Today’s find from Real Simple was Scrumptious Mail-Order Cupcakes.  Real Simple complied a list of 8 different cupcakeries that offer to ship their delicious cupcakes.  Included on the list are some cupcakes we have blogged about before including Crumbs Cupcakes for Big Appetites and Godiva for Chocolate Lovers.  Even this week’s ATC Giveaway, Saint Cupcake, was mentioned for DIY-ers.  If you have an occasion that calls for cupcakes, this compiled list may help.  I would also like to mention that Georgetown Cupcakes are some of the best cupcakes I have had.  I am not sure how well they are shipped but I know they survived a five hour car ride for me to try them and they were great.  Similarly Crumbs were brought back on a 2 hour plane ride from New York and tasted fresh the next day when I tried them.

This week I’d like to re-introduce you to one of our fabulous cupcake bakeries, Saint Cupcake.   They are no stranger to us here at ATC because we have happily blogged about them before.  Check out this previous tempting post.  Their homebase bakeries are in Portland Oregon but they ship their wonderful cuppies all over the US.   Here’s how it works: Go to their lovely site and choose either 3, 6 or 12 cupcakes.  Then use their fancy cupcake selector to build your cupcakes – drag & drop your cake flavors, icings, and sprinkles – and they’ll send them to you in a cute kit along with an icing wand and easy-peasy decorating tips.

This week, Saint Cupcake is giving away 6 cupcakes of your design.  Just go to their menu page and pick out your favorite flavor.  Then come back to ATC and tell us what it was in the comment area below.  One winner will be chosen on May 10th.  Thanks Saint Cupcake for sponsoring this delicious giveaway! 

It was a hot 95 degrees today in North Carolina which made it feel like summer was already here.  With summer comes grilling and campfires both of which are perfect for making s’mores.  Thinking of s’mores reminded me of the s’mores cupcake I had from Kara’s cupcakes in San Francisco, California.  I have found a couple delicious looking recipes for s’mores cupcakes.

Annie's Eat's S'mores Cupcakes (these most closely resemble the cupcake I had)

Bakerella's messy but good looking s'more cupcakes

From Beantown Baker, a different take on s'more cupcakes, graham cupcakes with a toasted marshmallow and melted chocolate.

Seattle's Trophy Cupcakes version of S'more cupcakes as seen on the Martha Stewart Show

How to Eat a Cupcake's Graham Cracker & Milk Chocolate Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Marshmallow Frosting

I rcently tried the Cricut (pronounced cricket) Personal Cutting machine and I found it so amazing.  They can cut beautiful paper designs at the touch of a few buttons.  Well, here is the newest Cricut machine: The Cricut Cake.  I have yet to try this one but it looks like it may revolutionize the cake/cupcake decorating process.  I’ve seen it on sale this week for $349 at AC Moore and Michael’s.    Here’s the description from Michael’s:

The Cricut Cake™ Personal Electronic Cutter is specifically designed for decorating cakes, cupcakes, cookies and confections in no time at all.  Just choose a shape, a size, and press “cut.”  The Cricut Cake machine also works with all Cricut Scrapbooking cartridges, with Gypsy™ and Cricut DesignStudio, giving you more variety in your designs!

Roller and cutting blade are constructed from stainless steel. FDA approved for cutting food and specifically designed for gum paste, frosting sheets and more. Decorating like a professional has never been faster or easier. Bon Appetit!

The Cricut Cake machine includes:

• 12×12-inch food-safe mat
• Power Adaptor
• Cricut Cake Basics Cartridge with up to 600 images
• Silicone Keypad Cover

Cricut’s website had a lots of useful info, videos and photos of completed projects.

I have a little collection of salt and pepper shakers but one that I have yet to find in my travels is a cupcake salt and pepper shaker. Just to make sure they do exist I searched for one online.  Here are some of the cute ones I came across, I think the Pillsbury Dough Boy is my favorite.

