When I saw this recipe on NY1 yesterday, my mouth started watering and I just knew I had to share it with you! If you visit NY1’s website, you can even watch an instructional video. (Warning: Don’t watch this if you’re hungry!)

Ingredients for 2 dozen cupcakes:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 tbs baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup of grated carrot
• 1 cup of grated apple
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla

Ingredients for the yummy frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 4 tbs butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Mix frosting ingredients until smooth, and then put in fridge. Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, carrots and apples, and mix well. Add vegetable oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla and mix well. Divide your batter into paper-lined cupcake pans. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool, and then top with chilled frosting.  Then enjoy!

There are a large number of blogs that I follow religiously because they offer such fantastic information, and one of those is Annie’s Eats.  It is not all about cupcakes, but then I need to eat other forms of food too (well.. sometimes!) and everything she features is brilliant!

But what I want to share today, is a cupcake that she recently featured and that I have tried and it really is… really good!  Plus it looks amazing!  This is the Hummingbird Cupcake!  No birds however are harmed in the creation of this baby!  It has loads of yummy things though like bananas, walnuts and coconut!  If Grandma is coming around, this is the cupcake to bake!  Best of all the full recipe is available here.

But you may want more than just a tasty cupcake recipe?  Well Annie’s Eats also goes one step further and tells you how to make those absolutely fabulous dried pineapple flowers to decorate them with here.  I have to make cupcakes next week for the school autumn fete (we are either six months behind or in front seasonally) so these are going to be a hit with the conservative patrons!  Of course I’ll whip out some whacky colored cupcakes with adorable kid inspired fondant toppers to get the younger crowd buying as well!

Happy Baking!

Saint Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, Tuesday March 17th! What will you will be doing to show everyone that you have a little bit of Irish in you(everyone is Irish on Saint Patty’s Day!)?  I think I will be whipping of a batch of these Leprechaun Hat Cupcakes from AmazingMoms.com.

You can use any cupcake and white frosting (to dye green) recipe you would like.  I suggest Chocolate Mint Cupcakes from MarthaStewart.com.

Did you know that blue use to be the color of Saint Patrick’s Day?

I have heard of “one-bowl” recipes that make clean up a cinch because you combine all ingredients in one bowl.  But until now I had not heard of  food processor cupcakes.  Sophistimom made these Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting in the food processor.  Yes, even the frosting is made in the food processor and she claims that if you make the cupcakes as mini’s you can have cupcakes baked from scratch and decorated in under 30 minutes.

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Sprinkles, jimmys, or shots, no matter what you call them, they all mean the same thing, a sugary sweet cupcake topping.  I have always wondered how you make sprinkles and now you can make your own! Brave Tart originally made the sprinkles then Faith Durand blogger for The Kitchn gave them a try documenting her results. I love that you can make any color you want and any size too.  And for those health conscious cupcake eaters out there, this allows you to control everything that goes into and onto your cupcakes! Click continue reading for the instructions.

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Since it’s citrus season now would be a great time to try these gluten-free clementine cupcakes by Emily Malone of Daily Garnish. If you are wondering if you have the ingredients necessary to make these gluten-free cupcakes, I have included the ingredients list below.  For the directions check out the original post!

3 tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp ground flax

5 clementines, peeled and segmented

1/2 cup walnuts

2/3 cup brown rice flour

2/3 cup coconut flour

2/3 cup garbanzo bean flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp sea salt

3/4 cup orange (or tangerine) juice

1 cup powdered sugar

(Note: If you don’t want to make these gluten-free, you can simply sub in 2 cups AP-flour for the other flours, and remove the added xanthan gum.)

Only three days left until Valentine’s Day and today I wanted to share with the most amazing Valentine cupcakes yet. This link comes to me from my sweet friend Nicole who is always on the lookout for amazing cuppies.  Take a look at these chocolate cupcakes with flaming strawberries from Sprinkle Bakes.

