If you have furnishings that are of a higher quality than a college dorm room, you want to keep them in good shape. What better way to protect your tables and countertops from the perils of water damage than adorable cupcake coasters? Two birds with one stone – cute and functional!

The coaster sets come in pink or black, and can be found at iamladycupcake’s Etsy store, along with her lines of non-cupcake related furniture furnishings.

Cupcakes have a natural nostalgia about them – as sophisticated as they’ve gotten, they still have roots back to the days when we regularly ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and watched cartoons on TV on Saturday mornings.

That’s why I find this week’s nerdcakes to particularly appropriately themed – the geeky nostalgia of Space Invaders aliens and Super Mario Bros. 1up mushrooms meets the childhood nostalgia of cupcakes to create a tasty snack that is somehow cooler and more up-to-date than all that nostalgia might imply.

Thanks to Rakka and her fantabulous Flickr photostream for these lovely pictures! (Also, bonus points for no fondant :)

Before the review, from left to right: Pancakes & Bacon, Tomato Soup, Mexican Chocolate (picture courtesy of Amy Sutedja)

I recently got the chance to take a cupcake run with my friend Amy down to Belltown’s Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. I’ve heard good things about them for awhile, but I’d never had a chance to try their wares.

Amy and I decided that since this was for a review, we’d be adventurous. Between the two of us we sampled some of the more interesting selections from Yellow Leaf’s menu: Pancakes and Bacon, Tomato Soup, and Mexican Chocolate.

Pancakes and Bacon tasted like it sounds: it was just like a bacon-studded cupcake with maple butter and bacon bits on top. Even the texture of the cake was reminiscent of pancakes. The finish was identical to the aftertaste of breakfast at a pancake house, sans eggs. (Amy said it was a “breakfast sensation”, but she couldn’t say it with a straight face). The cake was very good, firm and moist with enough bacon to give a nice smoky accent to the sweetness, though hard-core bacon fans might wish there were was more bacon.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from Tomato Soup. As it turns out, tomato cake totally works – it’s like carrot cake but with more acidity, basil accents, and none of the texture from carroty bits.  The cake was the driest and densest of the three cupcakes we sampled, but it wasn’t too dry and was complimented well by the rich, moist frosting. As for the frosting – I felt like I was eating dark chocolate butter. The cake and the mousse went well together, but the dark chocolate overpowered the subtle accents of tomato soup.

After the review :) (picture courtesy of Amy Sutedja)

Mexican Chocolate turned out to be less chocolate and more cinnamon and spice. The cake was great, light and fluffy with a muffin-y texture and a wonderful crunchy top.  The buttercream frosting was very rich and buttery with a light cinnamon flavor. The cake flavor was similar, spice cake with a hint of cocoa.

All in all, excellent cupcakes. I can safely say they’re the best I’ve had in Seattle so far. One word of warning – Yellow Leaf’s buttercream frosting is very rich. One and a half cupcakes was almost too much for one sitting. These are cupcakes with gravitas –  make sure you approach them with an appropriately empty stomach :)

Clever Cupcakes has done it again – once more they have the title of NerdCake of the Week, this time for the QR code cupcakes they cooked up for the Technofollies exhibit at the Montreal Science Center.  The coolest part is that not only are they completely edible, if you have the right app on your cell phone, you can scan the code and it’ll take you to the science center’s website :)

image courtesy of No One Puts Cupcake in the Corner

I was cruising the cupcake blogosphere when I noticed that not only is No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner a good blog with a hilarious title, it is also the host of the cupcake challenges Iron Cupcake Milwaukee and Iron Cupcake: Earth. IC Milwaukee, I expected, seeing as the blog is brought to us by the Milwaukee Cupcake Queen. But Iron Cupcake: Earth? Holy crap. That is like the World Cup of Cupcakes.

Nobody Puts Cupcake in a Corner just announced the IC:E Passion/February winner, Stephanie of the Keckie’s World blog’s Lavender Love Cupcakes. In the words of the champion herself:

If you’re in the mood for a very adult cupcake, this is definitely it! The flavors in this one are mature, subtle, and layered. The cupcakes have a distinct fruity olive oil undertone, which is lighted by lemon and sweetened by the blackberries. The lavender gives the entire cupcake a lightly floral aromatic quality. There is a hint of salt to add the the complexity of the final flavor. These are some serious cupcakes!

That sounds like a fine fancy cupcake. Also, flowers plus cupcakes plus olive oil equals good for your heart!

If you want to throw down the gauntlet with cupcake bakers from around the globe, you too can join the Iron Cupcake: Earth Challenge. Just email the Milwaukee Cupcake Queen your information (first and last name, city/state/country and blog web address) and keep an eye on the Iron Cupcake: Earth blog for announcements about upcoming challenges.

