What is "the new cupcake?"

The Gloss takes a look at the many, many media outlets, such as the Miami New Times ("Cutesy cupcakes are as outdated as truffle oil. All over the country, these ubiquitous mini-cakes are being supplanted in popularity by the donut") that are asking what's "the new cupcake?" Answers range from donuts to macaroons to whoopie pies, but we around here know that cupcakes are, in fact, "the new cupcake."

Tulip, duckling and more flower cupcakes

I saw this cute tulip and duckling cupcake at Party Cupcake Ideas and couldn't resist it's cuteness; the photo is by wockerjabby on Flickr. I love how you can see all the sugar crystals, and how simple but very fun and attention-getting the designs are.




via Flickr

What's New, Cupcake? book tour and TV dates

Authors Karen Tack and Alan Richardson are about to go on a big book tour for their latest, What's New, Cupcake? (click here for some photos and recipes from the book, and we'll have more soon). Visit their official site for cupcake decorating tips and tune in tomorrow to the Today Show for special April Fool's Day cupcakes.



New York City
TODAY Show, demo/interview, April 1, 4th Hour

New York City
Fox & Friends, demo/interview, April 2

Houston, TX
Central Market, Cooking Demo and Class, April 5, 6:30pm

Austin, TX
Central Market, Cooking Demo and Class, April 6, 6:30pm

Dallas, TX
Central Market, Cooking Demo and Class, April 7, 6:30pm

Ft. Worth, TX
Central Market, Cooking Demo and Class, April 8, 6:30pm

San Antonio, TX
Central Market, Cooking Demo and Class, April 9, 6:30pm

Palo Alto, CA
Sur la Table, Cooking Demo and Class. April 11, 12:00pm

San Francisco, CA
Sur la Table (Union Square), Cooking Demo and Class, April 12, 6:00pm

Fairfield, CA
Jelly Belly Factory, Cooking Demo, April 13, 1:00pm

Kansas City, MO
Webster House w/Rainy Day Books, Cooking Demo, April 15, 1:30pm

New York City
Barnes & Noble, 66th and Broadway, Cooking Demo, April 17, 2:00pm

Scottsdale, AZ
Sur La Table, Cooking Demo and Class, April 19, 6:00pm

Denver, CO
Tattered Cover (Colfax/Uptown), Cooking Demo, April 20, 7:30pm

Apex, NC
A.C. Moore, Cooking Demo and Class, April 24, 12:00pm

Cary, NC
A.C. Moore, Cooking Demo and Class, April 25, 12:00pm

St. Louis, MO
Left-Bank Books, Cooking Demo, April 27, 7:00pm

St. Louis, MO
L'Ecole Culinaire, Cooking Demo and Class, April 28, 10:00am

Toronto, Canada
Media Day, May 5

Paramus, NJ and Hartsdale, NY
Chef Central, book signing, May 8, 11:00am and 2:00pm

Manhasset, Long Island
Sur La Table, Cooking Demo and Class, May 11, 6:00pm

Toms River, NJ
Ocean County Library, book signing and demo, May 13, 7:00pm

Philadelphia
Sur La Table, Cooking Demo and Class, May 14, 6:30pm

Marlton, NJ
Sur La Table, Cooking Demo and Class, May 15, 11:00am

Canton, CT
Sur La Table, Cooking Demo and Class, May 18

Chicago, IL
Sweet & Snacks (formerly All Candy Expo), May 23-27

Milwaukee, WI
Iron Cupcake: Earth / Hearts for Haiti Event, May 28-30

Cotton candy Easter mini cupcakes at Baked by Melissa

New York's Baked by Melissa, which has a window in SoHo and a shop on 14th Street near Union Square, is serving up cotton candy mini cupcakes in pretty pastel colors for Easter. Visit www.bakedbymelissa.com or call 212-842-0220 for ordering information.

Mini marshmallow lamb cupcakes

These mini marshmallow lamb cupcakes are so cute! Get the recipe at Food2.com.

