These days I am constantly keeping my eyes peeled for all things cupcake-related. The other day as I was strolling my son to his doctor’s appointment, I saw a bright green truck that looked just like this:
If it hadn’t been for the fact that we were running a bit behind schedule, I would have stopped and asked what “Cupcakes for Courage” was all about and I might have even tried out one of their tasty treats. Instead, I committed their website to memory and looked it up on the wonderful world wide web when I got home.
Cupcakes for Courage was started by two sisters, Kathryn and Laura. In May 2010 Kathryn was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins T-cell lymphoma, and this cupcake venture was born out of the two sisters’ passion for baking and raising money for this cause.
Check out their website, and if you live in the Chicago area, be sure to look at their schedule and see if and when they will be in your neighborhood so that you can support their cause and get your daily sugar fix!
Cutey is a UK based company that makes charm bracelets and costume jewelry. All Cutely products are affordable and come in a variety of styles to suit different taste preferences. The charm bracelets come with the unique charms already attached. Cutey ships worldwide and delivery within the UK is free.
ATC was sent the Pontus charm bracelet to review. The silver bracelet included seven charms, three colored and four image charms and comes in two length options, 18m or 20m. The colors were rose, black and a marbled pink and green. I really liked the little turtle charm and the heart with a boy and girl kissing inside. There was also a heart shaped lock and a flower bead. I have to admit I would have liked for the bracelet to include a cupcake charm. As cute as turtles are I like cupcakes more and know cupcake fans would be interested in a cupcake charm similar to the Pandora cupcake charm we blogged about several years ago. Especially since this style bracelet reminded me of the Pandora bracelets based off the style charms and the ability to add and remove the beads. Continue reading »
Glitter, glitter, and more glitter! I just want these holidays to shine so that I can sing “Silver & Gold” along with Burl Ives when spinning the Rudolph soundtrack.
These ornament cupcakes come from Hoosier country, Indiana! “Hoosier Homemade” had several holiday cupcake decorating ideas from a multi-week cupcake challenge.
Find other inspiration in actual vintage Christmas ornaments. The 1950s ornaments were the very essence of elegance in design and can still be found at antique co-ops and flea markets and also on etsy and e-bay.
This looks like a fun and challenging holiday baking activity. These look pretty detailed, but you could always use less detail if your time is more limited. And of course, yours don’t have to turn out just like this one…let your creativity run wild as you decide how to make each character.
You may remember a few months ago Hungry Runner shared a post about an adorable new book, Coco Levine, Cupcake Queen. It is a sweet children’s book that mixes a cute storyline with fun recipes and crafts. This book would be a great Christmas gifts when paired with an apron and some cooking supplies. It is currently for sale on Amazon for only $11.99 and it is getting rave reviews! My little one loves this book and quickly wanted to do all the fun crafts.
Well, today’s giveaway comes straight from Coco’s creator, Audrey Davidow! She is giving away one copy of her book to one lucky winner. To enter this giveaway, click on the comment area below and tell us who you would give this book to if you won. Maybe a daughter, friend or keep it for yourself!
One winner will be chosen on Monday, December 12th. Thank you Audrey for creating Coco Levine and thank you for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway!
Check out these girls’ t-shirts from Old Navy. They are scratch & sniff! I didn’t want to scratch a shirt I wasn’t going to buy, so I can’t testify as to their scent, but they sure are cute to look at! These shirts are $12 each at Old Navy.
Mmmm. Here’s the cupcake for you to share with Santa by the fireplace: mulled wine cupcakes.
Not familiar with “mulled wine?” It’s wine, simmered with ingredients like cinnamon, allspice and cloves until the air smells as warm and inviting as the holidays. Don’t be timid about experimenting with your wines or your spices. Then trust your nose. (Although sampling might be half the fun of being the chef for this one!)
If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to show off a plate of cupcakes, here is an idea that can be tweaked to your liking. These are festive, but require no more than cupcakes and a couple tubes of icing!
My daughter and I just made our first trip to The Cupcake Place, a new cupcakery in Winslow, Maine. My daughter chose the peppermint mocha cupcake (pictured), and I tried the chocolate strawberry shortcake cupcake. I was sooo pleased to learn, upon biting into my cupcake, that it was filled with actual strawberries. I quickly wished that I had purchased the rest of them to take home!
My daughter, after munching on her cupcake for a minute, announced, “Wow Mom, this frosting is way better than yours!” You can also visit The Cupcake Place on Facebook!
“May Bakes Cakes” of Corby, England has a Facebook page and she labels herself as “Artist.” It’s the right label. With creations like these snowmen, santa, and penguin, it’s the title I would confer upon her, too.
Novel in her approach using FB, May’s Facebook page also has a “snowman tutorial” with step-by-step instructions for snowmen that would be perfect cupcake toppers.
May is also so kind as to provide a separate Facebook page with a “penguin tutorial,” as well.
As far as I can tell, there is only one flaw: who could ever eat such sweet treats?
Have you tried Gigi’s Cupcakes? Gigi’s cupcakes are a cupcake franchise and over the Halloween weekend I stopped by the Raleigh, North Carolina location. Since it was Halloween weekend they had several cupcakes with Halloween decoration and were very crowded. Sadly the pumpkin cupcake was sold out and most of the cupcakes were selling quickly. I decided on the red velvet cupcake and the four year old I was with chose the scary boo Halloween decorated cupcake. I have to admit that I almost didn’t get a cupcake and had a hard time finding a cupcake to choose. The cupcakes did not look appealing and after trying them I felt like they were lacking in flavor.
