Sparkly New Year!

By on Sunday, January 1st, 2012

So my theme word of the year is “sparkly,” and what better place to start than with sparkly cupcakes!

There are cupcakeries named “Sparkle Cupcake Company.”

There are cupcake products with “sparkle.”

And then there is “Sparkle and Hay” with step by photo step illustrations of how to make these beautiful, sparkly cupcakes.  Their website and Facebook are all about rustic country chic weddings, so kick up your heels and get into your kitchen, turn on a little Sugarland, and start the new year off with sparkle!

 

It’s Christmas Crunch Time!

By on Monday, December 19th, 2011

Good Morning ATC Community! and welcome to the official start of crunch time.  These are the days that we second-guess whether we did enough of everything and end up doing too much!

If you’re like me, you’ve baked a fair amount of holiday treasures.

But holiday week is a bit like a marathon and, in the home stretch, who isn’t looking for fresh ideas to keep inspired?  The challenge I set to myself is whether I can come up with a week of images, recipes, and instructions to keep us all – myself included – at 350F from now through next Saturday.

These Baked Ideas images are cookies, but so fresh and original they will inspire your cupcake decorating ideas. Here’s a smorgasbord of cookie decorating ideas from “Baked Ideas” by Patti Paige, along with the Baked Ideas’ Facebook page  and the video on the Baked Ideas mini gingerbread houses.  3,000 each season!

If you’re still looking for last minute gifts, Baked Ideas even sells yoga cookie cutters.  How did she do that?  Here’s her video on piping royal icing onto each one of the yoga posed gingerbread men and here’s the Baked Ideas gingerbread recipe.

Ah-ha!  My Muse gripped that one!

Today, I’m going to springboard those Baked Ideas into spice cupcakes with yoga shapes drawn on the top, including some Sandskrit symbols, such as “Namaste.”  And I know just who is on my list for these yoga cupcakes

Now that’s what I mean about taking inspiration and giving yourself permission to be creative at the holidays!  What’s your idea?

Countdown:  6 days.