I know I have said it before but I will say it again: I love our Facebook fans!   Every week they amaze me with their cupcake creation photos and make me laugh with their responses to my Cupcake Question of the Day (watch for it every Saturday!).  I am so excited that we will soon hit 3,000 fans!  Check out a few of this month’s Easter cupcake photo submissions.

Posted by Christine

 

 

Posted by Chantel

Posted by Heather

 

 Posted by Sherilyn

 

And the winner is… Lauren O.!
Congratulations! Please send your mailing address to [email protected].   Thanks to all who entered and commented on the RVS website.  Special thanks to Red Velvet Stefani for sponsoring this sweet giveaway!

My friend shared with me the link to Ming Makes Cupcakes.  There are 31 different cupcake recipes that range from classics like Red Velvet with Buttercream Frosting and Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting to more unique flavors like Flourless Beet Cupcakes with Whipped Cream or Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Marscapone Frosting.   There are also two savory cupcake recipes that I am interested in trying, Cornbread Cupcakes with Goat Cheese Frosting and Bacon and Cheddar Scallion cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese.  Below is the recipe that is on the top of my list to try:

As a longtime surfer of Etsy.com I have a significant list of favorite cupcake items I have bookmarked.  Although I haven’t purchased them (yet!) I am inspired by the talent it took to create them.  Today, I just wanted to share a few of the cupcake items I have “hearted” this month.

  6 Cupcake Crayons $6.95

 

Cupcake Purse $35.00

 

 

Cupcake Lightswitch Cover $7

 

Visit stayhomecupcake’s  Etsy shop.

 

Let’s see what you love too!  Share your favorite Etsy cupcake items by clicking on the comments are below and adding the link. 

 

 

 

This week we are featuring a giveaway from longtime All Things Cupcake friend, Red Velvet Stefanie.  In January, Hungryrunner shared a review of Stefanie’s famous Red Velvet Cupcake Mix (so yum!). 

More recently we also posted a piece about her updated and expanded website.

This week, Stefanie is giving away a box of her favorite Red Velvet Cupcake Mix.  To enter this giveaway, we ask that fans either visit Stephanie’s website or her Facebook fanpage.  Then come back to ATC and click on the comment area below tell us your thoughts.  Did you like her assortment of mixes or is there a flavor you’d like to see?  Maybe you like her cupcake photos or realized that you tried her delicious cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory.   Give Stefanie your thoughts by entering this giveaway!  One winner will be chosen on Monday,  April 26th. 

This kit would be great for a theme party – there are 24 toppers and wrappers and they’re cute as all get out.  They’re available at Williams-Sonoma for $24.

I found this great website called A Greener Kitchen that is all about being eco-friendly while cooking.

One of the items that they sell are Cupcake Wrappers. They are made out of Recycled Paper and printed with Soy Ink.

Here are a few of my favorites —

Hannah Citrus/Bright Pink

Olivia Blue/Chocolate Brown

The biggest winner of last weekend’s Cupcake Camp Seattle was the Hope Heart Institute: 5,000 cupcakes donated by 70 bakers and consumed by nearly 1,000 people raised $5,276.50 for the charity in just three hours. Carrie Middlemis, owner of Cupcakes Couture and one of the organizers of the event, says, “For our first year we estimated maybe we would have about 300 people attending. We were blown away by the response and already planning to make it bigger and better.”

As for the competitive prizes, see below or Bella Cupcakes’ post on the winners. There were three competitive categories, Most Unique Ingredients, Best Seattle, and Healthiest, with a Professional and Amateur division within each category. Last but not least is the youth division’s best cupcake prize. And of course no competitive cupcake event is complete without a cupcake eating contest (you can see the video here).

(most pictures courtesy of Barbie Hull Photography)

PROFESSIONAL DIVISION:
Most Unique Ingredients
1st: NY Cupcakes / Limoncello with Raspberry drizzle.
2nd: Rocket Queens /”War Pig” Chocolate cake, smoky chipotle, bacon; topped with white chocolate buttercream and candied bacon.
Honorable mention: Kimm of Spitfire- Kimm-chi (Korean pickled cabbage) with grated carrot, zucchini and ginger frosting. Sweetened with agave nectar.

