St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Cupcake Toppers

 Top o' the mornin' to ya!

How do you feel about anthropomorphized shamrocks?

You know...shamrocks that smile back at you?

I think these Shamrock Cupcake Toppers are super cute!

Plus, they are easy to make and a tasty treat made out of white chocolate.

Want to whip up some for St. Patrick's Day?

First, save and print this template my hubby made.

Or, you can pipe them freehand if you have ninja piping skills.

Tape your template to a piece of cardboard or a cookie sheet.

Tape a piece of wax paper on top of it.

Melt some green candy melts (I mixed in some white ones to lighten the color).

 Put them in a decorating bag fitted with a small round tip,
or in a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off.
Pipe the outline of each shamrock.

Then, fill in each outline with the candy melts.

 

Let the shamrocks harden, then carefully peel them off the wax paper and turn them over.

 Melt some chocolate chips or brown candy melts.

 Pipe a dot of chocolate on the backs of two candy eyeballs

and arrange them on the flat side of your shamrock.

Pipe a cute little mouth.

 Place the shamrock toppers on the top of your frosted cupcakes and enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For more good luck, try this yummy treat...
Key Lime Shamrock Cake 

I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This post was featured!

Box of Happy-making Cupcakes

Check out this trio of happiness!

Cupcakes by Dubuque, Iowa's All Things Sweet Shoppe, image courtesy cdedbdme.

We Have a Winner!

Congrats to Samantha H. in Lawrence, Kansas, for winning the Martha Stewart and Macy's giveaway!

Stay tuned for more giveaways.

;)

Yoga cupcakes!

See many more yoga cupcakes at Yoga Dork (thanks to Kiki for letting me know about this).


by Baking Maniac

Thin Mint, Samoa and Tagalong Girl Scout cookie cupcakes

Goodie Girls in Glendale, California has gone Girl Scout cookie crazy! They're serving up Thin Mint, Samoa and Tagalong cupcakes. All photos and descriptions via their Facebook page. The Thin Mint consists of "Our decadent chocolate cake topped with Peppermint Chocolate Fluff, homemade Peppermint Fudge and rolled in Thin Mint Cookies!" Samoa is "Buttermilk cake with a full Samoas cookie baked in topped with caramel fluff, toasted coconut, fudge and caramel drizzle." Contact them at info at thegoodiegirls.com or 818-545-0434 and visit thegoodiegirls.com for more information. To order your own Girl Scout cookies, click here.







These aren't Girl Scout cupcakes, but cute Valentine's Day cupcakes I wanted to share too:

Cupcake Shumai

The Cupcake Project has done it again. Stef has morphed the cupcake into something crazy original, this time she was inspired by her son to create Cupcake Shumai. If you're unfamiliar with shumai it's a type of Asian dumpling, typically served at Dim Sum and is definitely one of my favorite dishes! These sweet dumplings are easy to make, just bake up a batch of your favorite cupcakes, frost and cut up a few cupcakes and wrap them in some shumai/wonton wrappers (found at Asian specialty grocers and some chain stores). Then you steam the shumai according to the directions here at Just Bento.

Ribbon-like Rainbow Cake Pops Tutorial

 Wow! Just wow. These rainbow cake pops are decorated with a ruffled look. We never thought cake pops could be so delicate looking and now you can learn how to make them via (MyCupcakeAddiction).

Food Photography, Cupcakes and Social Media Week

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/WCqQsQQpYB/

Photo by AlexTabar

Last week was Social Media Week. It's a busy week of panels about Pinterest, forums about Facebook and talks about Twitter.  Our friends at the Soho Gallery For Digital Art asked me to put together a panel about food photographer. Alejandra Ramos, Megan Martin and Jacqui Lombard and I were available to talk about it, and a video journalist from the New York Times made a short video.

Michigan, get your free s'mores cupcake today at Just Baked before they run out

This s'mores cupcake looks so good it makes me want to head to Michigan just to get one! Free, no less, while supplies last at Just Baked, which has multiple Michigan locations. Keep track of their cupcakes and giveaways on their Facebook page. One free s'mores cupcake today, while supplies last.

A vanilla Oreo cookie baked inside a marshmallow frosted cupcake

I love that blogger niner bakes wrote about this cupcake: "That Oreo cookie was just meant to be to fit in a cupcake! So yum!"

Oscars movie and popcorn cupcakes by Rebel Bakery

Rebel Bakery in London, which specializes in gluten-free cupcakes and other desserts, is ready to celebrate tonight's Oscars with these movie and popcorn cupcake toppers! Via @rebelbakery on Twitter. Contact them at info at rebelbakery.co.uk or +44 7868 567026 or visit rebelbakery.co.uk for more information. You can also visit them on Facebook, where the other photos are from. And on March 16th from 12-3:30, you can sample their gluten-free desserts free at Whole Foods Market Camden; click here for details.




El Diablo: "This devilishly hot chilli chocolate cake is packed with chunks of dark chocolate, topped with a creamy chocolate buttercream and crowned with the devil's horns."


Old Fashioned: "A rebellious whisky and orange cupcake with a cherry centre."


Blueberry Butterfly: "A delicate cupcake bursting with blueberries and topped with a white chocolate butterfly."


