During the summer’s hottest and most humid days, there are times when you want a cooler alternative to cakey cupcakes with thick and sugary icing. Those muggy days are where cheesecake cupcakes can be the perfect substitute. Their density isn’t overly sweet and they’re usually at their tastiest when served chilled. While cheesecake cupcakes work with or without toppings, the fresh fruit of summer is often the perfect finishing touch. So here are recipes for several cheesecake cupcakes to try.

Read the rest of this entry »

It looks like cupcakes may be on Oprah’s list of favorite things. The OWN section of Huffington Post has, well, posted a slideshow of fantastic cupcake recipes. Several are twists on old favorites. Adding a swirl of caramel to a simple vanilla cupcake is an easy way to shake up the classic. Or adding a dash of cinnamon to the cream cheese frosting that traditionally sits atop red velvet cupcakes. The candy pie cupcakes are more of a decorating idea with the linked recipe using a standard vanilla cupcake but substitutions should be easy. In fact, a blueberry cupcake or cherry cupcake that coordinate to the colored M&Ms could taste like chocolate dipped fruit. Other flavors featured, are a little more involved. Read the rest of this entry »

Coffee cake already borders the boundary between breakfast treat and decadent dessert. It doesn’t take much to turn your favorite weekend brunch or late morning snacks into an excuse to have cupcakes for breakfast. Many of the recipes I found for coffee cake cupcakes labeled themselves “coffee cake muffins” but if the word “cake” appears anywhere in the description, I think calling them “muffins” is misguided. You can use a muffin pan, but they’re still cupcakes. Especially when they’re glazed or have any kind of icing. These three recipes rightly asserted themselves as cupcakes.

Read the rest of this entry »

From the authors of the famously popular Hello, Cupcake! comes What’s New Cupcake?   I just received this newest recipe book last week and it is amazing!  

Here’s what Amazon.com had to say about this yummy book:

The endlessly imaginative duo who turned cupcaking into a national pastime is back, with utterly new, eye-popping creations anyone can make. Create a race-car cupcake, a robot cupcake, or ravishing jewelry cupcakes for a birthday party. Surprise the family with Chinese takeout dinner cupcakes on April Fool’s or serve up a goofy chocolate moose. Captivate Mom with a bouquet of long-stemmed rose cupcakes and build sand castle cupcakes with the kids. All you need are candies from the corner store and cake mix and canned frosting.

Be on the lookout for my What’s New Cupcake? review and recipe book giveaway here on ATC at the end of this month.  You might be the winner of one of these books!