candy clay cupcakes

Today I'm featuring an interview with my friend Jennifer Kim of Candy Clay Cupcakes.  She makes gorgeous custom fondant cupcakes that range from whimsical to chic.  You can find more of her work on her website and follow her on her Facebook page, Pinterest and Instagram feed.

How did you start your business?  

I started by biz by happenstance.  I wanted fondant cupcakes for my son's birthday party.  I was going to ask my friend to do them but didn't want to overwhelm her since my son's birthday is December 26th and it was smack in the middle of all the holiday frenzy.  I decided to try them myself and HAD SO MUCH FUN!  I kept making them for friends, and potlucks, as gifts, etc.  Everyone kept encouraging me to start a business, so with a final push from some good childhood friends, and much help from totally awesome, wonderfully supportive girlfriends, I launched Candy Clay Cupcakes at the beginning of 2014.

How long have you been baking?

I've been baking most of my life, since I was 6-years-old.  I really got into it after taking Home Ec in junior high.  I even got the Home Ec award when I graduated junior high, lol.

What are your favorite combinations of frosting and cake?

I love all things chocolate!  Devil's food chocolate cake with a rich chocolate ganache frosting...yum!!

Why do you think cupcakes are so popular?

I think because of their convenience.  At parties, you don't have to trouble yourself with cutting the cake, putting them on a plate, grabbing a fork for each plate, yadi-yadi-ya.  Cupcakes are quick and easy.  And pretty cupcakes definitely add to your party decor!

Where do you get inspiration for your designs?

Everywhere!  Everywhere I go, I always see things that can be translated into a fondant cupcake design!

What’s your favorite baking or cooking memory?

In college, I used to study sitting in front of the oven.  I would be baking cookies while digging out the themes in A Midsummer Night's Dream. :)

What else do you like to bake or cook besides cupcakes?

I love baking all kinds of DESSERTS--triple chocolate brownies, crinkle cookies, cheesecakes, peach cobblers...anything sweet and scrumptious. :)

Photos by Jennifer of Candy Clay Cupcakes, edited by Michelle Sterling.  

roasted peach caramel popsicles

Ingredients

Peaches (I used organic yellow peaches from Ferraro Farms)

Trader Joe's French Vanilla ice cream

Fat Toad Farm goat's milk caramel

Trader Joe's Speculoos cookies

Brown sugar

Sea salt 

 

Directions

When I first started thinking about what kind of popsicles to make for our summer party, I looked through so many delicious recipes and ideas (and pinned some to my Summer board on Pinterest) and eventually decided on a peach and caramel popsicle.  I knew I wanted to use Fat Toad Farm's caramel, but couldn't find an exact recipe for the popsicle.  I eventually found this apricot salted caramel popsicle from Johnny's Pops in Vancouver and later received this recipe in an email newsletter from Fat Toad Farm.  After doing some more reading about other people's experiences with homemade peach ice cream, I went on to experiment.

I sliced the peaches, sprinkled them generously with brown sugar and roasted them in the oven for 30-40 minutes at about 350 degrees.  Also, based on some friends' advice, I sprinkled the peaches with some sea salt, which enhanced their flavor.  While waiting for the peaches to roast, I set out the ice cream to let it soften a bit and also smashed the Speculoos cookies into crumbs in a ziploc bag using a heavy ice cream scooper.  After the peaches were done, I peeled and chopped them and put them in a small bowl.  I poured some Fat Toad caramel sauce into a sandwich-sized ziploc bag and snipped off a corner to get it ready for piping.  I found this great tip for filling a ziploc bag for piping using a glass--I don't remember the original website, but here is another reference.

WIth all the ingredients ready, I scooped a thin layer of softened ice cream into a big bowl, mixed in some chopped peaches and drizzled the caramel sauce over all that.  Then I spooned the mixture into 3 oz. Dixie cups, sprinkled Speculoos cookie crumbs over the top, packed the crumbs in a bit and inserted a wooden ice cream spoon halfway into each cup.  I repeated the process a few times until I had enough popsicles for the party.  I let them freeze overnight, but depending on how cold your freezer is, at least 24 hours might be best to give the popsicles enough time to solidify.

A few notes: I read somewhere that fruit tends to lose its sweetness after being frozen and definitely found this to be the case.  Next time, I will probably use more brown sugar while roasting the peaches.  I chose Trader Joe's ice cream to use as a base for the popsicles because it is dense and doesn't have a lot of air in it (compared to some other brands), kind of like gelato--that was the kind of texture I wanted the popsicles to have.