Like many children, Natalie Hope started out in the kitchen watching and helping her parents. But unlike many children, Natalie continued on her own, experimenting and advancing her skills. With the help of Food Network programming and parents willing to be guinea pigs for her creations, Natalie entered and won the She Expo’s cupcake competition last month. What makes the 10-year-old’s accomplishment so impressive is the fact that the competition had 63 other participants, a mix of professionals and amateurs. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re going to be in the Tampa Bay area tomorrow (August 17^th) and you’re interested in free cupcakes, then stop by the 3^rd Annual Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest. Organized by the Morean Arts Center of St. Petersburg, the money raised by the Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest is used to fund education programs run by the Morean Center, specifically their Connecting People With Art mission. There are eight judges for the two primary categories (professional and novice). The third and final category, People’s Choice, requires a one-dollar donation per vote. Sampling the cupcakes, however, is free. The winners for each category receive stunning handmade glass cupcakes as a prize.   Read the rest of this entry »

This is it.  Your chance to enter Ghirardelli fame and Facebook feature.

Recipe for your success:

1 – “Like” the Ghirardelli page on Facebook.

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!

One of our ATC readers, Lisa, has made it to the top five finals in the Jelly Belly $10,000 Cupcake Challenge with her cupcake creation titled, “Bubble Trouble.”

"Bubble Trouble"

Now Lisa’s “Bubble Trouble” cupcake needs your popular vote.

You can vote once per day per e-mail address through Sunday, July 31.

I’ve already voted for Lisa’s Bubble Trouble cupcake today and shared it with my FB friends.  Can we give Lisa the help she needs to show Jelly Belly that her adorable cupcake with jelly bean design should be selected as the winner?

Good luck Lisa from everyone at ATC!

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.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the votes have been recalculated. Your 2008 Miss American Cupcake Winner is…

FLORIDA – Lime Cupcakes with Mango Buttercream!

This delectable recipe was submitted by Marta of Sugar Crush Cupcakes.

For the cake:

• A basic vanilla cupcake recipe or boxed vanilla cake
• 1 large lime

For the Frosting:

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 6+ cups powdered sugar
• 1 ripe mango
• 1 lime

Prepare the cupcakes as directed for your basic vanilla cupcake recipe.  Add the zest and juice of a whole lime (if avaliable Key Limes can be used here) to the prepared batter and fold in until it is incorporated.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.    While the cupcakes are cooling peel and dice one whole mango (about 1 cup).  Place the mango in a saucepan and add the juice of 1 lime.  On medium heat cook this down until the mango has become soft (stiring with a whisk helps this along), about 7-10 minutes.  When the mango peices have all broken down in the pot, transfer to a food processer and blend until smooth.  Set aside and allow to cool.   In a large bowl beat the softened butter until smooth.  Add two cups of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  Then add two more cups and beat until smooth.  Then add the milk and vanilla and two more cups of powdered sugar.  Once that is blended and smooth, add the cooled mango puree and blend.  Add more powdered sugar to reach the desired consistency.  Place frosting in a piping bag with a tip and frost the cooled cupcakes.  Decorate with a slice of lime.

Congrats from all of us here at All Things Cupcake, and thanks to all that participated!

Photo of Marta with her prize basket.