Visions of Sugar Crumbs

I'm A Crappy Blogger

2010-02-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know...I don't often update this blog. For those of you who need a little more dessert action, I tend to be quite a bit more frequent about update my flickr account and twitter page. Check out those sites for the latest and greatest!

Flickr Photostream

Twitter Page...Feel Free To Follow Me!!!

busy busy busy

2010-02-24T07:13:00.000-05:00

Last week I had one party of every kind: wedding, baby shower, bridal shower, several birthdays, engagement party...I guess all I needed to complete the cycle was a christening, but one was held at River Market while I finished up some orders, and I unknowingly provided entertainment for all the little girls who wanted to watch me make cupcakes.

love is in the air, round 2

2010-02-08T12:17:00.002-05:00

"hostess" valentine's day cupcakes.

Baby Shower Cake

2010-02-01T10:50:00.000-05:00

Gender-neutral baby showers always pose a bit of a challenge...luckily this customer came up with her own slogan, "pink or blue, we welcome you" so I drew from that and put a pink and blue striped onesie design on top of the cake.

snowy(ish) sunday

2010-01-31T21:09:00.000-05:00

curled up with the latest InStyle Weddings and Martha Stewart Weddings (please tell me I'm not the only non-engaged person to consistently buy these magazines) looking for the latest and greatest dessert buffet ideas

love is in the air....

2010-01-27T09:15:00.001-05:00

some new items that are being rolled out just in time for valentine's day...

CANDY!

2010-01-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

I looooooooove heath bars. In fact, I had to make heath bar crunch cupcakes just so that I could get rid of the bag of heath bars that I keep snacking on....

experimenting...

2010-01-15T12:13:00.000-05:00

trying out a new chocolate raspberry brownie...going to send it over to the yacht club for the dessert buffet tonight and see how things go...

Some Old Photos...

2010-01-07T15:27:00.000-05:00

Never got around to posting these in all the pre-holiday rush. For your viewing (and hopefully salivating) enjoyment:

Back at the Grind...

2010-01-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I certainly didn't want to wake up early this morning and brave the cold and wind, waking up never seems quite as bad several hours later.

Tried out a new recipe - Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch Krispie Treats. Wish I had a photo, but to be honest, it probably doesn't matter because they taste much better than they look. I'm a big fan of peanut butter anything!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T17:51:00.000-05:00

A very merry Christmas to all from Visions of Sugar Crumbs....it's been a very busy week, complete with chai spilled all over my shirt, hands dyed green from working with fondant, dozens upon dozens of eggs, witnessing fights in the Kohl's parking lot, getting a shoe full of slushy ice, running out of corn syrup, many diet dr. peppers, and at least one headache.....but most importantly, it was completed by huge family gatherings....and bacon ;-) Nothing quite smells like Christmas morning!

Many thanks to everyone who placed orders this week. I hope you and your guests enjoyed the treats!

Baby Shower Favors

2009-12-20T17:40:00.002-05:00

cute "chunky monkey" cupcakes wrapped up in a clear box as a baby shower favor

It's been a while....

2009-12-20T17:34:00.000-05:00

Over a month since I last posted! Lots of holiday themed activity recently, including a christmas tree cake, a dessert party and teaching kindergarden-3rd graders how to decorate christmas cupcakes. (I wish I had a photo of that, but I forgot the camera...)

Below are some photos:

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Christmas Tree Cake and a 70th birthday cake..i was feeling very winter wonderland-ish that day

a portion of the spread at the holiday dessert party

Twilight Mania!

2009-11-19T12:57:00.000-05:00

The high school girls were squealing (and engaging in intense coversation over which cupcake they'd be supporting) when I unveiled these this morning...

The Knot.com Industry Event

2009-11-18T16:32:00.000-05:00

Photos are up! Check out the pics from the industry networking event back in October...

Click Here

Brownies, brownies and more brownies!

