Forget the $45 cupcake from Australia. There’s a far more expensive cupcake available in the United States. Appropriately, the decadent $750 cupcake can only be found in Sin City.  Sweet Surrender at The Palazzo in Las Vegas, which requires 48 hours to prepare the expensive treat, find this extravagant cupcake satisfies big spenders’ sweet teeth. For most of us, the only way we could justify spending that much on a single treat would be if Lady Luck were generous enough to smile upon us.

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When it came time for the city of Myrtle Beach to celebrate its 75^th anniversary, they decided they wanted to do it with cupcakes. 7,500 cupcakes to be exact. Katherine Berman and Sophie LaMontagne of Georgetown Cupcakes and TLC’s DC Cupcakes collaborated with the city of Myrtle Beach to not only bake more than 7,500 cupcakes, they planned a cupcake tower to rival all those that came before. And just this week, their achievement was confirmed. The cupcake tower created to celebrate Myrtle Beach’s 75^th anniversary is now officially the Guinness World Record holder for Tallest Tower of Cupcakes at 20 feet and 5 inches tall. Read the rest of this entry »

Every once in a while there are some cupcake stories that aren’t as sweet as one would like. Unfortunately, these are of that less than savory kind. Unless you have a very open mind when it comes to the toppings you find acceptable for your cupcakes (though I’ve yet to meet anyone who would find deceased fruit flies or any rodent’s droppings acceptable anywhere near beloved frosted treats). When routine inspections from the Health Department visited the Little Miss Muffin facility in the Chicago area back in mid-July, the facility failed with rodent droppings and fruit flies only two of many citations they received. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you been looking for a reason to visit Queensland, Australia? Well, if you are going to be around and don’t mind spending $45 on a cupcake, you might want to consider adding a visit to Crave Cupcakes in Toowoomba to your itinerary. There you can place an order for one of the very limited edition two-dozen Golden Cupcakes that they will be baking. Of course, you only have until August 14^th to place the order and they must be picked up on August 17^th. But why would anyone want to spend $45 on a cupcake? Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all had those days in the kitchen where something happens and we’re unexpectedly left with a cupcake tray that has empty liners and the conundrum of whether to reconcile the situation with fewer or smaller cupcakes. Whether you dismiss it as a consequence of the spill at the hands of favorite your little helper or the presence of too many willing volunteers offering their batter-sampling services, you might shrug it off and move on to the next thing. But when that situation arises and you’re alone in the kitchen, you realize the sad truth that the culprit might actually have been your trusty box of cake mix all along.

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Question: When is it a good idea to post photos of yourself with a cupcake shaped sign on social media sites? Well it certainly is not right after you stole it, that’s for sure.

When the deliciously themed sign for the Cake-ology bakery of Winnipeg, Manitoba was stolen early last week, it was only a matter of time before cupcake lovers wiped the frosting from their mouths and climbed out of the woodwork to track down the thief. Of course, the job of tracking down the sign was made much easier when the photo-happy thief made the brilliant decision to post the pics of herself with the stolen sign on Instagram, complete with a light-hearted admission of her guilt.

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Sprinkles Cupcakes is opening a new location at The Grove in LA today! And it will be a grand opening indeed. From 10 till noon, you can meet Sprinkles founder and Cupcake Wars judge Candace Nelson. AND five of the cupcakes sold at this Sprinkles today will have a “golden ticket” baked inside (bite carefully). One ticket will be for a $1000 shopping spree at The Grove, a shopping, dining, and entertainment center in a 1900s themed setting. Two tickets will be for $500 shopping sprees at The Grove. And two will be for a “year of Sprinkles cupcakes” — a dozen cupcakes per month. This new Sprinkles opens at 10, so hurry. You’d better go get in line.

It’s true–I never once imagined confetti cupcake poptarts. But, now that they’re here, I’m wondering what took Kellogg’s so long. Of course we need cupcake flavored poptarts, don’t we? A sweet vanilla cupcake-flavored center topped with white frosting and confetti sprinkles? Of course! And get them while they’re hot–limited edition only!

There’s a very special item on Ruby Tuesday’s new and improved menu–cupcakes!

And they’re awesome! Hooray for Ruby Tuesday!

Have a statement? Want to be heard? How about cupcakes? Fans of the new video game Mass Effect 3 are upset with the ending and want it changed. And they’re asking nicely, by sending 400 cupcakes to Bioware, the game’s creators. The cupcakes will be frosted three different colors, but will all taste the same, to symbolize the similar endings of the three video games in the series. This effort will cost $1005 and everyone who contributes to the cause will also get to send along a note with the cupcakes. It’s like a sugary sweet petition. Click here for the campaign website. The cupcakes will be delivered by Fuss Cupcakes of Edmonton, Alberta.