I guess first and second prize must’ve tasted really good, because I don’t think that those are particularly unique ingredients, though I admit I may be jaded by the flavor proliferation of the Seattle cupcakery scene .  I still say that if you’re giving prizes for the weirdest stuff you can put in a cupcake and still be edible, kim-chi definitely takes first prize.

Best Seattle:
1st: : Bella Cupcakes / Pacific NW Sustainable Granola NY (left)
2nd: NY Cupcakes /Orca Whales and salmon (middle)
Honorable Mention: Rocket Queen Cupcakes / Unhappy Hipster – my favorite! (right)

Healthiest:
1st: Immortal Bakery / Banana with Honey and Cinnamon
2nd: Kimm of Spitfire / Vegan delight Banana-Orama (not pictured)

AMATEUR DIVISION
Most Unique Ingredient
1st: Tina Campbell / Strawberry Pop Rock (right)
2nd: Ronnie Porter and Nicole Lucas / The TCB Velvet Elvis (not pictured)
A banana, chocolate chip cupcake with peanut butter frosting and a slice of bacon on top. A treat the King would have surely loved.
Honorable Mention: Anisha Hathiramani, Rootbeer Float (right)

Best Seattle:
1st: Ani and Amber Butler / Uptight Seattleite (left)
2nd: Melynda O’Brien Captivating Creations/ Ferry, Orca, Seattle scene (middle)
Honorable Mention: Vicki Bushnell / Destination Seattle (right)

Healthiest:

1st: Teigan Walker / Red Goat- Chocolate beet cake with goats cheese frosting and candied beet. (left)

2nd: Jana Bailey-Bailey-Hessler (The Cake Diva) / Vegan Chocolate Mocha (right)

Personally, I think that the Red Goat should’ve gotten an special prize for unique ingredient too – I can’t say that I’ve ever seen goat cheese and beets in a cupcake before.

YOUTH
Best Tasting/Design Kids
1st Choice: ? Unknown, Space Needle with Whale; (left)
2nd Choice Tie between Jazzmyn (middle) & Tycie Engberg (right)

I was particularly impressed by the youth category…kids in grade school did better cupcake decorating than I ever could. I salute the next generation of cupcake makers!

“My name is Johnny, and I make clothes with cupcakes on ‘em.”  The rise of Johnny Cupcakes is the indie version of the pull yourself up by the bootstraps American dream. Johnny started out with a high school diploma, a goofy nickname and a whole lot of creativity, selling his cupcake-themed tees while he was on tour with his band. He ended up with with a multi-million dollar business based on t-shirts with cupcakes on them.

This month Johnny went back to his band tour roots with the Johnny Cupcakes Suitcase Tour. On April 3rd he started in New York City, and over the past weeks he’s been moving across the country, sharing his good cupcake news and planting cupcake t-shirts all across the country.  Next Sunday (4/25)  he’ll be in my hometown of Seattle, WA pitching shirts and meeting fans at the Trophy Cupcakes in the Wallingford neighborhood.  Sunday schedule allowing, I’ll be there soaking in the cupcake cool and taking lots of pictures for ATC.

Testing, testing, one two bee!

Cupcake Camp Seattle was great: good cause, good food, big crowd. But my favorite thing was being able to meet some really great people who are totally into cupcakes. One of these folks is Jennifer White, an amateur baker who entered her Baklava Honeybee Cupcakes into the “most unique ingredient” category. In this case, amateur just means she doesn’t run her own bakery – those Baklava Honeybees were totally pro level.

The final Cupcake Camp product

Jennifer says that she came about this recipe especially for cupcake camp – when a friend of hers told her about the event, she knew she’d have to come up with something super cute and super tasty.  The inspiration for the bee theme came from the Bright Ideas beehive cupcake that was taken to the next level by actual honey, even cuter bees and Jennifer’s love of Greek food.