2009-11-18T10:44:00.000-05:00

As often as customers call me "the cupcake lady" (i'm not sure if I like that, that conjures up images of some old lady with white hair who bakes all day in her kitchen, doesn't it?), what the customers tend to buy most is definitely brownies and bars. Maybe because they are easier to carry, or perhaps they don't feel as guilty as eating a miniature cake at lunchtime.

The "best of both worlds" (cookie/brownie combo bar) is probably the most popular, followed by raspberry oatmeal bars and cheesecake brownies. I try out a new recipe about once a week, and this week it was time for the Mint Chocolate Brownie. It sure looks pretty...to be honest, i dont know how it tastes. I didn't actually try one.

Falling Leaves!

2009-11-17T12:54:00.000-05:00

There's nothing I hate more than raking leaves. Seriously...I honestly prefer scrubbing toilets. But alas, I'm about to head outside and do my part....

but first, made some cute fall cupcakes this morning. I keep seeing freakish turkey cupcakes for Thanksgiving, and I wanted to make something a little less scary....

Holiday Gifts!

2009-11-14T13:11:00.000-05:00

Gift packages and prices are up on the website. Here are some pics:

National Cupcake Day...oops

2009-11-12T11:59:00.000-05:00

How could I have missed National Cupcake Day? The day came and went on Nov 10th...oops! I guess I've been distracted from trolling the internet of late, thanks to Sunday's birth of my nephew Jackson. How long until he can eat cupcakes???

Made lots of Christmas gift type food earlier this week in order to take photos and post them on the seasonal part of my website. I promise the seasonal/gift menu will be coming soon, with lots of packages and combinations to get everyone in the spirit! (Or relieve you from having to worry about desserts for your party.)

World Series!!!

2009-11-04T11:20:00.000-05:00

Phillies Cupcakes: vanilla with vanilla icing and red logo

Baseball Cupcakes: vanilla with vanilla icing and red "seams"

Yankee Cupcakes: chocolate, stuffed with peanut butter, vanilla icing, pinstripes, and the NY logo (obviously the yankee cupcakes are better...just like the team!)

Halloween Parade

2009-10-29T20:05:00.000-04:00

Gearing up for Saturday night's Toms River Halloween Parade. Going to have some halloween cupcakes (witch's hats, spiderweb, maybe a ghost or two), candy corn rice krispie treats, pumpkin brownies, brownie/cookie bars, and...after much experimenting with the deep fryer...apple cider donuts. I only needed 2 cups of cider to make the donuts, but I pretty much drank the rest of the 1/2 gallon in one day!

Cupcakes Take The Cake took notice!

2009-10-27T11:20:00.000-04:00

Cute Halloween ghost, pumpkin and spider web cupcakes

Imagine my surprise, as I scrolled through my favorite cupcake blog this morning, to see my own photos on there!

Some More Halloween Pics....

2009-10-25T22:23:00.000-04:00

Random Other Photos

2009-10-18T19:59:00.000-04:00

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

Christening Cake

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

ANOTHER Vegan Cake

2009-10-13T13:47:00.000-04:00

Yet another order for a vegan birthday cake. (I understand why...very few bakeries will do vegan or gluten free, so people are often excited to hear that I will.)

This one was for Roseanne, who spotted my vegan cupcakes at the Pizza Pasta Pastry Festival in September and didn't get a chance to try them before they sold out. Her fave color is yellow, so I tried a little scrollwork on the side.

What's MY Favorite Thing I Make?

2009-10-13T13:44:00.000-04:00

Yes, I get this question a lot. (Not quite as often as "did you go to culinary school?" but still quite often.)

While my most popular items with customers are creamsicle cupcakes, coconut macaroons, and the cookie/brownie bar, I can generally resist eating any of them when I make them. To be honest, I've had to test the flavor of the icing so much that I'm pretty sick of the cupcakes by the time they are finished and I certainly will never eat them if I bring them to a party.

The one thing I can't resist eating into my profits for whenever I make it?

Crumb Cake. Just had a piece this morning. I mean, it's breakfast food, right?

When Life Hands You Egg Yolks...

