10 Twitter tips for cupcake bakeries

10 Twitter Tips for Cupcake Bakeries

1. Put your contact info right up front.

Don’t be coy. Put your URL so people can find you. Use your description wisely. Make a background using your logo, URL, and contact info. What your business is should not be a mystery, especially because it's so easy to just click on to something else. Make people want to stay and add you with a glance. Think of it the way you would your website; your Twitter account shouldn't only speak to those who already know who you are, but also to potential customers.


Meringue Bake Shop (@meringuebkeshp) puts their logo up front and center


Retro Bakery (@RetroBakery) also has their logo on full blast. Both bakeries makes sure you know: a) they're a bakery b) they sell cupcakes. That's important.


2. Offer Twitter specials and cupcake news





Yummy Cupcakes (@YummyCupcakesLA) offers same-day news about special flavors and free cupcakes.
3. Interact with other bakeries.


Holy Cow Cupcakes (@HolyCowCupcakes) asks fellow bakery Retro Bakery (@RetroBakery) a question.

Twitter offers a wonderful opportunity to provide support to your fellow bakeries, see what they're up to, offer ideas and form a community.

4. Add photos to your background.


Trophy Cupcakes (@trophycupcakes) uses their cupcakes to grab people's attention.


L's Cupcake Cafe (@LsCupcakeCafe) shows off their wares.


Baked by Melissa (@bakedbymelissa) flaunts her mini cupcakes.

5. Use hashtags.


A hashtag means using the pound sign (#) before whatever you're posting, like #cupcakes, to make it come up in Twitter search easily or as a trending topic. If you're, say, making vegan cupcakes, you probably would want to tag #vegan - it's also a way to look up what other people are doing.

I really haven't seen many examples of bakeries using hashtags, save for wefollow. Here are the #6-#19 most popular wefollow Tweeters using the hashtag cupcakes:



6. Twitpic

Twitpic is a site that allows you to share photos directly to Twitter, with captions. You can email them to a designated email address from your phone or email account. This address could be shared with other employees and offers a way to give a visual, great for specials, custom cupcakes, anything new/fun/exciting.

Teacake Bake Shop (@teacakebakeshop) shared a recent press clipping via Twitpic:



Portland's Cupcake Jones (@cupcakejonespdx) shares their latest cupcake flavors via Twitpic.


Their caption: Cupcake of the Day: S'mores! With homemade graham crackers and homemade marshmallows and milk chocolate


Flour & Sun Bakery (@flourandsun) Twitpics their specials: Pistachio, Apple Cinnamon, Creamsicle.

7. Tweet about things other than what you’re selling on occasion.

Make it interesting. Yes, it's great that you have new cupcake flavors, sales, etc., but Twitter is a wonderful opportunity to give a little behind-the-scenes information and personality to your bakery. What's cool about working there? What's aggravating? What ingredients are you procuring? What's going on in your town/life that you're excited about. I'm not suggesting you go totally off-topic, but, like a blog, make it something readers/followers look forward to seeing.


The Shoppe Denver (@theshoppedenver) offers sweet cupcake dreams.


Lenox Cupcakes (@lenoxcupcakes) offers a personal milestone.

8. Crowdsource


Miss Holly of Sweet! by Good Golly Miss Holly asks her followers what to make (at posting time, I didn't see any responses though)

9. Respond to customers

The Bleeding Heart Bakery (@Bleeding_Heart) regularly answers customer questions and replies to them on Twitter.





10. Have fun with it


Come on - who wouldn't want to visit a bakery where the owner enjoys using a torch? In this case, it's Olivia from Austin's Sugar Mama's Bakeshop (@SugarMamas))

General advice that probably goes beyond Twitter: Engage. Be involved. Don't be one of those bakeries just racking up followers and not following anyone back. Yes, you can do that, but then you miss the opportunity you have to find out exactly what your customers, and potential customers, are talking about and doing. Use search to find out who's talking about your bakery, or a specific topic you're interested in. Reach out to them. Explore. We're @cupcakeblog and would love to hear from customers and bakers what's worked for you with Twitter, what you love, what you hate, etc.

These are just some ideas. We'd love to hear yours! And also, Twitter only works when you have people reading. Spread the word to your customers in your bakery, newsletter, other social networking sites. Follow your local news sources, blogs, restaurants, organizations, etc. See who you might be able to partner with or whose events you can sponsor. The point is to get people talking about you, and one thing I love about Twitter is how fast something can get Retweeted, simply by asking. But the catch is, you have to have something worthy of Tweeting. On that note, happy Follow Friday everyone!

