The Kim Kardashian tiara cupcake

Reality TV star, cupcake baker, and sister of Celebrity Apprentice cupcake seller Khloe Kardashian Kim Kardshian blogged about the tiara cupcake 2 Girls and a Cupcake named after her:

Once upon a time in the enchanting city of Miami, lived two girls and a cupcake. One night while baking dozens and dozens of cupcakes they decided to sneak in an episode of Keepin' up with the Kardashians, through the laughter and the giggles was Kim enjoying her chocolate cake and it was then that the Tiara cupcake was born! Every Sunday before the girls tune in to the Kardashians they wear their tiaras and devour Kimmy's Tiara cupcake.

The Tiara cupcake pays homage to the ultimate princess Kim K. The deliciously sexy chocolate cupcake is styled with silky vanilla butter cream. It is the second-most sold and requested cupcake, it is the main attraction at girls nights and men love it when their girlfriends send them a dozen Tiara cupcakes to work. Let's just say after he reads the description of the cupcake, it’s guaranteed he’s keepin' a smile for the rest of his day! The Tiara cupcake is the sweetest touch to happily ever after....

Cupcake coasters

These are for sale for $8 (approximately 4.5 by 4.5 inches) from Lucky Find Designs on Etsy (via Flickr). Lucky Find Designs made the cupcake purse I bought a while ago and I totally love it.

Quickie Crumbs cupcake review: blueberry swirl and Sno-Cap

Since I excel at trying cupcakes and never getting around to reviewing them, a quickie review of 2 Crumbs cupcakes I tried tonight. I also found out from a sign on their wall that they are kosher (but not kosher for Passover).

I bought two (for a total of $5.90), the blueberry swirl and the Sno-Caps-covered one (that may not be the technical name for it).



I liked these two because they were on the small side, meaning the size of an average, normal cupcake, not the gigantic overly large ones Crumbs mainly carries. I've had the Sno-Cap one before, but I think in a bigger size. You can't really go wrong with Sno-Caps; they remind me of the movies and are sweet and a little crunchy. I didn't know either of these had fillings. I don't think cupcake filling should be a surprise; it's not like, "Hi, here's an all-expense paid vacation to Hawaii, SURPRISE!" It's more like, "Hope you like this gift cause you can't do anything about it if you don't."



The blueberry filling was basically like blueberry jelly or something. It was a little too much blueberry for me, and the cake was so-so, as was the frosting. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't that impressed.



The Sno-Cap one is one of my favorites at Crumbs. The frosting was smooth and creamy and sweet, but not cloyingly my-mouth-feels-like-it-will-be-full-of-sugar-forever. That's the feeling I get from certain buttercreams, like sugar is invading my skin and pores and just overwhelming me.

So there you go! They also had these flower ones that are very pretty, but I don't think I'd want to eat the flowers:



And I was almost tempted to add an Oreo brownie to my order, but thought that might make my stomach unhappy coupled with the cupcakes, plus these look like they should be shared and I'm on my own tonight:

Spotlight on Flickr user katipeck

These are all from Flickr user katipeck, who also blogs about her cupcake (and other) baking. She has lots of pop culture-themed cupcakes, and then other fun ones; I think the one at the bottom, with the chocolate frosting and blue sprinkles, might be my favorite of these images, because the blue is so bright against the frosting, and the different sizes are intriguing. Check her Flickr for more cupcake photos!


Watchmen cupcakes


Darth Vader cupcakes


Lost cupcakes


sock puppet cupcakes


Harley Quinn cake and cupcakes

Peanut butter frosting recipe from Kumquat Cupcakery

Go to My Fox to watch the video of Keavy Landreth of Brooklyn's Kumquat Cupcakery making her peanut butter frosting! Oh, and Keavy took 2nd place judges' pick for her bacon cupcakes at the Bacon Takedown on Sunday. Congratulations!