Cupcakes took center stage on Friday night at the SXSW Music/Film/Interactive Festival during the Pastries and Pasties Burlesque Cupcake Cookoff. Austin’s cupcake heavyweights Polkadots, MadCakes, The Cupcake Bar, Toot Sweet, Holy Cacao and Delish squared off while members of Texas’ premier burlesque troupes strip-teased the night away. From the looks of the bakeries’ (and the burlesque troupes’) websites, it must have been quite a night.

Toot Sweet Cupcakes at Pastries and Pasties (picture courtesy of Tiffany Bacon)

I found these adorable little cupcake friends on MagicBeanBuyer’s Flickr Photostream. MagicBeanBuyer’s got all kinds of painted polymer clay preciousness on her Etsy site, many of whom are just as cute as these little buttons and also have baked goods on their heads. These cupcake buddies run between $16 and $20.

Here is one more thing I can check off the list of “Things I’ve Never Seen Before”: Cupcake Ear Plugs. These particular pieces are Collector’s Edition Cupcakes from Omerica Organic, and all 100 pairs have already sold out (sorry, cupcake hipsters). [Thanks to The Dainty Squid and her fantastic Photostream for the original pic.]

A C&C Pazo Pairing: Sweet Corn Cupcake paired with White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Martini (picture via the Baltimore Sun by Kenneth K. Lam)

Seeing as I just wrote about cupcake and wine pairings, it should come as no surprise that an enterprising restauranteer has continued to expand on the copacetic relationship between cupcakes and adult beverages: Pazo, an upscale Baltimore lounge, just started featuring a Thursday evening Cupcakes and Cocktails menu.

According to the review of the new menu in the Baltimore Sun, the cupcakes are amazing and positively cheap at $2, while the cocktails are good and on the expensive side at $9-$14.  The cupcakes come in mature flavors like rum baba and and sweet corn and are matched with sophisticated cocktails like the elderflower Mondello Mojito and the espresso martini (with real espresso!). 

I could be wrong, but I feel like with this manifestation, cupcakes have transcended to the level of classy late night snacks. Will they be the next  tapas? Well, only time (and perhaps further cupcake and cocktail menus) will tell.

Ever since the cupcake boom took off, cupcakes have moved into progressively more sophisticated and grown-up realms; flavors like mojito and rum and coke are becoming common as cupcakeries aim at the adult market. With the cupcake’s increasing cultural cachet and association with light but sophisticated fun, it comes as no surprise that a winery has decided to take up the name Cupcake.  Cupcake Vineyards is a California label that features wines from their Monterrey County vineyard as well as vintages from wine regions around the world.

Spicy Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting paired with Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay

Cupcake Vineyards delivers on more than just cute: they’ve received good reviews for their Chardonnay, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc,  and recently had a good overall write up in the South Coast Today in Heather Strober Fleming’s “Grape Expectations” column.  From what I’ve read, if you’re looking for good wine at a decent price ($12-13 a bottle) with a really adorable name, Cupcake Vineyards is the way to go. And really, what says fun like a cupcake and wine tasting party?  Cupcake Vineyards’ is there to get your started with their cupcake recipes and wine pairing page.  Hmmm…the Spicy Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and a glass of Chardonnay sounds nice….

This picture cracked me up. I grew up eating Teddy Grahams so I know exactly how much fun it must have been to set this up.  These cupcakes get extra points from me because, as you’ll note, this was done without any fondant whatsoever.

Also: this picture is posted in celebration of the gorgeous 60 degree weather we’ve been having in Seattle the past few days. I know what you might be saying, “Sixty is hardly bikini weather!” But if that’s what you’re thinking, you’ve never been in Seattle when the sun comes out. And I’m telling you, the minute it hits sixty in the Pacific Northwest, it’s bathing suit time.

(Thanks to Bakerella for her excellent cupcake decorating skills and for the great picture!)

I was wandering by the friendly neighborhood Cupcake Royale a few days ago when I noticed their signboard announcing the newly minted cupcake of the month for March: the Irish Whiskey Maple.  I love maple syrup and was curious to see what a cupcake would taste like with whiskey in the frosting, so I decided to try one out.

First off, the frosting is amazing. Maple syrup + buttercream is  a great idea and pancake houses across the country should be alerted of this delicious combination.  The little kick of alcohol from the whiskey is a nice touch.  If I were a whiskey connoisseur, I suspect I would have a better appreciation for it – it is Jameson we’re talking about, after all.

The cupcake itself was a little disappointing. I admit, some of this is because of my bias against vanilla cake (I’m a chocolate cake girl, myself). But the fact of the matter is, “moist” is not a word that I would use to describe this particular cupcake. Luckily for me, Cupcake Royale is never one to stint on frosting :)

Besides being (possibly) National Cupcake Day, March 3rd was also the first day that the District of Columbia allowed and licensed gay marriages. The usually quiet D.C. marriage bureau was swamped with couples that have waited for years to be able to legally tie the knot as well as crowds of well-wishers.

