One dessert that screams the valentine theme is cupcakes. Cupcakes are like a mini version of any cake that’s the perfect size for one person. They are cakes baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup in different flavors decorated with buttercream icing or whipped cream. This is a recommended recipe for the one you love, but also because the cakes come out beautifully and are definitely a crowd pleaser for sure. It’s perfect for birthdays, picnics, weddings, Valentine, Halloween, parties, Christmas, easter, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, breakfast in the morning, business meetings, paint and sip events, art exhibition or for dessert after dinner with friends and family.
THE ORDERS
Unlike every order I get, Valentine’s Day orders are different, more hectic yet irresistible. This year, orders were sweeping in like never before. A day to February 14th, I received a call from an old client (one of my first clients everrrrr). I stopped taking orders because I wanted to complete sorting and prepping the ones I already received, which was a lot to handle.
C: “Hey Barko, it’s been a while” he said;
M: “Really it has! How have you been?” I responded
C: “I’ve been good, busy with work actually, just came into town three days ago to see my parents, but I’ll be traveling back soon”
M:“Oh, that’s awesome! glad to have you back home”
C: “So I didn’t make any plans but I want to send something sweet for a special someone for Valentine’s Day tomorrow. I don’t know what to give so I called hoping I could place an order.”
M: “Urhm… okay, trying to find the best way to not upset my client and maintain good business ethics😂”
C: “I know it’s late and sudden,” he quickly added. “I’m sure you’ve already stopped taking orders, but I’d be so grateful if you could squeeze in one more.”
I had to consider the fact that he was a really good and old client of mine, when I first started baking he would always order birthday cakes from me for his siblings, parents, friends and even for himself. Starting out, I struggled so much with delivery but he was a loyal and consistent client so this time around I had to be a loyal and consistent vendor as well.
M: Sure, I’d love to take in one more order for valentine, what package would you like to pick?
C: Would it be okay if I customize the package?
M: Sure you can
C: Great, I’d send you the list and everything needed, thank you again
M: Thank you too for placing your order and welcome back again.
Few minutes later, I received his text with the list of things he wanted in his order and he made payment. So I got ready to go to the market because I needed to get more items that were short and also the extra things my last client requested and I didn’t have.
Valentine Rush: Roses are Red
Arriving in the market, the entire scenery changed, the color of every store, supermarket and even restaurants painted red with roses and heart shaped balloons. It seems like every single vendor in town came to the market to get something for valentine. roses, gift packs, clothes, shoes, customized packages, teddy bears like extremely huge teddy bears😂, the market was full and busy, more so noisy. My first stop was the Jewelry store to get bracelets, earrings and a ring for some of the orders, second stop was Fadicakes to get whipped cream and toppings(I mostly buy all my baking items from this store), third was Designers choice supermarket to get sweets, chocolates, Pringles, note cards and boxes and my final stop was the fruit stall at Miango roundabout to get fruits.
10 Best Cupcake Flavors
Wondering what the best cupcake flavors are? Many people are craving something new and exciting as time and seasons go by. And because of this, there are so many if not hundreds of new flavors, looks, and styles- cupcakes included.
Top well known delicious flavors are:
- Lemon cupcake with lemon icing which gives you an experience you don’t get every day, the amazing clash of sourness and sweetness.
- Red velvet is a taste everyone loves, and certainly one that can’t be argued with! Fluffy texture and unique flavor, with hints of cocoa.
- A strawberry or raspberry cupcake is one of the most refreshing and delicious bites. In fact, this is true for any fruit used in cupcakes. The batter and berry look to contrast well in texture, flavor, and appearance! Seeing the leaking color of the berries in your cupcake batter is a lovely sight not to be missed!
- Coconut cupcakes are also amongst the best of the best cupcake flavors, both in look and taste! Topping the icing in shredded coconut.
- Apple cupcakes, the key is to use small chunks of apple in the batter, that way you can taste the real flavor and texture at the same time!
- All-time favorite flavor, from corner to corner of the world, is chocolate cupcakes which cannot be replaced!
- Banana cupcakes
- Carrot cupcakes
- Oreo Cupcakes
- And finally, most popular and loved of all, vanilla. Because of how popular it is, vanilla happens to be such an underrated flavor! One great thing about vanilla cupcakes is that they will go perfectly with almost any frosting you can think of!
HOW TO MAKE CUPCAKES
Cupcakes are easy to bake in just about 15 minutes. Before you start, choose a cupcake recipe and preheat your oven to ensure even and accurate baking. Cupcakes are simply cakes in a paper cup right, so you can turn any cake recipe into cupcakes by using ¼ cup of batter for each cupcake.