Coconut Easter basket cupcakes and pastel spring cupcakes

Chicago's Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique is serving up some special Easter cupcakes (they will be closed on Easter Sunday and are open Saturday 9 am to 3 pm). Visit www.sugarblisscakes.com for more information. Regular size cupcakes are $40/dozen and mini cupcakes are $15/dozen.


These Easter basket cupcakes are available from today through April 3rd. They are: "Vanilla Coconut and Chocolate Coconut cupcakes topped with green coconut shavings and topped with jelly beans."


These spring cupcakes are also available through April 3rd: "Black & White and Vanilla Vanilla cupcakes with pastel vanilla buttercream."

You can also follow Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique on Facebook and Twitter and on April 6th at noon can catch owner Teresa Ging at noon at Macy's State Street offering a dessert demo using KitchenAid. They're also eco-conscious: they sell a $5 tote bag that holds up to a dozen mini cupcakes and if your bring it back for a cupcake refill you get 20 cents off your order and as we all know, every penny counts.

Chocolate ganache macaroon flourless cupcakes, chocolate peanut butter & more at Tee & Cakes

Boulder, Colorado bakery Tee & Cakes posted on their website on March 26th:

Perfectly tasty seasonal cupcakes. For the next week, we’ll have these cupcakes available at the shop. They go fast, so come by at 11am or feel free to pre-order. 720-406-7548.

They look delicious! It doesn't say for sure but I'm assuming the flourless chocolate cake is kosher for Passover (note that some bakeries are selling Passover cupcakes but they are not technically kosher for Passover, so ask if this is a concern). See www.teeandcakes.com for store information.


Flourless Chocolate Cake with Macaroon and Chocolate Ganache.


Chocolate peanut butter


Pistachio


Carrot cupcake

Rubber ducky cupcakes by Whipped Bakeshop

Philadelphia custom cupcake and dessert company Whipped Bakeshop whipped up these adorable rubber ducky cupcakes (via Flickr). See www.whippedbakeshop.com for ordering information.

Waiting For Mr. Darcy With Cupcakes

This is for all the Pride and Prejudice fans-- adorable illustration was sent via email and drawn by Stay for Lunch, a self-described compulsive doodler.

Cupcake Business Class on April 17 in Philadelphia

 

Burgeoning bakery business owners, 
Rachel and I are taking the Bolt Bus down to Philadelphia to teach our Cupcake Business Class on Saturday April 17th.  The Cupcake Business Class will focus on branding, building buzz and social media.  We will have a local baker from the Philadelphia area to speak as well.  The class will be at Independents Hall which is at 20 North 3rd Street and will last three hours.

To make the class more interactive, please submit cupcake business questions prior to class.  We may not  have all the answers, but at least we can see what you are looking for and direct the discussion. Register now on our Cupcake Meetup page.

Feel free to bring some of your own cupcake creations for the class to try. See you in Philly!

Learn how to make flower cupcakes Thursday at Macy's Flower Show (Philadelphia)

This just in, from custom cupcake company A Cupcake to Remember:

A Cupcake to Remember, a custom catering business specializing in cupcakes will have a demonstration on how to decorate Flower Themed cupcakes. Millie Colón (owner) will share ideas on how to create Cupcake Flower Pots with crushed oreo cookies, colorful fondant flowers and flowers made with buttercream.

When: April 1st @ 12:30pm
Where: Macy's Center City Philadelphia 3rd Floor (1300 Market Street)
Free mini cupcakes for attendees

Here are two examples of A Cupcake to Remember's flower cupcakes:





See Macy's and A Cupcake to Remember for more information. You can contact A Cupcake to Remember at Millie at acupcaketoremember.com or 646-338-7236.

Cupcakes for Cures charity cupcake event April 10th

Cupcakes for Cures is a special event taking place April 10th in Asheville, North Carolina, to raise money to cure cancer. It takes place from 1 to 4 pm at The Grove Park Inn (290 Macon Avenue) and looks like a great event. Visit www.cupcakesforcures.com for more information.



