Primrose Bakery

For my birthday last month, my family and I went to London to celebrate! Since we were celebrating my birthday and London has several favorite cupcakes shops, I made sure trying the shops were on our to-do list! The first cupcake shop we visited was the famous Primrose Bakery.  We stopped in the location near Covent garden and enjoyed two classic flavors, chocolate cake, or sponge as they call it in London, with vanilla frosting and vanilla sponge with vanilla frosting.  Both cupcakes were delicious and I would say they lived up to their reputation.

Hummingbird Bakery

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The end of summer is quickly approaching, before it gets here I recommend everyone gets their fill of peaches.  I spotted this peach cobbler cupcake recipe on Une-Duex Senses and am tempted to combine two delicious desserts into one awesome cupcake!

I think I just figured out how to get my kids to eat their peas and carrots. Who needs a turkey dinner with all the fixin’s when she could just have this kind of turkey dinner? Complete with buttery mashed potatoes and cherry pie! So clever!

These cupcakes were created by Sir Ritz Creations of Cedarhurst, New York. This photo is a recent addition to Flickr, but I’m going to store it away for use on turkey day. November will be here soon enough.

Cookie Monster is no stranger to the cupcake scene, but these might be the cutest Cookie Monster cupcakes I’ve seen. I love the color of the frosting, and I’m always on the lookout for cupcakes my kids can help me decorate. And these look pretty kid-proof. Kudos! Check out PaiCakes Flickr stream for even more cool cupcake ideas!

I am loving this Cupcake Stepping Stone Kit I found on Walmart.com today.  Each kit comes with enough supplies to make one 12 inch stone.   I would love a whole path of these cupcakes leading up to my front door but for $16.47 plus .97 shipping for each, I may just have to settle for one accent stone for my garden.  They also come in flower, star, turtle and many other shapes and have been spotted at Michael’s too.

If you’re like me, then you really love eating cupcakes, but the thought of decorating them scares you just a little bit.  It’s a lot of pressure to get the design just right, and if you’re making them for a party, then you don’t want a last-minute disaster in the kitchen.

I really like this tip that I found on the Huffington Post because it sounds pretty fool-proof to an amateur cupcake-decorator like me.  It’s also completely free if you have some lace or doilies laying around the house (or know someone else who does).  Next time you want a fun or elegant-looking cupcake, just lay a piece of doily or lace or something similar over your cupcake, dust with some powdered sugar or cocoa powder, and you’ve got a nicely and intricately designed treat.

Do be forewarned, though: you will need to dust them immediately before serving, as the dust gets absorbed into the cake over time.

With so many recipes available to us through the internet, cookbooks, and magazines, sometimes I have a difficult time choosing the best recipe.  I want the recipe that will give me the best looking and tasting cupcakes but not all cupcake recipes are the same.  I found this yellow cake comparison on The Way The Cookie Crumbles website.  The blog post compares three yellow cake recipes from Cooks Illustrated, Martha Stewart, and Smitten Kitchen to see which is the best.  The Cooks Illustrated recipe was the winner, for the recipe and to read more about the comparison check out The Way The Cookie Crumbles.  There’s also a chocolate frosting comparison if you need help choosing a frosting for your cupcakes!

The other day my dad brought home cannoli and as I ate one I thought they would make great cupcakes.  I thought the outside tube would make a good cake, top it with the filling as frosting, throw some chocolate chips in there and you would have a delicious cupcake!  Then I found Tide and Thyme’s blog and realized some one else already had the idea for cannoli cupcakes! The cannoli cupcakes Tide and Thyme made look as good as the ones I had dreamed up in my head!

Ever since I was a kid, I have had a big sweet tooth. I can remember going to the grocery store with my mom and just drooling over all the candy bars and sweets.  Just last year, my hubby and I ventured to Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York and I truly felt 8 years old again.  Just walking in that store you get a sugar high from the sweet smell!  They had pretty much every kind of candy you could ever dream of.  And they had cupcake stuff too! You must check out their site to see it all but here’s two of my irresistible favorites.  FYI- The store was started by Dylan Lauren, the daughter of famed designer Ralph Lauren.  Love this family!

These would be a great DIY cupcake for a birthday party, or just for a fun and edible project.  Have fun searching the aisles at your local supermarket to find just the right foods for each of the parts.  There’s no right or wrong way!   Your kids will love the fact that it’s edible!

