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Cupcakes
- How many cupcake flavors would you like to choose from as a wedding guest? Maybe 3? 4?
- How many would you make for, say, 200 guests? Some people won't eat any, some people will have a couple...
- Which of these flavors appeal to you for October?
Chocolate with coffee cream fillinglavender with buttercream frosting
chocolate with chambord filling
gingerbread with lemon frosting
carrot cake with toasted coconut cream cheese
Guinness-chocolate with Bailey's icing
red velvet with CC icing
pumpkin with praline topping
pistachio-cardamom-poppy seed with whipped cream icing
almond-butter with amaretto frosting
(I know there are no plain flavors on the list, and I agree with her on that. At my wedding, the plain vanilla layer went nearly untouched and everyone scarfed down the fun layers with unusual flavorings.)
The Long
FSIL/BIL wedding update, if you remember my now-deleted original post.
FSIL's
apparently so strung out with work and the looming wedding deadlines
that so long as I couch a suggestion in a friendly manner, she's game.
She is nice and kind, she just never wanted a big wedding and wanted to
go to the JOP, but BIL wanted the big to-do, and now that it's
approaching and she's seeing what has to be done, she's more open to
ideas to make BIL happy. Great. Tacky DIY wedding crisis averted. 
I've even gotten her to agree to a complete reception dry-run on Labor
Day weekend so we can check table settings, decor, table & chair
placement, everything.
I'm making the dessert for the 8pm reception. She's coming to
stay with me in a couple weeks to test cupcake recipes. I've tried to
sway her from the oh-so-laborious cupcake idea, but no such luck. And that's where we are with the questions above.
Re: Cupcakes
The last wedding I did with cupcakes we did mini cupcakes which I always recommend. You can try more than one and not feel like a pig.
There were 200 people at the wedding and the MOB ordered 400 mini's. We had to box up about 200 of them for guest to take home. Even with mini's cupcakes people were only taking one or two. So I started making the plates for the guest with three on each plate. Once they tried all the flavors they came back again for their fave.
Some guest were embarrassed to take more than one and there was also a very elaborate candy bar so people may have just been sugared out.
I would make either 250-300 mini's or 150-175 regular sized cupcakes.
I would serve the following 3 flavors:
Guinness-chocolate with Bailey's icing
red velvet with CC icing (every wedding I have done this is the 1st flavor to run out)
pumpkin with praline topping
Have cupcake boxes or paper plates with toothpicks and foil to wrap them up at the end of the night. (Put a tooth pic in each one so the frosting doesn't smash under the foil.)
Good luck! Are making them? If so, walmart actually has really nice mini cupcake pans for $5 each. They are dark metal with 24 wells. I would buy 4.
I just got married about 2 weeks ago and had cupcakes as my wedding cake. I had about 120 guests and had 5 different flavors to choose from. I think anymore then 5 is too much especailly if you are making them yourself. We split the amount of cupcakes evenly between the 5 flavors. As far as the amount of cupcakes I think we ended up with about 10 or so more then the amount of guests. They were decent size cupcakes and pretty substantial as far as when you eat them. With a regular wedding cake they make it so that everyone has a slice to eat so why not go with the same rule for cupcakes? You are right some people will eat more then one and some won't eat any. Just have some take home boxes available for your guests.
As far as goes you can never go wrong with red velvet, chocolate or carrot cake. I think the pumpkin flavor is a great idea for a fall wedding as well. We had fun flavors for our cupcakes as well (peanut butter cup, smores, snickerdoodle, red velvet) but we did offer one traditional flavor for those that prefer it (it was chocolate cupcake with buttercream frosting).
And I know you didn't mention anything about decorating, but for that amount of cupcakes, the simpler the better.
Oh and also buy a mini cookie scoop with the swiping arm if you don't already have one.
I can bake 300 mini's in about 2-3 hours.
Go to a restaurant supply store an buy some cupcake/cake boxes that fit a half sheet. It s much easier for transporting them.
I usually put them in the box and then pipe on the frosting once I have practiced my technique on one of them.
FYI: Placing them out can take up to an hour and a half.
These 400 mini cupcakes took 2 hours to set up:
Let me know if you have any other questions or worries!!
I'd go with the guiness, red velvet, and pumpkin or carrot. I've never cooked for that many people so maybe jj is right, but I can't imagine not having enough for every person. For 200 people I'd probably go for 215 cakes.
I do like the ide of minis. I personally think the regular size tend to be too big. If you go with minis I'd say 300.
I agree with previous posts- do the mini's. I actually think they make better displays too. I think 220 would be fine. I had them at my July party and I got 48 minis for about 60 guests and had about 10 left- which I was fine with because I ate them all!
I like the sounds of these flavors for fall:
carrot cake with toasted coconut cream cheese
Guinness-chocolate with Bailey's icing
red velvet with CC icing
pumpkin with praline topping
I am absolutely no help on how prepare that many, but those flavors sound awesome and now I really want a cupcake. As a guest I doubt I would eat more than one cupcake, DH and I may share two to get more than one flavor.
I really like these four, but if there were only three choices, I would be more than satisfied:
gingerbread with lemon frosting
pumpkin with praline topping
Guinness-chocolate with Bailey's icing
Hi:
Those sound great! I'd skip the lavendar. I've tried several and they seem to taste like potpouri smells. I love the mini idea. I would probably try 2 of the flavors. The best part about cupcakes - no fondant! My favorite is a vanilla with vanilla buttercream, but I'm a purist. As for your creative flavors the Guiness with Baileys and the pumpkin would be my choices.
If you are trying to narrow it down, maybe one of the chocolates, and either pumpkin or gingerbread? I like the idea of either of those since they are fall-ish.
Hi there! Sorry I didn't reply earlier. Am glad things are going well for you guys now...
All of the cupcake flavors look awesome except for Gingerbread with Lemon (don't know why but this combination sounds gross - I am weird though in that I love pumpkin flavors but not gingerbread at all).
Lavendar also seems out of place for a fall wedding somehow.
Cheers and please keep us posted.