Red, white and blue mini cheesecake cupcakes

Petite Mignonette Sweet Coquette made these red, white and blue mini cheesecake cupcakes and writes:

When I got wind of a Fourth of July themed baking contest over at All Through The Year Cheer three thoughts went through my mind. 1) They should be red, white, and blue, obviously. Followed by 2) what do Americans love? Answer: Red Velvet cake. And 3) what do they love even more than that? Answer: Cheesecake. So, drawing upon rainbow cupcakes and black bottom cupcakes as inspiration, these culinary monsters were born.

You can make them too. Click on the photo below to get the recipe and other baking tips.

Futurama cupcakes, planet cupcakes, ice cream cone cupcakes and more from Unicorn Magic Baking Company

These cupcakes are all from the Facebook page of Los Angeles-based custom dessert company Unicorn Magic Baking Company. I've never seen Futurama so don't really get the references but I think these cupcakes are adorable. They also have a Facebook group and can be reached for orders at unicornmagicbaking at gmail.com or 323-608-0084.

Scootabaker cupcakes for charity at Sweet Street Scooter Rally

Food blog Noms, Not Bombs has photos and a writeup of Scootabaker, a dessert delivery service in Los Angeles, who you can also follow @Scootabaker on Twitter and Facebook:

For cupcake fans, Scootabaker offers "old school" cupcake flavors--including "Mr. Vanilla Bean" (vanilla cake with Madagascar vanilla buttercream) and "Coconut Bikini" (coconut cake with cream cheese frosting)--and "new school" flavors--including "Mexicano Hot Chocolate" (cinnamon-chocolate cake with cinnamon-chocolate buttercream) and "Hawaiian Vacation" (vanilla cake with guava filling with vanilla swiss-meringue buttercream). Scootabaker also offers tarts, tartlets, cookies and dessert bars.

For the event, Heather prepared Matcha Green Tea, Black & White and Mocha Latte cupcakes in both mini and regular sizes, tartlets and cookies.


mini cupcakes: matcha green tea, black and white, cappuccino



And, also from the Noms, Not Bombs post (go there for more photos and a cupcake review), it was for charity! Be sure to also check out Noms, Not Bombs on Flickr.

I caught up with the sweets-scootering Heather at The Sweet Street Scooter Rally, hosted by Dangerbird Records and sponsored by The Sweets Truck to benefit the Pablove Foundation, an organization which supports pediatric cancer research.

And I couldn't end this post without including the Scootabaker logo, from their site:



Scootabaker
info at thescootabaker.com
323-543-3279

How to take cupcake photos without a flash

I use my iPhone for almost all photo-taking purposes, because it's so easy to email the photos directly to Flickr or this blog. But I don't have the new iPhone, which has flash, so wasn't able to capture the beautiful display of homemade cupcakes, with chocolate and vanilla frosting, at least night's She Writes party, held in a fairly dark bar.

But when the candles were lit, voila!

American flag cupcakes, patriotic ice cream cone cupcake and other red, white and blue cupcakes

It's a big Cupcake Tuesday USA celebration over at Hoosier Homemade, which offers up July 4th cupcake decorating tips and fun photos like these. Learn how to make the Uncle Sam ice cream cone cupcake, red, white and blue cupcakes and American flag cupcakes (photos via Hoosier Homemade on Flickr). The ice cream cone hat on the first cupcake is so so adorable, I just might have to find a friend's kid or my little cousin and make this for them!

Ice cream cone cupcake, outside and in

This beautiful ice cream cone cupcake, which looks extra tall in the photo, is by Guildford, UK custom dessert company HoneyOrb Bakery, via Flickr. They got the idea from the cookbook Eat Me. It's vanilla sponge cake with chocolate buttercream and flake. You can keep up with HoneyOrb at their blog as well as on Facebook and @honeyorb_bakery on Twitter and they can be reached at cakes at honeyorb.co.uk or 07766 142 772.

S'mores, Oreo, flowers and other cupcake lusciousness from Cookies by Design

The Grand Rapids Press clued us in to Cupcake by Design, which is now featuring these amazing cupcakes:

Cookies By Design has created another tempting treat: a gourmet cupcake line dubbed Cupcake by Design. Flavors include Rocky Road, Give Me Smore, Toasted Almond, Raspberry Delight and Pina Colada.

Each cupcake features a creative topping and a surprise center.

They do delivery as well.

The photos below are from their Facebook page.











June's cupcake flavor of the month is strawberry shortcake:



Cupcake by Design
1971 E. Beltline NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
616-364-9787
creations at cupcakebydesign.com

Cupcake needle-felt pillow

This cupcake needle-felt pillow is by Cake Journal, where you can also see another pillow and more of her handiwork!

Sea turtle cupcakes!

These sea turtle cupcakes are by one of the cupcake bakeries I got to visit in Austin, Polkadots: A Cupcake Factory. More on them later but had to share this, via Twitpic.

