Everyone seems to be busy doing something for, or thinking about the upcoming event next Monday… that is Valentines Day.  For me I am not too sure what to do, I will have to get my fiance a card, but I don’t love all that soppy love stuff, it is right for some people, but not for me, so I think I am going to get a blank card with some amazing scenery on the front, and inside will write something alluding to our past travels and our future travels inside it…

I will also bake some cupcakes (thank goodness a Sunday precedes the day this year!).  So I was looking for some inspiration and stumbled on one our sponsor’s blogs.  The Cupcake Tower write some  great posts and this one features a image gallery of the colours fuchsia pink and yellow, oh and there is a bit of orange in there too.  I love it, really inspiring and fresh and a great idea for my valentines day theme, leaning away from the traditional red!

But if real cupcakes are not your thing, then you can always buy a cupfake and there is a great deal going on at the moment on these fun cupcakes.  Check out Forever MK Cupcakes, another ATC sponsor for a great range of cupcakes and best of all with their Valentines Day code (visible on their home page) you can get 15% off any order over $10.  But like all good things, it is for a limited time only so get in quick!

Whatever you do though!  Have a great day and even if you don’t believe in the Valentines Day hype, you can still give your beau a big kiss :)

Want a lovely way to make something fantastic for your cupcake loving valentine? Then I have found just the thing for you… a DIY yourself necklace kit with a cupcake twist.

I found this great DIY project on Etsy at Annie Howe’s shop.

Be Mine, Valentine — DIY Cupcake Necklace

Make sure you check out the rest of Annie’s shop. She has a bunch of great stuff.

Lovely ATC reader Jessica just sent us pictures of her Superbowl cupcakes! The first are vanilla cake, filled with chocolate chip cookie dough and topped with vanilla frosting. The second are chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache and topped with chocolate frosting. Yum! Thanks for sharing, Jessica!

 Congratulations to our five Batter Baby giveaway winners! 

jenny ventura
January 31st, 2011 at 11:10 am

Half cupcake:
I would make half shortcake and half dark chocolate. I would fill it with strawberry filling with a cream cheese frosting and nila wafers cookies crumbled on the top.
Yummmm !!!

Rachel Moyers
January 31st, 2011 at 11:49 am

I would make a strawberry mix– some would be half chocolate/strawberry And other half of the batter would be champagne/strawberry. YUMMM — This would be so exciting to try.

Angela S
January 31st, 2011 at 5:13 pm

I love this product! I would definetly use it for a baby shower I am going to where the mommy-to-be doesn’t know the sex of the baby! It would be half pink and half blue cupcakes (for girl or boy!) and flavored strawberry for the girl side and blueberry for the boy side! :]

Linda H.
February 1st, 2011 at 7:59 am

I can’t imagine a yummier, nor prettier, cupcake than one that’s pink (strawberry) and white (vanilla). Must be the world’s most perfect combination! Thank you for your nice giveaway.

Leah
February 1st, 2011 at 11:50 am

These are a brilliant idea & so versatile. I think I’d go with a classic combo of either vanilla & chocolate or maybe banana & chocolate. I’d love to see if it’s possible to cut the dividers down and make even more divisions, a way of making vertical rainbow cupcakes maybe?

Congrats and please email your mailing address to [email protected].  Thanks again to Kimber Cakeware for sponsoring this giveaway!

If you’re looking for a homemade  valentine idea that’s kid friendly these cupcake goodie valentines are just that! Martha Stewart came up with the crafty idea to create goodie bags out of cupcake liners to hold Valentine’s Day treats.  Here are the steps:

1. Flatten two paper cupcake liners. Place one liner face up, and lay the other face down on top of it.

2. Lift the edge, and apply glue along a short section. Press to attach; let dry. Continue gluing in sections, leaving the last section open. Fill with candy; seal opening with glue.

3. Cut out heart or other shape from construction paper; add cut-out images, ribbons, or paper or fabric flowers, and write or stamp a note. Glue onto center.

What would make a little girls birthday completely magical?

