I love this turtle cupcake cake! This just goes to show that you can make pretty much anything you want out of cupcakes, and it’s a whole lot easier (and less mess) than cutting the shape out of a sheet cake!
I thought this idea looked fun and tasty for the 4th of July. The cupcakes themselves are made with a yellow cake recipe, and the frosting uses cream cheese with just a bit of lime. Cut out stars and stripes from waxed paper, lay the templates on the cupcakes, add red and blue sprinkles, remove templates with tweezers, and you have a nicely decorated and patriotic cupcake!
A Dr. Seuss Display
As a mother to a nearly six-month-old son who loves looking at (and trying to eat) any book he can get his hands on, the Iron Cupcake Madison Challenge definitely got my attention! Bakers and cupcake enthusiasts gathered this past Sunday at Basie’s Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin to eat and vote on mini-cupcakes, which were all based off of popular children’s books. The proceeds from this event will benefit the Literacy Network. Read the rest of this entry »
The answer to that question is….OF COURSE! Just because you’ve decided to eat healthier or go on a diet doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to your favorite treat. I found some great recipes and ideas to add a healthy twist to the traditional cupcake. Whole-wheat flour, potatoes, fresh fruit, unsweetened applesauce and reduced-fat dairy products are some of the ingredients you can use to add some nutrition to your favorite cupcake recipes without sabotaging the flavor. You can click on each photo below if you want to see the recipe.
1) Blueberry Cupcakes: These have a potato added to the whole-wheat batter to add some extra nutrition and create an interesting texture. The potato flavor is masked by other ingredients. Plus, blueberries are a great source of vitamins and anti-oxidants.
These baby rattle-shaped cupcakes look like a perfect treat for your next baby shower. They are sure to impress your guests but are relatively simple to make (how-to video and instructions here). Other than cupcake mix and a tub of frosting, you will need gumdrops, lollipop sticks, ribbon, tubes of decorating icing and sprinkles. Of course, if you have a particular cupcake or icing recipe that you really love, then you could use that instead of a store-bought mix. What a cute and fun idea!
With the release of Mozilla’s Firefox 5 web browser, Microsoft sent its competitor Mozilla a cupcake to congratulate them, and perhaps spark some friendly competition. This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has sent Mozilla a sweet treat to congratulate them on a new software release. They sent them an entire cake back in 2008 with the release of Firefox 3, and a smaller cake back in March when they released Firefox 4. A cupcake seems pretty appropriate, though, given their popularity these days. I just want to know how the Mozilla team went about sharing the one cupcake? Sounds kind of cruel to me…
Red Velvet Razorback
This morning when I typed in “cupcake” to Google News, I was pleasantly surprised that the second search result featured a cupcake cafe in my own hometown! I’ve been meaning to try their cupcakes for quite a while now, and I decided this was the perfect excuse to check them out!
Bliss Cupcake Cafe is located just off the downtown square in beautiful Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was tough to decide on a cupcake with yummy options like cinnamon roll and chocolate milkshake, so I decided I’d break the tie by going with one of their local favorites, the ‘Red Velvet Razorback’ (red velvet cupcake and cream cheese frosting), in honor of the University of Arkansas’ mascot. It was absolutely delicious! Read the rest of this entry »
‘Party in a Box’ is what cupcaketree.com is calling one of their new cupcake stands. This do-it-yourself kit includes a reusable tiered cupcake stand, 36 cupcake wrappers, and 4 sets of colorful disc overlays for the different tiers. This product allows you to customize your cupcake display for different parties and events and it’s reusable. Sounds like a great and easy way to put some creativity into your next get-together!
I don’t know about you, but I love chocolate and peanut butter, especially when they’re together! I think I just might have to try this recipe. The cupcake itself is chocolate and the frosting is whipped together with peanut butter. If you’re a fan of Reese’s peanut butter cups, they can be added to the batter or stuck to the top.
Sprinkles Cupcakes is giving away free cupcakes this week at their Washington D.C. and Chicago locations! If you live in either of those areas, you’re probably wondering how you can get in on this great deal! You’re probably also wondering what cupcakes could have to do with fitness. Read on to find out! Read the rest of this entry »
This past week a huge crowd of cancer survivors and supporters came together for Barrington’s Relay for Life in Barrington, Illinois to honor those who have lost their lives battling cancer and to raise funds for cancer research. Cupcakes took center stage at this event. A tower of 16, 478 cupcakes stood at the center of the Barrington High School Community Stadium, setting a world record for the most cupcakes on a display tower.
While the Miami Heat was playing the Dallas Mavericks this past Sunday, one of ATC’s fans was celebrating with some cupcakes. She got her idea for the cupcakes from a previous ATC post about batter babies, a divider that sits in the cupcake pan and allows you to make two-toned cupcakes. What a great way to celebrate the big game!
Did that title catch your attention? The name might not sound appetizing (okay, maybe it just sounds downright wrong), but these cupcakes probably aren’t quite what you would expect from the sound of it. The cupcake and icing themselves can be recipes of your own choosing. Top the icing off with a circus peanut (hot dog bun), a caramel square (hot dog), yellow icing (mustard), and green gum drops cut into small pieces (pickle relish). Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? If you’d like to throw your guests for a loop at your next summer pool party or cook-out, be sure and check out the recipe here.
