Omega-3 Cupcake by The Meatloaf Bakery

Meatloaf cupcakes aren’t just for April Fool’s Day anymore. Chicago’s Meatloaf Bakery serves them up every day of the week, along with bite-sized loafies (so cute!) and full-sized meatloaves. Cynthia, aka The Chief Mealoaf Maker, had been experimenting in meatloaf for years when she asked herself the question, “Who said meatloaf always had to be baked as a‚ well, as a loaf?” At that point, she found herself free to make her meatloaves are pretty as she wanted them to be.   And really, what’s better looking than a cupcake?
Read the rest of this entry »

The Amazing Twinkie Chan!

I came across Twinkie Chan’s delicious wares when I wrote the post about the cupcake goodies to be found at the Japan LA Pop Culture Shop.  Twinkie Chan is the creative genius behind the Yummy You! line of knitted/wearable foodstuffs; the knitted cupcake scarf featured in the Japan LA post is one of her creations.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sweets for Sweetest Day by Shari's Berries

The third Saturday in October is Sweetest Day; this year that falls on October 16th. It’s a wee holiday that’s mostly celebrated up in the Great Lakes region with the giving of small gifts to loved ones. Sweetest Day originated in Cleveland, Ohio in 1922 as a PR move by a committee of Cleveland confectioners: on the first Sweetest Day, 20,000 boxes of candy were distributed to the city’s poor and unfortunate by movie stars. Admittedly, giving boxes of candy to the needy is great press, but what I take away from this is that Sweetest Day is about giving to those who need it most.

I want to advocate for a revival of Sweetest Day as a holiday where we again give to the most vulnerable among us.  Since we can all agree that cupcakes are way better/sweeter than candy, it’s pretty easy to see how we can fit our favorite baked good into this equation.  Also, from what I’ve read in All Things Cupcake, cupcake aficionados are all about uniting our favorite food with philanthropy.  This is something we do naturally – it’s no secret cupcake-lovers are sweethearts.

Celebrations of Sweetest Day can be as literal as giving cupcakes to orphans, but they could also take the form of bake sales to feed the hungry or to raise awareness about epilepsy. We’ve already seen the outpouring of cupcakes and funds in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti and Jody Hall‘s use of Cupcake Royale as a platform for social justice.   Let’s use Sweetest Day as a way to celebrate the best parts of ourselves and to use cupcakes to their greatest potential – helping our fellow human beings.

—

If you decide to plan something for Sweetest Day, let us know! We at All Things Cupcake would love to hear about our readers plans to bring back what is possibly the only cupcake-related social justice holiday in existence.

Cayenne Chocolate Cupcake by Carpe Cupcakes!

National Cupcake Day was way back in March, so it’s about time for another cupcake holiday, right?  I’m pretty sure that National Chocolate Cupcake Day wasn’t created by an act of Congress, but if Cupcakes Take the Cake and National Food Holidays say it’s a holiday, that’s good enough for me.

In case chocolate isn’t your thing, National Angel Food Cake Day is October 10th, National Dessert Day is October 14th, National Candy Corn Day is October 30th, the third Saturday in October is Sweetest Day, and of course there’s Halloween. October has plenty of good reasons to bake and enjoy delicious cupcakes!

Continuing the run of Uncommon (cupcake!) Goods posts, here is just the sweetest little sugar and creamer set I’ve ever seen.  Artist Beth Mueller hand-paints these herself in her studio in Vermont. I love how adorably but simply she conveys the ideas of cream and sugar!  This ceramic duo isn’t cheap, but then again you’re getting what you pay for in cute creativity and handmade in the USA quality.

ATC grandmaster Harrison Hung recently sent me this comic, which cracked me up and reminded me of a timely cupcake recipe…

So as not to just tease our faithful readers with mentions of pumpkin cupcake recipes, and also since it’s almost fall, here is an award-winning recipe for Cream-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes, courtesy of Taste of Home.
Read the rest of this entry »

Jessie Oleson, also known as Cakespy, recently upped the ante for filled cupcakes by creating…a cupcake-stuffed cupcake.  I do not kid.  She really made cupcakes that were stuffed with an even smaller cupcake.  We have the picture and the recipe to prove it.

