Watermelon Cupcakes!

 

A couple weeks ago, several dear friends came to visit us in Heidelberg! The Americans came to Europe in celebration of their tenth wedding anniversary while leaving their three rugrats little cuties with grandma. The Norwegians returned to Germany, with their two trouble-making sweeties young boys, in order to visit a series of friends and colleagues from when they lived here before. It was our good fortune these schedules coincided! Part of me wished so badly all five of these boys could have spent the weekend playing and gouging out each others' eyes out rough housing. Sooo blessed to know such amazing and wonderful parents people.

Anyway....it was May in Germany and a Sunday picnic sounded perfect! In my mind, a picnic means BBQ, potatoes or noodle salad, deviled eggs, other odds and ends...followed by watermelon. I don't like the texture of watermelon, but I love the flavor and look of this iconic fruit. For sure I love cupcakes... Hence the inspiration for this little cake. It was soooo easy to construct. I looked online for exactly what I was wanting, but couldn't find it. Fine, I can do this by following some basic knowns in cupcaking (is that a word?).

 

I started with my favorite Chocolate Cupcake, added a base of Vanilla Buttercream tinted a watermelon-rind green, and finished with a swirl of Vanilla Buttercream dyed watermelon red. The bonus? Hand-placed mini-chocolate chip Nestle Toll House morsels. I think it’s the perfect touch for ‘seeds.’ Hot tip: I caught myself going over the edge with decorating when I reached for my tweezers in order to get those tiny buggers into place. I believe I crossed a line somewhere in there. And the tweezers are a champ for really tiny decorations.

My life partner loves Lemon Cupcakes.  I baked this batch real quickly because I like him.  The frosting is an even ratio of Vanilla Buttercream, Lemon Curd, and Mascarpone cheese.  So good!!  I topped with a fresh strawberry inspired by a picnic favorite - Strawberry Lemonade.  Hot tip: When adding fresh fruit with the cut side (juicy side) down, add at the last minute.  The fruit will leak out over the frosting.  If that doesn't bother you .. full speed ahead with your bad decorating self.

 





I captured the three Dads just before eating...
and just before the rain.



I didn’t take the time to set up a cute/fun/awesome photo shoot. That’s just me being me …it was a busy Sunday and we had a picnic to attend!


What did I learn? I like looking at fun stuff and I still like watching people (young and young at heart) enjoy cupcakes. My husband loves lemon cupcakes despite how often I use chocolate cupcakes as a base for my creativity. It’s ok to be detailed oriented as long as there is balance.

 

I can’t make people like something just because it excites me; people need their own space and opportunity to savor their own journey.