I know some of these ideas have been shared before but it’s always helpful to see alternatives to help you come up with your own unique variations.  Here are the M&M versions of Halloween cupcakes  that are always fun because everything is edible and when it comes to kids and decorating candy is always best.  These are some ideas that are great for individuals.

For larger parties, these are sure to be crowd pleasers:

Giant Pumpkin

Being the cupcake baker that I am I LOVE the Witon Website and I also follow them on Facebook and todays post was great. It is these Circle of Sorcery Cake and Cupcakes.

Wilton does a great job of telling you exactly what you need and exactly how to do it.

This would be a lovely addition to any Halloween Celebration!

As a followup to the Halloween Cupcake Party with owl motif post, I came across this Owl Cupcake design from emily at My Muffin Thursday blog.

These little owls are so adorable!  All you need are oreos, candy corn, and Reese’s Pieces.  Full recipe and instructions available at My Muffin Thursday.

Stonewall Kitchen’s mini Halloween candles make perfect cupcake toppers.  They are simple, fun, and most importantly festive. You can choose between candy corns which cost $11.95 or bats for $12.95.  Each set contains 16 candles that are 1 inch in size.  I think they would look great on top of Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Halloween is coming quickly and if you are still looking for a centerpiece, this cupcake decorating and display kit from Hearth Song might interest you.  The Haunted Mansion Party Pack consists of a cardboard cupcake stand topped with a haunted looking house. There are also 24 graveyard fence style wrappers and 24 moon and haunted house toothpick toppers.  The pack is purchased as a whole for $16.98.

These are some things I wish that I had when I was a child. I will make sure that the day I have kids these will be on the Registry!

I like this Cupcake Set because you can ‘decorate’ them yourselves! Lovely …

This Cupcake Set is great as well …

When I came across these I immediately wondered, “why didn’t I think of that?” For years my family has been making tie-dye style angel food cakes and this summer I made red, white, and blue vanilla bean cupcakes for my sister’s return to the US from a summer in Ireland.  But I Heart Cuppy Cakes put me to shame by coming up Candy Corn Cupcakes last October.  The recipe if extra easy if you decide to make your cupcakes semi-homemade by using a box cake mix.

Once again as I was doing one of my searches for all things cupcakes online I came across these lovely intricate detailed cupcakes. I contacted Zahirah Motala  that master mind behind these cupcakes of Cupcake D’Lights.

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Where is your company located?

I’m based in Durban which is situated on the east coast of southern Africa.

How did you get the idea to ‘paint’ cupcakes, such as your cupcakes and tea cupcakes?

When I decided to do the vintage tea set I really wanted to paint on a design as I love the gorgeous designs you find on the china especially the vintage cups and saucers.

What are a few cupcake tools you couldn’t live without?

That’s a hard one as I really love my tools which I’ve bought over some time. But my favorite ‘find’ was a box of old mini cutters which was being sold for next to nothing and there are some jewels in there which I know I’ll never find again! So it would def be those :)

What is your inspiration for these lovely cupcakes?

Inspiration comes from everything and everywhere sometimes just a pretty piece of fabric or a tea cup might spark an idea. Lately I don’t have time to play as I get fully booked out and it’s generally what people request from me that I need to interpret their brief and add my unique touch.  Sometimes a mistake or something you throw together becomes such a huge hit :) I enjoy those ones the best!

When did your love of cupcakes start?

I am an oil artist by profession so when I was doing a search for pretty cupcakes to paint and I came across Kylie Lambert amazing cupcakes and I fell in love! She has been a huge support and great friend and I really owe it all to this amazing personality.

Do you eat any of the creations you create?

No I never have the time :) but we often bake for the family and I enjoy making new flavors just for home, but the decorated cupcakes never get eaten at home :)

If you had to eat one flavor of cupcake (& frosting) for the rest of your life what would it be?
Kylie shared with me her very amazing chocolate mud cupcake which I only make for special people and for myself! It’s the most divine cupcake ever which I team it up with my delicious cappuccino nougat ganache mmmmm I could never tire of it!

Anything else you want to share about yourself or your company?

I’m really excited that South Africa has finally caught onto the cupcake fever I started way back in early 2006 and everyone laughed at me when I caught onto the fever. I pride myself in being the first person here to do decorated cupcakes. I also see my ideas and styles all over now (Kylies as well) and it’s great to see that you are an inspiration to others.

I would like to thank Zahirah for taking the time to answer these questions.