After a test run at an office birthday party which ended with an empty cupcake box and rave reviews from co-workers, the Baklava Bee cupcakes were ready for Cupcake Camp, which is where I got a chance to taste test them. Being a fan of the deeper sweetness of honey, good baklava and cute little bees, it was love at first bite.

If you want to try out Baklava Bees for yourself, Jennifer’s recipe and instructions are below :

Favorite yellow cake recipe, enough for 24 cakes: I like Martha Stewart’s basic yellow cake and if pressed for time, I have the best results with Duncan Hines “Butter Recipe Golden” boxed mix.

For the nut and honey mixture: 1/3 cup each of the following chopped nuts: almonds, walnuts, pecans. Combine the cup of mixed nuts with about 3 heaping tablespoons of clover honey.

Note: I also like Tupelo honey, but not everyone likes the distinctive taste of Tupelo honey. Other types of honey might also work well, but I’d caution that some may be overpowering, for example Orange Blossom honey is probably just a little too pungent.

For the crusts: About 4-5 tablespoons of melted butter, but you might end up using a whole stick depending on how generous your buttering is. 1 box of frozen Phyllo Dough, though you won’t come anywhere close to using the whole thing. For 24 cupcakes, you’ll need 96 squares cut about an inch or so larger than your cupcake cup base, but you’ll want to cut about 110 squares (some will tear and break, so don’t fret if you lose a few). I used a sharp knife to cut the squares. Keep a slightly damp napkin or towel on top of the squares you aren’t working with so they don’t dry out too much. Also, make sure you’ve defrosted your dough well beforehand. Defrosting usually takes a minimum of 5 hours.

Honey Buttercream Frosting: 1 cup unsalted butter, 1/3 cup honey plus two tablespoons, 2 level tablespoons meringue powder, 4-5 cups powdered sugar, gold food coloring (optional). Cream the butter, honey, and meringue powder for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Start on low speed, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until the icing is thick enough to be of good piping consistency. You want it to be stiff enough to hold a shape but don’t add so much sugar that it loses its creaminess.

For the cute little bees: Next I needed to perfect those cute little bees.  I decided that I needed a yellow shiny candy and black frosting that would dry hard.  For the test batch for the birthday party, I tried out multi-colored pastel Jordan Almonds.  The problem was these really only come out around Easter time and are terribly expensive.  I decided for the Cupcake Camp that the pastel Easter peanut M&Ms were a more reasonable choice, and personally I prefer the taste of them to Jordan Almonds.

I decided to use the black gel icing that comes in a little white tube, ready-made and store-bought, to paint three black stripes on the bees.  You could use black royal icing, you just want to make sure you know how the bee is going to sit once you’re done icing it and have set it down to dry.  Many bees want to roll over onto the icing; I leaned them against the edge of my cake carrier to dry.  You have to make sure you prepare the bees the night before so that the icing is completely dry before you add them to the cakes.  As with the Bright Ideas honey bees, I used almond slivers for the wings.

I love tax day!  I know it sounds crazy but having a CPA  in my family,  I look forward to the relief that this day brings.  Now Cinnabon is making this day more special by giving away free cupcakes! Go to participating a Cinnabon location on April 15th from 6pm-8pm and you will get 2 free Cupcake Bites.  Sweet!

The official cupcakes of the Seattle Mariners :)

My hometown is just full of cupcake news this month.  Cakespy got the scoop that Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, is now also home to some gigantic gourmet cupcakes.  The stadium just revamped their concessions stand menus and decided that they just couldn’t leave out our favorite baked good.  Cupcakes at the ballgame, cupcakes at the art gallery…where will they show up next, Seattle?

I have new used cupcake wrappers but they look like an easy way to spruce up any lovely cupcake! I have found some that are perfect for spring time.

I found these at Bake It Pretty. They have 3 colors — blue, green and pink!

Enjoy!

My sister shared this link we me and I had to pass along the fun idea.  DIY: Cupcakes in a Jar by Cakies created using a modified version of the Paula Deene Red Velvet Cupcake recipe.  The website includes detailed directions with helpful pictures!

