I think cupcakes are pretty great. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be writing for All Things Cupcake, right?  But it takes something special for me to bestow an “OMFGBBQ CUTECAKES!” award.  CakeSpy has it…CakeSpy, in fact, takes the cutecake.

I first discovered CakeSpy a few years ago at I Heart Rummage, a local artist swapmeet that goes on every other month at Chop Suey (Capitol Hill, Seattle).  I stood at the booth for at least five minutes paralyzed and making cute noises over freakin’ adorable drawings of wee little cupcakes living their little cupcake lives: checking the interwebs at a coffeeshop, falling in love, and running from zombies.  It made my week.

Turns out that CakeSpy (aka artist and writer Jessie Oleson) not only does prints of the wee lives of cupcakes, she also have a blog and plenty more merch. I mean really – what says awesome like a hip cupcakes and unicorns tee in the closet, a cupcakes and unicorn checkbook in your purse and teeny-beeny cupcake and unicorn magnets on the fridge?

As I was walking past some storefronts this afternoon, I noticed something I had never seen before: a cupcake calendar.  My boyfriend confirmed that while this was the first year he had seen it too, the Hello, Cupcake! calendar is in stores all over town. It’s sort of a companion to the Hello, Cupcake (Irresistably Playful Creations Anyone Can Make) book, being as it’s made by the same folks out of their favorite illustrations from the book.  From the pictures on their website (the little doggiecakes are the on front cover of the calendar), it looks like a darn cute way of keeping track of the days as well as a serving as a muse for the creative in the kitchen.

I thought I would share some of the some of the cupcake images I have come across lately.  This photograph of a tray of unfrosted mini cupcakes is captured by Laurie Frankel, whose clients have included companies such as William Sonoma, Nestle, and Martha Stewart Living.  (Image courtesy of lushee)

Cupcake Heaven Print

Cupcakes of Happiness Print

Cupcake Postcard Set

Second is photography by Susannah Conway who is also a writer.  From her shop the 8×8 inch prints can be ordered for $30.00 each or the postcard set which includes 6 postcards, 2 of each image for $10.00.  Below are additional cupcake photographs by Conway which are from her website.

Finally there is my favorite, Elodie Rambaud.  I was first drawn to the cupcake photographs because they are simple and look delicious.  Then as I saved the images I realized they were unique flavors including Sesame Tahini, Apricot Ginger, and my personal favorite, Pumpkin Maple.  It’s my opinion a good photograph of food not only looks good but makes you wish you could eat it. There are more cupcake images as well as other sweet treats so take a look at her site.

Sesame Tahini

Apricot Ginger

Pumpkin Maple

I noticed a reader’s comment on a past post and when I checked out the link I realized I should share it with everyone.  I know Halloween is months away but just in case you need a cupcake costume for another occasion, here is a fun option: Cupcake Ohh!Veralls! You have over a dozen cupcake styles to choose from and prices range from $90-225, depending on the style.

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.

Today my local news paper, The News and Observer had an article titled Cupcakes for Grown-up Tastes.  For the article the author taste tested 9 cupcake proprietors in the triangle, the name given to Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Out of the 9 cupcake stores and online shops, I am pleased to say I have tried  5 including The Cupcake Shoppe, Bliss, Kelly G’s Cupcakes, Sugar Land, and The Cupcake Bar.  The ones that I have not had a chance to try are the online order sites and I have to admit I have never ordered cupcakes online.

Out of the 5 which I have tried I would have to say that The Cupcake Bar is my favorite.  On Single’s Night they ways have fun flavors like apple cider or Mexican chocolate.  I have had The Cupcake Shoppe’s cupcakes on several occasions and found sometimes they can be a bit dry and have a little too much frosting for my preferences.  I still like them and would never pass up the chance to have one of their cupcakes.  Kelly G’s cupcakes are also really good and I enjoy going to Open Eye Cafe to do homework and have a cupcake! The article goes into detail with Valentine’s Day options and Tasting Notes for each cupcake company.

If you’ve had the opportunity to try one of the cupcake bakeries from the article be sure to leave a comment to let us know what you thought!

This week ourFacebook Fan Page  hit an amazing milestone by having over 1000 fans! If you haven’t already fanned us, please click here to join in on the fun.  Recipes are shared, questions are answered and photos are posted. Here are some of my favorites this month from fans Shawna, Andrea and Deanne: