Katie Holmes last week made cupcake headlines when she contacted Isabelle’s Curly Cakes in New York and ordered a batch to be delivered to her in Toronto.

Katie is currently acting in a documentary about the Kennedys for the History Channel and it appears she just couldn’t do with out them.

It appears also that cupcake adoration runs in the family, Suri shown here also being a big fan (photo by James Devaney sourced from The Star).

So what cupcakes would you order from New York?  Katie ordered Red Velvet and Grasshopper flavor.

Today I received a belated birthday present from one of my oldest friends.  She is creative and amazingly talented when it comes to making things.  Plus she knows me really well, well enough to know I would love a handmade cupcake bracelet! I just had to share this with everyone!

Update: My friend now has a website, you can contact her through her website: http://www.sarapancoast.com/

My mom’s birthday is a little less then two weeks away so I was trying to come up with a cupcake idea for her.  I came across these Hydrangea Cupcakes on Glorious Treats and think I have found what I’ll be making my mom! Below are Glory’s picture directions and step by step directions to follow to create these floral cupcakes.

Glory made a batch of her favorite chocolate cupcakes (recipe HERE), and her vanilla cream cheese frosting (recipe HERE).  Then  colored half of the frosting blue, and half purple (mixing a few shades of blues and purples to get a good color match to the real hydrangeas).  When making the frosting, use very little cream (less than 1 tablespoon), because the coloring will add some liquid, and you need the frosting to be pretty stiff to hold a nice shape.

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Did you all see Red Velvet Stefanie on Cupcake Wars? She kicked some cupcake butt on there and made it to second place! She didn’t win but her popularity has seemed to have blown up since then. I follow her on Facebook and am always seeing good news coming from her endeavors.

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Rose cupcakes (1), originally uploaded by 2sweetiepies.

I always complain that my husband doesn’t get me flowers. But I’ve changed my mind. Sort of. From now on, these are the roses I want. They are too gorgeous to eat!

When your teeth are crying out for some down time from the sugar intake, and the button on your pants is straining to be catapulted across the room, perhaps take a day off from the cupcakey goodness and reach instead for a cupcake fake.

Fake cupcakes are starting to appear everywhere, and what is so good about them, is they can sit on your desk forever looking pretty without ever going bad!  But just don’t drool on them, urgh, it is too hard to clean!

Cakery Fakery is one such Etsy retailer who does just that, making and selling her cupcake fakes.  Here are some of my favorite ones from her range.  These are in order Sherbet Blossom, Sherbet Swirl, Baby Girl (below) and Pistachio (above).

These cupcakes are SOO cool!

These lovely lil’ gems are from Crumbs and Doilies.

I love the look of their cupcakes, they look like what my nana use to make but funky with fun colors and even more fun sprinkles.

Follow their Blog for your daily dose of Cupcakes!

Last week I introduced you to Etsy seller, FunFavors.  They specialize in personally made party items.  Funfavors will make custom orders for any type of theme.  From birthday parties to baby showers to weddings, they will make it all for you!

This week FunFavors is giving away one dozen cupcake cookies to one lucky ATC fan.  

To enter this giveaway first  click here  to visit FunFavors shop.  Then click on the comment area below and tell us what your favorite item is AND what item you think they should add to their shop.   One winner will be chosen on August 3 and will be announced here on ATC.   Good luck cupcake fans!

www.funfavors.etsy.com           www.funfavorsbydulce.blogspot.com
http://www.sweetiesbakeshop.blogspot.com/

There is a frenzy that is unsettling cupcake businesses around America, causing bakers to reach for the video camera instead of the whisk.  What, may you ask is upsetting the frosting on these cupcakes?

Well, a little over a week ago, the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars got busy on the phone encouraging selected bakers to consider submitting a video audition for the next round of Cupcake Wars. Lily and Erin from A Cupcake Wonderland were one such recipient and they decided to share their highly entertaining and funny video on You Tube, and of course with you!  Good luck Cupcake Wonderland.  Check it out by clicking here.

If selected, they will compete against three other bakers / bakeries in a chance for cupcake glory!

While standing in line at the grocery store this evening my sister quickly pointed out this month’s issue of Taste of the South Magazine.  The August/September cover features Pecan Pie Cupcakes! In case the magazine is not sold in your local grocery store, the recipe can be found below.

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It was Cupcake Designer’s birthday the other week and she decided on a green theme. So I got these fantastic wrappers from Green Party Goods, aren’t they adorable.

When using wrappers, I have learnt that it is usually best to go with a white chocolate or vanilla cupcake mixture to ensure the color remains true, and I couldn’t be happier with how these turned out.

Have you thought of making fondant birds for your cupcakes?  they are really easy if you follow the instructions on Wilton’s website and they were very popular.  Next time though I think that I might make the nests brown with a chocolate ganache!

Ok, this is just too funny.  I really want one of these.  Visit Woot if you need one too!

They are only $15 with free shipping!  They come in a range of sizes, from kids’ sizes to roomy sizes for those of us who have eaten one too many cupcakes!  I am going to go order mine now.

Looking for a cute way to package your cupcakes?  Prima Stationary has several varieties of Cupcake/Favor Boxes to choose from for your packaging needs.  You have the option of choosing printed boxes, mini size, and regular size.  Each set includes 6 boxes, 6 pieces of flowers and 6 pieces of ribbon, labels and box bases.  The mini size box is  2″ x 2″ while the slightly larger regular size box is 3″ x 3″. The printed boxes, which are the same size as the regular boxes, feature images such as flowers, rabbits, argyle, polka dots, panda bears, and robots.