Those cupcakes are full of it...and by it we mean more cupcakes. (photo courtesy of Cakespy and Serious Eats Recipes)

Read the rest of this entry »

Tweet Tweet Cupcake Set by Uncommon Goods

Cupcakes of a feather flock together!  Apparently, so does good cupcake merchandise, since this is my second great cupcake accessory find from Uncommon Goods.  The Tweet Tweet Cupcake Set is $12 and has enough wrappers and toppers for 24 cupcakes, which seems like a decent deal to me.  The folks at the Uncommon Goods labs were also kind enough to throw in the recipe for Orange Pineapple Sunshine Cupcakes in their blog post as well:

Orange-Pineapple Sunshine Cupcakes or Cake (Serves 21 or 16)
Cupcakes/Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 cup applesauce
4 eggs
1 can mandarin oranges in light syrup (11 oz.)

Frosting:

1 8 oz. container Cool Whip (Lite or Regular)
1 pkg (3-4 oz.) INSTANT vanilla pudding mix
1 can (15 1/2 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg. In a large bowl, stir together all the cake ingredients until moist. Beat by hand for 2 minutes. Chop up the oranges as you mix.

2) Line a muffin pan with cupcake papers or coat a 13×9 cake pan with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the papers/pan. Bake cupcakes for
25 minutes or bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

3) Frosting: In a large bowl, mix together all the frosting ingredients until well blended. Spread over the cupcakes/cake. Store in fridge. Enjoy!

Toolkit for Tasty Filled Cupcakes :)

I was paging through the Uncommon Goods catalog the other day when I came across this cupcake corer and decorating set.  You can find decorating sets and kits all over the place, but I thought that the corer that’s included in this kit set it apart.  Getting just the right-sized filling hole in a cupcake can be fussy, possibly crumbling the cupcake in the process.

In case you’re skeptical about this corer’s usefulness or the quality of the kit in general, Uncommon Goods did a gift lab on this product to see how well it worked. While

Finished Filled Cupcakes!

a manufacturer’s take on their own product isn’t exactly objective, the post is pretty informative about the kit’s performance.

You’ll want to click the link to get the long version, the short version is that the cupcakes weren’t picture perfect, but they turned out better than they would have without the kit.  All in all, it sounds like it’s worth the $20 price tag if you’re into making filled cupcakes on a regular basis.

Harry Potter and The Order of the Cupcakes!

This Nerdcake of the Week post comes from ATC fan Kelsie and her baking blog, Cakes by Kelsie:

I love your weekly Nerdcakes post on the blog (I’m quite nerdy myself), and I just wanted to share my favorite “nerdcakes.” I made these Harry Potter cupcakes for the premiere of the 6th movie last summer. They’re too cute and I hope they can put a little smile on your face like they did for me! ;o)

Thanks Kelsie! After reviewing the (hilarious) video myself, the likenesses look spot on. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, or just like very silly YouTube videos, I highly recommend the Harry Potter Puppet Pals Channel. If you click below, you can judge if Kelsie captured the essence of the HP3 yourself.

Harry Potter and the Myterious Ticking Noise

Pac-Man Cupcakes by hello naomi

hello naomi takes the nerdcake for the second week in a row with her Pac-Man Cupcakes. This 80 cupcake set is an expansion on an earlier batch of Pac-Man cupcakes; the set shown above is actually a wedding cake for a friend of Naomi’s.

Super Mario Cupcake by hello naomi

There’s nothing more classic geek than Super Mario Brothers.  I love how sharply detailed the iconic little characters turn out in fondant!

Amazing cupcakes and picture by ATC favorite and baker extraordinaire, hello naomi. Thanks to GeekSugar for the cupcake tip!

