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.

Have you been to Starbucks lately and noticed that they have jumped on the latest food trend bandwagon.  Calling the line “Starbucks Petits” they now offer cake pops, whoopie pies, and mini cupcakes.  I know Starbucks have had cupcakes for some time now but I hadn’t had the opportunity to try them but this past week.  I saw the little peanut butter cupcakes and had to try one; I was pleasantly surprised by how good the cupcake was.  The chocolate cupcake was moist, the peanut butter frosting flavor complimented the chocolate cake perfectly and wasn’t too sweet.  And I liked the half of a mini peanut butter cupcake on top of the cupcake. The mini cupcakes also come in carrot cake.

I’m not sure how I feel about Starbuck’s following the common trends.  I think that mini food items are cute so the whoopie pies look really cute but is it too much? Are cake pops and cupcakes any less special because they are available at Starbucks, a worldwide franchise that is easily accessible.  Or are these new menu items a benefit that make getting some of our nations favorite food trends easier at one of our most well liked coffee shops? I’m still torn.

It is so hard keeping up with which movie is being released where and when!  In Australia last weekend marked the opening of the Harry Potter movie “The Deathly Harrows (Part 1)”.  So in order to celebrate its release I went looking for some cool and funky Harry Potter cupcakes!

Not surprisingly I found some!  I totally adore these cupcakes from Sara Schneider on Flickr!  How cool and fun are they?

If you answered yes, then I have to inform you, that David Letterman disagrees with you, but don’t worry, “he is just nuts”.

Well that is what David Letterman said on air this Friday after he blasted Rachael Ray with a barrage of complaints about the number and type of cupcake shows on the air at the moment.  What Rachael had to do with these cupcake shows is not clear but I am guessing the link may be that there are a lot of cupcake shows at the moment, and Rachael also has a lot of her own shows.  Forgive me I might be wrong, but it was the only thing I could see that could possibly give reason for David to direct his annoyance at Rachael.

Before Rachael even got out to stage David said “You realize there’s a billion people in the world starving every day, and there’s a group of assholes having fights over cupcakes. They’re fighting over cupcakes! … Does that seem right to you?”

I guess we can take from this that David Letterman doesn’t like cupcake shows, but surely censorship is not the answer to the worldwide hunger problem?

All I can say is I fully respect how Rachael handled herself and as Letterman himself says she “had every reason to be alarmed”, he continues “I’m so sorry”.

View the interview here

View the apology here

It seems as though there is always something threatening to take the cupcakes spot as a popular food trend.  First there were macaroons, then there was pie and popsicles and now it’s doughnuts!  Over the last couple of months I have seen lots of recipes for doughnuts in magazines and online.  I will admit that I have even considered purchasing a doughnut pan to try out some of the recipes.

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2009-2010 Holiday Location of The Cupcake Store at Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney is about to have a new permanent attraction: cupcakes!  The Cupcake Store, based out of Mission Viejo, CA, had such a successful temporary holiday booth at Downtown Disney that they’ve decided to open up shop there permanently. Word is that they’ll ship in cupcakes daily from the bakery in Mission Viejo to the happy hordes looking to take a break from Splash Mountain and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

The Cupcake Store is run by cupcake veteran Janel Mitchell. This is her first solo store after parting ways with business partner John Frank, with whom she founded Frostings Cupcakes.  The new Downtown Disney location is set to open up in September. With any luck, they’ll be up and running by the time I go down to SoCal for a visit in a few weeks. If that’s the case, I’ll tell you all about it!

Bill Rancic frosts cupcakes for 11 year old Eric Hernandez (right)

Cupcakes will brighten the day of any child, but in hospital, even more so!  The South Town Star reported that “Rancic, the original winner on the reality TV Show ‘The Apprentice’ and his wife Giuliana, host of E! News passed out 150 cupcakes to children on Monday at Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.”

“The couple partnered with Candace and Charles Nelson, owners of Sprinkles Cupcakes to donate $15,000 to the children’s hospital and its Ronald McDonald House”.

