Lil Ms Sueshine Turns TWO!

In honor of my blog turning two, please watch my video on how to make a giant cupCAKE, just like the one Lil Ms. Sueshine is holding up above. Things you will need to make a giant cupCAKE:

 

 

-Silicone mold or pan

-Ingredients for your cake (including cake mix, frosting, and a filling)

-Wilton Sugar Sheets

-Red candy melts

-Any additional decorations such as colorful sprinkles

 

ENJOY!!



 

 

 

 

 

Expand to full screen for better viewing.

Mmm Beer - PubCakes!!

Work. Family obligations. Chores. Bills. Grown-up type stuff. Breaking a leg. Life always seems to get in the way of the things you want to do. For myself and the hubby, one of the things we want to do the most is just relax for a minute....and have a beer.

 

When I first started dating Scott, I was your typical girl in her early 20s, drinking a bunch of frozen frou-frou drinks or doing multiple rounds of hard shots between dancing like a maniac into the wee hours of the morning...on a Tuesday. I remember him asking me if I drank beer and I'm pretty sure I made a yuck face. Does hard cider count? I'm sure he made a yuck face that moment too. Shortly after, Scott was determined to give me a beer education.

So what does this all have to do with a baking blog? One trend in baking is to turn alcoholic drinks into cupcakes. I've seen margaritas, red wine, mojitos....you name it, someone has turned it into a cupcake. When I started seeing cupcakes using beer, I instantly became curious. Beer? Really? I had to find out for myself what a beer cupcake would taste like.

I found out about PubCakes a few months ago when they participated in The College Area Taste. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend because I was still recovering from the broken leg but I always kept it in the back of my mind to look them up when I was better. Since PubCakes is only a few minutes from our house, I decided we would pop over really quick and give Scott a little beer cupcake education.

PubCakes shares shop space with Treehouse Coffee Co.

On top of the counter, yummy cupcake flavors of the day sit under pretty
domes, waiting to be eaten.

Pubcakes rotates their cupcake flavors so be sure to check out their website to see
what's baking for the day. Pictured above (top to bottom):

Top Ten Cake: Karl Strauss® Tower Ten IPA, cayenne caramel, cherry, and ancho chilies

Beer for Breakfast: AleSmith® Wee Heavy, bacon, and maple cream cheese frosting

Stoned Portzilla:Stone® Smoked Porter, coffee ganache, and caramelized coconut

I love the way the cupcakes are displayed among a collection of bottle caps. From top to bottom:

Poquito Bandito: Negra Modelo® cake, Cazadores® Tequila and lime buttercream, and fried tortillas tossed in Tajin®

Super Pretzel: Bear Republic® Big Bear Black Stout chocolate cake, pretzels, peanut butter

 buttercream and a chocolate shell

Punkin' Vegan: North Coast Brewery® Old Stock Ale, pumpkin, and maple whipped frosting

Cupcakes come in 2 sizes.....Scott opted for the large ($3.50) Super Pretzel. He loves his chocolate and peanut butter combo! He enjoyed the cupcake but he is still doesn't get the whole pretzel thing.
I really do need to give him an education in salty/sweet.

I opted for the mini cupcakes ($1.75) and a glass of water (free)
Poquito Bandito and Stoned Portzilla.
I preferred the Poquito Bandito and if I could (which I cant *sad face*) I would eat their lime buttercream straight from the mixing bowl. Scott even enjoyed this one and he rarely ventures far from what he knows.

If you aren't a beer drinker, don't be scared to try PubCakes cupcakes. If someone didn't tell you there was beer in these, I don't think you would be able to tell. Who knows, PubCakes might turn you into a beer drinker. These were delish and I would recommend dropping by this cute little shop. Speaking of a "little shop" don't forget to visit the PubCakes website and VOTE for them in Chase/Living Social's Mission: Small Business. Although you can already find PubCakes cupcakes in a few few locations around town or visit their shop in La Mesa, by voting for them, they have an opportunity to win a grant to open a bigger shop. They're approaching their goal of 250 votes but why don't you take a few moments to push them right over the edge? I don't know the owners of PubCakes nor have I ever met them but I'm all for supporting local small businesses, especially when they make excellent cupcakes! I know how it feels to really want something really bad...even if it is just a moment to enjoy a beer.


PubCakes
7229 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours: Wed - Sat, 10:00AM - 7:00PM, Sun, 10:00AM - 5:00PM
www.PubCakes.com



*Cupcake descriptions are from the PubCakes website

San Diego County Fair

When I was still living at home with my parents, I use to go on a brisk morning walking with my mom and my grandma Thelma. "Exercise so you can eat the things you enjoy" was a slight motivation to get my butt going during the several laps around the park. I think I tried to use this idea for my annual trip to the San Diego County Fair.

After several false starts on trying to plan our trip to the Fair, my friend Allison and I had the day off from work and finally made it on Friday. Armed with lots of sunblock and a roll of Tums, we were excited to check out all the crazy infomercial products, the classic cars, near impossible carnival games, and the winning baked items/cakes. But let's be honest, it was all about the food. Although we were really hungry when we arrived, the food at the Fair is always very overwhelming. Where do you start with so many choices? Mind you, neither of us are the greatest at making decisions but we finally settled on starting with "real" food by getting a classic hot dog and Orange Julius because we could carry it around while we figured out what was next. As we walked down the main drag, I think we subconsciously started walking in the direction of one of our favorites from last year, deep fried mac & cheese. We had been talking about the mac and cheese since the Fair started and to our disappointment, the place that had them last year did not have them! We seriously stood there for a few minutes kinda lost and not knowing what to do. We wandered around a bit and decided that we needed to pay a visit to another staple food booth, Chicken Charlies. If you don't know what Chicken Charlie's is, it's one of the biggest food booths at the Fair and they are known to deep fry everything. Deep fried highlights this year included deep fried Kool-Aid (told by a co-worker that it tastes like a donut), deep friend Klondike bars, deep fried avocado, and deep fried Girl Scout Cookies. Regular items on their menu: chicken kabobs, chicken and waffles, frog legs, zucchini curls, deep fried Twinkies, and the topper....a chicken fillet sandwich with Krispy Kreme donuts as the buns! Something deep down in me told me not to do it cause I didn't buy anything from Chicken Charlie's this year. It's still fun to see what new deep fried noms they come up with each year (http://www.chickencharlies.com/).