After my post about the Blue Q Cupcake Shopper by the fine folks of 64 Colors, I took a tour of the 64 Colors photostream.  And what d’ya know: more cupcakes!

Cakewalk

Falling

Cuppycake Pals

Hello Kitty Print

Also, I checked around the internet, and as I far as I can tell everything here was custom, either one-of-a-kind and already sold or for a show. However, if you like 64 Colors and you don’t mind your merch not having a cupcake on it, check out their online store or search for them at Rotofugi.

2009-2010 Holiday Location of The Cupcake Store at Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney is about to have a new permanent attraction: cupcakes!  The Cupcake Store, based out of Mission Viejo, CA, had such a successful temporary holiday booth at Downtown Disney that they’ve decided to open up shop there permanently. Word is that they’ll ship in cupcakes daily from the bakery in Mission Viejo to the happy hordes looking to take a break from Splash Mountain and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

The Cupcake Store is run by cupcake veteran Janel Mitchell. This is her first solo store after parting ways with business partner John Frank, with whom she founded Frostings Cupcakes.  The new Downtown Disney location is set to open up in September. With any luck, they’ll be up and running by the time I go down to SoCal for a visit in a few weeks. If that’s the case, I’ll tell you all about it!

While combing the internets for cuteness, I found Japan LA and their adorable store. Among the Hello Kitty and the sushi scarves, there I discovered some prize cupcake accessories.

Rilakkuma Cupcake Pouch - oh no, it's brand spankie new and it's already sold out!

Yummy You! Knitted Cupcake Scarf - $65

Yummy You! Knitted Cupcake Purse - $70

Applecupcake gets the credit for introducing the design collective 64 Colors to ATC earlier this summer with her post about the group’s custom-painted Cupcake Dunny.  So this is part follow-up, part realization that I own something designed by them.

The Blue Q Sweet Cupcake Shopper is equal parts adorable and useful.  It’s got plenty of space and good strap length, and is a step above most reusable shopping bags in stylish cuteness and sturdiness (woven polypropylene is tough stuff!).  Two more important Sweet Cupcake Shopper attributes: you can own one without having to tackle anyone for it, and it’s only $12.

American Cupcake's Red Velvet Fried Chicken (photo by Anthony Mylott)

San Fransisco restaurant American Cupcake decided that the world could use more red velvet.  AC’s owner Devon Alpert reckoned that if  everyone loved the flavor in cake and cupcakes, they would like it in fried chicken too.   And it looks like she was absolutely right. In the delicious words of urbandaddy:

At first glance, it’ll look like a heaping plate of leg, thigh and breast. But upon further inspection, you’ll see that the chicken has taken on a slight reddish hue. That’s because your precious fried bird has been pre-soaked in AC’s signature red velvet cake batter, then dredged in toasted, crumbled bits of red velvet cupcake before being dipped in a frying pan.

Because they don’t want their delicious fried chicken to be lonely, American Cupcake includes a side of cream cheese and garlic mashed potatoes, inspired by the frosting on the cake.

Nomskulls - Silicon Skull Cupcake Molds by Fred & Friends

If I did “Nerdcake Product of the Week”, Nomskulls would be top of the list in the category.  These cutie-skull molds come four in a box for $12 from Fred & Friends (though you’ll have to go to Amazon or Pop Deluxe to actually buy them).  F&F also includes a recipe for the squiggly brain frosting shown on the above nomskullcake:

FRED’S BRAINY FROSTING

• 1 recipe for vanilla frosting (or a store-bought tub)
• confectioners’ sugar (for stiffer frosting )
• red or black food coloring (or both)
• pastry bag and a large round tip (#12 works well)

Add confectioners’ sugar to the frosting until it‘s stiff enough to hold its form, yet still soft enough to pipe. To the frosting add food coloring(s) to reach desired color. If your cupcakes aren’t dome shaped, pile on a small mound of frosting first. Then pipe two lines down the center of the cupcake. Finally, pipe a squiggly pile of frosting onto each “hemisphere”. Mmmm…brains.