I’ve heard of some strange collections on my journeys, such as Graham Barker’s Navel Fluff Collection, or the Air Sickness Bag collection, both of which I would rather not have in my own home!  But what about cupcake pans?

Naturally I say I have a collection, from your standard cupcake pan to your mini, your loaf style and the mini Bundt style which is my latest addition, but they hardly feature on my walls.  The only time these are visible is stacked beside the sink covered in baked batter.  So I was surprised when I stumbled upon a question in the Sun News which asked, “when were the earliest muffin or cupcake pans made in the United States?”

The answer is that the origin of most pans date back to the 19th century and if you have a rare one it could be worth up to $500.

So it got me thinking and I wondered exactly how old the first cupcake is?  The answer, according to Crazy About Cupcakes, is that they were first mentioned in 1828 in E. Leslie’s ‘Receipts’.  Apparently according ‘The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America’ the ‘cup’ part of the “name had a double meaning because of the practice of baking in small containers – including tea cups”.

I’m now feeling educated, but I don’t think cupcake pan collecting is for me.  The image above comes from Go Antiques where you can pick up this cupcake pan for $85USD.

For more  strange collections check out Neatorama.

Seems to be the question that Jeff Houck from The Tampa Tribune is asking after TLC’s airing of DC Cupcakes on Friday night.  DC Cupcakes is an inside look at the world of Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis of Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, D.C. Both ladies gave away their corporate jobs in venture capital and fashion respectively to open the store, which now attracts hour-long queues for their cupcakes.

Houck takes a light poke at both the show and TLC, who he states “used to be called The Learning Channel until it realized viewers were averse to mixing education and television”.  With other shows such as ‘Ace of Cakes‘, ‘Cake Boss‘, ‘Ultimate Cake Off‘ and ‘Cupcake Wars‘ he thinks we have gone too far and longs for the days where there were more episodes of Law & Order than cake shows.

What do you think?  Have we reached cake saturation with our shows?  In Australia we have no dedicated cake shows, and our educational stations are still giving on the whole educational content.  So I am in favor of MORE cupcake shows. What about for you? And with five more episodes to go of DC Cupcakes, will you be tuning in or out?

Having sold more than 98,000 cupcakes in 14 months since opening, Daisy Cafe & Cupcakery in Madison, Wisconsin  is poised to sell its 100,000th cupcake.

Seriously, that’s a lot of cupcakes.

The person who purchases the lucky cupcake will be presented with a prize package that includes: dinner at the Daisy Café & Cupcakery, a night’s stay at any one of seven North Central hotels in the Madison area, a bottle of Champagne, and two Strawberry-Champagne cupcakes. In addition, the Daisy Café & Cupcakery will donate $1,000.00 in the name of the winner to Porchlight Inc, the Madison non-profit organization committed to reducing homelessness in the city.

Would it be silly of me to fly to Madison just to buy a cupcake?  I’m thinking about it.  I really love Wisconsin this time of year.  

Further, the Daisy Café & Cupcakery will donate $100.00 to Porchlight Inc in the name of each of the next five customers who buy cupcakes. So, I should probably bring five friends.

Daisy’s co-owner, Daryl Sisson, says, “We were the first to bring premium cupcakes to Wisconsin and, although we hadn’t thought 100,000 cupcakes would come so soon, we’re thrilled to be here. And we are not standing still–we’re rolling out new cupcake flavors every month.” Co-owner Kathy Brooks adds, “We are especially happy to continue our support of Porchlight with donations in the names of our loyal customers.”

Here is a video about the 4 C’s of Daisy Cafe & Cupcakery!  Gosh, I don’t know when I’ve been so impressed!  Gotta go now, I’ve got plane tickets to buy.

That is what springs to mind when reading and watching the news clip on NewsNet5 about Ohio based American Greeting Cards‘ new range of cards called Tasties.

So ‘yesterday’, are cards which stimulate the other four major senses, visual cards, textured cards, cards which play music or that smell.  We now have cards that we can lick and apparently ‘eat’.

