What’s in a label?  We all know the answer to that question:  jobs.

So I started to wonder if the cupcake industry should be declared the gold star of American business for creating local jobs.  Cupcakes from The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery in Raleigh to the Little Cake Bakery in Atlanta are baked fresh daily in our local bakeries.  This part of the argument seemed easy enough.

But are supplies made in the USA also easy to find?

Cupcake Couture

How about these lovely cupcake holders from House on the Hill, made in Seattle Washington, that they put on their website under “Cupcake Couture?”  Or, check out Wedding Fads for their baking supplies, like cupcake stands the size of wedding cakes – all made in the USA.  Global Sugar Art has a multi-page list of supplies, including lovely, lacey cupcake wrappers that are laser cut in the USA.

Just by adding “made in the USA” to your search strings for supplies and suppliers, you can join in the patriotic parade.

‘Party in a Box’ is what cupcaketree.com is calling one of their new cupcake stands.  This do-it-yourself kit includes a reusable tiered cupcake stand, 36 cupcake wrappers, and 4 sets of colorful disc overlays for the different tiers.  This product allows you to customize your cupcake display for different parties and events and it’s reusable.  Sounds like a great and easy way to put some creativity into your next get-together!

I don’t know about you, but I love chocolate and peanut butter, especially when they’re together!  I think I just might have to try this recipe.  The cupcake itself is chocolate and the frosting is whipped together with peanut butter.  If you’re a fan of Reese’s peanut butter cups, they can be added to the batter or stuck to the top.

ATC reader Tom sent us these pictures of his multipurpose motocross cupcake stand.  Tom set out to create a cupcake stand that once done displaying cupcakes could double as a race track for his son, Ryan aka the birthday boy!  Ryan celebrated his third birthday with a theme dedicated to his love of  motocross.  With the help of his crafty wife, Tom created a track that is to scale and large enough  for a two dozen cupcakes to be displayed on.  After displaying the cupcakes, Ryan is able to race his collection of toy motorcycles on the track. Read the rest of this entry »

From Pinkalicious to Strawberry Shortcake, there seems to be a domination of cupcake images with pink and with girls.  On June 21, you can even tune in to season two of Canada’s “The Cupcake Girls.”

But says who?

Jackson loves cupcakes!

I have certainly never known a boy to turn up his nose at a cupcake and say, “Ew!  That’s for girls!”  See, for example, my proof of the same:  a photograph of Jackson eating one of my homemade cupcakes.

According to Jackson’s mother, when asked for his opinion on the matter, Jackson definitely had one, and it went something like this:

Nancy:  Do boys like cupcakes more than girls?

Jackson:  Boys.

Nancy:  Why?

Jackson:  I think some girls might be allergic to them.

So there you have it from the expert!

Happy Monday loyal cupcake fans! It’s giveaway time!!

 This week’s giveaway comes to you from ATC sponsor, Cake Sugar Designs.  They specialize in personalized edible cupcake toppers.   Actually, these toppers can be put on brownies, cakes and cookies too!  They are made with thin sheets of icing and food grade inks.   I am amazed by the variety of choices in their online shop.  And here is the best part- Cake Sugar Designs is giving away 24 toppers this week!  And the winner will get to pick whatever design they like best! 

So here’s how you enter: first check out Cake Sugar Designs and pick out your fav design.  Then come back to ATC, click on the comment area below and and tell us what is was and how you would use it.   One sweet winner will be chosen on Monday, June 27th.

Make sure to fan them onFacebook  and follow them on Twitter too!

The Sweetest Occasion has really great party inspiration from guest bloggers like these edible cupcake toppers from Hank + Hunt.  I love combining bakers twine which is so popular with Fruit Roll-Up pendants.  For those with more patients the edible flowers are more time consuming but look great on top of cupcakes! Last time Hank + Hunt guest blogged on The Sweetest Occasion they shared a tutorial on how to crate Pom Pom Heart Toppers.  While checking out the site be sure to look at the printable protest cupcake toppers.  I think my favorite is the one that says “You can work it off tomorrow.”

Happy Father’s Day to all the cupcake loving dads!  Do you need a last minute Father’s Day cupcake idea? How about these lawnmower coconut cupcakes that Kiss My Spatula tweeked from Martha Stewart.  Made from died coconut and a variety of candy you’ll be able to easily find the ingredients at your local grocery store.

Read the rest of this entry »

These orange grilled cupcakes have been on my “to-bake” list for some time now.  Now that it is summer, and it is H-O-T outside, it is the perfect time to attempt these cupcakes by Stef from Cupcake Project.  Even though I have never grilled anything I think cupcakes is the perfect food to start with, right?  For these cupcakes you grill the cupcake batter directly in the orange halves! Just be careful if you use a cupcake pan, Stef said that her pan charred. Below are the instructions for grilling, if you would like the vanilla cupcake recipe that she used and some more tips, check out the origianl post.