2009-10-09T17:21:00.000-04:00

Had TONS of egg yolks leftover from making macaroons, so I had to do some planning with the desserts this week. Got to try out some new recipes (and some old, but much loved ones) including pumpkin creme brulee (yeah, I had 40 lbs of pumpkin delivered today, so get ready, people...), banana cream pie, and brulee blueberry pie.

On the non-egg yolk side of things, tried out new recipes for apple pie bars (good) and cake pops (not sure...you'll have to judge for yourselves on this one.)

Hopefully I'll get some photos up here soon.

Excited to have a weekend off finally! And a long one at that!!!

Vegan Cake

2009-10-07T23:35:00.000-04:00

as promised, here's a pic of the vegan cake for Lisa....

and some strawberry french macaroons, just cause they're fun...

Dream Weddings...

2009-10-07T08:25:00.000-04:00

Last night was the industry networking event for TheKnot New Jersey. It was like a dream wedding! Photo booth, cigar rolling, candy buffet, cool cocktails...and, naturally, cupcakes....

Their theme was Miami Hot, so I created the new Miami Vice cupcake (strawberry daquiri and pina colada), and displayed it along with creamsicle cupcakes, key lime pie cupcakes, the best of both worlds (cookie brownie bar) cut into little hearts, and strawberry flavored french macaroons.

That's A Long Time!!!!

2009-10-06T07:43:00.002-04:00

I don't know Dolph, but props to him...100 years old!!!

Looooooove Fall Baking

2009-10-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

Apologizing in advance for the excessive use of pumpkin that is about to come over the next few weeks. I've had fun recently with the pumpkin whoopie pies, pumpkin spice cupcakes (mmmm cream cheese frosting makes anything 10 times better), mini apple pies, apple muffins, caramel apple cupcakes and trying out some new recipes this week for Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Brownies and Apple Pie Bars.

Pumpkin Pie Brownies:

I just finished a vegan chocolate birthday cake (photo to come soon). While I love ALL my customers, I get really excited for the vegan/gluten free crowd, who are always overjoyed to be eating CAKE again! (And if it doesn't taste like cardboard, extra points for me!) Though I do wonder what the heck is in earth balance's vegan "buttery spread"...sounds a bit scary!

The Latest and Greatest

2009-10-01T22:42:00.000-04:00

New flavors that debuted this month:

Chocolate Covered Cherry: rich chocolate cake with a cherry baked inside (surprise!), frosted with a cherry-infused chocolate buttercream and topped with (what else?) a chocolate covered cherry.

Miami Vice: (like the drink...not the show) vanilla cake topped with swirls of strawberry icing and pina colada icing

Brownie Krispies: brownie on the bottom, chocolatey rice krispie treat on top. Get it?

Caramel Coconut Brownies

Cookies and Cream Brownie

Vegan Cake and Cupcakes

September (a.k.a. The Month That My Feet Hate Me and Beg For a Rest)

2009-10-01T22:06:00.001-04:00

September has been my busiest month yet (well at least things aren't dropping off precipitously after the summer) as evidenced by some darkening circles under my eyes.

It was very exciting to be able to witness a bride and groom cut into a topper cake atop one of my cupcake tiers.

September was a busy month for baby showers, including my sister's:

As excited as I may be for my nephew's impending arrival, I have to admit that the "girl" baby showers are a lot more fun! I love using pink icing or cute little flowers, such as the cupcakes below:

This weekend I'll be in wedding mode, busy preparing for a networking event for theknot.com next Tuesday....

Pizza, Pasta and Pastry Fest in Downtown TR

2009-09-27T17:08:00.001-04:00

Had a great day yesterday at the Pizza, Pasta and Pastry fest...sold out by 3pm! (oops..i'll make more next year, I promise!) Also taught the cutest little kids at the library how to make Spaghetti and Meatballs cupcakes and Hamburger cupcakes...they had trouble with squeezing the piping bag (I looked over and one little boy had icing all over his hand) but they loved it.