Each ‘Tasty’ will be themed and come with a deliciously dissolvable flavor-strip, safely sealed inside the card which matches the theme.  One such card will feature a mouth-watering image of a cupcake and reads “If nothing else, birthdays are a great excuse to eat cake”.  Of course you want to know the flavor, this one is vanilla cupcake!

Though this isn’t the limit of the new ‘Tasty’ cards, you can get everything from donuts to margaritas, though I am not sure if they meet the newsreaders requirement from the above article and have a bacon card just yet.  No doubt the bacon, burger and hot dog cards are not too far away!

Are cupcakes in danger of losing their popularity to other desserts? Back in March we shared with you an NPR article which claimed macaroons to be the new cupcake.  Now two other desserts are threatening to take the cupcake’s spot.  The August issue of Food and Wine Magazine had an article about the increasingly trendy pie which asked “Are pies the new cupcakes? They’re becoming just as ubiquitous at online stores and new restaurants with pie counters.”

And now that the hot summer here, the popsicle is another proposed successor to cupcakes.  On July 7, 2010, a blog post from Allegations of Deliciousness titled “Popsicles are the New Cupcakes” claimed unique popsicles are all the rage. Last summer, Hooks for Cooks might have prediected the future with their post titled “Popsicles will rival cupcakes”  She even quoted a friend saying ” I predict they will take over from cup cakes as the hottest new craze this Summer.” I know here in North Carolina, we have Locopops, a hand-crafted, gourmet popsicle company that began in Durham, NC and has expanded to have four locations and various venders in the Research Triangle Park region.  So cupcake fans, what do you think, will cupcakes lose their top spot?

It appears according to a story in the Christian Science Monitor that in Jordan, what is Western, is cool. This is particularly so, with what is American and to be honest, what is better than an American style cupcake?

The Sugar Daddy is one of a number of businesses that have set up in Amman over the past decade inspired by successful American businesses.  It is a small market, at a little over $2 a cupcake, only the top 5 percent of Jordanian’s can afford them, but this hasn’t stopped business from booming.  Most customers speak English, and Mr Jaber the owner felt that in this way, kids that had studied abroad could remember their time overseas, with this little piece of America in their city.

Mr Jaber’s Sugar Daddy Bakery stores have also opened in Dubai and in Beirut.

Reading about the new release of 4.3.2.1, an new gritty thriller-action style movie in which the main characters, four women, encounter diamond thieves I came across a cupcake loving actress. Jo, is one of the four leading women in the movie and is acted by up and coming American Emma Roberts, star of Hotel for Dogs and Nancy Drew.  Apparently she loved her time in London, especially visiting the Hummingbird Bakery.

Of course I was intrigued and had to check out their site, and it is mouthwateringly good. The red velvet cupcake is reputed to be heavenly, and it seems Emma Roberts agrees.  In a story on Music Rooms, she explains her lack of love for vegetables, and admits that in fact the cupcake diet was her favorite!  Who could disagree with that!

Oh My Cupcakes! of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, sponsored a cupcake eating contest on June 5th.  Oh My Cupcakes! is Sioux Falls’ first and only gourmet cupcakery.

Contestants were challenged to eat as many cupcakes as they could in 30 seconds.  The five winners each received a sugar buzz and a pair of tickets to see Sugarland in an upcoming concert.

Inc. Magazine just published a slideshow featuring the 16 best industries for starting a business right now. And among home health care and green technologies, there sits our good friend the cupcake! According to Inc., bakeries and pastry shops are growing at a rate of 5% per year! It seems that people are looking for affordable indulgences these days, and of course, cupcakes satisfy this craving for simple luxury! Cupcakes, and other small treats, are also easy to make locally, from local ingredients, by local people. Consumers are looking to support just this sort of business! Is today the day to open up your own cupcake shop?

Would you quit your day-job to start a cupcake business?  According to a CNN report, that is what the founders of Curbside Cupcakes did.  The two co-owners each had jobs but one day realized they wanted cupcakes and they wanted the cupcakes to come to them.  Using that idea, they started with a truck of 300 cupcakes and have expanded to over 1300 cupcakes.  Curbside Cupcake fans find the truck’s location through their website or social networking sites, such as facebook or twitter.  Those living in or visiting Washington, DC can look for the cupcake truck and “enjoy cupcake bliss right at their door.”