The flame is made by hollowing out a strawberry and pouring in a small amount of Vodka, rum, or your choice of liquor 80 proof or higher before it is set aflame.   Click here to read the full directions in their post. 

Click the comment area below and leave a link to your favorite Valentine recipe!

Prior to reading Kitchen Contessa’s blog post I’ve never heard of red velvet cupcakes being called devil’s food cupcakes.

I know I love red velvet cupcakes so I’m sure I’ll enjoy trying her Red Velvet Devil’s Food Cupcake recipe.  I especially like the fun decorating, dipping the frosted cupcakes in melted colored chocolate to transform the cupcakes into red devils!

This quick fix cupcake recipe is from a post on Creature Comforts.  The recipe was shared by Julie and Kathryn of Perfect Bound.  The recipe provide is a pdf file for front and back recipe cards for these delicious looking cupcakes.  I love the glossy frosting and the sprinkles which add color!

I have been craving pancakes lately which got me thinking about pancake cupcake recipes.  I came across this recipe for stuffed pancake cupcakes by Katin Cooks.  They look pretty interesting and I think I might give them a try this weekend (recipe below).  I like that they’re semi-home made but wonder if they’re still cupcakes without frosting? Does syrup count?

Ingredients
2 cups Original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter
12 tbsp filling: try Nutella, fruit jam, or cream cheese
confectioners sugar for sprinkling
maple syrup for serving

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously coat the bottom & sides of a 12-muffin tin with butter. Make Bisquick pancakes per instructions on the box. Fill each cup in the muffin tin half-way. Add 1 tbsp of filling to the middle of each muffin, then cover with the remaining pancake mix. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven, place on serving dish & use a flour sifter to sprinkle with sugar. Serve with warm syrup.

Serves 6

WallCandy Arts creates reusable wall stickers and wall art.  These wall decals can easily be removed and reapplied without leaving any marks on the walls.  One of there products is a large cupcake wall decal that doubles as a chalkboard; Which was what we here at ATC were sent to review.

I love this product and have to admit it is one of my favorite reviews so far.  As the website states it is easy to use, you simply peel the decal off the backing, stick it onto the wall and smooth out any air pockets with your hands.   Then when you want to remove or rearrange the layout, you just peel the decal off the wall.  It comes off with out damaging the walls.  These wall decals are great because you don’t have to use nails that leave holes in walls or I’ve had comand hooks peel off the paint before.  So if you are looking for a unique way to decorate, these are a great option. Read the rest of this entry »

Call Me Cupcake has modified a Martha Stewart recipe to create these Apple Spice Caramel Cupcakes.  Not only does the recipe sound delicious but I love the little green fondant apples used to decorate the cupcakes! The blog is written in Swedish so I used Google Translate to convert the text to English for the recipe which can be found below.

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What do we all toast with at Midnight on New Years eve? CHAMPAGNE! Well this year we should all toast with Champagne in cupcake form instead in liquid form. Maybe we could start a new trend.

Here is a great recipe for Champagne Cupcakes with Sweet Champagne Butter-cream Frosting from Gimme Some Oven!

Happy New Year everyone!

So you dazzled them with your cupcakes on Christmas day and now you need to come up with something new, something not so cupcakey, so how about a mini cupcake triffle?

These cupcake triffles are from Courtney’s Sweets blog and I found them when surfing the web to find a way to turn my unfrosted excess cupcakes into something ‘unique’ for a dinner party we are having tonight.  So this is the perfect recipe, but I have one recipe addition, alcohol (for the adults), it is a dinner party after all and the kiddies want more cupcakes!  So I will add Baileys to some, Kahlua to some and this orange liquor we have to some others.  To identify each, I’ll add a chocolate chip, a coffee bean or a Jaffa!  Totally sorted!

Happy Boxing Day!

