There are a large number of blogs that I follow religiously because they offer such fantastic information, and one of those is Annie’s Eats.  It is not all about cupcakes, but then I need to eat other forms of food too (well.. sometimes!) and everything she features is brilliant!

But what I want to share today, is a cupcake that she recently featured and that I have tried and it really is… really good!  Plus it looks amazing!  This is the Hummingbird Cupcake!  No birds however are harmed in the creation of this baby!  It has loads of yummy things though like bananas, walnuts and coconut!  If Grandma is coming around, this is the cupcake to bake!  Best of all the full recipe is available here.

But you may want more than just a tasty cupcake recipe?  Well Annie’s Eats also goes one step further and tells you how to make those absolutely fabulous dried pineapple flowers to decorate them with here.  I have to make cupcakes next week for the school autumn fete (we are either six months behind or in front seasonally) so these are going to be a hit with the conservative patrons!  Of course I’ll whip out some whacky colored cupcakes with adorable kid inspired fondant toppers to get the younger crowd buying as well!

Happy Baking!

After throwing our first ever cupcake themed party a month ago for my daughter’s 7th Birthday I am a massive fan.  The girls all had a fantastic time decorating the cupcakes, in the tea party like setting I had created.  I only wish I had known about these first!

This is a cupcake centerpiece , which (don’t be fooled by the picture) is quite big standing at about 20 inches tall, each cupcake being 5 inches tall.  But the best thing about these is that they offer you unlimited ideas for future cupcake parties, or tea parties.

Bought new each of these cupcakes is actually a jar, and inside is a packet of cupcake flavored cookies! So you can, if you want give them as gifts after the party… OR you can keep them and re use again and again.  Even play games with them, such as hiding something in one cupcake jar!  Actually I am thinking these would be perfect party favors at our wedding later this year…

Of course, you don’t need to get the full stand with all 24 cupcakes, you can also buy the cupcake jars filled with cupcake cookies individually.  Best of all, is I hear the cookies are amazing! I could really go the triple chocolate cookie jar right now!

If you are looking for these, you’ll find them at Diva Entertains!

If you are looking for the latest thing in cupcakes, then this is it.  One of our newest ATC Sponsors has hit the market with a bang with these ‘babies’.

What are they exactly? Well these are ‘Batter Babies’ and make creating your two toned cupcakes a breeze!

The way they work is you line your standard baking pan with papers, then insert your Batter Babies into the papers, so they effectively dissect your cupcake into two halves.  Spoon or squirt your first cupcake color, or flavor into the first side and the other color or flavor into the other.  You then remove your Batter Babies and bake!  Too easy, but fantastic results.. so next time you are having a sports party, celebrating something at school, or wanting to create the perfect flavor combination, think about adding these to your baking accessory collection!

For more information about Batter Babies, check out Kimber Cakeware!

One of my favorite past times is cruising the super creative network of talented cupcake decorator’s blogs out there in cyber land.  I’m always finding really cool and interesting ideas I wouldn’t have otherwise considered.  One such discovery is Bake Happy’s Care Bears!

Instead of creating full Care Bears on each cupcake (I hope you know who and what Care Bears are? because I have kind of just assumed everyone knows Care Bears), she has created two cupcakes for each one.  Best thing about this is you get double the cupcakes, and you can have fun matching the colored teddy head with the tummy patch!

Here they are mixed up!  To see if you know your Care Bears, try and match them all to the correct teddy bear head, then check out Bake Happy to see if you got it right!

One thing that is almost as big as cupcakes, is a trend for really cute owls! It is no wonder then that owls, cupcakes and Valentines Day have all been combined to create a super cute gift for someone special.

These owl cupcakes were created by My Own Barn and you can find out all about them at the blog.  It is truly a haven for owl lovers with everything ‘owl’ being displayed!  But it was not the blog that got my attention, it was the cupcake, adorned with a lovely owl that was winking at me on Flickr.  You can check them out here.