Please check out her blog for more information and some amazing looking ( & I am sure tasting ) cupcakes!

http://cupcakedlights.blogspot.com

All Images & Cupcake Ideas are Copyright of Cupcake D’Lights and are not to be used or copied without premission for Zahirah Motala!

Hi!  I just wanted to share my robot cupcakes with you!  This is for my son Otis Rhythm!  Thanks for looking!  I love your site so much:)  Love Katharine

Great job Katharine with this cupcake tree.  The presentation really pops with the lightning blue and the robot cupcake toppers.  Too bad the toppers are sold out on Etsy.

As I was doing one of my searches for lovely cupcake items I found these great vintage like baking cups. The website that I found them on  is www.bakeitpretty.com . This is a great website it has a lot of different cupcake and baking items. So here are the Baking Cups I fell in love with …

Black Elizabeth – Designer Baking Cups

Elenor Green – Designer Baking Cups

Madeleine – Designer Baking Cups

Pink Elizabeth – Designer Baking Cups

Check out the website is has a great selection of Cupcake Toppers ( I like the Wizard of Oz ones myself ). They also have a great and different selection of Sprinkles.

They also have this interestingly named product Edible Disco Dust … I just might buy this!

Enjoy!

Cozy up with Cupcakes …

Ever loved cupcakes so much that you you want to snuggle up with them while you sleep?

Now here is your chance with this Cupcake Bedding and Cupcake Pillow.

I know  if i had these Id prolly never get out of bed!

I know we have had a few posts recently celebrating the 90th anniversary of Hostess cupcakes but I wanted to share a few amazing Etsy finds that honor this special treat.

Hostess Cupcake Dress $60

Cupcake Soap $4

Giant Cupcake Floorcloth $40

Visit stayhomecupcake’sshop in Etsy.

Witch Cupcakes

Did Someone Say Monster Mash?

Monster Cupcakes

If I Only Had a Brain …

Brain Cupcakes

Halloween is just a little over a month away which means you can begin getting ready for holiday events, haunted houses, costume parties, and school parties.  Michaels Craft Stores has a great selection of wrappers including these two Halloween options provided by Martha Stewart.  There are Skull and Spider wrappers which have so much detail they are a little spooky.

and there is also Witch cupcake wrappers that come in beautiful colors to match the fall foliage.

The two wrapper styles are available at Michael’s stores, not online.  The Martha Stewart Baking section at my local Macy’s had an additional wrapper style.

I, just like some of you am an avid cupcake baker.  To make marvelous, mouthwatering, munch-able cupcakes you have to have some good tools. Here are a few of my favorite  tools I like to use when baking cupcakes.

This right here is essential for frosting cupcakes. It is angled so you don’t get your finger and hands all covered in frosting.

8 Inch Angled Spatula

Another way to frost cupcakes is to use the plastic bags with the tips. Here is a good starter kit for cupcakes. It comes with a few tips to get you started and you can make fancy designs with it!

Cupcake Decorating Kit

This is the way to get all the last bits of cake batter and frosting.

Spatula

Instead  of using good old fashioned food coloring that get very messy you can you use this Icing Color Set! Plus it has some of the colors already figured out for you! (using food coloring i think you have to be a color chemist to get the righ colors you want).

12 Icing Colors Set

These spray mists are a great way to do a lil’ something different with your cupcakes

Color Mist™ Food Color Spray

This is a great way to carry you treats … bonus is that it has a cupcake pan with it!

24-Cup Cupcake Carrier

These are some of my faveorite tools! Do you have any secret weapons  you use in the kitchen?

The weather is getting cooler which means that Halloween is just around the corner. While shopping at Michaels last week for cupcake liners, I noticed that Michaels has quite a few options for those wanting to include cupcakes in their Halloween celebrations. Wilton has several cupcake items this year including cupcake stands, wrappers, liners, picks, stencils, and boxes. Many of these items are available in local craft stores, but the Skulls and Scroll designs are only available at Michaels.

The cupcake baker is at it again …

I don’t know what most people think about right before they go to sleep .. maybe how the days events went, maybe something that you have to to get done the next day  … What I think about right before  I fall asleep, CUPCAKES! Chocolate orange cupcakes was the last thing on my mind the other night.

So I decided to try em’ out … this is how they turned out.

All that I did was use a box mix and used orange juice instead of water. And for the frosting instead of milk as the recipe calls for i used orange juice.

They weren’t as dense as i had hoped and they needed a tad more orange flavor! But they are all around Yummy!!

