Cake Poppin' and Such: Kneading Sass Caters a Peacock Themed Bridal Shower!

What a busy, few weeks it has been! What with the whirlwind of baking for Valentine's Day, new roommates and starting a new job tomorrow (eek!), Kneading Sass is still on my mind all day, everyday! :) It's my pride and joy...and frankly I love sharing all of my culinary adventures (and mishaps!) with you guys!

I recently catered a bridal shower for a friend's sister this past weekend and it was great practice in terms of budgeting time and money, all the while still staying true to making quality dishes. The theme of the shower was peacock, which I loved; the color scheme was so fun to work with. The hostess (aka sister ) did a fantastic job of DIY-ing almost the entire shower; everything from homemade confetti, to a custom banner and right down to stamping the most adorable cards for guests to write some sage advice, for the new bride! All of it was really thoughtfully executed and was totally a labor of love.

I catered the desserts for this event: cake pops and cupcakes, to be specific. The bride loved chocolate, so of course, everything was super rich, decadent and delish!

I was really proud of the cupcakes I made, they turned out perfectly! They were not too sweet and unbelievably moist! I wanted to share my recipe with my fellow sassy cats on here, because this cupcake is not only easy to make, but keeps well, days after baking!

The cake pops were rather tricky and not quite my forte...yet! Make them too large, and they fall off the stick. Tempering (or cooking) chocolate is a real special talent, so of course, there was lots of panic when I burned half a bag of melting chocolate! And of course, dipping them to make them look perfectly round...well that just comes with tons of practice and patience. Thank goodness for sprinkles. :)

A few DIY touches really added to the table setting!

The Cake Pop Bible by Bakerella 

Best way to harden your cake pops...standing them in styrofoam (used it for displaying the cake pops too!)

Buying colored candy melts will seriously make your life 10 times easier! 

All in all, I felt like it was a job well done :) I really enjoyed the theme of this event and having the opportunity to see the overall execution of the party...which was amazing!

I wanted to share some pictures from the event, as well as the recipe I used for the Mocha Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting...because it's honestly one of the best cupcake recipes I've made (which means a lot, coming from a cupcake aficionado like me!)

Mocha Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from Gimme Some Oven

These ingredients made this cupcake super rich and sweet!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed, hot coffee
• 1 1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules 

For Frosting: 

• 1 package (8 oz.), regular cream cheese
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 bar, baking white chocolate

Directions (for cupcakes): 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners. For smaller cupcakes this recipe makes about 60 little ones!
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined.

3.  In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until combined.

4.  Add the 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant coffee granules to the cup of hot coffee and stir to combine. With mixer still on low, add in the coffee/espresso mixture and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter will be really runny, but this is totally normal!

5.  Distribute the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. For larger cupcakes, leave muffin tins in the oven for 18-22 minutes.

6.  Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then remove them onto a cooling rack and cool completely, before frosting. 

Directions (for frosting): 

1. In a double broiler, heat chocolate over simmering heat until melted completely. Remove from heat, set aside and let chocolate cool. The chocolate should still be wet and shiny, not hardened! (Then you may have overcooked your chocolate!)
2. Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until completely combined. Add in vanilla and cooled white chocolate. Mix well.
3. Frost your cupcakes by hand, with a butter knife or pipe them, like I did! I added a chocolate covered espresso bean and shaved some extra white chocolate I had on top of the cupcakes.

Ready to be transported to the party!