And be sure to look around the site, I also noticed a kid friendly cupcake stamp, a cute miniature spiral cupcake notebook, a cupcake card set for kids, or a bird topped cupcake greeting card!

Need a cupcake stand that’s a lil’ FuNkY but also eco-friendly? If so, there is a website that has exactly what you need.

Mini Zebra Eco-Cupcake Stand from Green Party Goods

Green Party Goods is a website that specializes in green party goods, planet friendly products for any celebration and much much more!

We just love it when our readers send in cool pictures.  Thank you!  As for the crown-bearing cupcake, DeDe writes:  

I’ve wanted a tattoo for as long as I can remember, but my fear of needles and pain has prevented it for much of my life.  But my BFF finally just made me do it…and I’m so excited that I did.  I have a strange obsession with crowns and a deep love of cupcakes, so what better way to show them off than together?  Thanks to your site for the inspiration!

And thank you to Melanie for sharing her cool socks with us!  And what a great picture too! 

And Amy from Detroit writes of her tattoo:  I wanted to share my cupcake tattoo with you guys… and I only discovered your site after searching “cupcake tattoos” a while back when coming up with my idea.  I drew the tattoo, however the amazing artist really made it so much better.  It’s on my back.  I absolutely love Halloween and colorful innocent sweet things… if you couldn’t tell !!

Found via Oh Joy! Eats,  the retro cupcake trailer, Enjoy Cupcakes made her lust list.  They have two locations, the first is in Los Olives, the newer location is a vintage cupcake trailer, parked in Solvang, California.  Enjoy Cupcakes features unique cupcake flavors inspired by local produce, flavors, and wines.  The menu changes weekly based on what is grown in the owners garden or the produce local farmers have to offer.  Store hours are Thursday to Sunday 11am-6pm and this week’s flavors include Chocolate Blackberry Syrah, 5 Spice Curry Chardonnay, Peanut Butter Cup, Triple Vanilla, German Chocolate and Lemon Honey.

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”.

Real Simple Magazine is always coming up with new uses for old things.  This idea is even featured in the New Uses for Old Things Hall of Fame!  LifeSavers candy can be used to hold birthday candles. The original roll for the sized candy that ensures a snug fit. If you place the candy in the candle before putting on to the frosting, there won’t be marks left from the candles.

Mini Cupcake Factory by ThinkGeek

ThinkGeek, the purveyor of many things great and geeky, has recently gone into the business of selling geek food.  They started with canned bacon (seriously) and have now moved on to making mini cupcake factories available to geeks everywhere. The mini cupcake factory bakes seven tiny cupcakes in 5 minutes.  According to the website, any storebought or scratch-made cake mix will do and tiny paper cups are optional.

The one con I can think of for a mini cupcake factory is that if you’re into giant cupcakes, this really isn’t going to do it for you.  On the other hand, the pros are 7 cupcakes in 5 minutes (!) and a higher lightly crispy outer crust to inner cake ratio.  Take a look at the video and see what you think:  Mini Cupcake Factory by ThinkGeek

Visit New Times to see a slideshow of South Florida chefs, cooks, and bakers and their tattoos!  Here are a few of my favorites, which belong to Amanda Linton, the co-owner of House of Sweets Bakery in Delray Beach.

Hello cupcake fans!!  Tonight I’d like to introduce you to our newest ATC advertiser, FunFavors.   This Etsy crafter’s creative shop is dedicated to personalizing all types of events.  They create invitations, party decor and super cute cookie favors!  Check out a few of my favorites:

 Be sure to become FunFavors fan on Facebook and Twitter!

Next week, ATC will be hosting a sweet giveaway for FunFavors but I’m not going to tell you what they are giving away!  Check out theirEtsy shop to see if you can guess what it will be!

On the weekend my good friend came back from an Indian wedding and on her hands she had the most gorgeous henna tattoos.  Immediately I thought of cupcakes, as you do whenever there is a celebration at hand, and I had this brilliant unique idea, why not make henna inspired cupcakes?

So I jumped onto the internet, but of course I am not the first with this idea, so instead of make them myself I thought I would share with you my findings!

I might still make them at some point, perhaps when I am feeling a tad less intimidated :)

These images are top left by The Little Cakery, directly above by Small Things Iced and to the left by Cupcakes N Things.

They all look beautiful!

One Determined Gardener has made incredibly creative cupcake toppers.  She used Hollyhock Dolls to top cupcakes! To make the dolls, a hollyhock bud and partially opened flower along with scissors and a toothpick are needed.  Follow the three steps with pictures to create the doll and you have your cupcake decoration.  One Determined Gardener made honey cupcakes with buttercream frosting to display her hollyhock dolls.

I found these amazing cupcakes on Flickr the other day and had to share them with you.  These princesses including Snow White, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty were made by Solange a Brazilian Cupcake Designer.

They are so perfect, but as you know, what is a princess without her accessories, so Solange made accessory cupcakes too!  I like this princess cupcake style – I just need my designer bag and sun glasses!

photo courtesy of Look Cupcake

These were created for a first birthday party that was ever-so-appropriately hosted at Woodland Park Zoo.   I like the mural-like frosting art on the cake, but am particularly tickled by the detailing on the cupcakes:

Photo courtesy of Look Cupcake

Rawr! Beware the wild cupcake!  They may be sweet, but they are fierce!