Cute enamel and ceramic cupcake with high gloss finish.  This cupcake 8.5 cm high by 6 cm cupcake has a hollow center to store trinkets and accessories which can be accessed through a hinged lid.   These pieces are well made and substantial.  Great gift to impress for birthdays or special occasions.

Available from Ditsy Daisies.

Since it is already the middle of September, that means it is apple season.  I think the perfect way to acknowledge that fall is rapidly approaching is to bake apple cupcakes.

This delicious looking recipe is courtesy of Food Network.    Calling for only one apple, the apple flavor comes from an additional ingredient needed, apple butter, which is piped into the center.  Apple butter does not contain any dairy, the name comes from the consistency since it is so think and spreadable.  It can easily be made at home or when short on time, it can be bought from most grocery stores. The cupcakes are finished with a cream cheese frosting and in the picture they are garnished with an apple sliver.

Upon one of my cupcake searches I found this lovely twist on cupcakes.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!

Here is what you would need to replicate this delicious cupcakes …

1)  A scrumptious cake recipe.  I recommend Straberry Cupcake Recipe

2) A simple frosting recipe (better to color you with my dear) Buttercream Frosting

3) Tools to frost with Cupcake Decorating Kit ( this includes the disposable bags and tips to decorate, use the 1M tip to get the swirly ice cream effect) this includes a great tutorial as well!

4) This is how you make a rainbow of colors Icing Color Set (you can also use just plain old food coloring if you don’t want to spend that much, ya just got to get creative with the colors)

5) Top it off with these Star Sprinkles , Daisy Sprinkles and/or Confetti Sprinkles ( you can choose which ones you want according to the color of frosting used) or you can go old school with these Rainbow Jimmies

Bake the cake, prepare the frosting, cool the cake, fill the bags, frost & sprinkle away!

Let me know how they turn out!

Psst … If you dont want to spend all the money on the expensive stuff you can just with all the boxed goodies (boxed cake, canned frsoting, etc. [it will just be our little secret] )

Traditionally, the overlap between football and cupcakes were minor.  Even the meaning of cupcake in football lingo is not the sweet and moist dessert we all crave.  Instead, it can be defined as:

to compete or win with little effort

An example would be this article title: Not all Big 12 teams have cupcakes on opening menu.  Many schools football teams usually schedule cupcakes at the beginning of the season to get the winning momentum rolling.

Football-themed cupcake accessories usually have usually been quite scarce, so ATC was happy to see football helmet sleeves that come in 14 colors to match your favorite school.  Seems perfect for school pride parades, game watching party, or birthday parties.

So I know am renting a place with a full kitchen at my disposal!  Oh Full Kitchen, Let me count the ways …

So with this past weekend being my 1st full weekend in my new place I decided to give my kitchen a test run. I tested it with Caramel Apple cupcakes (or i tried).Apple cupcakes with caramel frosting.

I found the apple cupcake recipe in one of my cupcake books and the frosting recipe from an old cookbook.

Here is a lil’ photo show of my baking adventure!!

Getting Started ...

Getting Ready to Go In ...

Baking ...

Mhhh, Didn't Really Turn Out Like I Had Hoped ...

So I Improvised!

Okay … so they didn’t rise as I would have hoped so they turned out more like muffins than cupcakes. I cut off the extra liners to make mini cakes . The frosting wasn’t working at all either, so I had to think quick and I added confectioners sugar to make it all better, it was really sweet but good. I was told by everyone who munched on them that they fantabulously yummy!

Even though they weren’t as I hoped they would be, taste buds were titillated by all that enjoyed!

PS: I then found another recipe for caramel apple cupcakes, who would have thunk it! I will try that one next time! :-)

My coworker is getting married next month and since I’m making the cupcakes she shared with me the latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings.

wedding cupcake ideas

The issue features an article titled: Let Them Eat Cupcakes, proving even Martha knows cupcakes are taking over.  There is an eight page spread containing full page pictures of creative cupcakes  such as the Rose and Ginger Cupcakes with Sugared Rose Petals.

There is also what could be considered the cupcake version of strawberry shortcake dessert.  The cupcake has a slight twist from the original summer dessert in that it consists of a strawberry rhubarb compote.

These cupcakes have been deemed wedding appropriate.  But as with all cupcakes, they are suitable for any occasion.  On the Martha Stewart website, there are recipes to all the cupcakes in the article in addition ideas for displaying the latest wedding trend.

Gimme Some Sugar of Las Vegas, NV offer these unique cupcake toppers.  Somehow I am not surprised that they are located in Las Vegas! :)

Burger Cupcakes by Smiley’s Sweets and Creations