We moved from San Francisco to Marin this summer, so my daughter and I decided on San Francisco themed cupcakes. Specifically, we thought about all of the things we loved about San Francisco in addition to all of its iconic landmarks.Generally, before I start making cupcakes with detailed images like these, I draw them out to better refine the image and also make sure that what I have in mind will ultimately fit on the cupcake. As always, some images always morph from the original conception. For example, originally I wanted to do street signs to indicate the intersection of our home. Ultimately, I decided to actually make little buildings to show our home and the two neighboring homes.Here are 12 of the finished cupcakes. We also make labels for each cupcake to identify the images (in case they weren’t clear!) for the party guests.Here are the beginnings of the sushi, the Alvarado school mascot, Ticklebelly Hill, our old home and the seals at Pier 39A close-up of the Hamano sushi rollThe Golden Gate Bridge!A croissant and hot chocolate from Tartine BakeryPizza Hacker has the best pizza in the city! @pizzahackerThis was the birthday girl’s favorite cupcake and was an homage to Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt on 24th Street in Noe Valley.The sea lions at Pier 39. The girls played party games and whoever won had a choice to pick their cupcake (after the birthday girl) or get a prize from the prize bag. All of the girls that one opted to get first dibs on picking the cupcake of their choice. Surprisingly to me, this cupcake was the first one chosen!This was one of the “Friends” cupcakes to represent the friendships my daughter made while in SF. Because I am a redhead, I always make a little redhead girl (if applicable) even though she didn’t have any redheaded friends. Fondant creator prerogative!This is TickleBelly Hill. It’s not the real name of the hill, of course, but one that our family coined as our bellies did flips if we hit the bumps just right. TickleBelly Hill ultimately became the “company” name of any baking projects the three of us did together. And later, of course, the name of this website.Our apartment and the two neighboring homes.The Birthday Girl’s creation! She made everything herself. Every Tuesday for 4 years, she spent the afternoon with her great-aunt, and this plate of gyoza symbolizes their favorite meal together at Hamano restaurant.Here are all the cupcakes together and labeled: Our old home, Golden Gate Bridge, TickleBelly Hill, Hamano sushi, Pizza Hacker, Alvarado Elementary, Buttons Candy Store, Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt, Tartine Bakery, Pier 39 sea lions, BFFs, Hamano gyoza, Karl the Fog, Twin peaks+fog+Sutro Tower