Everyone seems to be busy doing something for, or thinking about the upcoming event next Monday… that is Valentines Day.  For me I am not too sure what to do, I will have to get my fiance a card, but I don’t love all that soppy love stuff, it is right for some people, but not for me, so I think I am going to get a blank card with some amazing scenery on the front, and inside will write something alluding to our past travels and our future travels inside it…

I will also bake some cupcakes (thank goodness a Sunday precedes the day this year!).  So I was looking for some inspiration and stumbled on one our sponsor’s blogs.  The Cupcake Tower write some  great posts and this one features a image gallery of the colours fuchsia pink and yellow, oh and there is a bit of orange in there too.  I love it, really inspiring and fresh and a great idea for my valentines day theme, leaning away from the traditional red!

But if real cupcakes are not your thing, then you can always buy a cupfake and there is a great deal going on at the moment on these fun cupcakes.  Check out Forever MK Cupcakes, another ATC sponsor for a great range of cupcakes and best of all with their Valentines Day code (visible on their home page) you can get 15% off any order over $10.  But like all good things, it is for a limited time only so get in quick!

Whatever you do though!  Have a great day and even if you don’t believe in the Valentines Day hype, you can still give your beau a big kiss :)

What would make a little girls birthday completely magical?

What else but unicorns and rainbows!  And that is what Alicake did for her girl’s birthday party!

These use white fondant for the faces and eyes, chocolate covered sunflower seeds for the horn, a black food coloring pen for the eyes and mouth, and tinted vanilla frosting for the hair.

I’m sure Kate loved them!

That’s right, last issue, one of our Sponsors Angel Heart Designs was featured in the popular Romantic Homes magazine.  The issue hit the stands in mid November and featured a full page about the very lovely Cindy Houot, who runs Angel Heart Designs.

It was an exciting month for Cindy, not only in relation to the magazine article, but she also announced the very exciting new line she is stocking which are all French inspired ceramics such as this beautiful clock.  The range is called Cynthia Joy Ceramics, so keep an eye out for them, but in the mean time you can read more in the article!

Simply Cupcakes of Naples started as an online cupcake store four years ago, taking orders online and delivering cupcakes to Naples, Florida residents. Two years ago, the first store was opened and now a second store is being opened on Marco Island.  They have over 9500 Facebook fans.  Simply Cupcakes is considered the premier cupcake store in Southwest Florida and they also supply cupcakes to Nordstrom’s and ship bundt cakes worldwide.

Simply Cupcakes offers 28 cupcake selections in gourmet size and minis. They are booked for at least one cupcake wedding a week through April and are in the process of hiring their 5th baker.

In addition to being a very successful cupcake store, Simply Cupcakes offers training for people who want to open their own cupcake business; either storefront or online. In a little over a year, they have trained people in 25 locations from California to Puerto Rico. The training is either ‘hands on’ in Naples or through a Distance Learning Program. It includes the very popular recipes, a license to use the Simply Cupcakes name, an exclusive territory with only on Simply Cupcakes in a county, a logo, a website, marketing, recommended suppliers and ongoing support. The ‘hands on’ training sessions are only done four times a year with the next one March 19-21 but the Distance Learning Training can be started any time.  Details can be found here.

Joanne Glasgow, owner of Simply Cupcakes said “When I first started out, it was trial and error since there was nowhere to get info on starting a cupcake business. After I started, many people contacted me and asked for help. They said that they could bake but had no idea how to start a business. That’s why I created this program.”

“We train people to do what I did… start online and build a customer base. Then if they decide to open a store, they have customers from the first day. We have been told that our training program is the only one of it’s kind anywhere. All of the people we have trained have become a community who exchange ideas and info at our online Message Board. The entire program is unique and has been proven to work. It’s the same concept of a franchise… being in business for yourself but not by yourself… but without the big franchise fee, restrictions or ongoing expenses.”

This is a sponsored post by Simply Cupcakes.

Want the sentiment but don’t have the time?

Well how about a really simple but really effective cupcake?

Too hard, well, how about a simple picture tutorial with no words?

Well that is what Pilli Pilli has provided with their simple but amazing Valentines Cupcakes!