CakeWalk: The history of the cupcake

Not just a 21st century trend, cupcakes were first recorded in the 19th century.

CakeWalk is a weekly column by Mary Ann Porch dedicated to every baker who has ever struggled to achieve the right consistency with their icing, unsuccessfully searched for the perfect cupcake topper or just wants to learn something new. Because with a few helpful tips, cupcakes are a cakewalk.


Recently, I began reading a book all about the history of milk. When I mentioned this to my dad, he commented that he would love to know who first thought that milking an animal was a good idea. The same logic was probably in place the day someone decided an egg was edible. This got me to thinking – what are the origins of the cupcake? Was it born out of the desire for tiny desserts? During the Renaissance, did a baker suddenly realize he only had enough ingredients to make hand-held cakes instead of a massive tiered affair?

Sadly, there isn’t a lot of documentation leading us to factual information on the birth of the cupcake. According to Wikipedia, the cupcake, as we know it, was first documented in the 19th century. Muffin tins hadn’t been invented yet, so individual pottery cups, ramekins, small molds, or tea cups were used i.e. a cake baked in a cup. Our British neighbors across the pond apparently sometimes called cupcakes “fairy cakes” because of their size, which would be the perfect size for a group of fairies if they so desired to share a cake. Fanciful, huh?

Food scholars suggest that the origin of the cupcake was from bakers using teacups as baking dishes for small, individual cakes (Photo courtesy of Sugarbloom Cupcakes)

The All About Cupcakes blog claims that the cupcake was an American invention (finally, us Yankees can claim a small victory in culinary greatness!). All About Cupcakes also states that the cupcake was revolutionary because of the streamlined recipe – instead of having to weight out all the ingredients, the birth of the cupcake also ushered in the system of measuring ingredients instead.

All About Cupcakes also explains why cupcakes were sometimes called “number cakes” back in the good ole days:

“In the beginning, cupcakes were sometimes called "number" cakes, because they were easy to remember by the measurements of ingredients it took to create them: One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, four eggs, one cup of milk, and one spoonful of soda. Clearly, cupcakes today have expaned to a wide variety of ingredients, measurements, shapes, and decorations - but this was one of the first recipes for making what we know today as cupcakes.”

And it seems like the general public has been engaged in a love affair with the tiny cake since its inception. In 1919, the folks at Hostess thought it was worthwhile to market a pre-packaged cupcake, and if you know anything about the food industry, we won’t see something on the grocery store shelves unless somebody thinks we’ll pay lots of money over and over again to eat it. Once the pre-cursor to what would become the Hostess cupcake we all know and love (you know, the cream filled deliciousness with the white figure 8-like design on top?).

D.R. Rice was the man responsible for bringing us the Hostess cupcake we know today. At the time, Hostess saw a lag in sales for the cupcake because of the sugar and chocolate rationing that took place during World War II. Rice decided that redesign was needed, and his first order of business was to inject the cupcakes with sweet, sugary cream. Secondly, Rice toyed with a new aesthetic for the outside of the cake. Originally, he wanted a single line of icing, but after trying out the iconic squiggle design, he decided it looked more upscale and chose it as the final design element.

Hostess debuted the pre-cursor to what became the brand's iconic cupcake in 1919. D.R. Rice redesigned the cupcake in the early 1950s.

If you didn’t love D.R. Rice after reading that last paragraph, you will after reading this: He also helped mastermind the invention of the Twinkie, HoHo’s, Snoballs, and Ding Dongs.

Based on the fact that cupcakes have been around for over 200 years (give or take), I think it’s safe to end the conversation on whether cupcakes are a trend or not. They’re older than Pinkberry, so that’s enough for me to put cupcakes firmly in the classic dessert category.

And for those of you interested in bringing some classic elegance and history to your next get-together, here is a fantastic (and modern take) on teacup cupcakes from Associated Content. Why not get some mileage out of that tea set?




