Meow Meow MeowCakes

I think, at the ripe old age of 21, that I've just accepted that I'm really quirky. Quirky is my way of making my countless idiosyncrasies and oddities sound endearing instead of weird, which is basically what they are. Lots of you have asked why my little cupcake project is called MeowCakes, wondering if I'm some crazy cat lady or if I'm baking kittens etc. The truth is I've never owned a cat and I don't even like them that much... I like big sloppy dogs that you can take for huge walks and that scare the crap out of the poor kids that deliver the paper or sell girl guide cookies. The name actually has nothing to do with cats at all, and everything to do with a little quirk my closest friends and I share. My project is called MeowCakes because at some point years ago, one of my best friends and I started randomly meowing at each other(think Super Troopers) and we never quite grew out of it. Unfortunately for all of our friends, it's highly contagious and very confusing for people that don't understand that meows are all part of our normal conversation, like grocery clerks and bosses. Almost six years later, it's a running joke with everyone that knows us and the only name I could come up with that was really, truly, me. (meow)

This tea towel from etsy essentially sums up my life.

The last week has been pretty interesting around here...and by interesting I mean the wrath of the Arctic has been dropped on top of Chilliwack and it's almost as cold here as New Brunswick. For those of you that don't know what that means, it means its really really reeeeeallly freaking cold here right now! It also means I've had lots of time to bake and try out my new stand mixer (yay!) because I'm a big baby who didn't buy a proper winter jacket and gets borderline hypothermic every time she goes outside. So until the Fraser Valley remembers that it's not supposed to be this cold, I'll continue to spend the majority of my time dancing around my kitchen while I bake things and forcing everyone I know to eat them so I don't weigh 600lbs by the time the snowpocalypse is over.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes: perfectly simple.

When asked what their mum would like on her birthday cupcakes,
the little boy and girl who placed this order knew that race cars
and butterflies were the only way to go!

Mini-Meow order from a boss for his employees!
Vanilla Bean, Chocolate Coffee Caramel, & Raspberry!

Holiday Catch-Up Round-Up!

The first week of January is always one of those weird twilight zone periods for me.  I don’t know if it’s just the feeling of new beginnings, or if it’s that after-holiday sadness as all the Christmas lights and decorations come down and everyone realizes how broke they are… either way, I’ve been keeping busy to avoid all that post-holiday melancholy and I’m a few batches behind on my blogging duties!


First off, I have a few small but exciting MeowCakes updates! After an extensive ‘pretty cardboard-vs-practical plastic’ box debate, I finally ordered some clear plastic cupcake boxes. Initially I thought the cardboard was a classier look, but after thinking about it I decided that keeping things fresh and being able to see the cakes were more important…and the mini meow boxes are the cutest little things I’ve ever seen. For a little extra, I got stickers printed with a logo and phone number to stick on each box, mostly because my little brother and sister insist on stickers for all things in life. Last but not least, MeowCakes now has its own official website! It’s still in the early stages at this point, but I’m super excited anyway so go check it out (and you may have noticed the blog revamp that goes along with it!)


Otherwise, this post is just to catch you up on all of my cupcake adventures over the last few hectic weeks!  Here’s what you’ll see today:


(1) Some cute little reindeer cakes made an adorable Christmas present for some adorable kiddies!
(2) One of my favourite fondant orders so far, Hello Kitty Cupcakes for a lucky lady’s birthday.
(3) Something new, Crème Brulee Cupcakes! These cakes were flavoured with vanilla custard, topped with a brown sugar Swiss meringue buttercream, and sprinkled with shards of caramelized sugar.
(4) The last of summer cherry preserves turned into Cherry Toasted Almond Cupcakes! (I’ll use any excuse to buy maraschino cherries so I can eat them out of the jar, it’s a problem)
(5) Key Lime Brownie Cupcakes to try out a new chocolate recipe…it’s a little too heavy for me, but sweet-tart key lime frosting = great success!
(6) Last but definitely not least, S’Mores Cupcakes! These are honey graham cakes with dark chocolate flakes, topped with marshmallow buttercream and more chocolate shavings.

Cake Turds & Other Misadventures

We've all had those days, you know the ones. The ones where you wake up thinking it's a normal day but within ten minutes its painfully apparent that nothing is going to go right for the next 24 hours. On these days, the best thing to do is get it over with quickly and go to sleep again so you can start fresh the next day. In my case, I had so much to do that there was even more opportunity for the universe to make things go wrong. After sleeping through my alarm, losing a stack of papers I needed to study for a final, and getting called in for a closing shift at the bar the night before my last exam, I thought cupcakes would be a good way to let off steam. Can't go wrong with something I can do in my sleep, right? WRONG. 

I know my day is going really badly if I can't even bake properly... I started off intending to make chocolate hazelnut cupcakes, and after getting everything ready realized I didn't have enough butter for the icing. Strike one. Then after putting the batter together, I realized I had approximately four cupcake liners left. Strike two. After going out to get these things, coming back and geting them in the oven, I realized that I hadn't been paying attention and had added baking powder to my dry ingredients... twice. Strike three, you're out. For those of you who don't bake, adding too much baking powder basically means my lovely little chocolate cakes exploded in the oven and then caved in on themselves. By the time they were cooked, they looked like sad little crispy volcanoes and I was about ready to stick my head in the oven with them. 

Not wanting to waste all that cake, which actually tasted phenomenal, I decided to try something I've never done before- cake balls. If you've ever seen them, they're adorable little balls of cake and frosting, usually covered in chocolate candy coating. If you look up how to make them, it looks like a childrens activity- Step 1) Bake cake and crumble it. Step 2) Mix in frosting. Step 3) Shape into balls & freeze. Step 4) Coat in chocolate and present amazing little treats to people who will ooh and ahh at the sheer cuteness of what you've made. I managed to stay on track until Step 4...and I think it's safe to say cake balls are really not my thing. I managed to get one or two passable-looking balls out of the entire batch, and the rest can only be described as cake turds. So here's my prettiest one (that's right, one , out of about thirty):

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Nutella Buttercream, dipped in Milk Chocolate