Wedding Tasting


This October, my beautiful cousin Ashley is getting married! I'm so honored to not only be a bridesmaid, but also to make the cupcakes for her wedding. Last weekend we finally did a tasting so she could pick the flavors she'd like to feature for the big day. I'm pretty proud of the outcome, so I wanted to do a post to show you how they turned out.

I made 8 flavors in 4 hours, using two batter bases and 4 frosting bases. I just made vanilla and chocolate cake batter, then  Even though I'm just showing off my work here and talking less about the recipe, I think it's important to point out how easy it is to make so many different flavors. If you're baking for a picky crowd, you can still please everyone with very little effort!

Flavors marked with * signify that Ashley chose it!

1. Chocolate Peanut Butter *
This one is simply the chocolate cake with my very popular peanut butter frosting. It's my buttercream base with just a spoonful or so of peanut butter and it's always delicious. This is one that Ashley knew she would pick going into the tasting because she loves the classic chocolate/PB combination!

2. S'mores *
This flavor requires a little bit more work than the rest of the buttercream based flavors. I had to make a small batch of marshmallow frosting, then I topped it with graham cracker crumbs and just some Hershey's syrup. It was a hit and will be at the wedding!

3. Chocolate
If chocolate is your thing, this is a good one. Both the cake and the frosting are Hershey's recipes and they're quite tasty, but they're also rich. It's better if you're a chocoholic.

4. Chocolate Caramel
The inspiration for this cake is the salted caramel cupcake from Macklin's, the bakery where I used to work. It was so successful at the store I thought I'd give it a try. I think my attempt needs more work, but it was still tasty. The frosting is a buttercream base with a couple tablespoons of caramel mixed in, then some more drizzled on top with a sprinkle of sea salt.

5. Vanilla *
This choice is just to please Ashley's fiancé. He's not very into sweets, so we'll keep it simple for him. It's just a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream. A little boring, but classic and delicious nonetheless.

6. PB&J *
I threw this flavor in as a sort of wild card, and I wasn't sure how it would be received. My mom made some strawberry preserves this summer, so I used that as a filling, then topped it with the peanut butter frosting. At first Ashley didn't pick it, but then she brought the leftovers home and her fiancé's family liked them so much that she decided to add it to the mix!

7. Strawberry
There weren't a whole lot of fruity flavors, so I decided to make this one as an option. It's just a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting. It's a buttercream base with more of the strawberry preserves mixed in.

8. Maple Cinnamon, or "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" *
This is the only cake that I doctored up the batter for. It's a vanilla base, but I added some cinnamon and pancake syrup. Then I made a cream cheese frosting and added the same stuff, and it tastes just like breakfast! Perhaps for the wedding I'll have to find some way to add a crunch and make it earn its name.

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