Tragedy, Triumph and the Almighty Dollar!

I have been baking cupcakes for awhile now! I was beginning to think that I was infallible and then White Velvet Coconut White chocolate chip said "Don't get cocky now! Here comes a reality check!" I concocted the white velvet batter the same way I always do. I folded in coconut and white chocolate chips. This sounded like a nice tropical summer flavor! I placed them in the oven and 10 minutes passed. When I flipped on the light they looked fine to me! At 20 minutes, apparently, all heck broke loose! They oozed over the edges, baked to a hard cookie texture and fell right through the middle when they cooled! I am not going to lie to you... my ego was so crushed, I almost threw in the towel all together! Then, a light shone down on me, I pulled myself together and vowed that I would bake again! No cupcake would defeat me! I let a few days go by and I get my first time real cake baking gig!! A cupCAKE! What?! For money?! This is getting real! I preheated the oven and put on my apron. My first customer wanted white velvet with cream cheese icing. I was allowed to put my personal touch on the designs because her only stipulation was that it had some pink in it. I brainstormed for a bit and got to work! The baking part is when I am the most nervous. It is 9pm (I know it is my fault that I waited until then to start! I know!) and I send the pans into the oven. Thankfully everything baked up nicely! I went with my original flower and leaf motif for this cake. I added some pearls here and there. I really think my first for money order turned out pretty alright! Jon will get some feedback on Monday. This did give me a chance to work on packaging. It is one thing to get some fabulous baked goods, but it is a whole other thing to get those baked good in a fabulous box with bows and ribbons! Every little extra touch makes that much better of an impression! After I got my confidence bake with the cupCAKE, I decided to get back on the flavor train and bake up come cupcake magic for my family! Jill suggested chocolate chips in the dark chocolate batter. I must say, that was a really good idea! My secret is to not fold them into the batter, but to add them to the top of the batter before I put them in the oven. They don't fall to the bottom this way. I topped them with a raspberry butter cream icing. My ego has been totally restored!