A Whole New World

It's November already?! Where did the time go? It's crazy to think I've been a resident of Miami Beach for a whole month. One very action-packed month. Moving is hard, leaving your friends is even harder, but getting acquainted with a new city, new orchestra, and new smiling faces makes all of the unfamiliarity a little easier to handle.

One thing I've learned living in close-proximity my co-workers is that nothing brings people together faster than ________________ (insert name of baked good). Baked goods are an instant ice-breaker/conversation-starter.

Good thing the people here like to eat...

When baking for a crowd, nothing is easier to transport frosting to people's mouths faster than a cupcake. I mean let's be honest, the cake is just a pedestal for the dollop of heaven on top of it. It's also the perfect showcase opportunity for baker's bling. I love me some good cupcake bling. I was even inspired by my new job, and decided to make some New World Symphony logo cupcakes (first photo). The pictures below are samples of what I've made this year. See below for how-to instructions for the decorations.

For the NWS cupcakes, I piped the frosting with a large star tip, then made free-hand chocolate decorations. For the decorations, melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl on high for 1 minute, stirring at 20-second intervals. Pour the chocolate into a plastic zip-top bag, and cut off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Pipe the chocolate onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. When finished piping all of the designs, place cookie sheet in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to let chocolate set, or longer for larger decorations like the musical notes (pictured above on the red velvet cupcakes). For the spider webs, use the same recipe, only substitute white chocolate. If you would like consistent chocolate designs, I recommend drawing or printing off a template of the design onto some paper, and slipping the template underneath the wax paper before piping the chocolate.

For the flower cupcakes, I used fondant icing. I loved playing with play-dough as a kid, so this is like the adult version of play-dough. Roll fondant (either store bought, or homemade marshmallow fondant will work) to approximately 1/8 of an inch onto a cornstarch dusted flat surface. Use your choice of flower, or other shaped cutter. Place flower into a small cupcake pan to retain flower shape. Let dry thoroughly. When dry, dust edible luster dust in your desired color onto fondant pieces. I used gold and daffodil colors for my flowers.