photo courtesy of CakeJournal

When I was tooling around CakeJournal‘s site after getting info about Louise’s cupcake needle felt pillows, I found her collection of cake decorating tutorials. This made me happy because it reminded me that the creation of fancy cupcake decorations are indeed within even my beginner’s grasp.

In my quest to find new and interesting cupcake news for ATC, I see the incredible craft and artistry that goes into decorating cupcakes and cakes. I’m always  impressed by the creativity of these pieces.  However,  most of the time  I can’t say that I find inspiration in them because it often looks like a level of composition and sculpture that’s well out of my league. I think that CakeJournal’s collection of tutorials is just the thing to bridge that gap.

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photo courtesy of CakeJournal

These darling pillows are by cupcake and cakecraft enthusiastic Louise of CakeJournal.  Besides the fact they look great, you know that they were made with love and care because needle-felting is not a quick process.  I wonder if someone can persuade her to make some for sale…

Photo courtesy of CakeJournal

Futurama Cupcakes by Unicorn Magic Baking Co. (photo courtesy of Unicorn Magic Baking Co.)

I was clued into this week’s nerdcake by Cupcakes Take the Cake. While Rachel of CTTC hasn’t watched the show, I have and it makes these cupcakes all the more adorable. We have the Unicorn Magic Baking Company out of LA to thank for these hilarious creations.

Cupcakes by Cupcake Queen with Duff Goldman Animal Skin Cupcake Tattoos (photo courtesy of Cupcake Queen)

I heard about this nifty new product from one of the cupcake blogs I regularly read, Way More than 52 Cupcakes by Cupcake Queen out of DC.  As it turns out, Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes is rolling out his own line of cake accessories at Michael’s which includes edible cupcake tattoos.

According to the Michael’s website, you just lay down a nice even layer of frosting and then lay down the tattoo(s).  Cupcake Queen tried them out herself on several batches and says that they’re very easy to use.  The Michael’s website only shows striped and floral tattoos, but Cupcake Queen was showing off batches with skulls & crossbones and animal print, so my guess is that you’ll have a better selection in store than online.

Thanks for the heads up, Cupcake Queen!

Cupcake Poop! (picture courtesy of the Cupcake Project)

I was a little confused when I saw the word “poop” titling a post with a picture of delicious looking crispy cookies.  But I guess everyone has their own terminology for the little bits of batter that end up on the edges of the cupcake pan and get cooked up into tasty crispy treats.

Cupcake Project gives us the scoop on the poop, or rather, how to bake it up on purpose rather than just relying on serendipitous accident:

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I know it’s not the right season for wool, but I found the Cherry Cupcake Hat so adorable that I had to post about it anyway, out of season or not.

ZINSpirational Knits on Etsy offers this cap in 100% merino wool in a variety of colors, in big people and baby sizes too. Now that’s just too cute for words – matching family cupcake hats!  It’d certainly be a distinctive way to keep track of everyone during the next family visit to anywhere large and crowded :)

Sea Life Cupcakes! (photo by Ashley of The Cupcake Cauldron)

The BP Oil Spill is a disaster of such proportions that it can seem like there’s nothing people like us can do to help…until cupcakes show up on the scene. Ashley of The Cupcake Cauldron decided to do her part the best way she knew how – by making and selling cupcakes and donating the proceeds to help wildlife affected by the BP disaster.

Ashley’s delicious Sea Life Friends Cupcakes are available for $35 a dozen and all proceeds go to the National Wildlife Federation.  These ocean-friendly cupcakes come in any variation of chocolate or vanilla cake and frosting that you’d like, along with adorable Sea Life cupcake toppers.  Get ahold of thecupcakecauldron(at)gmail(dot)com if you’d like to have your cake and save the ocean too.

Carrie Middlemiss with her couture

I’ve written before on ATC about how cupcakes can make jobs and how cupcakes can be classy. Because of the success of Bella Cupcake Couture, purveyor of chic textile-inspired cupcake wrappers, I now get to write about how cupcakes can do both at the same time.  BCC founder Carrie Middlemiss, formerly a marketing and events rep at the now defunct Washington Mutual Bank, went from “pink slip to pink frosting” when she was laid off early last year because of the bank’s collapse due to the economic downturn. Read the rest of this entry »

I know Heather Lynn is rooting for her own homestate of Massachusetts in what I think is All Things Cupcake’s new favorite show, Cupcake Wars. I just wanted to take a moment to mention that I will be in the cheering section for Team California, or really, Team Southern California.  I grew up around Los Angeles, which just happens to be one of the cupcake meccas of the U.S., so I’m happy to see my former home well represented.