Previous CakeWalk Columns:
Prime peach season calls for seasonal cupcakes (July 24, 2009)
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream…cupcakes! (July 17, 2009)
Bastille Day offers perfect excuse for cupcakes that are tres chic (July 10, 2009)
Celebrate your Fourth of July with one of America’s favorite treats (July 3, 2009)
The symbolic power of the cupcake (June 26, 2009)
Giving something back to your community by simply making a cupcake (June 19, 2009)
The secret delights of regional cupcakes (June 12, 2009)
The silver dragée strikes again! (June 5, 2009)
Chic cupcakes for any budget - take that recession! (May 29, 2009)
Top me off bartender…err, baker in this case (May 22, 2009)
The importance of a moist cake (May 15, 2009)
The Savory Cupcake Dilemma of 2009 (May 8, 2009)
Will the real buttercream icing please stand up? (May 1, 2009)


Mary Ann is the founder of the New York City chapter of CupcakeCamp NYC, an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment. She is also the founder of Puff and Choux, a blog dedicated to the pastry and dessert arts. You can contact her at mary_ann_porch@hotmail.com with any questions, ideas or just to chit chat. You can also follow her on Twitter at @MaryAPorch.

Blueberry pancake cupcakes and more from Caketopia

These cupcakes are by Caketopia of Fort Wayne, Indiana, via their Flickr account. They're being sold at local farmer's markets, there's more info on their site.

I like the art of the frosting swirl here, and how colorful they are. Each one alone stands out, and together they look dynamic. I don't think I'll ever get to taste them, but I will definitely be checking their Flickr account for more and if anyone's in Fort Wayne, please let us know if they taste as good as they look!


S'mores! Graham crackers and Hershey's chocolate baked into a chocolate fudge cake, then topped with a toasted marshmallow icing.


Vanilla cupcake


Mint chocolate cupcake


Fresh lemon cupcakes: Vanilla cake filled with lemon curd and then iced with freshly squeezed lemon buttercream.


Chocolate pink cupcakes


Blueberry buttermilk cake iced with a maple buttercream with raw sugar sprinkles and a blueberry.

Citrus poppy cupcakes

These are by Flickr user scottfoster73 - Citrus poppy seed cupcakes. Each top is coated in an orange marmalade, then a disc of rolled buttercream and either orange, lime or lemon pour in glaze.

The Cupcake Collective

via Boise Weekly



The CupCakeCollective

Saturday, August 15th

Ten AM In The Morning

@ the Linen Building

You can register here or email cupcakecollective at gmail.com

… But, What If I Just Want To Eat Cupcakes?? Am I Invited??
Yes, for just $5, you can come inside and eat delicious cupcakes, enjoy a drink at our lemonade stand, hear wimsical music performed live by local musicians, witness the Cupcake Dance, and decide who win’s your vote for best cupcake. What’s not to love?

Cupcake apron and oven mitt contest ends tomorrow!

Speaking of contests, the Penguinbot contest to win a cupcake apron and oven mitt ends tomorrow at 5 pm EST. Will you be the winner? Enter now if you haven't yet!

Interview with Cindy Johnston of Marietta, Georgia's Cupcake Charm Bakery

Name: Cindy Johnston

Age: 45

Location: Marietta, Georgia

Occupation: Baker

URL: Pending

Email: Cupcakecharmllc (at) aol (dot) com

You bake a lot of flavors, I heard about 40, is that correct?

Yes, we actually have more flavors. I have lost count. Popular flavors, such as turtle and rocky road, are baked more often than others.

How many flavors do you offer daily?

From six to twelve flavors. Sometimes a few more.

What is your best-selling flavor or flavor combo?

Red velvet with cream cheese frosting. During this summer, we have been selling white cake with strawberry filling and strawberry buttercream frosting!

How often do you eat cupcakes?

I always taste new recipes. I usually end up eating the cupcakes without frosting.

(insert a *gasp* from your interviewer, Stacie)

What's the best thing about eating cupcakes?

They are just the right size and you can eat just the frosting first or cake and frosting together!

What's your favorite type of cupcake?

Filled cupcakes and angel food cupcakes.

How do cupcakes compare/contrast to other baked goods for you?

I like the individual size of the cupcakes.They are so cute! Perfect to have at events and serve a variety so guests can choose. Problem is they want to try all the flavors!

Is there any innovation you'd like to see made to the cupcake that would improve it for you?

Can't think of anything. Sometimes I say I wish they could bake faster.

Do you bake your own cupcakes? Or (even better) have someone who bakes them for you?

Yes I bake my own every morning and my husband is my assistant baker. We are in the kitchen together in the mornings baking. Would love to have a baker. I personally like to frost better than baking them. It's like art.

What's your first cupcake-related memory?

My mom always made cupcakes in an ice cream cone and I would take them to school. Kids thought that was the greatest! Cupcakes don't look the same now as what they did back then.

What's the most fun you've ever had with a cupcake?

Not sure I can say in this interview, ha ha!