Mini Cupcake Factory by ThinkGeek

ThinkGeek, the purveyor of many things great and geeky, has recently gone into the business of selling geek food.  They started with canned bacon (seriously) and have now moved on to making mini cupcake factories available to geeks everywhere. The mini cupcake factory bakes seven tiny cupcakes in 5 minutes.  According to the website, any storebought or scratch-made cake mix will do and tiny paper cups are optional.

The one con I can think of for a mini cupcake factory is that if you’re into giant cupcakes, this really isn’t going to do it for you.  On the other hand, the pros are 7 cupcakes in 5 minutes (!) and a higher lightly crispy outer crust to inner cake ratio.  Take a look at the video and see what you think:  Mini Cupcake Factory by ThinkGeek

photo courtesy of Look Cupcake

These were created for a first birthday party that was ever-so-appropriately hosted at Woodland Park Zoo.   I like the mural-like frosting art on the cake, but am particularly tickled by the detailing on the cupcakes:

Photo courtesy of Look Cupcake

Rawr! Beware the wild cupcake!  They may be sweet, but they are fierce!

We usually think of cupcakes as a treat that’s available to everyone. Their small size seems to even make them an option for those with more restricted diets. This, sadly, isn’t entirely true, especially for those with celiac disease and gluten intolerance.  When you can’t eat wheat flour, creating cupcakes becomes a much bigger undertaking.

This is where Miglet’s Cupcake Shop of Danville, CA, comes in to save the day.  Miglet’s specializes in gluten-free baked goods – they started with cupcakes and soon expanded to everything from cinnamon buns to hamburger buns.  Katie Alin, Miglet’s founder, started the bakery after working at The Taylor Family Foundation’s Celiac Camp and at Whole Foods and seeing how hard it was for those with gluten-free diets to satisfy their sweet tooth. Read the rest of this entry »

photo courtesy of Clever Cupcakes

Clever Cupcakes yet again prove they are veritable demigods of fondant with this cupcake set for a two-year old’s birthday party. The tire cupcake is my personal favorite – I think it really shows the care they put into their decoration. The theme of the birthday party was the Disney movie Cars. Since Clever Cupcakes doesn’t make a practice of copying the likenesses of trademarked characters, even in fondant, they use opportunities to be more creatively true to their assigned theme.

Lingerie Cupcakes by Look Cupcake (photo courtesy of Look Cupcake)

Wow, these lingerie cupcakes are lookin’ good.  I’ll be sure to keep Look Cupcake in mind next time I hear someone needs treats for their bachelorette party! They’re stuff isn’t cheap, but it’s conveniently located next door to me in Seattle (on Queen Anne Hill) and you cannot beat their presentation. Too bad they only do events – if they had a storefront, I’d stop by to see if these taste as good as they look!

photo courtesy of Taekwonweirdo

photo courtesy of Taekwonweirdo

photo courtesy of Taekwonweirdo

I thought these little guys were just charming as all get out. They were made up by Bittersweet Bakery for a little boy’s first birthday party.  Bittersweet is an outfit out in Chicago that has a full menu and does cakes and cupcakes for events like weddings and wee little birthday parties.

(see Taekwonweirdo’s photostream here)

Cupcake Dress Display by Alice in Cakeland

This lovely dress, which is possibly the best cupcake stand ever, was created by Alice in Cakeland for the kickoff of Amsterdam International Fashion Week at Maison de Bonneterie.  Alice in Cakeland was founded by American transplant Rebecca Treherne, who decided to start up her own bespoke, American-style cupcakery because she “was disappointed to not find an American cupcake that tasted as good as it looked” in the fine city of Amsterdam.  These are some fine looking cupcakes, so I hope that Rebecca has succeeded in her mission to make them taste as good as they look.