Have you been to Starbucks lately and noticed that they have jumped on the latest food trend bandwagon.  Calling the line “Starbucks Petits” they now offer cake pops, whoopie pies, and mini cupcakes.  I know Starbucks have had cupcakes for some time now but I hadn’t had the opportunity to try them but this past week.  I saw the little peanut butter cupcakes and had to try one; I was pleasantly surprised by how good the cupcake was.  The chocolate cupcake was moist, the peanut butter frosting flavor complimented the chocolate cake perfectly and wasn’t too sweet.  And I liked the half of a mini peanut butter cupcake on top of the cupcake. The mini cupcakes also come in carrot cake.

I’m not sure how I feel about Starbuck’s following the common trends.  I think that mini food items are cute so the whoopie pies look really cute but is it too much? Are cake pops and cupcakes any less special because they are available at Starbucks, a worldwide franchise that is easily accessible.  Or are these new menu items a benefit that make getting some of our nations favorite food trends easier at one of our most well liked coffee shops? I’m still torn.

Feel like showing off your bad biker chick side while celebrating your sweet and fluffy cupcake side as well? I love this t-shirt, and the Baker Babe design comes on a variety of items, so if you’re not into kelly green, don’t worry. I’m thinking it would make a pretty cool tattoo myself. Hmm…

Is it too early to start thinking about summer cupcakes?  I mean Spring is only just starting to bloom, but if you are planning a wedding then you probably will be well on the way to deciding!

So today I thought I would bring a bit of a summer wedding collective!  But if you are not getting married, don’t despair, each of these also make great general summer cupcakes, so book mark them for when the weather warms up!

Love this cool summer color palette, bright blues and vivid sea green, with lots of wedding white. Simply perfect cupcakes from Bella Cupcakes. Also I love the use of the sea urchin!

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This photograph is nothing short of amazing  — a cupcake as Marilyn Monroe (I’m obsessed with Marilyn and Cupcakes!)

This photograph comes from a long line of images by artist Terry Border. He takes regular everyday objects and gives them life with wires and fabulous photography. You can purchase his book  Bent Objects: The Secret Life of Everyday Things at Amazon!

Follow Terry’s blog where he is always posting new photographs and other inspirations — Bent Objects Blog

Although the weather is pretty chilly this week here on the East Coast of the United States, I am dreaming of warmer temperatures and playing outside with my kids.   I think this cupcake ball would complete the fun! 

 Come on warm weather!

Giant Personalized Ball from HandMadePretties, $42

I saw these on TasteSpotting and was immediately attracted to the bright colors, which are perfect for spring!  Love From The Oven created these peep cupcake push pops after seeing CupKate’s Event Design’s version.  CupKate’s Etsy page is also where you can purchase the disposable push pop containers for $0.95 each.  With Easter just around the corner and peeps coming in every color I think these cupcakes would be great for school parties!

A quick run to my local Target tonight resulted in an exciting cupcake find.  Katie Daisy who is the artist behind the Etsy shop, The Wheatfield has teamed up with target to create a line of spring themed products.  Theres gift bags, roll wrap, tissue paper, paper plates, napkins, invitations, frames, table runners and place mats.  The most important product are the Katie Daisy cupcake liners.  I found them in the seasonal section which is currently filled with Easter items.  The regular cupcake liners come in a 75 count pack and the mini baking cup 100 count pack, both cost $1.99 each.

Do we have any cat lovers out there? Cat and Cupcake lovers? If you are then the cupcake fairy has found something just for you. If my cat, Pixel would let me put a collar on her this would be the one!

The Bake Sale – Cat Collar from Sweet Pickles’ Designs Etsy Shop

A while back, we brought you news of the Scharffen Berger Cupcake Adventure Contest! Well, the winners are in. The rules were that bakers had to create an original cupcake recipe that included one of several “adventure ingredients.”  Among the choices were: stout beer, ricotta, adzuki bean, fresh beet, chili pepper, and coffee beans. Talk about adventurous!

The crazy part? All three of the winners chose Stout Beer as their adventure ingredient. In fact, the first prize cupcake, the “You Make Me Wanna ‘Stout’ Cupcakes” featured Stout in four different ways: batter, filling, reduction and frosting! Now that’s adventurous!

