Call Me Amaesing A Niche of Tasks and Inspiration

Friday night turned out quite inspirational. I ran around all day doing errands with a friend and went shopping at Hobby Lobby for supplies to make another "kraft box". At the end of the night, all I wanted to do was bake cupcakes. This time was Banana cake with Vanilla frosting.

There is a secret that I learned on how to keep cupcakes moist- substitute water for whole milk, and then add about 1/2 cup of sour cream and mix with batter. It really does work.

I didn't have the ingredients (or patience) to make my own buttercream frosting, so I just used a can of Pillsbury vanilla frosting and added confectioners sugar for consistency when piping.
Then I separated the frosting into sections and colored them, put them into piping bags.

With all these cupcakes made, I decided to sell them. I marketed them- 2 for $1- and they went pretty fast. Didn't really go for a profit, but I just wanted to make up for supply costs. Went pretty well! Now to use that for laundry....

Last month I had decided to purchase the second season of MadMen to keep in my collection. (Season 3 doesn't come out till March). Upon opening the DVD set, I found a neat product placement for Clorox Bleach- an insert ad when you unfold the CD elements.

For me, I believed that this was a new take on their position. Think about all the Clorox ads that you've seen in the past- mix with water and throw in plastic baby toys, rinse, so your family can be safe from dangerous bacteria/ keeps your whites white/ etc. Obviously Clorox targets the women in the household, but seeing this ad makes me think twice bout their position. Should wives be proud to see this when they stumble upon it? Here's a TV spot I found...

I then decided to do some research on this and here's some quotes through some blogs I found:

A Fish Named Freddy: The video clip was sponsored by Clorox. I would take a guess and venture to say that Clorox has traditionally advertised to women, who make up a large majority of their target audience. Nothing sexist about it, just saying that traditionally, women have done the laundry. The ad, posted below, made me question, are companies using Web advertising differently than they do TV or print?

After watching the ad, my first reaction was that it's catchy but my second reaction was to think that it's a bit risky. First, as a member of Mad Men's target audience (not Clorox's) I identified with the ad, mostly because it mimics the morals of the show. Second, I wondered why a traditionally family-focused brand (Clorox) would want to associate itself with successfully assisting men in committing adultery, even if it's all in fun.


BrandChannel.com: But according to a mystifying Clorox ad that seems to pop up every time I watch Mad Men, while mom's doing the laundry, her husband is off smooching his secretary. The Clorox ad features a man’s white, lipstick-stained dress shirt, and reads: “Clorox. Getting ad guys out of hot water for generations.” How are stay-at-home moms – the apparent target of all Clorox's other branding efforts – supposed to respond to this? “I’ll go get my husband some Clorox to help him cover up his numerous affairs”?

Follow Madmen.com post about commercial

I can't stop thinking about cupcakes. So after I cleaned my room and washed my dishes I took my supplies and went to the kitchenette. In honor of Valentine's Day I decided to make a batch of red velvet cupcakes. However, red velvet cupcakes usually pair with a cream cheese frosting. And since I didn't feel like going out in the cold and spending money for frosting supplies, I decided to use my Wilton Chocolate Buttercream Ready-to-Pipe frosting that I had on hand.

I was happy to find these cupcake liners (again from Wilton). Makes my cupcakes fit the theme. I think they were leftover from my cupcake decorating program that I hosted for Food of Love a month ago.

I added several drops of red food coloring to the already red velvet batter to make the cake a more intense red.

Here are the cupcakes right out of the oven.

The frosting out of the container tends to be pretty stiff, so i had to work it with a wooden spoon and add a little milk to thin it out. I think if I had an electric mixer it would help so much, and would make piping a lot easier. Here's a swirl I made on a few of them with a #195 tip.

I didn't want to refill the bag after I ran out of frosting so I just decided to use my 11' flat spatula and frost the rest. Here's a few more. I think I came out with a total of 21 cupcakes, and since I had no one specific to give these to, Kesha gave me the idea to leave them at the front desk of my dorm with a note from "your 1South RA".. so that's exactly what I did.

While in NYC, a few friends and I decided to stay an extra day longer so we can explore the city (thus the "In the Heights" purchase). My one goal that week was to visit the original Magnolia Bakery on Bleeker St, right by the West Village, which was a 30 minute trek through Greenwich Village from Soho, where we did some shopping for boots (that's another story).

I really wanted to see how the workers made the signature "Magnolia Swirl" with their buttercream frosting. [demonstration]. Upon entering, you're encapsulated with this sweet aroma of baked goods integrated with sugary mixtures from the all the various frostings that they make.

Whatever cupcake that you want to purchase is to the left hand side. On a counter by front window there are about six trays of different cupcakes: chocolate, vanilla, red velvet**, etc. You grab a box and parchment paper, and snatch whatever cupcake you feel like, which for some is the one you see with the most frosting. I do highly suggest you do rationalize your decisions because you could be standing in front of all these trays for what seems to be minutes before you pick up the two you want. And then notice all the annoyed customers standing in line behind you. And these cupcakes don't come cheap. Mine were $3.00 each, but well worth it.

Vanilla cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream

Here's my Magnolia box. I kept it so I can take dimensions so I can make my own boxes if I get bored one weekend.

I heard so many good things about their red velvet cupcakes that I had to try one for myself. (picture on the right). The one on the left is a regular chocolate cupcake, which Amanda purchased. I had bought a red velvet and a "hummingbird cupcake"- which consists of crushed bananas, pineapple, coconut, and pecans, covered with a sugar cream cheese frosting. Personally, I was disappointing with the hummingbird, mostly because the frosting was too heavy.

BUT.. I had never tasted a red velvet cupcake so delicious in my life. The batter is heavily tinted red, thus turning these sweet mini treats into a royal delight. And what I love most about this cupcake is the lightness of the frosting, as much frosting they use on their cupcakes (they like to call it a "dollop"), this particular frosting is whipped to perfection, not dominating, but instead compliments, cake portion.

In conclusion, Magnolia Bakery has increased my passion to utilize my oven more. I am now on a quest to purchase their cookbook (in which the cashier told me has their buttercream recipe inside!!), as well as buy myself an electric mixer since I blew out my last one mixing cookie dough..

Even greater news: Wilton's headquarters in Woodridge has their annual Tent Sale going on in June.
"The Wilton Tent Sale, which is held in Woodridge, Illinois, is a popular event for cake decorators and crafters. This year’s Wilton Tent Sale will offer amazing deals on a wide selection of Wilton cake decorating and baking supplies as well as kitchen and paper craft products from Copco, EK Success Brands and K & Company. In addition, demonstrations of Wilton products and crafting techniques will be offered throughout the sale."

Kcaps and I already have made plans to attend this awesome event. Anyone that wants to join in on this adventure let me know!


seemed like the right time to insert this picture...

It's been a while since I haven't been blogging, and I feel like I have so much to catch everyone up on.

First off... I had spent last week in NYC as one of the Most Promising Minority Students through AAF. I can't put into words how amazing this experience was, being able to meet with advertising industry professionals, staying at a great location just blocks from Times Square, seeing a Broadway show, watching Katie Couric doing the CBS Evening News from the control room, and making some great friends from this program. It was definitely something that I am very honored to have been a participant in, as well as a great "foot in the door" for my career.

Here's us chilling with Katie Couric at CBS

In addition to seeing Memphis on Broadway, another colleague and I took advantage of TKTS and got tickets to In the Heights. In return, I am again morphing into a musical fanatic. I-tunes playlists for musical soundtracks are beginning to pile up.