Peanut Butter Frosting From Kumquat Cupcakery

2 sticks butter
8 oz. cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup all natural peanut butter mixed with 1/2 tsp sea salt

Cream butter until white and fluffy. Add cream cheese and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Turn mixer to lowest setting and add 1 cup powdered sugar at a time, waiting until incorporated to add the next cup. Add cream when the frosting looks like it's getting too thick. When all the powdered sugar is combined turn mixer back to high setting and beat for 2 min. Add peanut butter mixture. Enjoy!

Peeps cupcakes for sale at Boston's Sweet

Starting April 1st and going through Memorial Day, Boston's Sweet will be selling a selection of spring cupcakes, including Peeps ones! I'm going there in a few weeks so I will definitely stop by and try them.

The official description:

Sweet Peeps - Sweet's signature vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and homemade vanilla buttercream frosting dipped in sanding sugar and topped with the classic springtime candy treat.

They're $3.25 each or $36 for a dozen.

Others pictured: Chocolate caramel, lemon, chocolate coconut

Sweet will also open a second location in late April at Zero Brattle Street in Harvard Square.

Easter cupcake art

This lovely Easter cupcake art is by Diana Evans, who can also be found on her blog and selling her art on Etsy.

How to host a cupcake party

Michelle of Little Window Shoppe posted the items above and wrote:

A cupcake birthday party is a fun and fabulous theme for girls of any age, especially when you combine your daughter’s love of cupcakes with her favorite color as the inspiration behind the party planning. In our house, pink is the color of choice!

If you enjoy planning parties like I do, then you definitely want to go all out with your decorating. The invitations are the first step. Invitations set the tone for the party. Here is an adorable Cupcake Invitation that you can customize in your color of choice. You can also purchase address labels, thank you stationery and party favor stickers that all coordinate. Don’t you love that?!

An Israeli cupcake bakery

We just got word that Tel Aviv, Israel now has its very own cupcake bakery! (click here for the English version)

Owner Ofer Yeger wrote us and said there's no Hebrew word for "cupcakes," so the bakery is called Cupcakes and offers these flavors: "Extra Chocolate, Lemon, Oreo, Black & White (vanilla cake filled with whipped cream and topped with a chocolate genache and meringue) Think Pink (vanilla cake w/ white chocolate genache), Coffee, Apple pie and Chocolate-mint."

Here are a few photos from their site, and I have a friend who'll be there soon who I'm hoping can give us a first-hand report, plus we'll be interviewing Ofer about the Israeli cupcake scene soon.


Apple pie cupcakes




Black and white cupcakes


chocolate mint cupcakes


Oreo cupcakes and Think Pink cupcakes

Capital CupcakeCamp, an epic roundup

Jenn Farr took 125 photos at yesterday's CupcakeCamp in Ottawa, Canada. Here are a few of them:


title by Jenn Farr: "I stood in line while my cupcakes sat"


barnyard-themed mini cupcakes



And she has the winners!


BEST IN SHOW
Red cupcake in centre: "Red Velvet Purse" by Michelle Morrison

BEST DECORATED
11 o'clock on the tray: "Oreo Sunrise" by Kristen LaFrance

MediaStyle broke it down by the numbers (and has more links than we can ever hope to):

* 3400 cupcakes
* $2000 raised for Women Alive
* 600 participants
* 100 of them bakers
* 2:06 p.m., the time the room hit capacity
* 30 volunteers
* 4 amazing judges


Dulicious is having a contest you shoulder enter (cupcake charms and a t-shirt!) and captured some great shots (via Flickr):







Ming Wu also has a CupcakeCamp photo set on Flickr, and here are some of our favorites:







Wu wrote about the event:

Didn’t get to chaotic which was good thing.
Still amazes me that 3000 cupcakes were entered.
After the fifth batch I was terribly full.
At least I bought some tupperware to save the nice ones for home.
Or if I can’t eat any.
It was hard to pick which was my favorite because I like anything that is chocolate.


photo by Ming Wu via Flickr (I couldn't resist adding one more!)

A Baked Creation has a great roundup of articles about CupcakeCamp, so I won't link to all of them, but for those who just can't get enough, check them out.

CTV Toronto points to CupcakeCamp's success as the triumph of cupcake hobbyists:

Cupcake Camp isn't for the faint of heart.