The judging panel included Top Chef: Just Desserts guest judge and award-winning chef Elizabeth Falkner; Scharffen Berger chocolate co-founder John Scharffenberger; chocolate expert and award-winning cookbook author Alice Medrich; award-winning food blogger, photographer and art director Matt Armendariz of MattBites.com; and baking expert and blogger Angie Dudley of Bakerella.com. Cupcakes were judged on creativity, spirit of adventure, ease of preparation, appearance and flavor.

Click here for the winning recipes! And congrats to all the winners from ATC!

Just because your adorable pooch can’t have the real deal, there is no reason why you cannot purchase a doggy cupcake just for them!

Introducing Rooney, a three year old Boston Terrier, who totally adores his treats!  In fact Rooney will do just about anything for a treat, so what started off as trick to balance dog treats on her nose has now developed into this spectacular talent of balancing cupcakes! Unfortunately though, there are no cupcake treats for dogs, well not that I know of, so Maria (Rooney’s owner) introduced plush fabric cupcakes!  The only shame is that they fail to last very long!

Rooney is also the inspiration behind Maria’s new cupcake business RooneyGirl Bakeshop!

As you probably know there is a new movie that has just been released called ‘Red Riding Hood’.  I am not sure about the USA, but here it has been trashed by pretty much every single newspaper, radio station and other media.  I haven’t seen it… and I am going to take their advice and not bother… but I hope kids still love the original story (whichever form you happen to have!  I love the early versions)

But whether you like a happy ending or a black one, you have to admit, these cupcakes by Leapula are absolutely amazing!

Ash from Butterfly Food made these flag cupcake toppers for Valentine’s Day.  I like how simple and versatile these toppers are.  All you need are bamboo skewers, cardstock, glue and of course, cupcakes.  Choosing different colored cardstock allows you to customize these toppers for any occasion.  I also really like that she made the skewers different sizes making it more visually appealing.

Remember those stuffed pancake cupcakes we posted in January? Well La Fuji Mama turned another breakfast classic into a cupcake, transforming cinnamon rolls into cinnamon roll cupcakes! Topped with cream cheese frosting, when I originally saw the cupcakes on Beantown Baker I immediately had to added them to my “to-bake list!” Click on “continue reading” for La Fuji Mama’s recipe!

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Feel like a little Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Well then, have a cupcake!

Check out this cute little Tiffany and Co. cupcake charm! How charming!

Gorgeous pail of roses by Cassie's Cakes

Well then why not give a bucket of cupcake roses?  Not only do they look beautiful, but they have one thing that roses don’t!  They taste fantastic too!

Many people want to know how to create this rose shape, and it is actually easier than you would think.  All you need is the right nozzle tip and a dozen cupcakes to practice on!  So while you are baking your practice cupcakes, check out this video from Gabrielle Feuersinger, owner of San Francisco’s Cake Coquette here at Chow.com

Now Gabrielle uses a pastry nail to get that PERFECT finish, but if you don’t have one, you can apply the technique directly onto the cupcake!

I am so excited that one of my favorite artists, Stephanie Fizer Coleman has finally created an image with cupcakes!  She has a great blog where she will post new images and projects, occasional free downloads, tutorials, and lately doodles.  This owl juggling cupcakes image started out as the doodle to the right and was transformed into a greeting card and a print.  The 5×7 inch print is available for purchase from her Etsy shop for $10.00.

Etsy and the amazing artists that share their creations with the world  have never let me down with their great cupcake creations.  I found these amazing recycled necklaces made from aluminum soda cans. Funky Recycling has found another great way to keep to world green with her recycled creations, in cupcake form.

Here are some of my favorites from her Etsy site —

Recycled Aluminum Soda Pop Can Art DR PEPPER CUPCAKE NECKLACE

Recycled Aluminum Soda Pop Can Art CUPCAKE NECKLACE DIET COKE

Recycled Aluminum Soda Pop Can Art CUPCAKE NECKLACE Pabst Blue Ribbon

Are you watching FOX’s new cop drama, The Chicago Code? You should be. The show is a knockout. Well-written, well-executed, and a star-studded cast. Australian dreamboat Jason Clarke and the gorgeous and uber-talented Chicago-born Jennifer Beals lead the way with stellar backing from critically acclaimed Delroy Lindo and up-and-coming Friday Night Lights standout Matt Lauria.

