Food and Cakes
wufpup
member
Number of cupcakes if they're the only dessert?
My fiancé and I are getting married soon, and need a bit of advice as to how many standard-size cupcakes we should order for our guests.
We're expecting about 110 people, and will be serving drinks and heavy hors d'oeuvres at the reception. There will be no other desserts, as neither one of us are really into sweets.
All of the places we've seen suggest anywhere from 1 to 2 cupcakes a person (or a fraction thereof). We're going for 3 flavors (2 "boozy" and 1 "sober"): a chocolate+coffee, salted caramel, and a candied ginger+spice.
When I say boozy, I mean that there is alcohol soaked into both the cupcakes and the frosting after they're baked -- so the liquor stays in the dessert, rather than evaporating in the oven. I'd probably estimate maybe a 1/2 shot of liquor per cupcake.
When I say boozy, I mean that there is alcohol soaked into both the cupcakes and the frosting after they're baked -- so the liquor stays in the dessert, rather than evaporating in the oven. I'd probably estimate maybe a 1/2 shot of liquor per cupcake.
No worries about children getting their hands on them, since this is specifically a 21+ affair.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Re: Number of cupcakes if they're the only dessert?
I would go with 2 cupcakes per person and have 1 boozy and 1 non-boozy per person. I'm a big fan of booze ... but not in food. I wouldn't touch the boozy choice. Even with a 21+ wedding, you may still have people that are not doing booze (taking a break, non-drinkers, pregnant, don't like booze in food etc). Make sure to clearly label that they are boozy so someone doesn't take unexpectedly.
Which ones are boozy and which ones aren't? I would personally do 2 flavours that are not boozy (think one vanilla base and one chocolate) and one that is boozy. I think 2 boozy choices = too much. You may also want to plan on 1 of each of the non-boozy choice so that everyone can pick their favourite base.
Add on - I went to a wedding last weekend and the cupcake flavours were so weird that they were barely touched. All the handpies, tarts and individual chocolates went and there were plates and plates of cupcakes left.
Guinness chocolate cupcake infused with Jameson, Van Gogh Espresso Vodka fudge frosting
Vanilla cake infused with Bulleit Bourbon, filled with salted Bulleit caramel sauce, salted Bulleit bourbon caramel buttercream
Vegan pumpkin spice cupcake studded with chunks of crystallized ginger, infused with Capitan Morgan Spiced Rum, Smirnoff vanilla vodka frosting (this one is being made without alcohol)
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a good chunk of the guests (myself included) work in the bar industry and are very familiar with these bakers' confections (she actually supplies a number of local bars/clubs) with her cupcakes to sell. They always seem to go over well with folks.
I would be a no go for any of those cupcakes. I know you are saying your pumpkin one is alcohol free, but it sure doesn't sound like it.
I guess it is a know your crowd thing and if your crowd is good, go ahead. I would still encourage one 'normal' and not boozy flavour for some of your less adventurous guests.
I would do 1 boozy, 1 regular and 1 vegan. Obviously breaking down the quantities is a know-your-crowd thing. If this were my crowd where there's just a handful of vegans and lots of people who like to drink, I would do:
110 regular cupcakes - whatever that flavor would be, maybe vanilla without the booze and regular (not salted) caramel
70 boozy cupcakes - the chocolate one sounds better to me
20 vegan cupcakes
ETA - and the vegan cupcake should be non-boozy also.
If you know your crowd, great. I wouldn't eat any of these. I'm not drinking alcohol because I'm breastfeeding. If I saw "pumpkin spice," or really any kind of spice, on the label, I'd take a hard pass. If I saw it was the only one available to me, I'd maybe take one, eat a couple nibbles and throw away the rest.
If I wasn't breastfeeding, I'd still only have one option. I absolutely hate hate hate coffee and, again, hard pass on the pumpkin spice. The vanilla caramel sounds really good ... if I wasn't breastfeeding.
I'm not a big drinker even when not pregnant/breastfeeding, so I'd prefer them with no alcohol.
We also had cupcakes for our only dessert, and we had 3 flavors. The bakery suggested 1.5 per person, and we had 130ish guests IIRC. That put us at about 200 cupcakes, split evenly between 3 flavors. We had one chocolate base (chocolate peanut butter), strawberry & one vanilla base (with lemon filling and lemon frosting). The bakery we went with suggested to not get tooo crazy with flavors, because most people do like to try them but they don't always go over well in a group.
Are your cupcakes going to be clearly labeled which ones have alcohol in them? Even if everyone is 21+, like others have mentioned, that doesn't mean they drink. I also (personally) don't like cakes that are soaked in alcohol because I feel like it changes the texture, but that's definitely a know your crowd thing. The flavors you chose are also kind of polarizing. Coffee is one of those things that people either love or hate, and same with pumpkin spice/ginger.
As far as numbers, I would plan 1 boozy and 1 regular for each person. Would it be possible for your bakery to do half boozy and half regular, for all 3 flavors? You might have extras left over, but if you can send them home with guests if you don't want them all, or most cupcakes freeze pretty well.