Show and Tell

Subtlety not withstanding, allow me to show off one of the fabulous holiday gifts that I received from a certain family unit including an aunt, uncle, and two cousins! Normally this is one of those things that I would lust after, complain about wanting, but never make a single move to actually purchase it for myself because I’m too stubborn to surrender money to any venture that won’t directly allow me to create more things. The novelty and sudden surge in cupcake baking brought this one very close, but if it hadn’t been for my tech-savvy aunt who spotted this one on my virtual wish list, I doubt I would have ever held one of my very own.

Introducing the Cupcake Courier, the largest (Not to mention prettiest) cupcake carrier to be found, online or real life. Brand new and straight out of the box, this baby practically glowed before my very eyes, convincing me that it was imperative to whip up three dozen cupcakes as soon as possible to give it a little test run. With the last day before vacation galloping forward, it seemed as good a chance as ever to bake a massive quantity of sweets to share with every single person I encountered in a typical school day, so it took very little convincing from my shiny new courier before I was preheating the oven.

Wanting always to keep an appropriate theme but still please the masses, I opted for a simple chocolate cake base (From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, of course) and the basic fluffy vegan butter-cream, studded with crushed candy canes and amplified with a few extra drops of peppermint flavor and food coloring. Colorful and tasty, I knew that I would have no trouble finding people to help me consume these first passengers in my cupcake courier.

With three interlocking layers holding one dozen cupcakes each, it takes no genius to see from my photos that I did fall slightly short of a full three dozen. Finishing out with 30 sweet cakes, I realized that I had run out of tins to bake them in. While I could have been patient and waited for them to cool, remove those that were completed and reuse the same tins… I wasn’t. So instead I just grabbed a mini loaf pan and made a small snack cake out of the remaining batter to share with the family. I guess I still have yet to push this baby to the absolute limit, but I must say, it preformed perfectly at slightly less than capacity anyway.

While I’m sure that everyone enjoyed the treat of free cupcakes, I got more comments about the carrier than the sweets themselves! Even random people passing in the halls marveled at my “cupcake hotel,” or made very confused comments mistaking it for a pet carrier instead. Almost understandable… Except for the fact that you can clearly see into it, but hey, these are the brilliant students who attend my school, so I’m not surprised in the least.

Needless to say, the cupcake courier was a huge hit with everyone, myself included. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to bake tons of cupcakes to pull this gem out of the back closet. To those who were thoughtful enough to give me such a treat, [I believe you know who you are] thank you so much!