The 11th anual Boston Bakes for Breast Cancer will be held the week of May 3-9, 2010.  Throughout the week various establishments throughout Boston and surrounding areas will offer a selection of desserts where 100% of the proceeds will go to breast cancer research or care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  Cupcake lovers will be excited to know that included on the list of participating restaurants and bakeries offering cupcake desserts are Kickass Cupcakes, Party Favors, Post 390, South End Buttery, Sweet Bites Bakery & Cafe, Ula Cafe, and Daily Bread Bakery & Cafe.

Another great cupcake announcement shared with me by my sister.  She noticed a post on Slashfood explaining that McDonald’s Germany is now offering New York City Themed Cupcakes in McCafe’s.  Four New York City neighborhoods (if you count Central Park as a neighborhood) have been assigned what McDonalds feels is their cupcake persona. The flavors offered are as follows, Soho=vanilla, Chelsea=Chocolate, East Village= Cappuccino, and Central Park=Strawberry.  Burger Business had a great article on the cupcake release explaining how McDonald’s is fascinated with current popular trends, in addition to American cities which they in turn use as a marketing technique.

I am not sure if I would try a McDonald’s cupcake, I love cupcakes but I can’t decide if I would love one from McDonald’s.  I would really like to hear what someone who has tried one thinks!  Let us know if you think you would try a one or if you already have!

Making headlines since it was announces earlier this week was the news that a Cupcake Vendor will now be located outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  The 5th Avenue spot once featured a Hot Dog Vendor but now cupcakes are seen as a possible money making possibility for the city.   Cake and Shake will be providing the cupcakes and have already said that flavors have unique names but are based off of childish ideas.  Since New York is often a trend setter, it is no surprise that the company is green, featuring organic ingredients, solar powered carts, and eco-friendly packaging.  Cakes and Shakes will set up shop in June.

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 :)

NPR recently featured an article titled: Move Over, Cupcake: Make Way For The Macaroon.  The article claims that each decade tends to have a definitive sweet and that the cupcake’s time is up.  According to the article, our beloved cupcakes will soon be replaced by macaroons.  Do you agree, are macaroons the new cupcake?

The task that Food2 (the Food Network’s sassy younger sibling) puts to challengers is deceptively simple: take pictures of cupcakes, submit them at the Food2 website, and may the best photo win.  Multiple entries are allowed, and the cupcake or cupcakes don’t have to be yours (but the photos do, of course).  Food2 started taking submissions for the Cupcake Cup yesterday and the will continue taking them for the next 40 days.  Photos have already started to come in if you’d like to take a look at the competition, or vote for them for that matter.

And what will you win?  A silicone bakeware Giant Cupcake Baking Set… and the eternal glory of being the first person to win the Cupcake Cup.

In my search for quality cupcake news, I’m keep seeing one word: trendy.  As with every trend, two questions come to mind:”When will the bubble burst?” and “Is all this hoopla a good thing?”

Though cupcakes have moved past the “indy cool” stage, the trend is only just going mainstream and cupcakeries are still popping up all across the country.  You’d think this would be a bonanza for cupcake fans, but in reality it’s a mixed bag.

At All Things Cupcake you can see the best side of this trend: great recipes, lots of creative ideas, and many entrepreneurs making a go of it, even in a poor economy. However, both Carmelized OpiNIONS and Kat with a K have posts this week about the downside of the cupcake bubble: overpriced product, inferior quality, and the annoying fact that cupcake have been co-opted for the purposes of conspicuous consumption.

The good thing is that all trends pass. The bursting of the cupcake bubble , whenever it happens, will have the effect of winnowing out cupcakeries- while many will go out of business, those with the best recipes and sound business plans will survive.   In the meantime, I hope that talented bakers everywhere will use this opportunity to raise some capital and that cupcake hobbyists will have a lot of fun reading all the press.