Now, how to celebrate this momentous occasion…what about cupcakes?  David Catania, the D.C. Councilmember who authored the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 had just that idea. It appears that he was was so delighted by the results of his legislation that in celebration of its enactment he passed out boxes of cupcakes to the first 200 couple (of any orientation) to get their marriage license at the the Carl Moultrie Courthouse (500 Indiana Ave. N.W., D.C.).  Catania distributed vanilla and chocolate Hello Cupcakes as part of a joint celebratory gesture on the part of the Councilmember and the cupcakery.

Ok, I have to say it: that is just the sweetest thing I’ve heard all week :)

Via Twirlit.com

It appears there’s some confusion as to exactly when we have a holiday to celebrate our favorite frosted treat. According to All Things Cupcake and the National Food Holidays calendar, National Cupcake Day is on December 15th. But according to the Baltimore Sun, Buzzy Bloggers, the Showbiz Gossips Blog and Twirlit, National Cupcake Day was on March 3rd. It looks like the March 3rd movement started on Twirlit when writer Amanda Pendolino declares March 3rd National Cupcake Day “according to…well, my stomach”.

But who’s to gainsay Amanda Pendolino’s stomach?  Isn’t that (and your tastebuds, of course!) the ultimate judge when it comes to all things cupcake?  Also, 365 days is a long time. I think there’s room enough in a year for two National Cupcake Days. Don’t you?

The Great A'Tuin

Fans of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld will recognize the giant space turtle that carries the fictional flat realm and it’s supporting quadruplet of elephants through space.  What we didn’t know was that underneath the turtle was a delicious cosmic cupcake.  Thanks to Kelly’s Cakes and the Space Cupcake Throwdown for this incredible piece of dessert sculpture.

Manly McMancakes (via the Wall Street Journal)

When it comes to the competitive cupcake markets of NYC or Seattle or LA, you really need a niche within a niche, something that makes your own particular cupcakes pop.  This isn’t easy these days since the proliferation of bakeries has meant a proliferation of specialties. But David Arrick of Butch Bakery managed to find one specialty that I’ve never seen tried with cupcakes before: masculine.

After a job abroad fell through, Arrick was looking for his next career move when he drew inspiration from Magnolia Cupcakes. Cupcakes looked to be a wildly successful enterprise. The thing was, he felt like the business was way too girly for him as it was.

“Why did cupcakes need to be magical? They’re not magical for me. Where’s the masculine aesthetic?” Arrick said. “We needed to butch it up, buttercup.” And so Butch Bakery, an online delivery “masculine” cupcakery was born. (from the Wall Street Journal)

So, what exactly does it take to make a manly cupcake? First, no fancifully patterned frosting on top – all of Butch Bakery’s cupcakes have a topper of patterned-chocolate over a straightforward dollop of buttercream.  Next, flavors are named after stereotypically manly things, like Tailgate (caramel cake with a salted caramel swirl filling with vanilla buttercream) and Homerun (peanut butter cake with banana bavarian cream & crumbled bacon).

Personally, I don’t assign gender to my food.  That said, the flavors that Butch Bakery has come up with look inventive, and they’re marketing isn’t just adorable, it’s also successful: after a pre-Valentine’s mention on Daily Candy, BB’s website crashed from too many hits and they’ve been backlogged for weeks ever since.

This cute little guy comes to you courtesy of Clever Cupcakes (via Cupcake Takes the Cake). They weren’t exaggerating about the clever when they named this bakery. The things they can do with fondant are ridiculous.

Chocolate Olive Oil & Blood Orange Cupcakes, Feb./Olive Oil Cupcake Hero!

One issue that cupcakes and cupcake lovers have to perpetually face is that our favorite tasty pastry treat isn’t exactly healthy. But what can you do? One answer that’s been floating around cupcake circles is to use olive oil in place of shortening or butter. While there’s still more than enough sugar to go around (but let’s be honest, we are working with desserts here), olive oil is great for heart health with it being all full of bad-cholesterol-removing monounsaturated fat & delicious antioxidants.

There are a lot of recipes out there, but some of the most interesting & well documented I found via I Heart Cupcakes February [Olive Oil] Cupcake Hero. It looks like there’s not much lost in translation from shortening/butter to olive oil: all the entries look and sound fantastic!

Basil Infused Olive Oil Cupcakes with White Wine

I especially like Cupcake Project’s entry, Basil-Infused Olive Oil Cupcakes with White Wine – that kind of flavor combination in a cupcake sounds intriguing.  Cupcake Project also has a recipe for Lemon & Thyme Olive Oil Cupcakes with Balsamic Vinegar Whipped Cream. I am a big fan of balsamic vinegar, and I can definitely see how the sweet tang of the balsamic would work beautifully with whipped cream.