What else but unicorns and rainbows!  And that is what Alicake did for her girl’s birthday party!

These use white fondant for the faces and eyes, chocolate covered sunflower seeds for the horn, a black food coloring pen for the eyes and mouth, and tinted vanilla frosting for the hair.

I’m sure Kate loved them!

My sister shared this Design*Sponge video with me because she said it had to do with cupcakes.  As the Valentine’s Day DIY video by Tiger in a Jar began I was skeptical that cupcakes could be involved but I kept watching and right around 1:28 an unfrosted cupcake comes rolling out!  If you look at the image above, the base of the circus stands are cupcakes, tops removed, flipped over and frosted!  Watch the video for yourself and you’ll see the cupcake being transformed!

Love You Cupcake Card, $4.50, by Natalie Eden.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been looking for them or maybe it’s because cupcakes are still growing in popularity.  Both reasons are possible explanations for why I’ve found so many cute cupcake Valentine’s Day cards! Here are some of the best that I’ve found.

Conversation Heart Cupcake by Monkey Mind Design, $4.00

"You Want Me” cupcake card from Kate’s Paperie, $4.25

That’s right, last issue, one of our Sponsors Angel Heart Designs was featured in the popular Romantic Homes magazine.  The issue hit the stands in mid November and featured a full page about the very lovely Cindy Houot, who runs Angel Heart Designs.

It was an exciting month for Cindy, not only in relation to the magazine article, but she also announced the very exciting new line she is stocking which are all French inspired ceramics such as this beautiful clock.  The range is called Cynthia Joy Ceramics, so keep an eye out for them, but in the mean time you can read more in the article!

Girl Scout cookies are one thing I will never pass up — Thin Mint, Samoa, need I say any more. And of course I love cupcakes, so when I saw this I said,”Yes Please”

Duffy’s Sports Grill and Girl Scouts or Southern Florida teamed up to create this lovely piece of work.It is a chocolate cake cupcake with chocolate ganache and butter cream frosting topped off with a famous Samoa.  They are 99 cents and for each one sold 50 cents goes right back to the Girl Scouts.

I wish I lived in Florida so I could try one of these.

The Cupcake Ward Cookbook is a fundraising project created by a 12 year old girl, Georgie.  The money raised by sales of the book will go towards Great Ormond Street Hospital where a new ward, which will be called the Cupcake Ward, is being built.  The book features recipes by famous cookbook author’s such as Nigella Lawson and Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa. The book costs £17.00, including worldwide shipping (£13.00 with UK shipping) and can be purchased through bunnyandboo.net.

This is truly hilarious, and ATC thanks Alison of AliCakes for sharing them with us. Asked to bake for a “swim” themed baby shower, Alison got creative (and a little crazy). The cupcakes are rated G, but the cake? Adults only.

Read the rest of this entry »

These Sweet Girl Valentine’s Day Cards where the little girl is holding a cupcake are too cute! I am always impressed with how we are capable of customizing items, like these cards by Olliegraphic.  You pick the age, hair style & color, skin tone, eye shape & color, and glasses.  Basically you can make the little girl on the card look just like you! Finally you choose the text at the bottom of the card. The price of the cards depend on how many cards you order.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the hot new thing is Lasagna Cupcakes. While I’m a cupcake purist, and am excited by a simple chocolate chocolate, these do look delicious. These beauties are the creation of Heirloom-LA, a catering company in Eagle Rock, California. And yes, I know what you’re thinking — people do eat them with their hands. De-lish.

Dana Fox, the screenwriter of “Couples Retreat” and “What Happens in Vegas” offered her wedding guests lasagna cupcakes. I’m wondering how those fared with her (I’m assuming here) white dress.

Fossil, which most know as primarily a wrist watch company also offers handbags, wallets, and clothing.  This month Fossil has a DIY lookbook with great Valentine’s Day projects from some amazing blogs.  Two blogs which I read on a regular basis came up with DIY projects related to cupcakes.  Twig & Thistle blogged about her DIY Valentine Heart Wreath made out of cupcake liners. Creature Comforts came up with homemade cupcake wrappers and toppers.