There’s a new cupcake magazine in town! Cake Decorating magazine has just launched in Great Britain and Ireland. Don’t live there? Don’t panic–you can subscribe!

This weekly publication will help beginners learn to decorate like the pros. And each issue comes with decorating tools! Issue #1 comes with a set of butterfly cutters, pink decorating glitter, and a gingham cupcake stand. And subscribers receive additional free gifts including a portable cake caddy, a set of silicone bakeware, and a biscuit and sugar craft gun.

Learn more at the Cake Decorating website. You can also follow the new pub on Twitter and Facebook!

We know you want to take your cupcakes everywhere, but don’t take them on a plane! Recently, a Massachusetts woman’s cupcake was confiscated by TSA when she tried to take the cupcake through security. We wrote about it here too. Her cupcake was in a jar, and the security agents said that the frosting was a liquid that exceeded the legal limits of 3 ounces.

The TSA wrote on their blog, “Unlike the thin layer of icing that resides on the top of most cupcakes, this cupcake had a thick layer of icing inside a jar.” In other words, this was a good cupcake! Who is out there handing out cupcakes with “thin layers of icing”? That’s just sad! The TSA blog also called this woman’s cupcake “the newfangled modern take on a cupcake.” Wow, that just really makes me want to take a bite of it!

Wicked Good Cupcakes, where the woman bought the cupcake, is planning to capitalize on the publicity of this pastry confiscation! They now offer a cupcake on their menu called “National Security Velvet” (pictured above). Yum!

In all seriousness, we don’t mean to make light of the importance of airport security. We know these security officers work hard to keep us all safe, and we are grateful. The moral of the story is definitely to just eat your cupcake before getting on the plane!

Hot off the press!  Apparently, gel cupcake frosting qualified as a potential security threat at the Las Vegas Airport, causing the TSA to confiscate a cupcake!

The cupcakerie is Wicked Good Cupcakes and just looking at their website has me wanting to fly to their shop to get samples.  The ‘wicked good’ cupcakes made for the MSPCA are pictured here.  If the TSA dogs had discovered these puppies, I might understand what took place.

But my conclusion will simply be this:  it’s just another part of this year’s great cupcake recipe operation…

So I’m interested to know what you would do.

Here’s a story from England’s Daily Mail – “Cupcake Calamity” – about cupcake bakery owner Rachel Brown of Need-A-Cake, who offered a Groupon and had to bake an “astonishing” 102,000 cupcakes in response.

Apparently, Brown offered a dozen cupcakes for £6.50, instead of the usual £26, resulting in 8,500 orders…at which point Brown cut off the orders.

What’s your perspective – any sympathies?  A baker offering 75% off?  Groupon saying their offers are for an unlimited number of orders?  The angry customers, complaining that their orders were taking longer than they expected?

Are cupcakes a fad? Duncan Bloor recently posted some illuminating visuals on his Search Insights blog that show the cupcake trend sweeping the globe.  The deep blue represents strong cupcake interest, see how the deep blue is spreading across nations.

As Mark Twain has declared when confronted with news of his own death in newspapers, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”   By the looks of it, the cupcake trend continues to strengthen.

More visuals and data on the cupcake trend at the David’s Search Insights blog.

Today in remembrance of September 11, 2001 the Los Angeles location of Canter’s Deli is offering free cupcakes for servicemen.  This is Canter’s Deli’s way of saying “thank you,” so if policemen, firemen, or military personnel show up in uniform or provide some form of ID they will be presented with a free cupcake!

Friends ~

Saddened by the news yesterday from Oslo, I thought that our community could pay some tribute.  Around the Web I went, and did locate three blogs by Norwegian women with special cupcake recipes.

From “My Little Norway” comes the recipe for “Norwegian Vanilla Cupcakes.”  The site is rich with beautiful images of the Norway to which I traveled when I was about 12.

“The Transplanted Baker” offers the recipe for “Coconut Vanilla Cupcakes” with a funny narrative and many winter scenes from Norway.

And Umami Girl gives us “Norwegian Gold Cake with Sour Cream Ganache” with snapshots of her life and family in Norway.

Submitted with prayers for love and peace for children in Norway and all over the world. ~ The Cupcake Faerie

You don’t have to be a lawyer (but I am) to enjoy this news flash:  Sprinkles Cupcakes has filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in CT against Pink Sprinkles Cupcakes.  The claim?  Trademark infringement.  Here is the 10-page “Complaint,” the document that starts it all.

Copyright Me Cupcake Photo!