If these semi-savory recipes don’t sound like your cup of…cupcake, I Heart Cupcake’s February Cupcake Hero gives you plenty more to choose from. Three cheers for this month’s heart-healthier Cupcake Heroes!

Totoro strike again on All Things Cupcake! Thanks to a tutorial made by one of the original Totoro cupcake-makers, Flickr member Chotda, Flickr member Way Opening made her own little Totoro cupcake army. Kawaii and tasty!

Flickr is a constant source of wonder for us here at All Things Cupcake. Bakers and cupcake lovers from all around the world are constantly posting pictures of new and creative cupcake designs and flavors. 

One group of particular interest is Flickr Bake-Off!.  Bake-Off has pictures of some of the most amazing cake and cupcake designs I’ve ever seen; two of my favorite cupcake creations from this group are featured here in this post. They keep the pictures coming by encouraging group members to contact one another and conduct bake-offs via Flickr posted photos.  If you’re feeling competitive and you’re in-between cupcake competitions, this group might be the place for you.

Annie of Frites and Fries brings us these tasty treats, an invention she created for her roommate. Not only does she give us lots of delicious looking pictures, she includes her recipe in her post, an altered version of the butter cake recipe featured in Gourmet in 2008 with Slashfood’s cream cheese frosting. And that wee little cinnamon roll on top just makes it as cute as all get out (yes, Annie has a recipe for that too!). This opens the door to a some other interesting alterations of the base butter cake recipe…crumb cupcakes, anyone?

February isn’t just about presidential federal holidays or your valentine…it’s also about bare-knuckles cupcake smackdowns.  The East Coast brings us the Iron Cupcake Challenge on February 28th at the Tortilla Press Cantina. Open to the amateur and the baking professional, the fifth annual Iron Cupcake Challenge will center (like its namesake) around one special ingredient: chilies.  Cost to participate is $15 for adults and $7 for kids under 12, and the proceeds from this event will go towards earthquake relief in Haiti.

From the left coast we have the third annual Cupcake Challenge on February 20th at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel. Over 20 Southern California cupcakeries will go head to head for the honor of becoming the Cupcake Challenge Champion. Since it’s LA, there’s a celebrity judge panel, but members of the public in attendance at the event also get an equal vote.  20 different cupcakes to sample, $40 at the door – if you have room in your stomach, the math works out in your favor.

Valentine’s Day gift giving can get complicated. There as so many choices: flowers, cupcakes, adorable stuffed animals, a massage at the spa…mmmm, massage at the spa… So which one should you get your sweetie? Ok, after you make sure to get that massage for your significant other (and one for you, too!), I recommend making your life easier by getting two gifts in one: a cupcake bouquet.

Two cupcakeries with notable bouquet showings are Bettie’s Cakes of Saratoga Springs, New York and The Blushing Bakery of Charlotte, North Carolina.  The Blushing Bakery chooses to go with five pink (fitting!) frosting cupcakes arranged in a bucket.  Bettie’s Cakes does a classic dozen red roses in a long florist’s box.  Either way, that’s some fancy frosting work. Too good to eat? Never!

We’ve covered cupcake bath bombs before, but since bath fizzies are SO GREAT (and rather seasonally appropriate), I think it’s high time we wrote about them again.

My neighborhood bath goodies store, Bliss Soaps, carries chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cupcake bath fizzies with bubble bath frosting (cupcake fizzie lovers who live outside Seattle, never fear – follow the link to order online). I really like Bliss because all their products are hand-made from all-natural, high quality ingredients. Maybe not good quite enough to eat, but certainly much better for you and your skin than the run of the mill mass-produced bath product.  Also, how can you feel bad supporting a small business in times like these?

Valentine’s Day is a holiday for lovers. So what the heck are you supposed to if you’re single?  Cakelab of NYC has a solution: their Sourpuss Cupcake Pack. Instead of the usual romantic sentiments, the Sourpuss pack features conversation dot cupcakes with messages like “H8 You”, “Let it go”, and “WTF”.  You can also drown your sorrows in the accompanying Sourpuss pack flavors of banana split, chocolate chip cookie dough and black bottom.

Cakelab is not one to drive off customers – they’ve got a Sweetheart pack too, for those who have them :) This assortment comes with more conventionally messaged champagne-flavored conversation dots as well as red velvet, chocolate turtle, and chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes.

I really appreciate Cakelab’s approach to cupcakes for the upcoming heart-shaped holiday. They’re willing to be typically adorable and inventively bitter, thus capturing both sides of the Valentine’s Day market.