I’ve just fallen in love with a new children’s book. I am sort of obsessed with children’s books anyway, and this one is just irresistible.

It starts out with, “If you give a cat a cupcake, he’ll ask for some sprinkles to go with it. When you give him the sprinkles, he might spill some on the floor. Cleaning up will make him hot, so he will need a bathing suit …” The story goes on, with the poor child waiting on the cat, all because of that first cupcake.

The book is part of a series that includes If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Pig a Party.

If you are like me, and you read the same books every night until you want to cry, this one is a good pick. And if you don’t have little ones begging for books, this makes a great gift for someone who does! It is available from Better World Books for $13.98.

Simply Cupcakes of Naples started as an online cupcake store four years ago, taking orders online and delivering cupcakes to Naples, Florida residents. Two years ago, the first store was opened and now a second store is being opened on Marco Island.  They have over 9500 Facebook fans.  Simply Cupcakes is considered the premier cupcake store in Southwest Florida and they also supply cupcakes to Nordstrom’s and ship bundt cakes worldwide.

Simply Cupcakes offers 28 cupcake selections in gourmet size and minis. They are booked for at least one cupcake wedding a week through April and are in the process of hiring their 5th baker.

In addition to being a very successful cupcake store, Simply Cupcakes offers training for people who want to open their own cupcake business; either storefront or online. In a little over a year, they have trained people in 25 locations from California to Puerto Rico. The training is either ‘hands on’ in Naples or through a Distance Learning Program. It includes the very popular recipes, a license to use the Simply Cupcakes name, an exclusive territory with only on Simply Cupcakes in a county, a logo, a website, marketing, recommended suppliers and ongoing support. The ‘hands on’ training sessions are only done four times a year with the next one March 19-21 but the Distance Learning Training can be started any time.  Details can be found here.

Joanne Glasgow, owner of Simply Cupcakes said “When I first started out, it was trial and error since there was nowhere to get info on starting a cupcake business. After I started, many people contacted me and asked for help. They said that they could bake but had no idea how to start a business. That’s why I created this program.”

“We train people to do what I did… start online and build a customer base. Then if they decide to open a store, they have customers from the first day. We have been told that our training program is the only one of it’s kind anywhere. All of the people we have trained have become a community who exchange ideas and info at our online Message Board. The entire program is unique and has been proven to work. It’s the same concept of a franchise… being in business for yourself but not by yourself… but without the big franchise fee, restrictions or ongoing expenses.”

This is a sponsored post by Simply Cupcakes.

I just found these at One India Living, and couldn’t believe how fast and simple they are to make! No fondant needed, just unwrap a bite size candy bar, and “insert” it into cupcake. Then frost around the candy bar. You an also use frosting to stick facial features to the candy bar. These cupcake artists used jelly beans for eyes and nose, and m&m’s for ears and stache, but you use just about anything. A crushed Oreo serves as “dirt” from the groundhog’s hole. Too cute!

Happy Groundhog Day! Enjoy the rest of winter, ahem, I mean, spring!

Groundhog day is one of those holidays you get excited about as a kid but as an adult you seem to forget about; at least I know I do.  But since tomorrow’s Groundhog Day it’s the perfect excuse to bake cupcakes, more specifically  to make these Groundhog Day cupcakes by Lilly Jane.  I found this recipe via Hip Hip Hooray and really like how easy they are with the DIY toppers for the groundhog  and cocoa powder for the shadow.  I would only want to eat one without a shadow which means spring will come quickly! Below are the four simple steps to decorating your cupcakes for Groundhog Day.  For the groundhog cupcake topper PDF visit Lilly Jane’s original post!

1. Bake some delicious cupcakes.

2. Frost cupcakes with a white tones frosting (so it looks like snow)

3. Using tape and a little extra paper create a stencil from your cupcake topper paper trimmings. Dust cocoa powder onto cupcake.

4. Gently push groundhog cupcake topper into cupcake, just behind your new cocoa powder shadow.