Here are the steps once you have made your batter:

1. Batter is ready to be put in cupcake pan.

2. I spray the pan with pam and then fill each hole up 2/3 with the batter. Note: I do not use liners, but you could if you want, just pull them off before putting them in the jar.

3. Usually they are done after about 17 minutes in my oven at temperature of 350℉, and I take them out and put them on a wire rack to cool completely.

4. Once they are cool, I slice them in half. You will have a stack of tops and a stack of bottoms.

5. Place 1 bottom in each jar.

6. Put a layer of the frosting.

7. Take the top of the cupcake and place on top of the layer of frosting.

8. Flatten (gently smash) the top part of the cupcake inside the jar. You want to get the top sort of flat.

9. Beautifully frost the top of the cupcake.

10. Cover with lids and package however you like! It will be heartbreaking to eat, as it is so pretty, but it is so yummy!

And the winners are… 

Heather S.                             Maren                                    Rie

Cupcake Krystin                 Joslyn                                   Karina       

Trish                                       Jessica Johnson                 Kaoru    

Melanie Kolbasowski         Michelle Harvey               Charlon

Congratulations! Please email your shipping address to [email protected].   Thanks to all who entered and left us such wonderful comments.  We love our fans!

Here are a bunch of pictures from my Saturday adventure at Cupcake Camp Seattle: 5,000 cupcakes, 70 bakers, mobs and mobs of cupcake fans. I met some great bakers and ate a lot of delicious cupcakes – more on both those topics in the next few days.

art by Cakespy (who else?!)

In my time writing with ATC, I’ve seen a lot of things cupcake: clothing, tattoos, furniture, events, drawings, and of course the genuine article in many shapes and sizes. What I have not yet seen is a cupcake-themed art gallery.  Until now.

The beloved Emerald City-based and cupcake-themed artist Cakespy just bought her own art gallery in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. As of April 1st, Cakespy, a.k.a. Jessie Oleson, and her husband became owners of Bluebottle Art Gallery. They will keep the gallery open as they transition and will have a grand-opening/re-opening party on May 8th when Bluebottle officially merges with Cakespy Shop.  As you might expect, the event will feature cupcakes as art and in their edible form.

I found some cute cupcake items in my errands this week and had to share.  It is so hard not to buy every cupcake item I see.  My friends have a saying about me and my cupcake buying- no cupcake left behind!

 This little girls cupcake shirt was found at Target for only $5. They also had summer pajama sets too.

I found these notecards and several stamps in the $1 bins at Michael’s.   I love that phrase, “keep calm and eat a cupcake”.  They also had lipgloss, notepads and notebooks.  These items are very similar to ones Michael’s had in their bins this time last year. I hope they keep them coming!

In December I was lucky enough to do a review of Stefanie’s Red Velvet Cupcake mix which was delicious!  Yesterday I received an email informing me that the Red Velvet Stefanie website had been updated.  Now you can purchase the Red Velvet Cupcake mix in addition to new flavors such as Snickerdoodle, Vanilla, and soon, Black and White.  Also available on the website are catering orders and cupcake apparel.  Stefanie has even added a mix of the month club where you receive two packets of that month’s featured mix and Stefanie’s recipe guide to match the mix.  After trying the mix myself, seeing how easy they were to make and how great they turned out, I would recommend anyone visit the site and don’t forget, this is the same Stefanie that came up with The Cheesecake Factory’s Stephanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake!

I feel like I am plugging Martha Stewart all the time but she does have some great recipes especially when it comes to cupcakes.  Today’s Everyday Food Newsletter email was titled: 160-Plus Cupcake recipes.  A lot of the recipes included can be found in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Book but there are some additional ones and looking the recipe up online almost seems easier then buying the book.  One added bonus to viewing recipes online is that you are able to read comments and reviews from other bakers.  I always like to hear about other peoples successes or failures before I test a recipe out myself.