Peanut Butter & Co. Chocolate PB Cupcake Mix

At the Summer Fancy Food Show, a large trade event currently happening in NYC, I stopped by to visit a local favorite, the Peanut Butter & Co. booth. They've taken the idea of peanut butter and really explored the possibilities - dark chocolate (PB) dreams, anyone?

An addition to their ever-growing product lineup, I spotted this "Mighty Fine" Peanut Butter & Co. Chocolate Peanut butter cupcake mix, with "real homemade taste!" According to their website, the peanut butter frosting is made with peanut flour, made from their signature peanut butter with the oil pressed out. The resulting flavor promises to be "deeply nutty."

I'm a big fan of peanut butter cupcakes, so I'm curious to see what the mix will taste like. I haven't used a mix in awhile, but I've got my eyes/whisk set on this one.

Red, white and blue 4th of July cupcakes

All week we'll be posting red, white and blue cupcakes, recipes and links (if you've got something of interest, drop us a line at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com) as we lead up to July 4th. These cupcakes with a pinwheel toopper are by Tidy Mom (via Chow Bella). Visit Tidy Mom to find out how to make them and see more photos. Also see this Tidy Mom cupcake Flickr set for more cupcake yumminess.

Cupcake greeting cards that smell like cupcakes!

Fun news from American Greetings, via The Associated Press:

American Greetings Corp. on Monday announced the launch of Tasties, a line of cards that come with dissolvable flavor strips meant to be eaten by the recipients.

The Cleveland-based company says each sealed strip offers a "tasty surprise" that corresponds to the message on the card. For example, a card that features the image of a cupcake and a line about birthdays providing an excuse to eat cake comes with an insert made to taste like a cupcake.

Whack-a-Mole cupcakes!

These Whack-a-Mole cupcakes are by Vancouver, Canada's C&C Cakery (via Flickr) for their Pacific National Exhibition. They write:

A local company (that big one that keeps your lights going) contacted C&C to help with fundraising for their own Canstuction team. Their sculpture's theme is, of course, top secret, but they're muse lives within the PNE's arcade games. So, taking that as our inspiration, we whipped up six dozen Whack-A-Mole themed cupcakes:



Now, moles aren't very cute looking. Google it. No one would want those things coming out of their cupcakes. So we played with the design and made it a bit more cutesy - little pink noses, chocolate cheeks, and big ol' eyeballs. We made our vanilla beanie and chocolate yogurt cake, and covered them with naturally flavoured raspberry, blueberry and lemon cream cheese buttercream. Seriously yum.

Very true cupcake saying

Very true cupcake saying
Originally uploaded by Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake

I just had an epic flying saga from Austin to New York so this cupcake
wrapper art from Lick It Bite It Or Both in Austin seems appropriate!
See my Flickr and stat tuned to the blog for more on this cupcake/ice
cream shop.

You Want To Go To BlogHer 2010?! We're Giving Away One Pass

I (Nichelle) will be attending BlogHer this year for the first time since 2005. Unfortunately Rachel cannot make it due to family obligations, so we decided to give away the extra pass to one of our loyal readers. You will be responsible for your own transportation, lodging and meals. You must have a blog and twitter account. [BlogHer would be kinda frustrating if you do not.] All entrants must be submitted by this Friday, and I will announce the winner on July 6, 2010. Submit your entry here.

Mini hi hat Twilight cupcake and margarita cupcake

Both of these cupcakes are from the blog Two Crazy Cupcakes, the hi hat cupcake made for a Twilight Eclipse party and the mini margarita cupcake with margarita buttercream (click for the recipe).

Raccoon cupcakes!

It's my last morning in Austin before an afternoon of travel so my posts may be light, but I will have many Austin cupcake reports (5, in fact) and thank everyone for their hospitality. Look for those posts this week, along with lots of July 4th-related cupcakes (if you've made some or are selling any, send details/photos to cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com or add them to our Flickr pool, which, as always, is the best way to get photos to our attention - and it should go without saying, but only cupcakes belong in our cupcake Flickr pool).

These raccoon cupcakes are by blogger blempgorf via Flickr. So fun!

Gorgeous cupcake photo

This makes me so very hungry.




Lovely photography by golf88.

Zoo cupcakes

Our friend Addie Broyles, who I didn't get to see on this Austin trip, wrote about these zoo cupcakes she made with her 3-year-old son for Relish Austin:

This week, we made cupcakes together (and by together, I mean I made them while he sat in at the kitchen counter trying to get the wrapper off the sprinkles) and instead of leaving the whole batch at the house, which would mean a daily battle over how many he should get to eat, I dolled out one to each of us and then I brought the rest to share with my co-workers.



Pretty cute, huh?