During tonight’s episode I have been rooting for Catarah Hampshire of Southern Girl Desserts (LA) and Todd Becker of Becker’s Bakery (Manhattan Beach, CA).  I’ll do my best not to spoil anything for folks who might be catching the repeat shows later tonight, but while I am loyal to my homestate, I was actually most impressed by Hollis Wilder of Sweet! (Orlando, FL). Ms. Wilder was hands-down the most adventurous cupcaker of the bunch.  I cannot believe she pulled off good cupcakes with salmon in them!  I wonder if this will be the beginning of a new wave of savory cupcakes?  Watch out bacon!

Here’s a cupcake idea that’s been getting a lot of buzz this week and certainly one that I hope catches on in my hometown: city-wide cupcakery bicycle tours.  Hyedie Hashimoto recently founded the Toronto Girls’ Cupcake Bike Ride. Ever since the Toronto Star did a story on it last week, she and her new ride have been all over the cupcake blogs.

Image by Happy D Designs

Why a cupcake ride? Because cupcakes are awesome (hello!) and because Toronto has the right density of cupcake places for a good city-wide bike tour. Why ladies’ only? “I heard last year about a report that said less women were riding bikes than men,” says Hashimoto, “I wanted to do something to help promote girls on bikes.”

These veterinary-themed cupcakes come to us courtesy of a  grad party and Clever Cupcakes in Montreal. And to quote Clever Cupcakes flickr feed, “Yes, in case you are wondering that is a dissected fondant frog :)”

I feel like I really should just change this to “Clever Cupcakes Most Awesome Cupcake of the Week” since the Montreal-based cupcakery gets featured here so often.  But what can I say – they make great nerd-themed cupcakes.  Perhaps this will be a challenge to our readers and cupcake bakers the world over to make more nerdy cupcakes. And to send us the pictures :)

These spectacular modern art pieces are in fact totally edible cupcakes. ATC reader Nicola make them for the diner she works at in Watertown, MA. Nicola says that they’re just your usual chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting, with the secret ingredients being food coloring and Nicola’s expert frosting skills. “To make the spikes I use round tips and just pull away while loosening my grip”, says Nicola.

Nicola wrote to us with a puzzling quandary concerning her amazing technicolor cupcakes:

Everyone that comes into the store is amazed by the cupcakes, but I get asked a dozen times a day if they’re real! How can I make my cupcakes look more “real” and edible? I also get told that they are too pretty to eat. Am I supposed to make them uglier? Any suggestions??

I say that she keeps them just the way they are – I think they look great. Besides putting up some “yes, they’re real!” signage, the only thing I can think of to do is to get friends and regulars to become “cupcake models”. It shouldn’t be too hard to get some folks to eat those awesome-looking cupcakes in a public place, right?

These fanciful pointillist cupcake scenes are the work of Nessa Guillet, artist and graduate of Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.  While Nessa’s work covers many other themes, as a fellow cupcake lover Nessa especially wanted to share these pieces with All Things Cupcake.

Ladybug Cupcake

Alice in Cupcakeland

Alice in Cupcakeland 2

Regarding the inspiration for her art, Nessa says, “My art is really an expression of my love of daydreaming as well as dreaming (both as an adult and as a child). I like to imagine worlds that I could be a part of.” As far as cupcakes are concerned, “Red velvet and anything dark chocolate related are my all time favorite flavors. I am in the process of trying to create a breakfast cupcake involving a poached egg, rosemary, and maple syrup covered bacon…we’ll see how it goes : )”

While Nessa says that she does not presently have original artwork or prints for sale, she is more than happy to take commissions. You can contact Nessa at nessa.guillet(at)gmail.com.

Cupcake Icons 1.0

Why should Mac users have boring icons when they could have cupcakes on their desktop instead?  You can find these sweet icons (Cupcake 1.0) at the Apple website. Thanks to ATC Reader Ashley for the compy cupcake tip :)

photo by ATC Reader Amber

Why are we posting pictures of Chinese food? Because these little takeout boxes are actually full of cupcakes. Reader and ATC fan Amber writes:

I just wanted to share with you some cupcakes that I was able to make this past week. I just bought the new “What’s Up Cupcake book” and was so inspired! I made these for a friends Chinese food party she had and they were a huge hit!

