Saturday, August 7, 2010

A guest in our kitchen

For the first time in Carrie Cakeaway history, we had a guest in our kitchen! Talented fashion blogger, designer, and photographer Tony Wang of post.fashionism, joined my assistant in an afternoon of baking as she gave a step-by-step tutorial on baking and decorating cupcakes while he snapped up the lovely photos you see here and in his blog post about their adventures.

When asked for interesting flavors he'd like to explore, Tony made some mouthwatering suggestions, including lemon, melon, mango, chamomile, rose, and almond. My assistant and I were particularly excited by chamomile and the prospect of working with tea, as we'd had great success with chai cupcakes in the past. We thought that ripe, sweet cantaloupe would pair perfectly with the tea -- mellow enough to complement the subtle chamomile flavor while still distinctively fragrant and melon-y.

And with that, we baked some fluffy vanilla cupcakes infused with chamomile and green teas, topped them with luscious cream cheese frosting with a splash of fresh cantaloupe juice, and some cantaloupe cutouts.

They say, "Too many cooks spoil the broth." Well, it's a good thing we're not making broth then, isn't it? When it comes to cupcakes, collaboration is easy! One to make the batter, another to make the frosting, and as many as you'd like to decorate the individual cakes once they've cooled out of the oven.

That being said, who here would be interested in a cupcake workshop?

Thanks, Tony, for joining my assistant (pictured above) and me for an afternoon of baking fun! I hope you enjoyed the cupcakes that you so beautifully decorated and photographed.