I wish I could take total credit for baking these bad boys from scratch, including the icing, but I had the help of a few new products from Duff Goldman, the guy behind the Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes.” (I don’t usually write about national products like this, especially $9 cake mixes or $24 fondant, but the cupcakes turned out pretty moist and delicious and I wouldn’t have been able to put them together in less than 15 minutes without the assistance of pre-made fondant.)

Pineapple upside down cupcakes at our Sugar Mama's Bakeshop meetup!

Pineapple upside down cupcakes at our Sugar Mama's Bakeshop meetup!
Originally uploaded by Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake

Join us in Austin til 3:30, more photos TK!

Colorforl rainbow pride cupcakes by Sugarbaby's Cupcake Boutique

Sugarbaby's Cupcake Boutique in Houston, Texas (via Flickr) is selling these rainbow very multi-colored cupcakes for gay pride this weekend only. See ilovesugarbabys.com for more information.

Keep 'em coming, folks!

Ohh, I could almost have something like this inked on my body. Sent in by reader Becky, this sweet tat is by Iggy Sweeney at Bodystain Tattoo in Columbus, Ohio. Very crisp!

I love the levitating cupcake

Another fabulous cupcake illustration by Spensatron 5000:

Glitter banana chocolate cupcake at Delish, Austin, Texas

Glitter banana chocolate cupcake at Delish, Austin, Texas
Originally uploaded by Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake

I love how pretty and glittery Delish's cupcakes are! $2.75 each. Full
report TK.

Epilepsy awareness and the Great Purple Cupcake Project

Cupcakes Take the Cake has been supportive of the Great Purple Cupcake Project and Purple Day, because it's a wonderful awareness campaign and education platform, and you get to eat cupcakes and feel good about it -- no calories if the cupcakes are for charity, that's a fact.

I had lunch yesterday with the force behind the Anita Kaufmann Foundation, Debra Josephs, who is a fairly amazing woman and doing a tremendous job teaching people about seizure disorders and brain injuries and what seizures can look like. I consider myself fairly savvy but I had no idea that seizures can present with blank stares or daydreaming-type disconnection and that spasms and convulsions are not always present.

Anyway, Debra is gearing up for the second annual Great Purple Cupcake Project (March 20-26, 2011) and she'll be traveling 'round the world between then and now helping educate and inspire. If you are a bakery/cupcakery or are interested in participating and you are in Chicago, IL, or Madison or Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Debra will be near you next week. And she'll be overseas in London, Paris and Amsterdam in August.

Please feel free to contact her at debra (at) akfus.org.

Austin cupcake tasting: chocolate chip cookie dough and lemon zest cupcakes at Delish

Austin cupcake tasting: chocolate chip cookie dough and lemon zest cupcakes at Delish
Originally uploaded by Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake

Delish is my first cupcake stop this weekend in Austin. More on them
later. Cookie dough cupcake rocks!

'Nother cupcake tat!

As I say I never get tired of seeing all your amazing and wonderful cupcake tattoos. You send them in, I'll publish them! (If you can, send info about who inked it and where/when it was does.)

This one sent in by reader and cupcake-lover Renee, from the Chicago area. I love the flourishes, Renee!

Cupcake Tattoos for Cancer

Wow, even more good causes, and cupcakes, and tattoos! Here's a a cupcake tattooing event in Bay Shore, Long Island, NY, to help fight cancer, provide money for research, and where you can get a super-groovy cupcake tat.


From the Website:

"We all know cancer is bad, but to what degree? This year there will be an estimated 550,000 deaths due to cancer and another 1.5 million new cases will arise. Not one particular age group, gender, or race is more or less likely to be diagnosed with the disease, cancer isn't prejudice.

We decided to have a part in finding a cure for cancer, but weren't sure exactly what to do. We came up with the idea of doing tattoos to raise money to fund cancer research. What kind of tattoos would we do, you ask? Well cupcakes of course! I know you wonder what cupcakes have to do with cancer, and honestly I can't find anything to bring the two together other than that they both start with the letter C. But who doesn't hate cancer and who doesn't love cupcakes?

We did a little homework and found the American Association for Cancer Research, would be the best place to donate the money raised. We wanted to make sure that the money we donated, would actually be going to funding research, and nothing else. The AACR is "the worlds oldest and largest professional association to advancing cancer research". Focusing on all aspects of cancer research, the AACR has annual meetings, workshops, publications and journals dedicated to basic research, clinical and translational research into the etiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The American Association for Cancer Research was founded in 1907 by 11 scientists and physicians, and now has more than 27,000 members in over 80 countries.

Our first year was known as Cupcakes for Cancer. We raised $983 for the organization between the tattoos that were done and general donations.

This year we have changed the name from Cupcakes for Cancer to Tattoos for Cancer. Changing the name leaves us free to vary the design themes each year. This year's event will be held at Body Designs, 1755 Sunrise Highway, Bay Shore, NY 11706 from 12pm to 7pm. There will be raffles, prizes and much more this year. So come down, get tattooed and eat a cupcake all to support research for a cure."