Unicorn Dreamz - Cake Workshop w/ Three Twelve Co

I had the most fun this past weekend. I attended a Unicorn Cake Workshop with Three Twelve Company. Magic, and sprinkles, and rainbows, oh my! :P Lala (or Lauren) of @threetwelveco is a baker turned event production business owner. She made 3 of my 7 wedding cakes, including the main two-tiered centerpiece. :) I've known Lala for a couple years now, we've become friends, and I have attended several of her workshops and pop ups. They are always a lot of fun. But a cake workshop is what I've been waiting for!

She did the first Unicorn Cake workshop back at the beginning of February. I was sooooo bummed because I couldn't make that one. But it was so popular that she did a second one this past Saturday. YAASSSSSS! I was so psyched. I immediately bought a ticket and marked it on my calendar. I didn't even care that none of my friends could go with me. haha. The workshop was $130... a little pricey yes, but I've always found the experience of Three Twelve Co's events to be worth more than the cost. :D So I KNOW I was gonna have a good time. Plus you get all the materials provided and you get to take your cake home.

Three Twelve Co @ Place on Parry
3711 Parry Ave #104
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 608-1161
www.threetwelvecompany.com
Price: $130

I waited for weeks and finally the day was here. I love her event space btw... Place on Parry. You can rent it out for special events. There's high ceilings, pretty lights, and white walls... a photographer or Instagrammer's dream! 

How cute!! We each got our own work stations with all the materials. Included were three 8" round cakes, fondant, different colored frosting in piping bags, buttercream frosting, gloves, and more. We also got to sip on some mimosas with the cutest unicorn straws and there were little snacks for us to munch on. So I don't get tempted and eat all my cakes. haha.

Lala taught us herself. She walked us through every step. We started by using the neat little cake cutter to level off the top of each cake. This is a cool tool. Made it super easy to cut a completely level top to each round. And what do we do with the rounded tops?! We EAT them of course! Or at least I did. hahaha. They were sooooo buttery and yummy! The cakes were so fluffy and soft. I had eaten a whole top before the workshop was over. hehe.

Next we spread the buttercream on the tops and start stacking the layers. Then we cover the entire thing with more buttercream. Lala baked and made all the cakes and frostings, btw. And it's delicious. Frosting a cake is harder than it looks, y'all. It's hard not to pull up parts of the cake as you spread the frosting. But I think mine turned out pretty good!

Then we move on to the fondant. We used the fondant to cover the cake as well as make the horn for the unicorn. My horn turned out really good, but just as I got my camera for a picture, the bottom was too heavy and punched a hole at the top. :( It's ok tho, we're going to be sticking it into the cake so I just pushed it back up. haha. 

Lala and her helpers took the rest of the fondant to the back to roll out for us. I'm glad we didn't have to roll the fondant cuz that would be disastrous! XP Fondant is not easy to work... you have to be gentle so you don't rip it or puncture a hole in it. I was able to get it all smooth except for one side. But we can cut that off and use the frosting to cover it up. hehe. You can see the line in my picture.

We got some edible gold paint for the horns and used some of the leftover fondant for the ears. Then we started piping the "mane" of the unicorn. It is up to your personal creativity on how you want it to look. Everyone's looked different and interesting. I went with a rosette-esque design. Lots of circles and swirls. Then we had all these "accessories" for the unicorns... sugar pearls of different colors and sizes, sprinkles, glitter, all edible. What do you think of my creation? :)

There was also a photo station set up where we can put our cakes on stands and take pictures. We did group pictures of the class and individual ones. The balloon backdrop made it that much more whimsical. 

What a fantastic day. Three Twelve Co did not disappoint. I was so happy with my finished product, and couldn't wait to take it home to share it with my husband. Although I wanted to cry a little when I made the first cut into it... it's so pretty... And the cake is soooooooooooo good y'all. We were half way through before Saturday was over. :P

I had a blast at the workshop. I learned how hard it is to make a cake look nice and professional. I snacked on the yummy cake tops. And I made a new friend! The girl next to me came by herself too and we just kind of bonded. hehe. 