But what you really want to hear about is the cupcakes, right? Adam Arkin (The West Wing, Life, Chicago Hope) joined the series last night as a big and bad FBI hot shot, bent on pushing our lovely Jennifer Beals around. At first, things didn’t look good for the Chicago Superintendant of Police, but then she brought in a platter of red velvet cupcakes. And as the FBI agent and the Super munched on some cupcakes, they came to a compromise that moved watchers to tears. Then they licked their fingers. The whole thing was easily believable.

According to one of the show’s writers, the actors had to eat those cupcakes through six takes of the scene. Oh! Acting is such a rough gig! I’m hoping the show sets a precident. Crime can be fought, problems can be solved, corruption can be conquered, if we would just sit down together and have some cupcakes.

If you spend hours creating a cupcake work of art, you need to spend a few minutes making it look fantastic when you serve it!  Besides, you have worked hard to create your masterpiece, so it deserves to stand in the spotlight for a few minutes before it disintegrates to just a few crumbs and a great memory.  So how to do this?

Little cupcake stands!  These are a great new product from Diva Entertains and are a great way for converting a cupcake into a classy dessert! Imagine these on your dinner table at your next dinner party!  Check them out here.

Our last giveaway of March is from Etsy crafter, AppleLovesOrange.  She makes beautiful art from recycled and vintage fabric.  I am amazed by her talent!

This week, AppleLovesOrange is giving away a $30 gift certificate to her store!  To enter this giveaway, please visit her shop and then come back to All Things Cupcake and click on the comment area below.  Tell us what you liked about her Etsy shop and also give her one suggestion for a new item you think would be perfect for her. 

Make sure to also check out her Babee Cakes blog too.

A while ago I brought you some fantastic Angry Bird cupcakes!  These fondant toppers were amazing, but today I have found an equally great version of Angry Birds!  Check out this extravagant cupcake cake featuring those Angry Birds in action!  These are from Madame Patti-Cakes, and completely rock!

There are plenty of close up images of the pigs and the birds on Madame Patti-Kake’s Flickr account here, but it is this photo which I love best, with pigs balancing on cupcake towers and yes, that is a bird flying towards them!

If only I was better at the game!

I really like this Anatomy of a Cupcake image by Sarah and Allen.  The duo created it for their friend’s birthday and are now selling the 23”x15” print for $50.00.  I came across the image via Black*Eiffel but be sure to look at Things, Allen Hemberger’s website.  That’s where the print was originally posted and there’s a fun 40 second video of them preparing for the photo shoot!

These cupcakes are a mouthful to say and I’m sure the same to eat.  I know that we have all indulged ourselves in watching The Food Networks Cupcake Wars a few times, or maybe all the time.  So we all have an idea of the kind of crazy cupcakes that the contestants come up with. I saw this one and thought, “Sounds like a trip to the movies squashed all into one sinful cupcake!”

This recipe is from the episode LA Auto Show from the bakers of Bake You Happy.

Follow this link for the recipe — Chocolate Cherry Cola Cupcakes with Red Licorice Filling and Marshmallow Frosting

Even though the ‘show of the moment’ is in debate with all the press about Charlie Sheen, Glee is still VERY popular, so today I thought I would bring you some more of the best Glee Cupcakes! Check these out…

This is so awesome, no more words required. This is created by SugarMama Cakes

This next collection is from MsBakeBake. I love the megaphone!

I have yet to try vegan cupcakes but if they taste as good as these cupcake by Joylicious look, I’m sure I will love them!  These cupcakes, called best vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan banana ice cream combine three things I love, chocolate, peanut butter and bananas.  The best part is that they not only look delicious but actually sound healthy.  I’ve always thought vegan recipes would be hard to make but after reading the ingredients and directions these actually sound doable.  Below you will find the recipe for the cupcakes but for the banana ice cream you will have to read Joylicious’s original post!  While there be sure to look around, I noticed a (non-vegan) mini pumpkin spice cupcake recipe that also looks amazing.

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