Cupcake Decorating Kit Giveaway!

Update 5/13: And the lucky winner is ... Nisha!  I'll be contacting you shortly so that you can claim your prize :)  Thanks all for reading, participating, and for sharing your favorite recipes - this is the first give away of many!

My blog just hit 100 followers WOOOHOOOO!! :)  Definitely cause for a little celebration, in the form of a giveaway!  I really can't thank all of you enough for stopping by to check out my latest cake creation, or to learn a little something from a tutorial.  If there is anything else you'd like to see here - tutorials, recipes, etc - please drop me an email at kristen@queenbeecakery.com.

Due to the popularity of my Cupcake Decorating Tutorial, I thought it was only appropriate to give away a cupcake decorating kit!  The lucky winner will receive:

• 1 dozen handmade pinwheel cupcake wrappers
• 1 dozen handmade flower cupcake wrappers
• 4 extra large piping tips
• 1 heavy duty 16" piping bag
• 1 cupcake dummy for practicing
• A variety of sprinkles and sugars for decorating!

All you have to do to enter is:

• Follow my blog!
• Leave a comment on this post, with a link to your favorite cupcake recipe.  Please also include your email address in your comment, so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner!

And that's it!  Deadline to enter is Thursday, May 12 (extended due to Blogger maintenance problems on May 12/13) Friday May 13 at 8 pm EST.  One winner will be chosen at random* and announced sometime Friday evening on this post.

Good luck, and thank you all again!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mamas out there!  I hope that your day is relaxing, beautiful, and filled with love and sweet treats (of course).  What could be more perfect than a chocolate cake with vanilla bean creme filling with lots of pink ruffles to top off a wonderful meal? 

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year?  If you haven't quite figured out dessert yet - check out the recipe for my creamy Meyer Lemon Tart on the Pure Joy Events blog (Part I // Part II)!

Unfortunately, my sister and I will not be able to spend Mother's Day with our mom this year; instead we'll be on a little road trip, driving from Missouri to Boston.  Definitely looking forward to getting home to give my mom a great big hug, and remind her just how much she is loved :)

Pssstttt - only a few followers to go before I reach 100 - which means that my give away is going to happen soon (see this post for a few details...)!

Bloggers Bake for Hope - Virtual Bake Sale is OPEN!

The virtual bake sale at Bloggers Bake for Hope is now open, and you can bid until Midnight (EST) on Friday, May 6th. Please support this cause by bidding on a delicious baked good!  For more information about Bloggers Bake for Hope, see my post from last week, or head on over to Bloggers Bake for Hope!

Delicious "leftovers" desserts, and details about my first give away!

Last weekend, I donated dessert for an auction dinner at the church I grew up in, in my hometown.  Four types of cupcakes later, I still had some extra lemon curd and white and dark chocolate ganache!  I hate seeing food go to waste, so I decided to whip up some desserts for Sunday dinner with my parents to use up all of my leftovers.

I made a cinnamon-pecan cookie crust for a lemon curd tart, that was absolutely delicious...

... and rolled my leftover ganache into truffles - dark chocolate rolled in cocoa, and white chocolate rolled in shredded coconut:

These desserts were the perfect way to end a gorgeous spring day and a great dinner with family.  What are some of your favorite things to do with leftovers?

In other exciting news - my little blog is creeping up to 100 followers - yippee!  I felt that this was a good time to have my first give away.  Once I hit 100 followers, the give away will be triggered, and I'll make a post with all of the details.  Due to the popularity of my Cupcake Decorating Tutorial, I think it is appropriate to give away cupcake decorating supplies!  The lucky winner will receive:

• 1 dozen handmade pinwheel cupcake wrappers
• 1 dozen handmade flower cupcake wrappers
• 4 extra large piping tips
• 1 heavy duty 16" piping bag
• 1 cupcake dummy for practicing
• A variety of sprinkles and sugars for decorating!

The sooner I hit 100 followers, the sooner the giveaway will happen!  Please spread the word about my blog on Facebook, Twitter, by linking from your own blog, etc - and become a follower today! :)

Gearing up to celebrate 250 years - the Dover Church auction

The church I grew up in - the Dover Church, in Dover, MA - is celebrating its 250th anniversary next year, and preparations are underway for the sestercentennial celebration in November 2012.  This church has been operational since 1762 - 1762!!!  Everyone wants to make this once in a lifetime event memorable and meaningful.  This past weekend was the first major event - an auction - to kickoff the effort that will take the church on a journey for the next year and half.  The proceeds from the auction and other fund-raising efforts will go toward things like church restorations and other social concerns.

The evening was wonderful and hugely successful.  My mom and I volunteered to help serve dinner at the auction, and I donated all of the desserts - cupcakes!  It was truly amazing to be a part of such a vibrant, helpful, generous and genuinely nice community.  Everything looked gorgeous - I wish I had more pictures, but we were too busy running around!  Here are a few shots of the main room (I *love* the pink and green):

We were too busy to take pictures of the cupcakes at the event, but here are a few from earlier in the day.  The cupcakes - red velvet with white chocolate ganache filling, chocolate with cappuccino cream filling, coconut with chocolate ganache filling, and lemon with lemon curd and a fresh blackberry - were all topped with a generous dollop of vanilla buttercream and sparkling sugars.  I handmade decorative wrappers with scalloped edges and whimsical, swarovski crystal embellished flowers:

Check out my cupcake wrapper tutorial, to learn how you can make these decorative wrappers!

The cupcakes were served on tiered glass stands, and were enjoyed by all.  I even heard a few people say that they were the best part of dinner, which was a huge compliment considering how delicious dinner was!

I'm really excited to see how the church transforms over the next year, and I hope to be able to attend the momentous 250th anniversary celebration!