School starts again!

The siblings go back to papers, projects, early mornings and sack lunches tomorrow.
(Yay! Sack lunches...I can't wait to pack up all sorts of yummies.)
I'm a tad excited. I like "Back to School" time. All of the school supplies and notebooks are so fun, and you can wear sweaters in the fall weather...but I'm going to miss Laura and John Mark way too much.
My amazing sister (and best friend) takes all of the astounding photos on this blog. She has a great eye for composition and I shamelessly use her talent for my own gain. (It's ok, I pay her in Starbucks Frappaccinos.)
My baby brother on the other hand, is never afraid to tell me when a baking experiment tastes less than perfect. I love when he comes into the kitchen and asks "Do these ones taste good?" or even better "Are these for us?" Yesterday I baked 6 dozen desserts for a back to school teacher's lunch at the high school that was today. John Mark cracked every single egg for me and didn't get any shells in the bowl. I do believe I've taught him well.

The "naked" cupcakes and cookies

I realized today and yesterday that what I do at "Purple Door Bakery" isn't just me. The people I love are just as essential for this dream to get off the ground. When I woke up at 5:30 this morning to frost cupcakes, my mom was already sitting on the couch waiting for me to come downstairs so we could start working together. She cleans up after my messes for me all the time when I slack off, and she is the best encourager a girl could want.
My dad, having owned his own business for several years always has golden wisdom on supply, demand, customers, advertisement, risk, investment, pricing, pretty much anything! And I wouldn't be able to have any kind of website without his computer smarts behind me.
My sister, of course, is my faithful photographer, assistant delivery girl, music playing, stay-up-late-with-Candice-while-she-bakes-her-booty-off, all around awesome helper. I've promised her, when I ever get a store front, she is my very first cashier. I wouldn't want anyone else anyway.
And John Mark is just a hungry, cheerful, and egg cracking inspiration. For a long time when he was younger he used to want to open a French Restaurant with me. He wrote out a recipe book and watched "Ratatouille" a bajillion times. One day he said to me: "Candice, one day will you fly with me to France so we can learn how to make french food together and open my restaurant? I can be the chef and you can be my assistant." Of course I said yes...We haven't taken the trip yet. But our food is still tasty whenever we bake together.
But enough with stories about my family! You want the line up of tasty goods that went down at the Teacher's Lunch today! Righto!

Earl Grey Citrus Cupcakes

I was so happy with my Lemon Buttercream! It was perfect...

Spiced Chair Latte Cupcakes

 

The frosting on these tasted exactly like the frothy milk on top of a steamy Chai Latte. Mmmm....

Fruit Topped Shortbread Cookies

 

Kiwis, Strawberries, Blackberries (fresh from the bush this morning!), and Peaches. Dainty and pretty!

Thank you Carly and Leanne Christiansen for letting me bake you some of my favorite things. :)

Purple Inspiration

Ok, I realize I might have been obsessed about Blackberries for the past week.

And I know that I this is the third post in a row about blackberry. But they are so good! And the fact that they are freely sitting in  my backyard just waiting to be conquered by an aspiring culinary master....Well, it's just too much.

Do you ever have a goal, kind of a big goal, and you go all sorts of places to draw inspiration? But sometimes (most of the times) you just feel like instead of being truly inspired, you are just copying their genius and only tweaking it a little bit? Ok, that might not have made sense. Think of a poor art student (kinda like me when I was still a poor art student). They study all sorts of amazing artists, they try and make art that is the same sort of style or genre. But then they get discouraged because it just looks like a crappier version of a potential masterpiece. That is how I feel with cupcakes sometimes. There are so many wonderful cupcakes out there, but I feel like I'm not contributing to the masses. I'm just sorta copying old ideas.

Don't worry, this isn't a depressing post about how I feel like I'm a failure. I don't.

Because I made these beauties! I made the recpie up, I made the frosting up, I made it all up on my own! And the best part is... (ok, maybe not the best part. The best part is probably you eating it) The best part is they are purple! They are my signature "Purple Door" cupcakes! :D

Behold the new cupcake to grace the culinary world with it's presence: The Purple Himalayan

It's blackberry vanilla cake with blackberry frosting and blackberry lemon swirly garnishes. So far everyone that has eaten one has proclaimed it "The Best Cupcake Ever"

Yeah. I'm pretty pumped.

Purple Door's First Giveaway!

So many people have left me comments about how they want a taste of blackberry preserves featured in
"Once Upon a Time", a tale of the pursuit and rescue of the evasive Black Berry Sisters. Found Here.
And so I got to thinking...I can't send a jar to everyone! I only have nine jars. I sent them to several college students who voiced their craving for jellies, because I understand the crucial importance of "home food" while at school. But I have one jar left...
One.
Just one.

What am I going to do with this one jar you ask?
It's going to be the Purple Door Kitchen's very first give away!

*confetti* YAY!!!!

Here's the rules:
1. You have to post a comment on this here blog post.
2. You have to tell me your favorite thign to bake or cook! That's right,3 or if you don't particularly like or know how to bake I guess you could tell me your favorite thing to be baked by someone for you to eat
3. I think for shipping purposes you will probably have to reside in the United States. :( Sorry Brazil family. I mean, you could always take the risk and hope customs doesn't steal away the jam and post anyway.
4. Also, in your post...you have to put your name. Otherwise I won't really know who you are. And if you have a blog or website of your own. Feel free to shamelessly advertise! Actually, I would love to see it and add it to my list if that's ok.