Chow Mein Cupcake by ATC Reader Amber

Fried Rice Cupcake by ATC Reader Amber

These are amazingly creative cupcakes – thanks for sharing them with us, Amber, and thanks for taking that inspiration and running with it.

While the news about Cakespy opening her own gallery broke last month, the Cakespy Shop grand opening was only just this last Saturday.  Since I live down the street from Capitol Hill’s newest cupcake art space, I go to stop by and join the party.

Cakespy Shop was packed by a rotating crowd of well-wishers and art buyers. I expected there to be a good crowd (we do love our cupcakes and cute art in this town), but this was a really good showing even taking that into account.

I admit, the Cakespy appeal was probably helped just a tiny bit by the free Trophy Cupcakes and complimentary performance by Mr. Cakespy’s band, Exohxo. The cupcakes were delicious and adorably appointed with images from Cakespy’s “Scenes from Capitol Hill” series and Exohexoh’s charming melodies and singing violins made a lovely accompaniment.

Exohexoh: I can't believe that an 8 person band could fit in this store, but they did it.

Cuppy at Bimbo's, an awesome burrito place on the Hill

Mr. and Mrs. Cakespy outside the shop & hipstercakes outside of Neumo's, a neighborhood nightlife fixture

Mrs. and Mr. Cakespy (Jessie and Danny Oleson)

Cakespy with her totally badass mural of a pie and cupcake throwdown

A small selection of the shop's sweet merch

Hurray, Cakespy Shop is open for business!

This kit would be great for a theme party – there are 24 toppers and wrappers and they’re cute as all get out.  They’re available at Williams-Sonoma for $24.

The biggest winner of last weekend’s Cupcake Camp Seattle was the Hope Heart Institute: 5,000 cupcakes donated by 70 bakers and consumed by nearly 1,000 people raised $5,276.50 for the charity in just three hours. Carrie Middlemis, owner of Cupcakes Couture and one of the organizers of the event, says, “For our first year we estimated maybe we would have about 300 people attending. We were blown away by the response and already planning to make it bigger and better.”

As for the competitive prizes, see below or Bella Cupcakes’ post on the winners. There were three competitive categories, Most Unique Ingredients, Best Seattle, and Healthiest, with a Professional and Amateur division within each category. Last but not least is the youth division’s best cupcake prize. And of course no competitive cupcake event is complete without a cupcake eating contest (you can see the video here).

(most pictures courtesy of Barbie Hull Photography)

PROFESSIONAL DIVISION:
Most Unique Ingredients
1st: NY Cupcakes / Limoncello with Raspberry drizzle.
2nd: Rocket Queens /”War Pig” Chocolate cake, smoky chipotle, bacon; topped with white chocolate buttercream and candied bacon.
Honorable mention: Kimm of Spitfire- Kimm-chi (Korean pickled cabbage) with grated carrot, zucchini and ginger frosting. Sweetened with agave nectar.

I guess first and second prize must’ve tasted really good, because I don’t think that those are particularly unique ingredients, though I admit I may be jaded by the flavor proliferation of the Seattle cupcakery scene .  I still say that if you’re giving prizes for the weirdest stuff you can put in a cupcake and still be edible, kim-chi definitely takes first prize.

Best Seattle:
1st: : Bella Cupcakes / Pacific NW Sustainable Granola NY (left)
2nd: NY Cupcakes /Orca Whales and salmon (middle)
Honorable Mention: Rocket Queen Cupcakes / Unhappy Hipster – my favorite! (right)

Healthiest:
1st: Immortal Bakery / Banana with Honey and Cinnamon
2nd: Kimm of Spitfire / Vegan delight Banana-Orama (not pictured)

AMATEUR DIVISION
Most Unique Ingredient
1st: Tina Campbell / Strawberry Pop Rock (right)
2nd: Ronnie Porter and Nicole Lucas / The TCB Velvet Elvis (not pictured)
A banana, chocolate chip cupcake with peanut butter frosting and a slice of bacon on top. A treat the King would have surely loved.
Honorable Mention: Anisha Hathiramani, Rootbeer Float (right)