Thanks to Lala for another fantastic workshop. Follow her at @threetwelveco for all future events. She's got several things in the works! You can also follow her at  @lalascakes. :)

Overall Experience:

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Food Trucks at Work! :)

This past Friday, some food trucks came to my office! How cool! Even though it was a pretty hot day, I went out and waited in the lines to get some lunch!

I've had some of the other trucks there that day so I wanted to try something new.

Potato Potahto
http://www.potatopotahto.com

Baked Sweet Potato (topped with Pecan Smoked Brisket, pickled red onions; plus 2 additional toppings: jalapenos, tomatoes) $6.50~

 This thing was MASSIVE!!! I felt like I was holding a small baby or something. hahaha. Well...exaggerating. But it was pretty hefty. The potato was loaded and steaming. The sweet potato was baked perfectly. So soft... I don't know how they cooked it and at what temp but I'd really like to know! The brisket was cooked well. I wish it had a little more seasoning and sauce. Needed a bit more moisture. And they need to dice the onions more finely and have more pickled flavor. But overall it was a good loaded potato. I barely made a dent in it... only ate about a fourth of it. haha. Good bang for the buck!

Overall:


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Before I attempted to dig into my giant potato. I went to Trailercakes. I've actually been following them since before the business started but never came across them until now. I wanted to take something back to the office. I asked them if I could go ahead and order something and pick it up after I eat. They were super nice and said of course.

Trailercakes
http://www.trailercakes.com/

3 mini cupcakes for $5~
The mini cupcakes are so cute!!

RV (red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting). I loved the frosting on this. The heat outside kinda melted it a little. But it was rich and awesome. The cake was moist and not too sweet. So the sweetness from the frosting paired well.

Cookie Monster (oreo crust, white cake, marshmallow center, oreo buttercream). This was cool with the oreo crust on the bottom. I liked the oreo buttercream too. The marshmallow inside was nice but a little too sweet. I think this would be better as a regular sized cupcake. As a mini, the sweetness overpowered it all. Sure was cute though!

PB&J (white cake, grape jelly, peanut butter frosting). I love PB&J. I liked the layer of jelly under the frosting. The pb frosting was rich and creamy. The flavors were nice but I thought the frosting overpowered the cake.

Overall I thought it was pretty good. Cute and clean presentation. Pretty good flavors. I'd like to try their normal sized cupcakes.

Overall:


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Gigi's Cupcakes

I bought a coupon for Gigi's Cupcakes wayyy back at the beginning of the year from Yollar. I noticed it was expiring next week...I gotta go use it!! I've been waiting for some event or get together to use it but the timing was never right so I just went last week and brought it back to the office.

Gigi's Cupcakes
5454 W. Lovers Lane, Ste. 130
Dallas, TX 75209
(214) 352-2253
http://www.gigiscupcakesusa.com
Price: $

If you go to their website, you'll see that it's bright and cheerful and full of amazing looking cupcakes. Upon entering the store, the cupcakes were displayed front and center, right when you walk in. And they looked amazing! Just like the pictures on the website. I would have to say that these are one of the cutest/prettiest cupcakes I've seen. Some of the toppings were more elaborate than others, but they all look clean and polished and extremely appetizing. You eat with your eyes first and they've definitely got an A+ there.

They bake their cupcakes daily, so the menu from day to day varies a bit. Make sure you check their daily menu so you can make sure they have the flavor you want.

The girl at the counter was super nice and very accommodating. They had my 6 cupcakes in one big box and I asked if I could change it to 2 small boxes (one for office and one to take home! :P) She was like "oh yea no problem"...all with a smile. :)

I got 2 of each. This way I only need to sample 3 of them. haha....trying to watch the carbs and sugar there... Oh and I also got a mini cupcake sample to go! Each cupcake is $3~ If you buy a dozen it's $33~ (But I got it for half off with the coupon!!) These were hefty cupcakes. They were heavy!! I joked that they weighed 2 pounds each! :p And definitely a fork and knife cupcake... I really can't see anyone just picking these up and taking a bite without getting it all over their face.

Wedding Cake (White cake topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting and sprinkled with white nonpareils). This was simple but looked elegant with the mini pearls on top. The cake was moist (which normally I find white cakes drier...) and not too sweet. The frosting was quite sweet but paired well with the cake. I normally lean towards chocolate cupcakes but I liked this one a lot. The only thing is the giant amount of frosting...as you can see on all of their cupcakes. I guess it's their "thing". haha. I mean I get it...the frosting is what makes them so pretty! But after a while it's just wayy too much and wayy too sweet. I didn't finish all the icing.

