I recently discovered Fantasy Cupcakes on line, a lovely UK bakery that won a gold heart prize in the North West Fine Foods Awards, beating out 400 entries in the general foods competition.

Vegan Mudpie Cupcake

So I e-mailed Fantasy Cupcakes to ask for their secrets at taking a vegan cupcake into the mainstream.  The owner, Melinda, thought that the bitterness of the chocolate was the primary flavor of the cake and that it lingered on the palate.

Here’s a list of Melinda’s tips for vegan mud pie cupcakes:

• Use a little apple cider vinegar in the sponge batter instead of soya milk curdled with vinegar;
• Mix the wet ingredients together and fold in the dry ones; and,
• For the frosting, melt rich, dark chocolate mixed with soya cream, leave it to set, beat in a little powdered sugar until a firm(ish) spreading consistency is reached, spread onto the cupcake in a dome shape with a small palate knife, and dust with a good quality cocoa.

Melinda said the frosting recipe was an adaptation from a recipe for a vegan chocolate torte which was a family favorite for years.

For my two pence, I’d recommend using Cadbury’s cocoa powder.  It’s make in the UK and has more bite to it than its US Hershey counterpart.

I was so excited to discover this cupcake kit that I couldn’t seem to come up with blog post title of reasonable length. I cannot wait to play with this kit, and make my own cute little yummy cupcake-cheeseburgers. The kit, available from Cupcake Crafts, contains all you need to decorate like a professional: papers, icing tubes, tips, spice drops, taffy, sesame seeds, sprinkles, toothpicks, and pastry bag. And of course, you get comprehensive instructions! The kit comes in two sizes and if you opt for the “Full Meal Deal” option, you get cake mixes too!

Do you ever wonder how people make those sensational fondant creations to sit on top of their cakes and cupcakes?  Well wonder no longer you too can make a cheeky cute fondant monkey just like this one here!  How?  Well Cake Fixation last month posted a detailed step-by-step how to, with loads of photos to show you exactly how to make your own!

It looks so super easy thanks to Stephanie’s instructions!  Let us know if you have a go at trying to make this little monkey girl!

I recently went looking for a baking cookbook for a friend and found a great site called Snubbr,  a recommendation site.  You ask them for recommendations, and they’ll find an expert to give you advice on what to buy.   Check them out here.

I decided on one of our fan favorites (and mine too!),  Hello Cupcake! 

I love this book and am amazed by the clever use of ordinary food.  The step by step photos allow those visual learners (like me) to succeed in making wonderful looking cuppies.   My personal favorites are the spaghetti and meatballs and the pumpkins!  So many cupcakes for so many different ocassions.

This week we are giving away a free cookbook of your choice (could be baking, cupcake, whatever), thanks to the kind folks over at Snubbr.com.  First,  click here  to see what books you can choose from and then leave a comment in the comment area below telling us the title of the book (must be under $30), and a reason why you want to read it.  We’ll choose our favorite comment on July 4th, and announce it here.

No idea what cookbook to get? Why not head over to Snubbr.com?

Last August Cake Journal had a series of posts on Cupcake Decorating as part of a “How To” section. I thought these tips might be helpful for anyone struggling with their cupcakes. In part one, her favorite tool of the trade are discussed.  Part two moves on to the author’s personal favorite cupcake recipes.  For step three, you learn how to create buttercream domes and fondant circles.  Finally part four teaches you how to swirl!  If you have additional tips or advice, please share!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

PROFESSIONAL CUSTOM MADE CUPCAKE MASCOT COSTUME

from mercuryretrograde

Hello all my favorite cupcake goers! I had a creative spark this weekend and came up with a few things. If you guys could take a look at them and let me know what you think and if it is something that you would purchase. I am thinking about putting them on Etsy. Here are pictures … thanks for the feedback ahead of time!!