Standing elbow-to-elbow, attendees jostled for position at the presentation table in the hopes of nabbing one of 1,000 cupcakes made by 40 amateur bakers.

The event, held Sunday in an art studio in Toronto's trendy Leslieville, attracted close to 400 cupcake connoisseurs who were there to share their passion for making and eating the icing-topped mini-treats.

"I don't work in a bakery. It's just something I do as a hobby," Amber Morden cheerfully shouted at the crowd as she presented a tray of red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. They were devoured in seconds by the hungry mob.

Move over, knitters. Step aside, scrapbookers. The latest hobby fad is the cupcake.

To meet increasing demand, craft and kitchen stores are stocking shelves with special cupcake tools, how-to books, stands and liners in a multitude of designs and colours.

Cupcake lovers, meanwhile, are finding new ways to share their passion and showcase their weekend projects. There are blogs, Facebook groups, Twitter pages and flikr accounts dedicated solely to making, sharing and indulging in the mini-cakes, called cuppies by devotees.

See also:

PollyPrissyPants

And here's a video that captures some of the mania. I can attest that the screaming and grabbing was also something I witnessed in San Francisco.


Spotlight - Cupcake Camp Toronto '09 from Suresh on Vimeo.

You can also follow along on Twitter with @CapitalCupcake and with the hashtag #cupcakecamp for more writeups, photos, news, etc.

It looks like another successful, delicious, and incredibly creative CupcakeCamp! To find out how to host your own, visit CupcakeCamp.org.

Recipe for lemon meringue cupcakes

From The Age: (go there for a chocolate mousse mint cupcake recipe

Lemon meringue cupcakes

These cupcakes are light and airy with a delicate meringue topping. You will need a sugar thermometer for the meringue - don't be put off, it's really easy. If you happen to have a blowtorch, you will get a professional and impressive finish.

ingredients
125g unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
grated rind 1 lemon
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1 cup lemon curd
Meringue
2 egg whites
pinch salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

method

Preheat oven to 180 deg.

Cream the butter with sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add lemon rind and juice and mix well. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined.

Sift flour and baking powder together and add to the mix, alternately with the milk.

Spoon into 12 lined muffin tins, filling almost to the top.

Bake in oven for 25 minutes until cakes are lightly browned and cooked when tested with a skewer. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks. When cool, scoop a small piece of cake from out of the top and place a spoonful of lemon curd. Top with meringue and brown with a blowtorch, if desired.

To make meringue:

Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites at low speed until they foam, add salt and cream of tartar, increase speed and beat to soft peaks. Reduce speed to low as you prepare sugar syrup.

Bring the sugar and water to a simmer, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat and cook until soft ball stage (240F or 116C on a sugar thermometer).

Slowly drizzle the syrup into the egg whites, beating on low speed. Try to avoid the edge of the bowl and the wires of the whisk. Increase speed to medium and keep beating for 10 minutes, until the mixture is cool and the egg whites form stiff, shiny peaks.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Good and evil cupcake tattoos

by Flickr user Mez Love. Which is your favorite? I have to vote Team Evil on this one.





Updated: Tattoos by Mez Love.

Extra cupcake cuteness in the form of a paper clip

This paper clip cupcake and adorable reminder come from Duhlicious.com, where you will also find photos from this weekend's Capital CupcakeCamp, in Ottawa, Canada, which we'll have more about very, very soon. via Flickr

Comments

A reminder that we do not post anonymous comments, and that our comments are moderated so please only comment once, especially for the contest. Give us at least 24 hours to moderate your comment. Thank you. If you have any questions, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com

Win A Pink Cupcake Apron From Carolyn's Kitchen!

Two of my favorite words that start with the letters a-p-r are "April" and "apron". Since it is almost April, it is time to give away a cute little pink cupcake apron and glove from one of our advertisers, Carolyn's Kitchen.

Leave a comment to this post to enter the contest, by answering this question:
"If you could be any item in your kitchen, what would you be?"
Sample answer: a cupcake baking pan.