The Cupcake Collection, a bakery in Tennessee, is helping four of their high school graduates pay for college. This summer the bakery owners will be lending their “cupcake bus” to these employees so that they can take a road trip to four major east coast cities, beginning in Atlanta and ending in New York City. They will sell cupcakes along the way and put the profits toward their college education. Be sure and track their trip on the bakery’s Facebook page. Who knows–they just might be visiting your city!
The Cupcake Bus
One of our loyal readers just tied the knot and sent us some of her fabulous engagement and wedding photos, taken by J Patrick Dean. I thought these were lovely, and a great way to incorporate cupcakes into engagement and wedding photography. The bride even made all of the cupcakes for the engagement shoot and wedding herself. Talk about dedication! Congratulations to the newlyweds! Thank you for sharing these creative pictures with us!
The rings
Are you a collector of cupcake items? Going to a cupcake-themed birthday party and looking for the perfect gift? Disney has just come out with some really cute cupcake-shaped vinylmations, designed by Susan Foy. There are six in the collection, but you can view the Minnie cupcake, Tinker Bell cupcake, and Marie cupcake online. These vinyl figures are all 3 inches tall and each one includes detachable frosting which reveals each character’s face when removed. Another cool feature is that the arms and head can be moved into different poses.
Minnie Vinylmation accompanied by detachable frosting
Baked by Melissa, a New York City bakery specializing in a line of mini-cupcakes, has a fun, new feature on their website where you can create your own edible cupcake art. Begin by choosing the number of mini-cupcakes you want (anywhere from 100- 2,500, arranged in a rectangle). Then select from 18 different cupcake flavors (s’mores, cookies and cream, peanut butter and jelly, red vanilla and pink vanilla are some of the options) to create your own colorful design. Read the rest of this entry »
This felt cupcake idea would be a simple and relatively cheap (not to mention mess-free) way to keep your young kids occupied over the summer, especially on a long road-trip. All you need is some different colors of felt and a pair of scissors. If you are a tad-bit artistically challenged like me, then you can download a free template here for all the pieces (cupcakes, liners, and frosting). Read the rest of this entry »
Cupcake Invitations
Are you planning your child’s next birthday party and feeling like you’re running out of creative party ideas? Why not follow the cupcake trend and throw a cupcake-themed celebration? Cupcakes are a staple at birthday parties these days, and you can extend the cupcake-theme to the invitations, decorations, and games, too! Read the rest of this entry »
S'Mores Cupcakes: Graham Cracker Batter and Roasted Marshmallow Topping
Looking for some cupcakes to take to a cook-out or on a camping trip? Are you in need of something that won’t melt in the sweltering heat? You don’t need to look any further, because we’ve found a s’mores cupcake recipe just for you. The best thing about them? The toasted-marshmallow topping is super easy (just throw some mini-marshmallows on top before sticking them in the oven) and it won’t melt in the summer heat like frosting does! Read the rest of this entry »
Chocolate + Guinness= A Man's Cupcake
Looking for a special Father’s Day treat for your father or husband this year? Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, CA has put a manly spin on the cupcake. This bakery will be selling Guinness cupcakes from June 10-19. If you don’t live within driving distance, they have been kind enough to share the recipe with us.
Since he’ll probably be asking for more, be sure and check out other beer cupcake recipes that ATC has posted in the past: Beer, Cheese, Bacon & Cream Cheese Cupcake, St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes, and winning recipes from the Scharffen Berger Cupcake Adventure Contest. We hope Dad will be impressed!
What better way to begin your summer than lounging by the pool with a mojito cupcake? With a hint of rum, a little bit of lime zest, and a sprig of mint to top it all off, it’s the perfect treat for a hot summer day.
While you savor its unique flavor, you can also take pride in knowing that this particular cupcake was used in an important cyber-warfare operation this week, which was appropriately called “Operation Cupcake”. A group of British spies hacked an al-Qaeda magazine and replaced bomb-making instructions with a list of the best cupcakes in America. The mojito cupcake from Main Street Cupcakes in Hudson, Ohio made the top of the list.
The Priscilla Cupcake
New York City’s Magnolia Bakery will once again release the “Priscilla Cupcake” on Monday, June 6. This green pistachio cupcake, iced with pistachio meringue butter-cream icing and topped with a meringue kiss and colorful confetti, was inspired by the dancing cupcakes from the Broadway musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Read the rest of this entry »
It seems that we are always hearing about ways we can give of our time and resources to help others, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to cupcake enthusiasts that cupcakes can also play a role.
This past Tuesday, singer Sheryl Crow used cupcakes to bring some cheer to sick kids at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN. The popular singer visited the hospital as a part of the Music Gives to St. Jude Kids initiative, which aims to fight childhood cancer and disease through raising funds and awareness. Crow participated by making cupcakes with children at the hospital.