1. Cut the oranges in half and scoop out the insides. You don’t have to be perfect about it. If there is some orange left in there it will just be a tasty treat at the bottom of your cupcake.
2. Fill the orange halves 3/4 full with cupcake batter.
3. Place the oranges in foil directly on the wood or coal as shown in the picture on the left or set the oranges in a cupcake tray on the grill as shown in the picture on the right. I tried both methods. I think the cupcake tray worked better but the tray got a bit charred and is a pain to clean. Use an old one if you have one.
4. Monitor the cupcakes really closely. The cooking speed will vary depending on the heat of your grill. You may also need to rotate the tray or the individual cupcakes to account for uneven heat. You know they are done when a toothpick comes out dry. It took mine about 10 minutes to cook.

Finally, after a 39 year ‘drought’ the Boston Bruins finally won the Stanley Cup  this past Wednesday! After a fierce 7 game series with the Vancouver Canucks the Bruins shut them out 4-0! Being from New England, I was very excited, as were most of my family members and friends, when they finally won.

What would be a better way to celebrate the Bruins victory but with cupcakes! Megan from Delicious Dishings did just that (well she celebrated early) but she celebrated none-the-less.

Boston Bruins Black And Gold Cupcakes

Way to go Bruins!

Did that title catch your attention?  The name might not sound appetizing (okay, maybe it just sounds downright wrong), but these cupcakes probably aren’t quite what you would expect from the sound of it.  The cupcake and icing themselves can be recipes of your own choosing.  Top the icing off with a circus peanut (hot dog bun), a caramel square (hot dog), yellow icing (mustard), and green gum drops cut into small pieces (pickle relish).  Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?  If you’d like to throw your guests for a loop at your next summer pool party or cook-out, be sure and check out the recipe here.

I have a confession to make, I am a Harry Potter fan.  I have read all the books, seen all the movies, and want to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure park.  One of the reasons I want to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is because I have always wanted to try butterbeer, even though it is a fictitious drink.  If you’re at all like me you might want to try out this recipe for Butterbeer Cupcakes.  The recipe comes from AmyBites who was lucky enough to get to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!  Click “continue reading” for the recipe!

Read the rest of this entry »

Hostess Snack Cakes.  Gotta love their cupcakes.  Golden.  Chocolate.  Orange.  Fondant-y icing.  Seven, white squiggles down the middle.  Vanilla creme frosting in the middle.  Wrapped in plastic.  Mass producted.

Hostess is big business.  Hostess Brands, which owns Hostess Snack Cakes, employs 21,000 people in 39 bakeries in 41 states across the U.S.A.  (In case you’re interested:  they’re hiring.)

Hostess is still celebrating its February 2011 launch of the strawberry cupcake, so it’s not too late for you to vote for your favorite Hostess cupcake and get a chance to win $25,000 and other, daily prizes.

According to the Hostess Director of Marketing, “Hostess sets the standard for timeless treats that are loved from generation to generation.”  So just how many Hostess cupcakes do Americans eat every year?  600,000,000.  And it’s Memphis, Tennessee that’s the Hostess cupcake eating capital of the Hostess empire.

How do you carry your cupcakes? I just found two great cupcake carriers/holders.

Wire Cupcake Caddy from Bake It Pretty

I absolutely love this carrier. I love the look of the it. It would be perfect in my apartment.

Inflate & Take Cupcake Carrier from Chef’s Resource

This is quite the comical cupcake carrier. It reminds me of a float you would use in the pool in the summer. Plus, its great if you live in a place with limited storage!

Coffee and donuts take on a whole new meaning when they are in the form of cupcakes.  Always With Butter is a baking and cooking blog that has such amazing photography and recipes that I want to make everything.  The coffee and donut cupcakes look good enough to eat for breakfast!   The best part is that the recipes are on cute recipe cards with a kitchen utensil banner across the top.

Baked by Melissa, a New York City bakery specializing in a line of mini-cupcakes, has a fun, new feature on their website where you can create your own edible cupcake art.  Begin by choosing the number of mini-cupcakes you want (anywhere from 100- 2,500, arranged in a rectangle).  Then select from 18 different cupcake flavors (s’mores, cookies and cream, peanut butter and jelly, red vanilla and pink vanilla are some of the options) to create your own colorful design.  Read the rest of this entry »

Kate from See Kate Sew used a template to create her own cupcake wrappers from old magazine pages.  The wrappers are easy to make and you simply place the cupcake inside the wrapper after baking.  I found this pdf template for cupcake wrappers if you are interested in making your own wrappers.