Hunka Chunka Banana Love (Banana nut cake with dark chocolate chips topped with a banana buttercream frosting dipped in ganache and a banana chip). I actually really wanted to try the Banana Cream Pie but it wasn't sold today. This was quite interesting. First bite...the banana flavor in the frosting was a little strange but paired with the ganache it was quite good! The combinations of all the flavors were very intersting. I liked the banana nut cake with the mini chocolate chips inside but it could've been a little more moist. It's a pretty heavy cupcake. I couldn't eat all the frosting on this one either.

S'mores (milk chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked in, topped with vanilla fluff, toasted marshmallows, graham cracker crumbs and a milk chocolate square). This one wasn't supposed to be available today but I saw it in the display case and I was sooo happy! It looked amazing!! I really enjoyed the combination of it all. The fluffy marshmallow with the graham cracker crumbs and the chocolate chips inside the cake. The cake could've been a little more moist too, but with the marshmallow topping it all worked! The marshmallow topping was surprisingly not super super sweet. I ate all the frosting on this one! hehe. Probably my favorite one out of the 3.

The little sample cake was the biggest surprise. The cake was very moist and not too sweet! Typically I find mini cupcakes drier because they are smaller. This one was pretty good!
I was pleasantly surprised that I liked these as much as I did. I was actually expecting them to be like all the other places I've tried in Dallas where they are overpriced and dry... However, I DID get these at a discount. I'm not sure if I would pay full price for them. I find cupcakes in general to be insanely overpriced. But at least you are getting a giant cupcake at Gigi's so it's better bang for your buck. Plus there's more creativity with the decorations that differentiates them from others. The only big negative is the insane amount of frosting. Even my co-worker, who typically enjoys more frosting over cake, said it was a bit much... After eating a slice of each, I'm wishing I had some milk to go with them. haha. You WILL get a sugar high from these!

But definitely go check them out. With the cute decorations and interesting flavors, it's a great thing to bring to a party! :)

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value (with coupon):

Overall Experience:


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Cupcake Camp Dallas!

Last weekend was the first annual Cupcake Camp in Dallas. What an awesome event! It featured local bakers both professional and amateur and benefitted the LEAP Foundation. http://cupcakecampdallas.com/ Admission was $10 for adults and you were given 5 tickets to exchange for cupcakes. For 1 ticket you can get an amateur cupcake or a mini professional cupcake. And for 2 tickets you can get a professional cupcake. That's a super good deal! Normally cupcakes run anywhere from $3-5, here you can potentially try 5 cupcakes for $10!! Also, you can purchase additional tickets for $2 a piece. They also had a cupcake contest going on. I didn't stay long enough to see the results of that though.

This was a dessert lover's dream!! I was like a kid in a candy store. haha. I would say there were roughly 12-15 amateur bakers and 10-12 professional bakers. Professional bakers seemed to be anyone that had a business or store-front in the Dallas area. Most of them I had heard of, but some I had never seen before. I was quite surprised that Sprinkles or Dimples were not there. Didn't matter, I don't particularly like their cupcakes anyways. haha.

I first made a round taking as many pictures of the various cupcakes as I can. My plan was to go back later and pick the ones I wanted to try. I was super impressed by the variety and creativity there. There were a ton of different flavors, combinations, styles, etc. Some of the amateur cupcakes looked really great...you couldn't even tell them apart from the professional ones.

There were several cupcakes in the contest that I really wanted to try...like these Dr. Pepper ones. But I didn't see any tables giving those away. :(

These are the tables and flavors of cupcakes my friends and I got:
BE PREPARED TO DROOL....


