As you can see I made cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes. My Mum is having an art exhibition tonight and guess who got asked to make the cakes! Some professional baker called Susan. Well you know what I told Susan? I said shove your fancy tarts up your jumper! She’s my Mum and Imma gonna make her cakes and they’re going to RULE.
Last time I baked for an art show, things got very *tense* in the kitchen. Namely the cupcakes came out as dry, flat pancakes burnt on to the bottom of the muffin pan. And don’t even get me started on the chocolate icing that split and became a greasy ball of brown slime. That was a very stressful day for me.
So today I thought I’d do a post on good ideas for party catering! Or maybe more of what are not good ideas for party baking, because I have had far more of those and can happily share them with you for future avoidance.
Ok: the big kahuna of don’t do it in the realm of catering is…don’t try a recipe you’ve never made before!! Obvious you say? Not so obvious to me! Why did you choose five recipes you’d never seen before you may ask? Because I am an idiot. This time I chose trusty old timers from the archives. You may recognise the banana and fig cupcakes from this recipe. Just replace 150g of the pureed banana with pureed fresh figs.
Tip number two: Don’t choose recipes that are really involved and require lots of washing up. For example eton mess cups. Delicious in theory! But so messy you will be throwing blueberries at your dog in frustration. Also the cream will need to be in the fridge until you’re literally ready to serve, so as a handy hint number 3 make sure there is a fridge at the venue beforehand.
Tip number four: Choose cakes and slices that are naturally moist and longlasting. Little sponge cupcakes are so cute in theory but so dry and crumbly 24 hours later when they’ve been sitting in an air-conditioned room. The little carrot cakes I made today are from this recipe. I think you could take it to the beach for a day in the sun and it would still come home sticky and dense and perfect.
Tip number 5: Choose a few dishes rather than a whole heap. I was originally going to also make a rhubarb and coconut crumble slice and a caramel slice and at one point even fairy cakes! But no one wants to spend the end of the night trying to pack boxes of uneaten cakes and take them home and eat them by yourself.
Today I made brownies, these two sets of cupcakes, and a friend made berry friands. Something for everyone! Everybody is happy and no one has food poisoning from the cream in the eton mess cups. Perfecto.
I made the same icing for both cupcakes: 500g (just shy of 1 pound) cream cheese, 225g (1/2 pound) mascarpone, 4 limes zested and juiced, plus 125g (4.5 ounces) icing sugar. Blend it all together and dollop on the cupcakes! Either keep them in the fridge or only ice them half an hour before serving.
Simply amazing Lillian, they look so delicious!!
The photography is stunning.
Maryxxxx
Thank you Mary!
Holla for these cute little guys!!! I’m loving this blog Sugar and Cinnamon! SO many amaaazing vegan recipes xxx
Thank you!
You’r photography just gets better and better for each post! Wow. Stunning.
Thank you for the lovely tips. Especially the one on only making stuff, you’ve made before. That one was definitely not obvious to me.
Thanks Josie!
Beautiful! I’ve never catered anything, but I have that same rule about not making anything new when I have people over for dinner or bring food to an event – unfortunately I’ve broken my own rule a few times, sometimes with disastrous and frustrating results! These look amazing – I’m glad they turned out so well!
Thank you! It’s always so tempting I do it all the time!
These look perfectly delicious! I love the flavor combinations and great presentation, your photography is simply stunning! Thanks for sharing!
Aw thank you so much!
Your cupcakes sound delicious!
Thank you!
Wow, they look great! Love the idea of the figgy cakes… Mmmm!
Thanks! The figs worked really well surprisingly 🙂
i love the addition of figs! awesome!
Thank you!
I simply love the combination of flavours!
Thank you!
Great tips! I hope your mom enjoys all the treats your going to make for her art show! 🙂
Thank you! They were all eaten in a second!
That happened to me once as well… Trying healthy recipes that you’ve never baked before while catering is a recipe for failure… :–( Thanks for the lovely tips! And your cupcakes look gorgeous 🙂
Healthy recipes are especially hard to get right the first time! Thank you 🙂
Good on you for taking on the catering assignment. That’s a lot of work! I love how you iced the cupcakes – very pretty xx
Thank you !!
they look delightful!
Thank you!
Your dog must be pretty good at dodging by now, it has had a lot of practice ;). Just discovered your wonderful blog and put it in my RSS Feed Reader to make sure I don’t miss any posts. As a fellow Aussie and happy vegan I am looking forward to more exciting and delicious shares.
Aw thank you! I’m going to check out your blog right now 🙂 I think my dog is pretty used to it by now!
Our two are pretty spoiled and if I threw something at them they would likely eat it 😉
Dogs are so funny! Mine likes everything except grapes 🙂