Do you have anything else to add?

Cupcakes are fun! I love to hear customers come in and say "I don't know whether to take a picture of the cupcakes or eat them!" It's also interesting to hear everybody's favorite cupcake.

We also do birthday parties. I take kids (adults too -- I did a 20-year-old's party back in April) back in the kitchen and we make frosting and then we set up the tables for them to decorate their cupcake. The cost is $5.00 per child. I have also hosted bridal and baby showers in the store. We set a $50.00 minimum order to reserve a party.

Cupcake Charm Bakery is located at:

156 Roswell Street

Marietta, GA 30060

678-290-9811

Open Tuesday through Friday 11 am until 6 pm

Saturday 11 am until 5 pm

Sunday and Monday closed.

Notes from the interviewer: Cindy is, by her own admission, not very Web-savvy, and is relying on her kids' help to get a website and possible blog or Facebook account. We all know how important it is to have info, pictures, prices, etc., readily available for prospective clients. CTTC hopes that Cindy is able to get that assistance she needs. Go Geek!


All images shot by our Atlanta-area cupcake fan, Brian Wible for Cupcakes Take the Cake. You can see more delicious cupcake shots by Brian here.

;)

New contest! Win Bella Cupcake Couture cupcake wrappers

Photos via Bella Cupcake Couture on Flickr

Our latest contest is by our recent interviewee, Carrie Middlemiss of Bella Cupcake Couture, to win a set of their cupcake wrappers, which come packaged like this:



To enter, leave a comment on this post along with either your email address (you can format it like this: name at domain.com) or a link with a way to contact you AND tell us which of the 18 different Bella Cupcake Couture Wrappers (see the choices here) you'd want if you win (tough choice, I know)! Deadline is August 31, 5 pm EST. One entry per person. US only. As always, we moderate all comments, so please allow 24 hours to make sure your comment has been received. If you still don't see it, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com

Below are some of the wrappers they offer:

Krispy Kreme mini donuts and cupcakes are dessert heaven

We've covered donut cupcakes before, including donut holes on cupcakes, colorful donut cupcakes and jelly donut cupcakes.



But the blog Life With Cake has gone one better and seemingly created a new combination: coffee, donuts and cupcakes!

Today while enjoying a warm Krispy Kreme I came across a new donut they are offering…the Mini! Krispy Kreme Minis come in original glazed, chocolate glazed, and chocolate glazed dipped in sprinkles. These little guys gave me the inspiration to try out a new cupcake today - The Coffee and Donut Cupcake!

I have seen a few versions of this cupcake on the Internet already and decided I needed to put my own twist on it. I wanted the base of the cupcake to be dense, yet moist, able to withstand a dunk in coffee. The cake also couldn’t be overly sweet, lord knows the donut and frosting would handle that aspect. So a sour cream coffee cake cupcake became the base of this masterpiece. Coffee Swiss meringue buttercream would make the perfect creamy pillow for the mini donut to rest upon. Viola…a divine breakfast treat!



Visit Life With Cake for the recipe for these amazing-looking concoctions.

Stethoscope cupcakes!

How cool are these? They're by Cupcake Obsessed of Hoboken, New Jersey, via Flickr who wrote:

For the record, these cupcakes were approved by a (future) physician. A lot of people (namely my brother) often request cupcakes that are "healthy," but I'm conscientiously opposed to low-fat baked goods. They just never taste even slightly as good as the unmodified versions. Another thing is, how often do people really eat cupcakes? I mean, aside from me, cupcakes are a once in a while indulgence. And you shouldn't skimp calories on your indulgences. The diet can wait until Monday (or Tuesday...or Wednesday). Trust me...

The full order was for 2 dozen red velvet with the stethoscopes, 1 dozen Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, 1 dozen chocolate with chocolate ganache, and 1 dozen orange cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting. I thought it was a pretty good assortment for a party with a mix of adults, 20-somethings, and kids.


Created for a college graduate who will be attending medical school in the fall. Stethoscopes made out of fondant, royal icing, and dragees

Sports cupcakes by Tee & Cakes

Boulder, Colorado cupcake bakery Tee & Cakes sent us these photos of sports cupcakes they did. So cute, and I don't even like most sports! You can follow them on Twitter for their latest cupcake news.

Chocolate cupcake cones

Blogger Simply Sweeter (via Flickr) made these adorable chocolate cupcake cones and documents the process on her blog, with more pics. I love how the different colored and shaped sprinkles add so much fun color to them.