AMATEUR BAKERS:
Emily Beck:
- Key Lime Pie Cupcake
- Cinnamon Roll Cupcake

Jessica Blad:
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake with Texas Honey Frosting, Spiced Pecans & Bacon Confetti
- Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Coulis Filling & Chocolate Goat Cheese Frosting

Rachel Ray:
- Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Jessicakes by Jessica Hendricks:
- Texas Pecan Surprise (Golden butter cake and a light chocolate pecan mixture topped with cream cheese frosting, a pecan & drizzled in chocolate)

Kristie Cobb:
- Chocolate with Marshmallow Creme Filling
- Chocolate Cadbury Surprise (topped with Marshmallow Peep)

Megan Smith:
- Easter Sno-Ball (chocolate cake with marshmallow cream filling)

Kim Wickware & Cheryl Dumas:
- Very Cherry
- Honey Lavender

Kellie Blankenship:
- Banana Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream

Teresa Lin:
- Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Stephanie Cuento:
- Margarita (virgin) cupcake
- Pina Colada (virgin) cupcake

Others (didn't see bakers' names):
- Chocolate Cupcake with Nutella Frosting & Chocolate covered Strawberry
- Molten Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Shavings

PROFESSIONAL:
The Perfect Slice:
- Texas 'Rita (Jalapeno lime cupcake)

Trailercakes:
- Mini Peanut Butter Cupcake

Nothing Bundt Cake:
- Bundtini

So out of the flavors I got to try the following (the first 4 were my personal picks with my tickets...I went for the flavors that were unique and weird. hehe.):


- Honey Lavender ^
This was the prettiest cake in the whole event, in my opinion. It was just cute perfection! The flavor was also very interesting. Very floral from the lavender and just a hint of honey. It was very light and fragrant.
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake with Texas Honey Frosting, Spiced Pecans & Bacon Confetti ^
The bacon was the thing drawing me to this one. Even though it was just small sprinkling on top of the cake, you really taste it because you have to chew the bacon bits. The cake was super moist and the frosting was just enough. It was a great combination.
- Texas 'Rita (Jalapeno lime cupcake) ^
This was the only one where I used 2 tickets for 1 cupcake. And this was my FAVORITE of the entire day. There were candied jalapeno pieces throughout the actual cake and candied jalapeno on top of the frosting. The jalapenos were actually spicy too! It was fantastic! The cake was borderline savory...kind of shortbread-y? But the frosting was sweet along with the candied jalapenos...it hit every flavor profile!
- Molten Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Shavings ^
I had to get a chocolate one. haha. This was pretty typical as chocolate cupcakes go. It was just bigger than most of the other cupcakes! hehe. There WAS a little molten part towards the bottom of the cupcake, but not enough. It was definitely moist though.
- Margarita (virgin) Cupcake ^ (top left)
This wasn't very good. It was really pretty but tasted really artificial. I'm guessing it's probably from food coloring to do the blue frosting. And I didn't get a sense of margarita at all...
- Texas Pecan Surprise (Golden butter cake and a light chocolate pecan mixture topped with cream cheese frosting, a pecan & drizzled in chocolate) ^ (top left)
This was interesting. I liked the bit of chocolate swirled in the batter. It was definitely a nice surprise.
- Banana Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream (bottom right)
This was quite good. Lots of banana flavor and I liked the chocolate chips inside the cake.
- Key Lime Pie Cupcake (bottom left)
Very lime-y but not too tart. Didn't remind me of a key lime pie though.
- Chocolate with Marshmallow Creme Filling ^ (top)
A nice addition to normal chocolate cupcake with white icing. This was my bf's favorite out of all the chocolate ones.
- Chocolate Cadbury Surprise (topped with Marshmallow Peep) (right)
There was a whole cadbury egg inside the cake! It was pretty cool looking after I cut through it. Such a simple idea! But this was the first time I had seen it done! Tasty as well!
- Chocolate Cupcake with Nutella Frosting & Chocolate covered Strawberry (left)
I love nutella! I didn't get much of the nutella flavor on this though. It was just like a normal chocolate cupcake.

OMG. Big time Sugar Coma!!! And this was all before 2PM!! haha. Keep in mind I didn't eat the entire cupcake. I had 1 bite from every one of these though....so I guess it still adds up. haha. Overall, great event! I hope they do it again next year and I'll definitely workout even harder before I go next time. :P I was super impressed with the variety and looks of many of the bakers. So I'm scratching my head as to why I never found a good cupcake in Dallas before this!!!

Overall Event:

Next year they need a bigger venue! :)

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