From their press release:

Professional bakers, amateur bakers and youth bakers will compete for bragging rights and fantastic prizes all while raising funds to find cures for cancer. Bakers can enter multiple culinary creations in true Asheville categories: Best Beer Cupcake, Best Gluten-Free Cupcake, Best Holiday and Special Occasion Cupcake, Best Birthday Cupcake and Best Local Foods Cupcake. Bakers should visit www.cupcakesforcures.com to enter. The deadline for entries is Wednesday, April 6 at 5:00pm.

The Grove Park Inn, www.bakeitpretty.com, and Greenlife Grocery are major sponsors of the event and will send judges to the competition. The Grove Park Inn is the host sponsor and is providing the grand prize, their Bed, Breakfast and Dinner for Two Package. Other judges include Marcianne Miller, author of The Artful Cupcake: Baking & Decorating Delicious Indulgences and Mackensy Lunsford, food editor for Mountain Express.

There's also an e-card you can send to let people know you're competing.

Check out the specifics on the category competition, especially the beer one:

* Best Birthday Cupcake: a cupcake that screams birthday to someone who’s 5 or 50.

* Best Gluten-Free Cupcake: a cupcake that excludes ingredients derived from gluten-containing cereals: wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, and triticale.

* Best Holiday or Special Occasion Cupcake: Halloween, 4th of July, Weddings and Baby Showers, there are so many occasions to enjoy cupcakes.

* Best Savory Cupcake: a non-dessert cupcake that sounds more like an entrée than a cupcake

* Best Beer Cupcake: Asheville is Beer City USA after all. Two requirements for this category: beer is used as an ingredient and only contestants 21 years and older can enter a cupcake in this category.

* Best Local Foods Cupcake: a cupcake with one or more local ingredients, i.e. ingredients grown and produced within 100 miles of Asheville

You can also fan Cupcakes for Cures on Facebook and we look forward to hearing how it went and posting photos from this exciting event.

Easter cupcakes galore: Peeps, chicks and bunnies at Hoosier Homemade

Can we please get a collective "awwww..." for the beautiful Easter cupcakes collected over at Hoosier Homemade? Please go there for more information. Photos via Hoosier Homemade on Flickr. The second one below, with the bunny ears, is my favorite!

Reminder

Don't forget to enter to win our Merry Martini giveaway, ending tomorrow, March 31, at 5:00 pm.

Win A Keep Calm And Have a Cupcake Journal

Here's a new giveaway for our lovely readers. Enter to win a copy of this cute journal that Rachel blogged about it recently, "Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake". The good folks at Peter Pauper Press have offered to give one of the journal. Submit your entry here. The contest will end on Tuesday, April 6. In June, we will be doing another giveaway for Boston's Sweet cupcake recipe book when it is released.

Also, check out Peter Pauper's site for "Keep Calm and Have A Cupcake" bookmarks, gift bags and note cards.

Ooodles of cupcake merch at Exit 9

I buy an awful lot of gifts at Exit 9. Greeting cards, too. I was shopping at the tiny East Village store this week for a friend's birthday when I noticed that I was surrounded by cupcake merch.






Cupcake socks.









Key caps.









Bake and serve cupcake molds that look like tea cups, with saucers. Four of each to a box for, I think, $20. Adorable. Fred for the win.









Cupcake floss.

















Cupcake cards.







Puffy cupcake stickers.









Cupcake pins.








Cupcake earrings.



Can you feel the love?

Cupcake Meetup at Baked

Yesterday, we had a cupcake meetup at Baked in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. the weather was cooler and rainy, but we had a nice little group of people who came out. Annie from Annycakes won a copy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking and Amy won the Food Party apron that I got at IFC Crossroads House at SXSW.



We ate six different flavors of cupcakes: Malted Chocolate, Citrus Coconut, Hazelnut, Red Velvet, Salted Caramel and Lemon Drop.

Thanks to everyone who came out. Soon, I will announce our next New York Cupcake Meetup, but note that Friday, April 9 is Cupcake Camp at Happy Ending.