On this chilly December night these hot chocolate cupcakes sound perfect!  This cupcake recipe is courtesy of Babble, a website for parents.  Naturally I love that the cupcakes are baked in mugs and actually look like a cup of hot chocolate!

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Since it has been freezing outside here in North Carolina and Christmas is right around the corner, it seems like the perfect time to bake Gingerbread Cupcakes!  I came across this recipe which has been adapted from Land O Lakes by Baked By Rachel.  My favorite part of these cupcakes might be that Rachel topped them with little gingerbread men cookies.  Rachel kept her cupcakes simple by not decorating the gingerbread men but you could easily add some flare to your cupcake and decorate the cookies as well.

Hello all my fellow cupcake lovers out in Cupcake Land! Did anyone happen to catch the newest episode of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network last Tuesday at 9pm? I haven’t had the chance to watch it, but I didn’t even know that there was a new season of Cupcake Wars going on until I was channel flipping yesterday.

Here is a look at the contestants from the premiere last week — Cupcake Wars Competitors (Tree Lighting) (if you follow this link  it shows you who the winner is)

Check out one of the winning cupcake recipes right here — Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball Cupcake

Enjoy the season everyone!

Tis’ the season for baking and I have found just the right item to start off your Christmas baking.

Christmas Cupcake Kit found at Patina

What will you be baking for the season?

Indie Fixx is one of my favorite blogs, I can always count on it to find great crafts, style ideas, and recipes!  Just in time for Thanksgiving, I noticed this unique cupcake recipe for squash and chocolate swirled cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting and candied pecans. These cupcakes, as the author explains, will make a nice alternative to the traditional holiday dessert, pecan pie.  The recipe for the cupcakes is included below but for the toppings be sure to check out  the original post on Indie Fixx!

Squash and Chocolate Swirled Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting & Candied Pecans

Note: Most any roasted pureed winter squash would be wonderful. You could, of course, used canned pumpkin but your homegrown buttercup, butternut, or other winter squash would be just as lovely. Read the rest of this entry »

In May we shared Recipe Look, a site that simplifies recipes into illustration.  This weekend I came across They Draw and Cook which is a similar concept; Artists and illustrators submit illustrated versions of recipes.  I only found two cupcake recipes but came across tons other recipes with really great artwork.

Who would have thought to turn a game of chess into cupcakes!  These cupcakes come from the fantastic Sweetopia blog where they used a chess chocolate mould to make a series of white and brown chocolate chess pieces.  They then made up two batches of cupcakes one set in vanilla with white frosting and the other in chocolate with chocolate frosting.  The chess pieces were then added to the top.

The board is a vinyl one, which was the perfect size for the standard cupcakes, and I totally adore the cupcake wrappers used.

You can find the recipes and instructions for these cupcakes on the Sweetopia blog.

I know we have shared cupcakes with you from The Cupcake Project before but I could not resist sharing these apple cobbler cupcakes with pumpkin pie frosting.  Here’s the recipe for the cupcakes: Read the rest of this entry »

NPR frequently discusses cupcakes, for instance they warned us that macaroons were going to replace the cupcake as the top dessert and explained that cupcakes are so popular because we are in a cupcake bubble. Now NPR shares with how to have your (less sinful) cupcake and enjoy it, too.  This article, unlike the previous two starts off on a positive not saying that the cupcake craze is not going away (yay!).  The downfall to the cupcake trend is that as a society we are realizing we need to be more health-conscious.  So Eve Turow has created several healthy cupcake recipes which allow us to still treat ourselves but watch the calories.  Since I have a few bananas on the verge of going bad, I think I might try the Banana Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting but be sure to read the full article for all the cupcake recipes.

Every now and then we come across adult cupcakes, most of which include alcohol.  This time, Cosmopolitan has and article with several recipes for alcohol cupcakes by Lucy Baker, author of The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets.  Start with a basic recipe included on the Cosmo website then follow with one of the 9 alcohol variations of your choice shared below.

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