Best Seattle:
1st: Ani and Amber Butler / Uptight Seattleite (left)
2nd: Melynda O’Brien Captivating Creations/ Ferry, Orca, Seattle scene (middle)
Honorable Mention: Vicki Bushnell / Destination Seattle (right)

Healthiest:

1st: Teigan Walker / Red Goat- Chocolate beet cake with goats cheese frosting and candied beet. (left)

2nd: Jana Bailey-Bailey-Hessler (The Cake Diva) / Vegan Chocolate Mocha (right)

Personally, I think that the Red Goat should’ve gotten an special prize for unique ingredient too – I can’t say that I’ve ever seen goat cheese and beets in a cupcake before.

YOUTH
Best Tasting/Design Kids
1st Choice: ? Unknown, Space Needle with Whale; (left)
2nd Choice Tie between Jazzmyn (middle) & Tycie Engberg (right)

I was particularly impressed by the youth category…kids in grade school did better cupcake decorating than I ever could. I salute the next generation of cupcake makers!

“My name is Johnny, and I make clothes with cupcakes on ‘em.”  The rise of Johnny Cupcakes is the indie version of the pull yourself up by the bootstraps American dream. Johnny started out with a high school diploma, a goofy nickname and a whole lot of creativity, selling his cupcake-themed tees while he was on tour with his band. He ended up with with a multi-million dollar business based on t-shirts with cupcakes on them.

This month Johnny went back to his band tour roots with the Johnny Cupcakes Suitcase Tour. On April 3rd he started in New York City, and over the past weeks he’s been moving across the country, sharing his good cupcake news and planting cupcake t-shirts all across the country.  Next Sunday (4/25)  he’ll be in my hometown of Seattle, WA pitching shirts and meeting fans at the Trophy Cupcakes in the Wallingford neighborhood.  Sunday schedule allowing, I’ll be there soaking in the cupcake cool and taking lots of pictures for ATC.

Testing, testing, one two bee!

Cupcake Camp Seattle was great: good cause, good food, big crowd. But my favorite thing was being able to meet some really great people who are totally into cupcakes. One of these folks is Jennifer White, an amateur baker who entered her Baklava Honeybee Cupcakes into the “most unique ingredient” category. In this case, amateur just means she doesn’t run her own bakery – those Baklava Honeybees were totally pro level.

The final Cupcake Camp product

Jennifer says that she came about this recipe especially for cupcake camp – when a friend of hers told her about the event, she knew she’d have to come up with something super cute and super tasty.  The inspiration for the bee theme came from the Bright Ideas beehive cupcake that was taken to the next level by actual honey, even cuter bees and Jennifer’s love of Greek food.

After a test run at an office birthday party which ended with an empty cupcake box and rave reviews from co-workers, the Baklava Bee cupcakes were ready for Cupcake Camp, which is where I got a chance to taste test them. Being a fan of the deeper sweetness of honey, good baklava and cute little bees, it was love at first bite.

If you want to try out Baklava Bees for yourself, Jennifer’s recipe and instructions are below :

Favorite yellow cake recipe, enough for 24 cakes: I like Martha Stewart’s basic yellow cake and if pressed for time, I have the best results with Duncan Hines “Butter Recipe Golden” boxed mix.

For the nut and honey mixture: 1/3 cup each of the following chopped nuts: almonds, walnuts, pecans. Combine the cup of mixed nuts with about 3 heaping tablespoons of clover honey.

Note: I also like Tupelo honey, but not everyone likes the distinctive taste of Tupelo honey. Other types of honey might also work well, but I’d caution that some may be overpowering, for example Orange Blossom honey is probably just a little too pungent.

For the crusts: About 4-5 tablespoons of melted butter, but you might end up using a whole stick depending on how generous your buttering is. 1 box of frozen Phyllo Dough, though you won’t come anywhere close to using the whole thing. For 24 cupcakes, you’ll need 96 squares cut about an inch or so larger than your cupcake cup base, but you’ll want to cut about 110 squares (some will tear and break, so don’t fret if you lose a few). I used a sharp knife to cut the squares. Keep a slightly damp napkin or towel on top of the squares you aren’t working with so they don’t dry out too much. Also, make sure you’ve defrosted your dough well beforehand. Defrosting usually takes a minimum of 5 hours.