Special Grand Central cupcake at Magnolia Bakery

Special Grand Central cupcake at Magnolia Bakery
Originally uploaded by Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake

I just visited the newest Magnolia Bakery in Grand Central Station and
discovered they have their very own cupcake! $3.50 each, marble cake
with vanilla buttercream frosting and dark chocolate disc. Plus a
lemon cupcake ($3.25) new for me from Magnolia. Just in time as
Passover starts soon, I'm on my way to a seder. Full report and more
photos TK.

Peeps and bunny Easter cupcakes, flourless chocolate Passover cupcakes at Sweet

Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts Suri Cruise-approved bakery Sweet is offering up Passover and Easter cupcakes (with Peeps!) too. See www.sweetcupcakes.comfor ordering information.

Easter cupcakes:





Flourless chocolate cupcakes for Passover:

More Peeps cupcakes!

I have a major fondness for Peeps, and think they look extra cute on top of cupcakes, just sitting there, happily (in my mind, happily), adding a whole new tallness to a cupcake.

These are by Life Abundant on Flickr.

Kosher for Passover cupcakes at cupcake bakeries

Lots of cupcake bakeries are doing kosher for Passover cupcakes (Passover starts tonight). This isn't a complete list, just what I gleaned from Facebook and newsletters and I'm sure I missed a few too, but wanted to get this posted in a timely manner. Are you selling Passover cupcakes? Leave a comment or drop us a line (and a photo!!) at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com - I personally feel like I can probably live without cupcakes over Passover because I eat a lot of them already but I think it's great that so many bakeries are doing them [Note: All these bakeries are also doing Easter cupcakes, see their sites, linked at right, for details].

Passover cupcakes available at:

Crave Cupcakes (Houston, Texas)

Crumbs Bakeshop (various locations) Update: CRUMBS Passover cupcakes are flourless for Passover, not Kosher for Passover.

Flour & Sun Bakery (Pleasantville, New York)

Sprinkles Cupcakes (various locations)

Tee & Cakes (Boulder, Colorado)

Blogger Baa, Baa, Cupcake, Have You Any Frosting? serves up a recipe for orange sponge cake cupcakes with glaze, pictured below.

Cupcake video demo: adding a Ticings cupcake transfer to a cupcake

I'm having trouble transferring videos from my iPhone so there are a few from my Seattle trip that I'll have to work on.

For now, I wanted to share this one, which I couldn't get onto YouTube but could get posted to Flickr. Ticings.com brought a set of edible cupcake transfers to the cupcake meetup at Cupcake in Minneapolis a few weeks ago and we got to see (and taste!) exactly how it works. Here's a little video demo:



There are more photos in my Flickr set but here are a few of the Ticings transfers and the finished product (I chose Twitter because I'm on it all the time - if you don't follow us, see @cupcakeblog):



Here's what one of the sheets looked like:






And they also sell sprinkles and colored sparkly sugar, which they gave to me as well and we used to decorate the cupcake above!



Here's the official definition of the product from their site:

ticings™ are thin sheets of edible icing printed with contemporary designs using food-grade inks. made in the u.s.a., gluten-free, FDA approved and kosher certified, ticings are best applied to fresh buttercream frosting. just peel and press
to give your cakes and frosted desserts modern decorations in minutes!

They have many designs, including Easter bunnies:





Prices vary, but for a combo Easter chicks and bunny designs, it's $15.95 for:

spring forward with our newest designs for easter with six each adorable 2-1/2" ticings for standard or jumbo cupcakes. ships with a free 1/2 oz. packet of easter sprinkle mix (pastel easter quins plus our micro swiss white chocolate), while supplies last.

You can also find Ticings on Twitter (@ticing) and Facebook.

Thanks to Ticings for adding some fun to our meetup; this is definitely the kind of product that you have to get your hands on to truly understand it. It's a cool way to decorate your cupcakes and I think would be fun for kids (with supervision) to feel a part of it. And the sugar around the edges made the cupcake even more delicious.