Don't know if any of you out there ever experiment with things - cooking, hairstyles, accents, etc. For me, obviously, it's cupcakes. If you do experiment, you probably know the pride of a successful venture on the first try, the annoyance of having to try something two or three times to get it just right, or the feeling of utter failure at having to give up on it entirely (had to do this with a chili mango lime cupcake). This is my process as I play with cupcake flavors.
I recently tried out a pink grapefruit and honey cupcake that I've been thinking about for some time. I am about to start on my third test run. In the first attempt I used a vanilla cake base and added fresh grapefruit flavor to it. The flavor was delicious. The texture? Not horrible, but not my fav. In the second trial I used a honey cake base with the same fresh grapefruit flavor. The texture was great. The flavor? Too much honey. For the third attempt I am bringing the two together in a "mostly sugar with a little honey" cake. Hoping for a perfect balance of honey and grapefruit flavors brought together with the texture that I love.
P.S. Most of you probably already know this, but I've opened up my very own cupcake bakery in Orange County. Visit my website: http://loverbeesbakeshoppe.com/