Moist Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Back to my valentine cupcakes, my aim was to get them so moist and bursting with vanilla flavor, making sure every bite was worth it! I’ve made this cupcake recipe a lot of times and now I want to share it with you. So, you get to make them for yourself or your mom or wife🤭(Yes International Women’s Day) is just around the corner. You can also get the “Oh it’s so amazing, I can still remember the taste- that’s how good they are” compliment.
Here’s what you need for these Cupcakes. Everyday pantry ingredients! All purpose flour, Eggs, Butter, Baking powder, Milk, Sugar and Vanilla extract.
DELIVERY
Getting back from the market, I spent the rest of the day sorting out orders, writing delivery notes, and then called the dispatch for the time to start making deliveries the next day. Early the next morning, my valentine started off with the sweet scent of vanilla in the air as I mixed batch after batch of the cupcake batter. I made the entire cupcake batch so I could bake them all together at once.
I had promised to help Mom at work, so I wanted the deliveries wrapped up early. By 10:30, my dispatch rider showed up, carefully packing the boxes of fresh cupcakes and I pleaded with him to be extremely careful in delivering every package. I breathed a sigh of relief watching him head off – now I could focus on helping Mom. I got dressed and followed Mom to work. But four hours later, my phone buzzed. It was my dispatch rider, his voice frustrated as he explained he had an emergency to attend to and had two more deliveries to go. My heart sank. I’d have to make the remaining delivery myself.
Post Pickup
After picking up the remaining orders from him, I managed the first delivery without trouble. But the last one? That’s when things got interesting. The client called to give me a completely different address from what I planned with. And it had to be a part of town I was unfamiliar with – Jonah Madugu Close in Millionaires Quarters. Next option was to pull up Google Maps, with 5% battery left in my phone. After much struggle, I finally got to the street and called her to get her package. I looked like what I had done through that day😂 I was extremely exhausted.
Few minutes later, a lady came out of a nice, classy car with a package bag in her hand and approached me. She apologized and said she had to leave work, the reason why she had to change her address so quickly. After I gave the valentine package, she then handed me the package bag she was holding saying it’s her way of apologizing for changing her address at the last minute. I didn’t see that coming at all, so I thanked her and headed home. On my way home, I peeped into the package and lo! It was a pack of perfumes, guess who got a Valentine package after moving round looking for Jonah Madugu Close-Me🤭
Remember to show someone love today!
VANILLA CUPCAKES
Print This
Ingredients
- 1 butter or margarine, softened at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups of flour
- 4 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until it’s fluffy.
- Add in powdered milk and whisk for 3 minutes.
- In a different bowl, break in the eggs, add vanilla extract and whisk.
- In a separate mixing bowl whisk and stir the dry ingredients, flour and baking powder.
- Alternatively add dry and wet ingredients into the butter mix.
- Fold in the flour using a spatula or spoon
- Line a 6 or 12 hole cupcake pan with paper cupcakes.
- Scoop batter into the paper cups, filling 2/3 of the way up. Do not overfill. Easiest to use a standard ice cream scoop with a lever.
- Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
- Cool completely before icing with frosting of choice or whipped cream and fresh berries or jam.
Notes
Because cupcakes are small, they will dry out faster than cakes if left out. So be sure to put unfrosted cupcakes into an airtight container as soon as they are fully cool. For Frosted cupcakes most will require refrigeration.
Footnote
You can have your cake and eat it too
I made a few choices, I heard a few voices
I spoke a bit, I laughed and cried a bit
Sometimes I shouted, Sometimes I cursed
Sometimes I didn’t understand, sometimes I didn’t sit or stand
I do wish I had a better way of communicating my prison sentence
But I make do with what tools I have today
There was a simple choice of no horse trading
Horseback riding or horseshoe training- I chose that long ago
So I’m confused now…
May you have better clarity sometime in April or May.
If you already feel lucky and blessed, I often wonder
What is left to be guessed. So, I feed the memory cells
With some fresh colours of Spring so that you may sing
Your own artful stories of food, food & travel and foodie conversations
Because, what I do, makes no reason if you are looking for something else
Or feeling overwhelmed or too tensed
You look up or look down, all the senses need to be intact
That’s the bottom-line fact which omits all pretensions to tact
Simple Simon never held back, and he was an opinionated Crackerjack.
Melting Lemon Drop 23. 02. 2025
