Just came back from my cupcake excursion in Sydney and I can say that I did taste quite a lot of cupcakes, my friend Susan who came along to Sydney said she was all cupcaked out at the end of the trip. All cupcake shops I visited had their highs and lows so I'll be sharing my review on them after the weekend, with lots and lots of photos.
Speaking of photos a friend has a arranged a professional photoshoot of my cupcakes this weekend which I'm so excited about! I can't wait to see how they turn out, they'll be going on my website. Since I have to bake cupcakes for the photoshoot I'll have an extensive cupcake menu this Sunday, so please do come along if you can!
Cupcake Menu
Vanilla & Vanilla Buttercream
Vanilla Chocolate
Black & White
Devil’s Food Chocolate & Chocolate Ganache
Cookies & Cream
Coconut Ice
Hummingbird Cupcake
Mocha
Gluten-Free Chocolate ($3.50)
As soon as I came back home I had a cupcake order and decided to make Vera Wang themed cupcakes, here's a photo from my iPhone (I've become a Twitter & iPhone addict).
I've been waiting for the Council to get back to me about my application and I believe there is about 14 days wait before I hear anything back from them, they sure are a busy bunch - getting a hold of them on the phone is actually quite difficult!
I've been pretty cooped up inside lately, I guess the cold rainy weather doesn't help me to get outside and explore. Dad is coming down from Sydney tomorrow so I've decided to hitch a ride back up there with him on Saturday and stay there for a few days. I haven't been to Sydney since last September when I attended Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within Seminar. It was certainly an experience to remember for the rest of my life. I remember when I walked into the Sydney Entertainment Centre with thousands and thousands of people standing up clapping and singing in unison, I was thinking in my head oh...my...goodness...have I just joined some kind of cult? This is bizarre. I was sitting next to a guy thinking the same thing. But after 15 mins or so we were both standing up and doing the same thing, and yes I loved every moment of it! The amazing part is that Tony has this unique gift to make a whole stadium full of people feel his energy, to feel excitement, to feel alive. All without the aid of alcohol or drugs.
The one thing I remember most from UPW was the goal I set for myself at that seminar. My goal was to have my own Cupcake business. I never would have dreamed that not even a year later, I'd be closer to my goal that I thought I would be. It may not be a cupcake shop but I do sell my cupcakes at the markets and do an occasional order here and there, so I'm getting there!
My dad was extremely pessimistic and skeptical of this seminar I was going to, thinking it was a scam and was a brainwashing scheme because I had paid so much money to attend it and also hearing my stories of "Dad, we get to stand up, sing & jump up and down..and walk on fire!!!". But before I went back to Melbourne, I gave him a copy of TR's Personal Power. I was pleasantly surprised when he called me up and told me that he was actually applying the methods in the book! He's a recruitment consultant that helps disabled people to find a job and he said that using those methods actually helped him to connect with them better which helped in motivating them to find a job.
Here's a clip of TR, I know that it may not be your cup of tea and a lot of people are skeptical of him but if you just open your mind for a few minutes and take in what he says, it might change your life. I know that mine certainly has. I believe that anything is achievable, if you persist.
So yes a little off track but what I wanted to blog about was that I'm planning to try some cupcakes whilst I'm over in Sydney as they have so many cupcake bakeries and shops over there. I want to visit these shops and enjoy each different cupcake experience, I think it will help me visualise how I would like my customers to feel when they visit my cupcake shop one day. I also know that I'm not the best cupcake baker in the world and probably only a beginner compared to those who have had years of experience so by tasting real cupcakes (not from your local bakery) I can know how far I need to go to perfect my cupcakes. I might do a short review on each of the places I visit and you guys can tell me your thoughts too!
Just a short little post to share some thoughts and awesome cupcake photos. I have been receiving a few emails from lovely cupcake lovers & bakers from all over the world. It's so exciting for me to read your comments, words of encouragement and your thoughts. This love I have for baking is more than just that, it represents a dream, a passion, something that I wake up in the morning and think about endlessly. I believe that in life - to truly be living is to be doing that you love with a pure passion. It could be singing, cooking, volunteering, dancing - everyone has a dream. But as we get older we slowly let go of our dream because we are expected to find a job to make ends meet, to have that security of waking up to a paid job because that is what we've been taught to do since we were young. "Go to school, get a good education, become a doctor or a lawyer" because that is what a successful person is. But stuff that! WE have choices in life. We can choose to wake up and decide not to go to work anymore and do something that we love doing instead. My epiphany came about 5 weeks after not having to go to work anymore after working for 5 years straight. I realised that I don't need to rely on an employer for an income, I realised that I am much more happier...living my life. I am out of the rat race and dammit it feels good. If you take that plunge, have faith in yourself, you'll be fine. You'll be more than fine because you'll be doing exactly what you want. So if you find yourself waking up day after day, feeling like it's Groundhog day again and that you'd rather die than go to work again. That's no way to live. You have a choice so make it today, make a change. Life is truly too short to be doing something that you don't enjoy. And yes, we all get scared, you're thinking that I've got a mortgage and bills to pay without a job I can't survive. Yes you can, start daydreaming and writing down what you want to do. No matter how stupid or silly it sounds.
I started writing in my journal that I wanted to have my own cupcake bakery about two years ago. In my journal entries I would write down what flavours I would have, what my store would look like, how the customer service would be like and even to the detail of how people would feel when eating my cupcakes (answer: they would feel super awesome). I would tell my mum time and time again about what I dreamed of doing, she would always encourage me and when she asked "but how will that work?" I would tell her. Remember it all starts with a dream. If you stop yourself from daydreaming about it and keep on going day-by-day, you'll wake up one day feeling unsatisfied. So let yourself dream, let yourself have a few sleepless nights because you're so excited about an idea because that excitement, that passion reminds us all that we are alive.
Here are some fantastic photos my friend Tim took at Dingley Markets last Sunday. It was a very chilly day and I didn't sell out all my cupcakes but I have some of the best customers. There was the cutest little kid that was no older than 2 years old that came back three times for babycakes. And there was a guy that bought a cupcake and came back for another saying that he had half and his large chocolate brown labrador had the other half so he had to buy another. heehee.
Strawberries & Cream - the base had fresh strawberries and was super moist.
Coconut Ice Cupcake Line Up, this is one of my favourite photos.
Mixture of Babycakes. The vanilla ones have Jelly Belly jellybeans on top and the chocolate ones have dark chocolate Maltesers on top.
Princess themed cupcakes for a 21st Birthday cupcake order. I love these black & silver cupcake liners, they just look so elegant.
Also, I'm always happy to answer any questions you may have...so if you have a question about anything at all or if you want to just share your thoughts, drop me an email. I have some exciting news in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned...I'm making progress. I hope you are too!!
