Cupcake Baker of the Week: Lindsey Hopkins (Happy Halloween!)

Happy Halloween! I wanted to introduce an early Baker of the Week whose cupcakes and costume couldn't be more appropriate to get us into the spirit of the holiday. (Well, maybe if she had been in this Adult Cupcake Costume.) This joyful witch is Lindsey Hopkins, a stay-at-home mom and avid baker for a young son who has already developed a love for cupcakes.

Read on to find out more about Lipton Alligator Soup (?!), baking in a power outage, and why neighbors can be helpful. Also get some spooky inspiration from Lindsey's spiderweb cupcakes below.

In Lindsey's words, "sharing always makes your cupcakes taste better." Amen. Even if they are ricochet biscuts.

Name: Lindsey Hopkins
Location: Beaumont,Alberta (small town outside of Edmonton)
Website: www.lovecake.ca

1. How did you get into cupcake baking?
I’m fairly certain that Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson, my mom and my grandmothers had a lot to do with me getting into cupcake baking. Baking was always happening somewhere around me, from coffee cake at my grandma’s house, to the best pancakes at my Nana’s, to after-school snacks of chocolate chip cookies and lipton alligator soup made by my mom. So, around the age of 13 or 14, I guess I felt like I needed to find my own niche in baking that appealed to me, and it was the petite two-bite version of a whole cake with your very own personal swirl of sweet icing that made the cut. I remember not baking very often, since I admittedly made a big mess in the kitchen for my poor mom to clean up behind me, but when I did it was special for me.

2. Do you have a signature cupcake?
Sadly, I do not have a true signature cupcake. I wish I did. Though, I can tell you the very best cupcake I ever made was a Snickers inspired cupcake. Devil’s Food cake base with a French vanilla spread of icing mixed with crushed snickers and a frozen slice of Snickers on top. When I made these, I lived in a small ski town, Fernie B.C., and we had just been dumped on with at least a couple feet of snow. The power went out just as I finished baking my cupcakes, so I had to decorate them by flashlight held by my brother. I was 16 and I remember our neighbors had a small child and I thought maybe this would keep him/her from being scared of the dark. They were super moist and topped with my favourite candy bar - truly delicious.

3. What kind of cupcake do you plan to bake next?
A vanilla bean cupcake with a strawberry cream cheese frosting with the base dipped in chocolate coating and graham crumbs. My cupcake version of strawberry cheesecake.

4. Where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration is found in every Martha Stewart magazine, cook book, TV show, article, or TV appearance. Nigella Lawson also inspires me to just focus on making everything as delicious as possible. And I also find inspiration in sneaking through Flickr accounts and Googling bakeries. There are so many amazing cupcake bakers out there that keep me baking.

5. Describe a memorable (funny/disastrous/life-changing) cupcake baking moment you've had. 

A couple of weeks ago I made a batch of white cupcakes to test out a new Swiss meringue icing recipe I found. Not only was I testing a new icing recipe, but I was making my first white cupcake recipe in a long time and thought I would Google a recipe. Needless to say, the cupcakes were not as good as I had hoped they would be. They turned out to be quite dry and hardened in no time. {However, the icing turned out delicious!} But, because I do not like cupcakes to go to waste, good or bad , I called up my neighbor to see if she and her husband would be interested in helping my hubby and I eat these cupcakes up. Now everytime I make cupcakes - or bake, for that matter - my neighbor is quick to remind me that he doesn’t want any more “Ricochet Biscuits."

6. Give one piece of cupcake advice for other bakers out there. 
JUST KEEP BAKING. I make a LOT of mistakes. I try a LOT of new methods and recipes that are not up to my expectations. So DON’T get discouraged when things do not go the way you hope. If you just keep baking, you’ll remember what not to do next time or what recipe to get rid of. And SHARE your baked goods; unless they are Ricochet Biscuits, sharing always makes your cupcakes taste better.



Thanks, Lindsey! Stay tuned for next week's Cupcake Baker of the Week. Leave us questions, feedback, and suggestions for future bakers in the comments below, or e-mail us at cupcakestakethecake@gmail.com with the subject "Hey Melissa! Meet this Cupcake Baker!"