Got it? Great! Ready, set, Win some JAM!

Once upon a time...

Today we venture into the land of thorny evil, of treacherous peril, of armed knights of honor, of fruitful triumph! I am here to spin you a yarn of bountiful berries, joyous jellies, and the heroes whose dedication to the rightful name of "Tasty" has heralded them worthy of aprons. Let us begin our tale...

Once there was a frightful land overgrown by briers, thorns, and entangling prickles sworn to the evil duty of locking away a precious treasure deep inside. But in the dark recesses of entrapment, there lay a beautiful and ethereal group of princesses. They all wore deep purple dresses that would sparkle if ever they wandered into a stay gleam of sunlight. They were the legendary, delicate, and tasty Black Berry Sisters. The entire world knew that if ever the Black Berry Sisters were to be rescued from imprisonment, happy mouths and tummies everywhere would be saved from the sad state of "hungry" that had been sweeping the villages around the area. 
So a group of brave and honorable knights came together and held a meeting about the dire state of the lovely Black Berry Sisters.
"It must be done!" cried the eldest, a beautiful lady knight whose canning wisdom had served her well in the past years. Her name was Miss Kim, and she was eager to get to boiling and sealing.
"I agree!" came the answer from Knight Candice. "The Black Berry Sisters are wasting away in that thicket. Tomorrow I will head out to save them. You may join me (and possibly perish, for it is a dangerous quest, I wot) or you may cower back from the thorns. But I press onward in hope of triumph!" At this speech she recieved many "Hear hear!"s and "Huzzah!"s from the remaining knights, Sir John Mark, Sir Marcus and Lady Olivia. They departed that hour for their perilous mission.
Twas a grand sight to see their procession. Armed with rubber boots, dashing yellow kitchen gloves and several large walking sticks for beating back and warding off their foe (Sir Marcus even brandished a pair of scissors and Sir John Mark valiantly snapped bush trimmers in a fit of bravery), the knights were sent off with many a tear in their fellow townspeople's eye. The cheers that surrounded them echoed through the streets.

The battle was a hard one, aye. Many an "Ow!" rang through the leaves that day. Our heroes grew discouraged at times. "I can't even eat Blackberries" sighed Lady Olivia (she was allergic, poor lass) and "Let's go home, Marcus. It's cold." But this story ends with a happy conclusion. The Black Berry Sisters were rescued from their thorny prisons and they were only too happy to reward the knights with nine shining jars of perfectly sealed blackberry jam. For all good and faithful knights deserve a smacking good serving of toast and jam. :)

Yesterday a cute girl in her twenties came into work and bought this. I had cashier envy in two seconds.
I don't often get cashier envy...I'm not a big shopper and when I'm ringing things up I don't really think about how nice they are and how I should buy them too.
Alot of cashiers I know are like that. They see people coming in and buying a certain shirt on sale all day long and at the end of their shift they go and buy the same shirt. At the end of my shift I usually bolt out the door so I can drive home to blasting dance music.
But this was a really really cute cupcake stand. I want to have a cupcake party sometime and invite lots and lots of people and have cupcakes everywhere. I'm going to need this cupcake stand when I do.
Isn't it beautiful?

Time to get back in there!

These past few weeks have been so crazy! But I am (was...) itching to get back in the kitchen!
Soooooooooo goals for this week:
Develop a fool proof recipe for fruit based mousse : Check
The last time I made a batch of raspberry mousse it was determined to ruin my day. It wouldn't set up and my peaks fell and it didn't even make that good of a pie when I poured it into a shell and froze it. Needless to say, when I decided to make a peach cake with a blackberry mousse filling my work was cut out for me. This time I was going to triumph! Or so I thought... So I whipped my cream and blended my berries...aaaaand. It failed again. I was dejected, and a little infuriated. So began the Mousse War. I whipped egg whites, boiled berries, used gelatin hot, used it cold. After a very messy kitchen and several hours of battle I emerged victor! (At 10:30 at night, I might say) But I now have a delightfully firm mousse in the fridge. :) Phew!

Try the classic American flavor of "Peaches n' Cream" in it's true form : Check
Everyone knows that old timey flavor: Peaches n' Cream. We have smoothies, candy, ice cream, muffins, anything really that you could imagine with the Peaches n' Cream label slapped on. But how many Americans have actually sat down and had a bowl of fresh peaches with cream? Wayyyy too few, I can tell you that. When I was a kid and someone said "Peaches n' Cream" I imagined those syrupy canned peaches of the unnatural orange hue floating in a bowl of milk. Yuk. That couldn't possibly taste good at all, right? Right! But that's not what Peaches n' Cream is. Peaches n' Cream is something so heavenly, I am of the opinion that some villian somewhere has witheld the idea of the dish's pure form out of pure evil intent.
Ok, so conspiracy theories abound when one tastes the wonders of fresh sliced peaches, a dribble of whipping cream, and a dash of cinnamon and sugar. It's just the way it is...