I♥cuppycakes!

Choo Choo Cupcakes

Good afternoon dear readers. I’ve missed you.

(But I’ll update you on my absence at the end of the post.)

I have so many things on my honey-do list today but I choo choo choose you instead! <– I can't take credit for that line. Credit is due to the amazing writers of The Simpsons (my husband has loved that show for the last 21 years!). I hear that line often in our house. *cheesy alert*

Get it? B/c I’m talking about train cupcakes today… Oh come on. That was an awesome segway.

So let’s talk cupcakes facebook.

Many ppl say that facebook is a very impersonal way to keep in touch with family and friends but I disagree! Life happens and I don’t have time to call all my friends and family every day to chat for hours at a time about what’s going on in their life. (Another reason why I love text-ing too.) But on Facebook I can get online for an hour between cooking dinner for Husband and him inevitably asking me where he left his keys and frantically searching for them, to catch up with my “friends”, their life, their pictures, their daily statuses (or is it statusi?) etc. Honestly it’s win-win for me. I promise this tangent has a point.

My best friend from high school and I keep in touch via Facebook mostly. She has a new baby girl and as all new moms out there know… she’s busy all the time. But we try to get together often to catch up face-to-face too. When she asked me if I would bake some cupcakes for her friend’s son’s 3rd birthday via a Facebook message, of course I said yes. I haven’t baked in 5 weeks! (Again I’ll explain why at the end of the post.) She gave me a few criteria. Boy’s name, his age, 1/2 chocolate 1/2 funfetti and his Thomas The Train love. And I was off.

First I cut out fondant circles for each topper. Blue=2-1/4″ circle cutter. Red=1-3/4″ circle cutter. White and Gray=1-1/2″ circle cutter. I adhered the circles together with clear vanilla extract and small food designated paintbrush. You can use water too. (Easy enough so far right?) Then I cut out the letters with my mini alphabet cutters. I think I got the set from William Sonoma. But don’t quote me.

To make the Thomas The Train face, I cut out the eyes with the smaller end of a Wilton #2 tip. The mouth was made using the larger end of Wilton #2 tip and then cut in half in a crescent shape with the same tip. (Gosh I hope that made sense!) Then using all my artistic prowness (yeah right!) I drew the eyeballs, nose, eyebrows and cheeks with thin tip Americolor food markers in black. (I recommend Americolor markers over Wilton markers. They seem to have a more vibrant color and easier flow IMO.) Then I used a pink Americolor marker to color in the mouth but dabbed it with a tissue to make it a little muted before it dried. (That’s about as technical as I get. lol)

I love that picture that my BFF sent me of the birthday boy seeing his birthday cupcakes for the first time. If you look closely you can see him licking his lips. <– That's about the best compliment a baker can get!

Alrighty so reason I haven’t been baking lately. My dirty little secret.
Continue Reading Choo Choo Cupcakes…