The cupcakes were topped with a huge pile of frosting. I have realized from these cupcakes that there is an appropriate cupcake to frosting ratio that you should aim for. In my opinion, if your cupcakes have more frosting than there is cake, that is too much frosting. These cupcakes really had a mountain of frosting on top and we were shocked to find more frosting inside! Also most cupcake shops have a design that they seem to trademark like the magnolia swirl, or the dollop that a lot of shops will use. At Gigi’s there was no consistency with the frosting design, which affects the visual quality of the cupcakes.
I’m going to put this under “cupcake,” even though I’m generally a purist and a round ball wouldn’t qualify as a cupcake.
But ’tis the season, I’m on a quest for the most beautiful of holiday cupcakes, and these cupcakes were created by Cupcake Envy, a bakery of “sculpted cakelets” by owner Amy Eilert. Cupcake Envy’s Facebook photos sport so many great shots, you’ll have no shortage of inspiration.
You may also want to notice that Cupcake Envy sells “how-to” videos. Not a bad idea, if you think that you’ve been nice!
My family usually gets out the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, but for those of you who haven’t yet strung the lights and hung the ornaments, here is a creative idea. I love themed Christmas trees, and this one is no exception!
This picture is from one of our readers in the Philippines (you may remember her strawberry shortcake cupcakes from a while back). Thanks for spreading the cupcake cheer!
For the past several years The Cupcake Bar has been a custom order bakery service for the North Carolina Triangle region. They bake and deliver cupcakes to Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and some of the surrounding areas. I have had the opportunity to try their cupcakes at their “Singles Nights” where individual cupcakes were available for purchase, you could buy only one cupcake instead of placing a whole order. The Cupcake Bar has decided to expand and have decided to open a shop in downtown Durham, NC. To help them open up their retail shop they’re asking fans of their cupcakes to be “bar backers.” There is a catch to being a bar baker but it’s a good catch. For each donation you make you receive something in exchange; for example, a $10 donation will get you one cupcake, a $25 donation will get you four cupcakes. As the monetary amount increases, the exchange gift gets larger and you get more than just cupcakes T-shirts, donations to charity, letterpress prints, and invites to a special party are offered for larger donations. I like the idea of getting something in return for given and supporting a cupcake company. Watch the IndieGoGo video and check out the website for more details.
Looking for a quick and easy decorating idea? Check out these inexpensive cupcake picks from Walmart. I found them in the holiday section, right beside the garland and tinsel! Take your pick of the picks! The ones in the center read, “Homemade for the Holidays.” I’m partial to the snowflakes.
These would make excellent cupcake toppers (all are 2.5 inches tall or less). And, when the cupcakes have all been eaten up, they make a lovely display in your home.
Let’s face it. We start strong. We mean well. But in a few days, we’ll be thinking, “Smile!” as we count the remaining hours.
I’ve found the perfect inoculation to the upcoming holiday stress: cupcakes with bling!
Have you seen a more sparkly cupcake? These darlings were created at The Voluptuous Cup Cake Company, down under in Perth, Australia. Just clicking on this blog spot of her cupcakes is enough to cheer a girl’s heart.
What’s your most sparkly, glittery, magical cupcake topping for the holidays?
2 – Fill in your basic information, upload your recipe, and upload your mouth-watering photograph.
3 – Win!
Perhaps we could do a group ATC entry?
I’d like to know of anyone’s opinion on baking with Ghirardelli and whether you find the chocolate richer, softer, and needing more cocoa powder to balance for spreading and shaping? What about the Ghirardelli Intense Dark? And the Ghirardelli white that I nibbled at while baking with it last week – do you do that too? Are we shorting our batches or should we just write them as 10 oz broken into small bits with remaining 2 oz for the cook!
Dominique of Sugarplum Cupcakes from across the pond over in England shared her masterful animal cupcake creations with us. My favorite is the sheep. The pearls woven together to simulate the wool is adorable. She will be offering a “Novelty Cupcake Workshop” to share her tips and tricks:
Forgot to mention I host cupcake workshops in Suffok, UK. These four
characters are stars of my latest ‘Novelty Cupcake Workshop’. Haven’t
named them yet, but really excited about filling a whole class with
them in the New Year! – Dominique
Too bad we are on the wrong side of the pond to attend. Register by contact her at her website contact form or on her Facebook page.
It’s difficult to stuff a holiday stocking with a trip to only one store, but if you have a cupcake lover on your gift list, then I believe it can be done at Kohls. Check out the awesome little cupcake gifts they’re offering this season!
Simple Pleasures Cupcake Scented Nail Polish $4.80
Simple Pleasures Cupcake Soap and Lotion Set $9.60
Now I know that everyone is thinking holiday cupcakes and presents, but, after all, Santa Claus is a man, so perhaps our stockings would become a bit more plump if we left guy-inspired cupcakes beside the fireplace on Christmas Eve?
4 Rivers Sweetshop owner John Rivers has come up with several of these “sweet and savory” cupcake ideas, including Moutain Dew + Doritos cupcakes. Rivers told The Today Show that he’s working on Nehi grape soda cupcakes, and that the secret to using sodas in frosting is to boil it down to syrup thickness.
Now that’s one Ho-Ho tip I’m headed into the kitchen to try!
Paperless Post is offering a new line of free, informal holiday invitations and cards. Included in the line is this fun snowman cupcake electronic card, a quick and easy way to wish your friends and family a happy holiday season. Once you sign in to Paperless Post you can customize the text, font style, color, and more!
With cupcakes being so popular, this Little Tikescupcake kitchen set from Toys R Us would make an excellent Christmas gift for your child, and it’s a great deal for only $29.99. Just think of the hours that he or she will spend “baking” cupcakes and serving them up to friends…with no clean-up involved! I especially love that the stove burners make sound effects!