It’s graduation season which means you might be looking for a fun way to decorate the grad in your life’s cupcakes.  How about these fun Jumping For Joy cupcake toppers from Queen Bee Inspiration’s Etsy shop.  The set of 12 is only $8.00 and you choose from either the guy or a girl.

Happy National Iced Tea Day everyone!  What better way to celebrate this fun little holiday then with this Iced Tea Cupcake recipe found via Tastespotting.  Hannah from BitterSweet blog created this cupcake recipe that seems perfect for today, especially since here in the south it’s 95^oF outside!   They also seem like a good recipe for fathers day, which is only 9 days away!  Read the rest of this entry »

Mojito Cupcake

By now, you have probably all seen or read the news that two cupcake “recipes” were used in an MI6 British Secret Intelligence cyberattack of an al-Qaeda e-zine.  What I read several days ago and took as a bit of humor in The Guardian, a British newspaper, has now become worldwide news.

So I thought:  what recipes?

According to United Press International, the two recipes used were from Main Street Cupcakes (Hudson, OH).

Wrong.  The two, specific cupakes used in the cyberattack were the “mojito cupcake” and the “rocky road cupcake.”  Yes, the mojito is from Main Street Cupakes and it’s a “white rum cake with hints of mint and lime covered in vanilla buttercream with a Mojito buttercream garnish.”  But, the “rocky road cupcake” is from Cupcake (Charleston, SC), and it’s “dark chocolate cake plus chocolate icing with toasted almonds.”  This I found out by locating the original .pdf from the Ellen Degeneres show parodied by MI6.

What I did not find were “recipes.”

We may have to file this report of recipes from “The Best Cupcakes in America” entering the public domain under “false intelligence.”

Still wondering what to bake on the third Sunday in June? Here are some ideas from Simply Sweets from Scottsdale, Arizona!

S'Mores Cupcakes: Graham Cracker Batter and Roasted Marshmallow Topping

Looking for some cupcakes to take to a cook-out or on a camping trip?  Are you in need of something that won’t melt in the sweltering heat?  You don’t need to look any further, because we’ve found a s’mores cupcake recipe just for you.  The best thing about them?  The toasted-marshmallow topping is super easy (just throw some mini-marshmallows on top before sticking them in the oven) and it won’t melt in the summer heat like frosting does! Read the rest of this entry »

Magnolia Bakery (c Sam Dow)

Let the cupcake wars begin!

Magnolia Bakery – of Sarah Jessica Parker fame – is about to face some serious competition from Georgetown Cupcake – of DC Cupcake fame.  The official announcement, made June 7, forecasts the opening of the NYC store in winter 2011.

Can anyone weigh in on who will win this war?

Will it be Magnolia with their “delicately textured lemon cupcake filled with a tart lemon cream and topped with lemon meringue buttercream,” now on its second owner, having already been sold once since its 1996 opening in Greenich Village?  Or will it be sisters Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne with their “Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a whipped Callebaut chocolate frosting topped with a fondant flower” at the shop in SoHo?

If the yumminess of website photographs is factor to handicap this competition, my money is on Katherine & Sophie.

Lipstik Factory creates hand made lip glosses in small batches. Larry G is the owner and creator of Lipstik Factory which has several flavor lines including a line of cupcake lip glosses.  Larry hand-blends, pours, shrink-bands, and labels each of his one-of-a kind creations.  ATC was sent the cupcake lip glosses to review which arrived in two different packaging styles.  In the five pack tin for $49.00, the flavors were orange cream, strawberry shortcake, pralines and cream, red velvet, and cupcake.  We were also sent an individual tube of angel cake lip gloss which costs $15.00.

The  Angel cake really did smell like angel food cake and because of Larry’s layering technique it actually looked like a slice of cake, with sprinkles on top, inside a tube.  When applying the lip gloss a little bit goes a long way and once it is on your lips you can smell the cake flavor more.  I especially liked that the lip gloss was glossy but not sticky, something that normally deters me from using lip gloss.  The angel cake flavor was a good neutral color on my lips.  The cupcake scented lip gloss had a fruity smell, and because of this it seemed perfect for kids or young teens. Read the rest of this entry »

Chocolate + Guinness= A Man's Cupcake

Looking for a special Father’s Day treat for your father or husband this year?  Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, CA has put a manly spin on the cupcake.  This bakery will be selling Guinness cupcakes from June 10-19.  If you don’t live within driving distance, they have been kind enough to share the recipe with us.

Since he’ll probably be asking for more, be sure and check out other beer cupcake recipes that ATC has posted in the past: Beer, Cheese, Bacon & Cream Cheese Cupcake, St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes, and winning recipes from the Scharffen Berger Cupcake Adventure Contest. We hope Dad will be impressed!