A winner will be randomly selected Wednesday, April 1st (no fooling)! Anonymous comments will not be considered. In the meantime, click here to view CAROLYN'S KITCHEN entire apron collection" Good Luck!!!

Peanut butter chocolate cupcake with Reese's peanut butter cup inside!

These are by Brown Sugar Baking (via Flickr), who writes:
it looks like an innocent chocolate cupcake with innocent chocolate frosting and half a Reese's cup on top. But soon we will slice it open and find a surprise inside.

and the inside...



And a closeup of a single one, so you can fully appreciate it:

Twilight cupcakes return

We've posted Twilight cupcakes several times already, but with the release of the DVD, there's been even more of them. I've yet to see the movie or read the book, but I'm fascinated with how many cupcakes are devoted to it.


by Retro Bakery Las Vegas via Flickr


by Brookfield Library on Flickr - it's a Twilight cupcake a trivia contest answer sheet!


by Flickr user Amanda, With Sugar on Top! for a tween birthday party

Flickr user Mrs. JiJi Bean made a whole set of Twilight cupcakes such as this one that says "I run with the vampire:"



And all of these:

Easter cupcake meadow

by Flickr user Janset1
Chocolate cupcakes with delicious fluffy wildberries swiss meringue buttercream.

Cupcake wine lawsuit

San Francisco Weekly blog The Snitch has the scoop on another cupcake (kinda) lawsuit, focusing on the wine line Cupcake. Thanks to Jackson West, our favorite non-cupcake-liking cupcake tipster, for the link. If you're so inclined, you can download all 53 pages of the PDF of the lawsuit from The Snitch.

One True Vine of St. Helena (which puts out the Layer Cake label) has taken umbrage with The Wine Group of Delaware, which produces a line called "Cupcake." Now, wine connoisseurs are always portrayed as a smart and discerning lot. And perhaps they are. But you won't get that from the contentions put forward in this lawsuit. In essence, One True Vine claims that oblivious oenophiles won't be able to tell Layer Cake (mid-range price, picture of "a partially sliced and decadent-looking chocolate cake" on the label) from Cupcake (low price, no picture on label, picture of a cupcake on cases).

But One True Vine's complaint doesn't stop there. The company is pissed that the Cupcake folks would dare compare their wines -- to cake. To wit, Cupcake's 2008 Sauvignon Blanc is pitched as "reminiscent of your grandmother's lemon chiffon cake." Another wine is compared to a "chocolate cherry cake" -- and One True Vine seems miffed the Cupcake folks even deign to suggest you drink their wines with cake.

5 Examples of Cupcake/Cake Synergy

Yes, this blog's tagling is "All Cupcakes, All The Time."

But we also know that sometimes at events, a cake is simply needed, whether for presentation, because it's requested, or, in many cases, because it complements the cupcakes and vice versa. Together, they create a theme that couldn't have been achieved using only one or the other.

These make me want to have a party just so I could go all out and have cupcakes and a cake with a special theme!

Here are 5 examples of cakes and cupcakes that go perfectly together:


This baby shower cake and cupcakes are by Sugar Crush Miami via Flickr: "A cookies-n-cream cake and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream topped with fondant decorations."


Cards and casino chip cupcakes and card cakes by Flickr user Eclectic Circle


Circus cake with cupcake "buddies" (their caption, which I find utterly charming) by Coco Cake Cupcakes via Flickr


Globe cake and mini cupcakes for autism awareness event by Cupcake Envy via Flickr


Disco ball cake and cupcakes by Cupcaketastic, via Flickr
Their description:

Chocolate & Rum Disco Cake Ball, styled with royal icing and individual tiles of silver fondant encrusted with edible glitter.

Orange & Rum cupcakes frosted with lushious chocolate fudge icing, styled with orange sprinkles and gold glitter.

Chocolate cupcakes frosted with sherbet sweet white chocolate orange fudge icing, styled with grated chocolate and gold glitter.

Kalhua & White chocolate cupcakes frosted with Kalhua buttercream, styled with freshly ground coffee and gold glitter.

Custom made cupcake stand