Another Gemini! Another Birthday!

Hubby and I just came back from a birthday surprise for a fellow Gemini; Seyda. We wanted to surprise her at her house, which did not happen as she got hungry and wanted to go eat… In the end, we showed up at a new Turkish/Mediterranean restaurant with gifts and Mylar Balloons… =) Hehe!

Rob bought us dinner this time at Pasha, a new Turkish Restaurant in Arlington, MA. Thanks, Rob! Food was yummy, staff was friendly and I totally enjoyed the food!. Best of all….FREE DESSERT for the party, coz it’s Seyda’s birthday!!! If only they could sing her a birthday song..in Turkish!! =P

Besides 3 Birthday Mylar balloons and gifts, I also made her a birthday cake. A Birthday Cupcake Bouquet to be exact…. After some Googling, and getting ideas on how to, I’m glad the cake turned out very well. In fact, I thought it turned out way better than I had anticipate. It was my first time dealing with butter cream (I usually use whipped cream) and also this “kind” of cupcake creation…. Thank goodness everything went smoothly as planned, except Brady almost stepped/sat on the cake when he jumped into the car!

The cupcakes were based on a simple white cake recipe(which I found online & have used numerous times), to which I added some lemon juice, lemon zest and some chopped candied cherries for some interest. As for frosting, it was a simple butter cream recipe which I also found online and to which I colored about half of it pastel purple and left the other half white. Filled my pastry bag with both frosting colors and piped away. I am not too thrilled about the “roses” I piped on the cupcakes. I think I may need a bigger star piping tip to get the job done; better. Sprinkled the piped cupcakes with some purple sugar crystal and refrigerate it to harden the frosting.

  

I brought the cupcakes unassembled to the birthday’s girl place for easy transport. Once there, I assembled my “potted” cupcake bouquet which gave me room for 12 cupcakes. The other decorative stuff/ fillers were already made at home, and all I needed to do was to fill the gaps up and make it look as pretty as possible! 

           

I think Seyda likes the cake! =) That leaves me a happy baker! Note to self, reduce sugar in cake batter if butter cream frosting is used!