If you are sick of reds and pinks for Valentines Day, then Sweetopia may have the answer for you!  These toppers are bright, colorful and bound to bring a smile to your loved ones face this year.  What is more, Sweetopia has all the details for how to make and create them on her blog, which you can find here.

Today is our 4th of July, well, actually tomorrow is!  26th January every year Australians celebrate what it is to be Australian.  We approach this, in much the same way as everything else, with great gusto! There will be burnt sausages, prawns, seafood, lots of food, fireworks and of course cupcakes!

I created these cupcakes for the kids at the BBQ we are attending today.  I created the fondant flags first by cutting it and twisting around a toothpick then piped the details onto them.  Unfortunately there is only six points on the bottom star which means I have lost an Australian State or Territory (as there is one point for each), and my red frosting bled into my white, but I am pretty happy with them!  And most importantly the kids will LOVE them as they are my favorite chocolate recipe with a chocolate ganache.

One of the most popular apps for the iphone or the ipad is Angry Birds, so you know, it was only a limited time before someone came up with awesome cupcake toppers!  In this case it is the Artisan Cake Company who have an Etsy shop and sell these little guys so that you can top your own cupcakes!

The photo below is of all the angry birds characters, which is fantastic, but I really love the pigs here to the right.  They are so cute, except for when you are playing and you cannot pass a level, then their cheeky grin makes me angry!

Today I found one of the most beautiful cupcake tattoos I have seen.  It combines the love of cupcakes with a love of birds into one amazing tattoo.  This one I found by way of  Stephen Young.  The tattoo however is by Curtis Burgess from Tribal Rites Tattoo and Piercing in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Although I am unlikely to have a tattoo like this I would love this picture as a piece of art!

Have you got a tattoo that covers your love of cupcakes and something else special in your life?  If so why not share it with us so that we can increase our amazing collection of cupcake tattoos and inspire future tattoos!

When I first saw these little cupcakes I thought they were those little plastic lipgloss cupcake containers that you can buy, but on closer inspection I discovered these are super gorgeous little chocolate coated cupcakes!  The image and idea is from Hero Cake Pops.

To create these, Hero Cake Pops picked up a chocolate cupcake mould from her local cake shop then after creating the outsides in the mould filled the inside with cake pop.  The result… fab cute little gifts for your special man / woman or if you can’t choose one person then these make an economical way to share your love this Valentines Day!

For the ultimate cupcake party princess you need to have one of these fantastic cupcake wine glasses!  Say goodbye to those pesky little wine glass identifier metal rings, which get lost and in my case fly off as I get animated… no from now on I’m rocking up to my friends and family with this!

Well maybe not, I’m not that much of a princess, but it would be great fun at home.  Though I am not too sure I would be able to keep it away from my daughter.  Safe to say it would be juice and soda only for her (probably together, because she is crazy that way!)

You can get one of these glasses for the birthday girl, or treat yourself, birthday or no birthday.  They are available from Diva Entertains!

The one really sad thing about growing up, is that you don’t look ‘too cute to boot’ in clothes like this anymore!  I love cupcake clothing for my little girl, but even she is starting to grow out of the super cute look and into the more sassy attire. Though she is still a cupcake lover.. to eat that is!

This gorgeous little top and skirt combo is from Etsy seller Petit Lyons, but all her cupcake attire is displayed on Flickr.

Makes me feel like getting ‘needle and thread’ thrifty again!

This cupcake tattoo is from Revolution Ink.  You may remember that we featured them last week with the story of Angie, and the remembrance of her through the ongoing design of bright, colorful and unique cupcakes.

I had so many amazing photos and gorgeous ideas I just couldn’t fit them all into the one post, so today I thought I would show you another one of those cupcake tattoos.

I love the big lick of flame on top of this cupcake, but more than the tattoo itself, I love this really edgy and beautiful photograph below.  It really shows the fantastic colors of the cupcake tattoo on this man’s arm.

