until pale, thick and light. Beat in lemon rind. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy. Add remaining 40 g sugar of sugar gradually and continue to beat until stiff. Fold a third of the egg white mixture followed by the breadcrumbs into the egge yolk mixture. Carefully fold in remaining egg white mixture in tow batches. Spoon mixture evenly to fill paper cases and level surfaces with a teaspoon. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 C (350 F) for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool cakes in pan before tkaingout. Meanwhile, prepare Apple Cider Vinegar + Honey syrup. Place all ingredients except Cointreau in a small saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in Countreau if using. Remove and leave spices in the syrup to infuse for 15 minutes. Note: This recipe is a good way of using leftover white bread. Simply slice off the crusts and tear them into a food processor. Process until they become fine crumbs. Measure out amount required and use immediately or store in covered containers in the freezer. They will keep for 1-2 months. *The Apple Cider + Vinegar is from Wescobee, an Australian produce. Cointreau can be replaced with either fresh apple or orange juice. *I did not have this product to I did equal amount of honey and Apple Cider Vinegar together. I have no idea if this was right or not, but it tasted great!
Rock On! CQ

Exclusive: How to Interview a Cupcake

Starring Lemon Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
You may have noticed that my new theme is...and will continue for the next few month's to be..."little people" and cupcakes! I'm having way too much fun with this idea. This particular yellow cupcake is vanilla stuffed with lemon curd (I bought the lemon curd in a jar!).
The cupcake recipe is from A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes: Deliciously Decorated Crowd Pleasers for Parties and Holidays by Dede Wilson...it's her basic yellow cupake recipe.
For the frosting, I used Wilton's Buttercream Icing: Here's the recipe: 1/2 c. butter 1/2 c. solid shortening 1 tsp. vanilla 4 c. (approx. 1 lb.) sifted confectioners' sugar 2 tbsp. milk In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to decorate. Refrigerate when not in use. Keeps for up to 2 weeks in an air tight container. Re-whip before using. Makes 3 cups.
This mini-cake is for my friend Autumn's birthday...she's 29 today! Her initials are AR...I call her aray...we surpised her today...with the mini-cake...she has never been able to eat any of my cupcakes because she can't eat salt...she has a heart problem...this was my first baking attempt with no salt! It turned out very nicely. I got the recipe out of the Small Batch Baking cookbook by Debby Maugans Nakos. She bakes mini cakes in cans

You can see more of these photos on my flickr account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cupcakequeen/

Rock On!

CQ