Giant cupcake vs. little cupcake

via a Twitpic from Los Angeles custom cupcake company Sweet E's Bake Shop (not to be confused with Sweet E's Cupcakes of Martha's Vineyard).

And a reminder: I (Rachel) will be in the Los Angeles area (Sherman Oaks) from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday. Would love to try as many cupcakes as I can -- I have a few meetings set up already -- but I don't drive so am at the mercy of getting rides, though do plan to check out Sprinkles and the Johnny Cupcakes store on Melrose. Email cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com to arrange a Cupcakes Take the Cake cupcake tasting/interview.

Christmas mint cupcake from The Sweet Lady

These chocolate mint cupcakes are from Tulsa, Oklahoma's custom cupcake company The Sweet Lady via her blog

"Mint To Be"
Chocolate cupcake with chocolate mint filling, white chocolate buttercream frosting and a peppermint dusting

And these also look delicious:



We'll have a spotlight post on her soon too! Find out more on Facebook and contact The Sweet Lady directly at:

angel at thesweetlady.com
918-697-9748

Kids and Cupcakes: Reader submission!

I do love Kids and Cupcakes...and I am especially thrilled when readers send in pictures they want to share.

These were sent in by Monica, who made these beautiful butterfly cupcakes for a get-together.

Batman Ovaltine cupcakes and fondant how-to guide

Blogger justJENN held a Batman party and made these Batman Ovaltine cupcakes! via Flickr

Instead of making a cake, I figured the best way to serve that many kids was to do cupcakes of course. Just hand 'em out and you're good to go. I made them Chocolate Ovaltine, and yes - I hand cut all those Batman logos 'cause I didn't have a cutter. I also made red velvets for the adults, because you know, what adults isn't craving a little sweet while the birthday treats are being handed out, you know?

Not only that, she has a Batman fondant how-to guide so you can make your own!

Glee and Twilight cupcakes, sushi cupcakes, monkeys and more

This Glee cupcake and all the others are by cupcake bakery The Sweet Tooth Fairy of Provo, Utah, which will soon be opening its second location in Draper, Utah. Follow them on Twitter (@sweettoothfairy) for Twitpics and bakery news.








Kirtsy logo cupcakes


Supercute owl cupcake

See more photos in The Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcake Flickr set and see their website to get in touch.

Cupcake with feet

Birthday cupcake using the Wilton silly feet cups, by covetthycupcake on Flickr

Speaking of Wilton, I have a looooong overdue contest to post with them - will try to get it up this week or else this weekend, when I'm in LA and plan to catch up on many old cupcake posts.

Cupcakes hit the sweet Spot

In New York's recent flurry of dessert shop [re]openings, I'm glad to report that cupcakes are not being forgotten. I had the chance to try some cupcakes from Pichet Ong's new dessert bar, Spot, which just opened up earlier this week. He was the mastermind behind Batch, though the cupcake selection seems to be different at Spot.

Cupcake offerings so far include:

Mocha - Maldon salt - Caramel
Vanilla - Almond - Coconut
Chocolate - Apricot - Green Tea

Upon first impression, the green tea cupcake seems like the most Asian inspired cupcake, whereas the coconut comes off as pretty traditional. I didn't try either, but I figure that to be included in a primarily Asian inspired dessert bar means these cupcakes earned their place on those little cupcake stands.

I chose to sample the Mocha, since I'm a sucker for salty and sweet. I began by admiring the shiny glitter that's generously sprinkled over most of the dishes at the dessert bar, and which certainly isn't missed on the cupcakes. Digging under that whipped cloud of slightly caffeinated frosting revealed an airy chocolate cake. I kept exploring until I hit the center, where a surprise filling of gooey caramel and slivers of dehydrated cake awaited. Finally, the most crucial step: to reach a happy ending by taking all of that in one mouthful.

That said, cupcakes are not the ultimate focus at Spot. The more labor-intensive made to order plated desserts are what would keep me going back. Spot's cupcakes, while pretty and interestingly crafted, are framed as part of a dessert bar rather than the heart of production as is the case for other cupcake-centric places. Still, I'd keep Spot in mind for a quick take-out sweet fix.


SPOT
13 St. Mark's Place
New York, NY 10003

Reminder: Creamy Coconut Cupcake giveaway ends tomorrow!

Don't forget (if you haven't already entered) that the King Arthur Flour Creamy Coconut Cupcake Mix giveaway ends tomorrow, Monday, November 23, 2009 at 5:00 pm ET.


Good luck!

Peanut butter chocolate and strawberry lemon cupcakes at Sweetiepie

Sweetiepie, a New York City (Greenwich Village) restaurant aimed at kids featuring tater tots, griled cheese and the like, along with an intense dessert menu, and a cage you can sit in, also has two cupcakes. I got the two cupcakes offered on their menu, the chocolate peanut butter cupcake and a lemon cupcake with strawberry frosting. Plus they were served on these lovely plates. $3 each and very much worth it. The frosting on the peanut butter one was unlike any peanut butter frosting I've ever had; the cake was only so-so but the tower of frosting was rich and creamy. It almost reminded me of a pudding, butterscotch pudding, specifically, even though it tasted like peanut butter. It was very, very smooth and elegant. I didn't realize the other cupcake had a lemon cake; the strawberry frosting was very good but also was better than the cake part. This is a great place to take kids, pretty upscale, with a full bar and both kid- and adult-friendly food. A little on the pricey side, so the cupcakes are a bargain compared to the rest of the menu.

CupcakeCamp Adelaide photos

I apologize for dropping the ball (dropping the cupcake?) and having no clue that today was CupcakeCamp Adelaide, which raised money for Camp Quality. (in addition to it being CupcakeCamp Montreal). Whoops! Cupcake event organizers - please let us know your event details at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and we'll get them up on our rolling 30-day RSS calendar at right.



According to their latest Tweet:



Thankfully, there are tons of fun photos. All of these are from a Flickr set by tarale.












cupcake hamburgers

And how cute is this cupcake caterpillar? I love it!

Pacman cupcakes

photo by Gavin Hay on Flickr

Treat's chocolate banana cupcakes and more custom logo cupcakes

And these are the chocolate banana cupcakes that I bought from New York City custom cupcake company Treat...also delicious! The chocolate on top was a thin layer of very rich chocolate and the banana cake was kindof like a banana muffin, in a good way, dense and delicious.



And while I'm here...me and Treat owner Harley with the custom cupcakes with my face, and another closeup. I can justify this not as narcissism but as a recommendation of somewhere to get custom image cupcakes; I had actually asked around local bakeries a while ago and hadn't found anyone in Manhattan willing to do it (I believe Ivy Bakery in Brooklyn does offer this). So yes, check out Treat if you want your face (or logo, or your dog's face, or whatever) on a cupcake.