Inspiration in the thread count

Shortly after I completed the Happy Bee Day cake, my client Shauna was so delighted with her order she asked me if I would be interested in helping her with another baby shower. I was immediately interested because baby shower cakes usually offer the most creative challenges and have thus become my favorite type of party cake to make. However when Shauna told me that she wanted something with "...flowers and butterflies in soft pinks and lavenders..." I was a little deflated. So much so that I actually tried to talk her out of it. I asked for the mom-to-be's name so that I could take a peek at her registry to see if there was anything in there that could offer me inspiration. Shauna dealt with my artistic neurosis happily and sent me a link a few minutes after I asked. True to Shauna's word, Erin's, the mom-to-be, registry was brimming with pink and purple butterflies and flowers. Surprisingly the only things that she registered for was for various parts of the Gabrielle Nursery Bedding Collection. Could I translate the bedding into a cupcake design? A few weeks before the cake order was due I decided to make a pilgrimage to my local Pottery Barn Kids store so I could see the bedding up close. The sheets captured my attention first with their heart shaped leaves and arched branches in a mottled palette of browns, pinks, and lavenders. The large, echoing flowers in various sizes looked as though they had been traced from a cookie cutter. I started to "see" the finished cupcakes as I waited in line with a new muse: a pillowcase in the Gabrielle pattern. I just couldn't help myself.
You see, anyone that knows me knows how much I love bedding! I rarely ever buy a matched set and take pride in piecing together patterns and solids to create looks that I can call my own. I have created entire ensembles from sheets I bought from clearance bins, duvets from estate sales, and pillow cases from thrift stores. Some of my favorite patterns are from the late 1960s that have been washed so many times you would think they were 400 thread-count Egyptian cotton but...I digress. :) So where were we? Cupcakes! So along with some photos of the crib bumper I was able to create a entire cupcake theme using the pattern in the sheets. I decided early on that I'd try to create unique patterns for all the larger cupcake, keep the mini cupcakes simple, and focus on reinforcing the color palette into the cake pops. For a little something extra I hand-painted the new parent's initials on to the anchor cuppies. These two cupcakes held the banner that I hand-painted with the phrase "Cailín leanbh nua". It means "welcome baby girl" in Gaelic and was chosen by Shauna because the new parent's were, as Shauna said it, "300% Irish." And in keeping with the Irish theme, I made my go-to Guiness Chocolate Stout cupcakes and and topped them with Bailey's Irish Cream Cream Cheese frosting. I didn't want to use alcohol in the frosting and ended up using favored non-dairy creamer which to my surprise worked nicely.

Bailey's Irish Cream Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup Irish cream flavored coffee creamer ( or actual Bailey's Irish Cream)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter
1 box (16 oz.) confectioners sugar (maybe more, maybe less)

1. Combine butter, cream cheese, salt, cream of tarter. Beat until light and fluffy and little to no clumps of butter are visible. Scrape down blade and bowl.
2. Add half of the confectioners' sugar slowly, beating on low speed. Scrape down blade and bowl.
3. Beat in irish cream coffee creamer one tablespoon at a time until desired consistancy is reached.
4. Add more powdered sugar until you get to your desired consistency and taste.

Yield: Enough to frost 24+ cupcakes
Would I Make This Again?Although using non-dairy creamer probably wouldn't be my go-to when making a frosting, it's nice to know there is a solid alternative to flavoring frosting when alcohol isn't an option.