I love the fun colors of these “Mini Brownies Gone Wild” cupcakes from Duncan Hines.  For some reason, the colors of the skittles remind me of back to school time (or maybe it’s the crayons placed in the background of this picture).  Either way, I think these would make an excellent back-to-school treat for your little one, or even your teenager.

Did you know that next week is Shark Week?  It’s a great excuse to invite some friends over, turn on the Discovery Channel, and try your hand at shark cupcakes.  Need some inspiration?  I’ve compiled a few ideas from the web.  Click on each image for more details.

My little girl has so many hair clips that end up all over the house and usually right under my feet!   AJO Creations has a simple and sweet solution.  These clever little holders hang on the wall so you can clip those little clips right to the hanging ribbon.  Love them all but of of course the cupcake is my favorite.  But for only $3.75 each, maybe I can afford them all!

Enjoying the Olympics? Awesome. Here is some visual entertainment for all your pinning needs!

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What’s better than a chocolate cupcake?  In my opinion, a dark chocolate cupcake.  You might have to do some conversions for the ingredients in this recipe (it’s from an Australian blog, so some of the measurements are in grams), but the additional math involved should be well worth it.

Cupcakes might be all the rage here in America, but after looking at these impressive treats there’s no denying that the British can whip up some pretty amazing cupcakes.  Victoria’s Kitchen in London is the mastermind behind these lovely creations.

These were made for a woman celebrating her 60th birthday.  Each book had influenced her life in some way.  This detail is impressive!

Another favorite of mine is this set of wedding cupcakes.  I love not only the great attention to detail, but also the fact that no two cupcakes are exactly the same.

Read the rest of the blog post on LA Weekly for more cupcakes from this London bakery.  You will be inspired!

Be sure to bake some cupcakes for any Olympics parties you might be having this summer.  I, personally, think these are pretty neat.  All you need are sugar ice cream cones, a batch of mini cupcakes, frosting and candy clay (recipe here).  Have fun!

I’m not sure why I find these elephant cupcakes so adorable. Maybe because I recently visited the Indianapolis Zoo, and I couldn’t stop staring at the baby elephant? He was just too cute! And so are these cupcakes. Cute, yet simple enough to feasibly create. At least, I’m going to try. These were created by All You Need is Cupcakes, a cupcakery in Argentina. Cupcakes are taking over the world!

A new Guinness World Record was set today in Singapore for the world’s largest cupcake mosaic.  A whopping 20,000 cupcakes formed the mosaic, which beat the previous record of 5,900 cupcakes by quite a lot!  The mosaic was created to help benefit under privileged youths and low-income families.

Who gets to eat all these cupcakes, you’re probably wondering?  The cupcakes were adopted by donors and sent to homes for the elderly, disabled and children.

A few days ago Candid Cupcake shared with you how mason jars are very in right now.  She is so right- they seem to be all over Etsy!  Mason jar covers, Mason jar candles, and of course, Mason jar cupcakes.  And I know these aren’t technically Mason jars but how amazing are these faux icing topped glass jars?    For $28 you get a set of 6 colorful creations made by 12 Legs Curiosities. Perfect for cupcake in a jar or as a favor at a wedding or party.  Love, love, love!

Are you looking to make one of your favorite meals kid-pleasing?  Why not put it in cupcake form?  Take a look at these Philly Cheese Steak Cupcakes.  Use won ton wraps in muffin tins, add some ground beef and diced onions and green peppers, top with mozzarella cheese and another won ton wrap, and you have a simple meal.  These would also make a lovely appetizer to take to a party.

This made me laugh out loud. The rosy cheeks take the cake! So what do you think, is this too cute to eat? We’re not sure who made this, so feel free to claim it!

Move over Wilton Rose–here comes the Maria Chrysanthemum!

Who knew chrysanthemums could look so yummy? (And don’t worry–these chrysanthemums aren’t poisonous!)

Maria is a cupcaking caterer from Toronto.

My mouth is watering! These cupcakes look so dreamily and fruitily delicious. And really, my favorite cupcakes to make are the ones that look amazing without taking too much time. I can’t wait to steal this idea! Of course, I will give full credit to Megan’s Cupcakes of Cadillac, Michigan! Are those fruit roll-ups?

These cupcakes in a jar make me want to eat a cupcake really badly!  Something about seeing the different layers makes them even more appetizing than they already are, and Mason jars seem to be the really “in” thing right now.

Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes

Black Cherry White Chocolate Cupcake