Honey Buttercream Frosting: 1 cup unsalted butter, 1/3 cup honey plus two tablespoons, 2 level tablespoons meringue powder, 4-5 cups powdered sugar, gold food coloring (optional). Cream the butter, honey, and meringue powder for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Start on low speed, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until the icing is thick enough to be of good piping consistency. You want it to be stiff enough to hold a shape but don’t add so much sugar that it loses its creaminess.

For the cute little bees: Next I needed to perfect those cute little bees.  I decided that I needed a yellow shiny candy and black frosting that would dry hard.  For the test batch for the birthday party, I tried out multi-colored pastel Jordan Almonds.  The problem was these really only come out around Easter time and are terribly expensive.  I decided for the Cupcake Camp that the pastel Easter peanut M&Ms were a more reasonable choice, and personally I prefer the taste of them to Jordan Almonds.

I decided to use the black gel icing that comes in a little white tube, ready-made and store-bought, to paint three black stripes on the bees.  You could use black royal icing, you just want to make sure you know how the bee is going to sit once you’re done icing it and have set it down to dry.  Many bees want to roll over onto the icing; I leaned them against the edge of my cake carrier to dry.  You have to make sure you prepare the bees the night before so that the icing is completely dry before you add them to the cakes.  As with the Bright Ideas honey bees, I used almond slivers for the wings.

The official cupcakes of the Seattle Mariners :)

My hometown is just full of cupcake news this month.  Cakespy got the scoop that Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, is now also home to some gigantic gourmet cupcakes.  The stadium just revamped their concessions stand menus and decided that they just couldn’t leave out our favorite baked good.  Cupcakes at the ballgame, cupcakes at the art gallery…where will they show up next, Seattle?

Here are a bunch of pictures from my Saturday adventure at Cupcake Camp Seattle: 5,000 cupcakes, 70 bakers, mobs and mobs of cupcake fans. I met some great bakers and ate a lot of delicious cupcakes – more on both those topics in the next few days.

art by Cakespy (who else?!)

In my time writing with ATC, I’ve seen a lot of things cupcake: clothing, tattoos, furniture, events, drawings, and of course the genuine article in many shapes and sizes. What I have not yet seen is a cupcake-themed art gallery.  Until now.

The beloved Emerald City-based and cupcake-themed artist Cakespy just bought her own art gallery in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. As of April 1st, Cakespy, a.k.a. Jessie Oleson, and her husband became owners of Bluebottle Art Gallery. They will keep the gallery open as they transition and will have a grand-opening/re-opening party on May 8th when Bluebottle officially merges with Cakespy Shop.  As you might expect, the event will feature cupcakes as art and in their edible form.

Cupcake Camp Seattle is a benefit for The Hope Heart Institute, a heart disease research non-profit, that is centered around the baking and eating of cupcakes.   It is also free(!) and conveniently located (for me) in Downtown Seattle, which means that the lucky readers of All Things Cupcake will get pictures, reviews, and hopefully recipes straight from the first ever Cupcake Camp in Seattle.

The event is sponsored by just about every group that is remotely related to cupcakes, including my favorite cute cupcake artist, CakeSpy (guess who made the poster :).  However, it’s Bella Cupcake Couture that gets the credit for importing the Cupcake Camp concept to the Emerald City from our foggy fellow Northwest mecca, San Fransisco.

The event runs from 11am to 2pm with cupcake tastings scheduled every 15 minutes.  Braving throwing themselves into the sugar breach are the event’s judges: Jessie Oleson aka CakeSpy, Jackie Shaffer (founder and CEO) of CakeCentral.com, Melody Biringer of CRAVE Company, Kelley Moore of Kelley Moore Creative Media, Keren Brown of FranticFoodie.com and Laura Cassidy of  Seattle Metropolitan magazine.  Luckily for all of us, there is a ‘healthiest’ prize category on top of  ‘most representative of Seattle’ and ‘unique ingredients’.

Ever wondered how the heck you were going to get two dozen cupcakes from your house/favorite bakery to your event of choice?  Progressive International has the answer with their Collapsible Cake and Cupcake Carrier – it can carry 24 cupcakes to their destination frosting intact, each in their own individual holder.  They have all kinds of nifty features like finger recesses for easy cupcake removal and plenty of height between the trays to allow room for fancy cupcake decorations. And, if you decide to change things up a bit, you can carry a cake in it too.