What is there to gab as part of the exclusive All Things Cupcake blog not found anywhere else?  Well, as to what matters to us, Sprinkles claims in paragraph 8 that it “plans on opening stores throughout the United States and around the world, including Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, London, and Paris.”  Magnifique!

My curiosity spun me around the US Patent & Trademark Office website.  “Sprinkles” produced 192 results, including “Magic Sprinkles,” “Serenity Sprinkles,” “Twisted Sprinkles,” “Garden Sprinkles,” and “Pet -,” “Kitty -,” and “Doggie Sprinkes.”  In fact, in 2002, before there was “Sprinkles” of Beverly Hills, there was “Sprinkles of Palm Beach”  – that is, until Sprinkles bought the assignment for that trademark.  (Don’t tell Sprinkles, but there is currently a “Sprinkles Ice Cream” in Palm Beach…)

Stay tuned as we track the Answer to the Complaint, due in from Pink Sprinkles within just a few days.

Oh, and just to be on the safe side…I’m not publishing photographs of cupcakes from either Sprinkles or Pink Sprinkles – here is one of my own!

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…

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.

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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

Hostess Snack Cakes.  Gotta love their cupcakes.  Golden.  Chocolate.  Orange.  Fondant-y icing.  Seven, white squiggles down the middle.  Vanilla creme frosting in the middle.  Wrapped in plastic.  Mass producted.

Hostess is big business.  Hostess Brands, which owns Hostess Snack Cakes, employs 21,000 people in 39 bakeries in 41 states across the U.S.A.  (In case you’re interested:  they’re hiring.)

Hostess is still celebrating its February 2011 launch of the strawberry cupcake, so it’s not too late for you to vote for your favorite Hostess cupcake and get a chance to win $25,000 and other, daily prizes.

According to the Hostess Director of Marketing, “Hostess sets the standard for timeless treats that are loved from generation to generation.”  So just how many Hostess cupcakes do Americans eat every year?  600,000,000.  And it’s Memphis, Tennessee that’s the Hostess cupcake eating capital of the Hostess empire.

Bizarre Cupcake News of the Week:

New York City toddler loses teddy bear. Mom puts signs up around the neighborhood, offering a reward of baked goods for Mr. Bear’s rescue. A few days later, Mom finds a picture hanging next to one of her signs. It’s a picture of Mr. Bear, blindfolded. The ransom note demands $10,000 in gluten-free and peanut-free cupcakes. Yes, New Yorkers have a sense of humor, but I hope this doesn’t start a trend. It could give cupcakes a bad rap.

Mojito Cupcake

By now, you have probably all seen or read the news that two cupcake “recipes” were used in an MI6 British Secret Intelligence cyberattack of an al-Qaeda e-zine.  What I read several days ago and took as a bit of humor in The Guardian, a British newspaper, has now become worldwide news.

So I thought:  what recipes?

According to United Press International, the two recipes used were from Main Street Cupcakes (Hudson, OH).

Wrong.  The two, specific cupakes used in the cyberattack were the “mojito cupcake” and the “rocky road cupcake.”  Yes, the mojito is from Main Street Cupakes and it’s a “white rum cake with hints of mint and lime covered in vanilla buttercream with a Mojito buttercream garnish.”  But, the “rocky road cupcake” is from Cupcake (Charleston, SC), and it’s “dark chocolate cake plus chocolate icing with toasted almonds.”  This I found out by locating the original .pdf from the Ellen Degeneres show parodied by MI6.

What I did not find were “recipes.”

We may have to file this report of recipes from “The Best Cupcakes in America” entering the public domain under “false intelligence.”

This week my local newspaper, The News and Observer featured an article by a cupcake critic.  I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion and as a cupcake lover I am biased to support cupcakes and be upset upon reading anything that says the cupcake trend is over.  The newspaper article, titled Keep Your Cupcakes; Cute Doesn’t Cut It, was written by Debbie Moose who states that she “doesn’t like cupcakes.  They’re so 2009.  They’re done.”  She goes on to say that her issue with cupcakes is that they are cute and that is what people are concerned with rather than caring what they taste like.  As a baker myself I will admit that I like it when people compliment my baked goods appearance but the highest compliment is when they tell me how good it tasted or go back for a second serving.  It’s not merely what the cupcake looks like, although it has to look good to make you want to eat it.

Moose goes on to argue that cupcakes are time consuming and impractical claiming that they go stale too quickly and frosting cupcakes takes too long.  I feel that cupcakes are individual cake saving you from having to cut a cake at a party.  I also feel that with all good baked goods  you need to consume them quickly or they will go bad.  Fresh bread from a bakery will go stale quickly.  If you use a little planning and bake the cupcakes within an appropriate time frame they will be fresh for your celebration.  Read the rest of this entry »