It appears the Food Network have just commenced casting for Season 3 of Cupcake Wars.  With two seasons down, you have no doubt seen the show, and if you have ever wondered… hey I could do that, well now is your chance.

The call has come through Reality Wanted and has a closing date of the 28th February 2011, so you don’t have long.  Casting is open to every city, nationwide. Here’s what they say:

If you think you and your cupcakes have what it takes to compete against the best bakers in the country, then we want to hear from YOU! The winner of the show will have their cupcakes featured at a HOLLYWOOD EVENT and receive WORLDWIDE PRESS!  The winner of each episode also wins $10,000!!!

So for more information check out the details at Reality Wanted above or on the Food Network website here.

Do you reckon you can create something like this?  A cupcake decorated in Jelly Belly Jelly Beans?

If the answer is maybe, or yes, then you need to get buying or baking.  That’s right you can buy your cupcakes, the only rule is that you need to decorate the cupcake yourself with Jelly Belly Jelly Beans or other Jelly Belly candy!  This competition is therefore great for kids and parents alike!  Best of all you’ll be in the running to win $10,000!!

You have plenty of time to create your masterpiece and load it to the Jelly Belly website. Form more information or to enter, click here!

Looking for the perfect party favor?  Well Diva Entertain’s cupcake lip gloss is a sensational idea!  For me it is the answer to both my daughter’s upcoming birthday party and my sister-in-law’s hen’s night!

Lip gloss is something we all need and you can’t get lip gloss that is cuter than these adorable, flavored, cupcakes.  That is right, flavored!!  Best of all, being the organizer I get to choose, so one vanilla will be snaffled for me, a strawberry for my older daughter and chocolate for my younger daughter!  Perfect!

Best of all these glossy cuppies are perfect for your handbag too being an inch by and inch and three quarters.

You know that we love to feature cupcake tattoos, and why not, there are so many amazing designs around, and behind each is a skilled and talented artist who create, design and ink those images, a piece of artwork which will last for a lifetime.  So today I thought I would explore where one particular tattoo parlor got its cupcake inspiration from.

Angelia was a baker, she loved to make cupcakes and Angie dreamt of owning her own cupcake bakery one day.  She had a few cupcake tattoos on her done by the guys at Revolution Ink.  Angie specifically requested bright and beautiful tattoos and they were admired by many, even people not interested in tattoos.

Unfortunately when Angie passed away, it left a hole  in the hearts of those who knew her and posed an issue as to how a funeral could be funded.  The guys at Revolution Ink decided to offer cupcake tattoos to raise the funds, and so many people took them up, that they raised over $3,000.  Even now they still get so many requests for these bright and beautiful cupcake tattoos which first started with Angie’s originals.

These photos above are some of the tattoos created in remembrance of Angie, and below is the large colorful tattoo that Angie had done on her back.

‘Cake me’ is a new project for the ultra talented Kiara Black a German photographer who specialises in taking amazing photos of women.  With this series she has decided to take her cake, and instead of eat it, design with it!  Currently there are only two photos in this collection, this stunning image below is the second one, the first is cookie sweet, but you will have to check out either Kiara’s Flickr page or her website to see that one!

I just want to know how you get them to sit so perfectly without getting blue frosting on your hair… ha!

Andri is a photographer and while in New York the other day she came across this graffiti.  Well we have everything else ‘cupcake’ so why not a sassy cupcake cowgirl!

Cowgirl Cupcakes on East 10th Street have gone with a cool street frontage with this design, and on a frosty evening, it is no wonder that the bright colors caught Andi’s eye!

Check out more of Andri’s photography here.

The vintage wedding is quite popular at the moment, and why wouldn’t it be, with shows like Mad Men displaying how wonderful the female figure can look in those classic 50s style dresses, but if you choose to go this way, you may wonder how you can merge your vintage theme with your love for the modern cupcake.  Well Pretty Witty Cakes shows us just how this can be achieved!

Suzi has created gorgeous china tea cup cupcakes filled with different colored roses!  Apparently it was quite a fiddly job to complete, but it looks sensational!

And HAPPY NEW YEARS!!