The King: "Banana, peanut butter and jelly packed in to a rebellious cupcake."


Big Apple Pie

Reminder: Giveaway Ending Tomorrow!

Hey cupcake-lovers, don't forget to enter our Martha Stewart and Macy's giveaway, which ends tomorrow!

Good luck everyone!

;)

Hey Batter Batter Batter!

It's almost time for baseball season to start!  And what could be better (for a NYer or any Yank's fan) than Yankees cupcakes?!

Image courtesy Kid's Birthday Parties, supplies available for purchase here.

Despicable Me Cupcakes

I loved the movie Despicable Me and these minions cupcakes are perfectly adorable! Excellent work courtesy ayca13. Bakery is Mandalina Bakery in Farnborough, UK.

Beautiful Rainbow Roses

Sure to brighten up any dreary day (like today in NYC!). Image courtesy FamilySweetery.

Hello Kitty cupcake wrapper and topper set

I saw this Hello Kitty cupcake topper and wrapper set last night at Barnes & Noble and freaked out. Two of my favorite things! You can buy one on Amazon. If you make cupcakes with these, please send us photos at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com - I'd love to see them in action.

Pink and Red Heart Cupcakes

Very pretty and perfect for Valentine's Day:

Image courtesy creative and delicious sweets (Sandy).

Quilling Cupcake Card

Crafty homemade cupcake greeting card:

Image courtesy gemacrafts.

I don't know what's in this cupcake but I want to eat it!

I do know it's by Cupcake Mojo and it's their Wahlburgers cupcake, a promotion with a local restaurant, Wahlburgers, at 19 Shipyard Drive in Hingham, Massachusetts, where you can buy it (someone on Facebook asked if that's a tater tot on top!). I think there's salted caramel action going on, but I'm not sure. I love when cupcake bakeries partner with local businesses for a win win, especially restaurants because, much as I love cupcakes, we all need to eat other things sometimes (right?). All photos via Cupcake Mojo on Facebook. They're located at 93 Washington Street in Weymouth, Massachusetts and can be reached at info at cupcakemojo.com or 781) 803-6606. Their cupcake flavors are listed here but not the Wahlburgers one, so it remains a mystery (but feel free to email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and fill us in!).


the mysterious but enticing Wahlburgers cupcake

Giveaway! Martha Stewart's new "Cakes & Cupcakes" plus Merch

Martha Stewart's new Cakes & Cupcakes is out and it's excellent!

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Cover shot.

 We're giving away one copy of the new publication, plus a Pastry Decorating Set

($12.99) and a Baking Silpat, 11.6" x 16.5" ($24.99), all from the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy’s. The giveaway is open to any reader, worldwide!

Want to enter the contest? Leave a contact email in the comment section, below, on or before February 25 (Monday), 2013, and tell us your favorite Martha moment. In the meanwhile, you can explore this recipe, picture, video and how-to from the new publication:

Toadstool Cupcakes

Makes 10

Decorate these cupcakes with tiny caterpillars, snails, or acorns made with tinted fondant (see how-to's). They can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for tins

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for tins

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

Butter Glaze (recipe follows)

Cinnamon candies, such as Red Hots, for decorating

Gel-paste food coloring in green

Fondant animals, for decorating (instructions below)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups (every other cup) plus the top of a 12-cup muffin tin and 4 cups plus the top of another 12-cup muffin tin. Dust cups and tops of tins with flour, tapping out excess.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat melted butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs; beat 2 minutes more. Beat in vanilla.

3. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Divide batter among prepared cups, filling to the top edge. Add more batter to the center of each so that it mounds 1/2 inch above rim.

4. Bake, removing halfway through and gently tapping on counter, until cupcakes are slightly golden and a cake tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 day before decorating.

5. With cupcakes still in tins, use a serrated knife (held with blade flat against the top of tin) to slice off the overflowed cap of each cupcake. Run a knife or offset spatula around edges of cupcake bases to loosen. Turn out onto a wire rack set over a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, leaving the bases inverted.

6. Spoon butter glaze over cupcake bases. Place caps on inverted bases. Spoon glaze over tops (reserve remaining glaze). Let stand 1 minute. Smooth any drips with a toothpick or knife. Decorate with cinnamon candies. Let stand at room temperature until glaze is firm, about 1 hour.

7. Using an offset spatula, transfer cupcakes to a serving platter. Tint leftover glaze with green gel-paste food coloring. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as #2). Pipe blades of grass around the bases of the cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored at room temperature up to 1 day; place fondant or marzipan figures on cupcakes just before serving.

Butter Glaze

Makes enough for 10 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (2 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk

3 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in milk.

2. Whisk together butter mixture and the sugar in a large bowl until icing is opaque and thickened but still pourable, 4 to 5 minutes. Use immediately.

How to Make Fondant Caterpillars and Snails

1. Tint equal amounts fondant light green, black, yellow, beige, and brown.

2. For caterpillar, roll tiny pieces of light green fondant into 10 to 15 balls; press together in a curved line. Pinch off 2 tiny pieces of black fondant for eyes; press onto head. Repeat to make additional caterpillars.

3. For snail, roll yellow fondant into a 1/2-inch ball; flatten into a thick disk for the shell. Roll beige fondant into a rope, about 1/8 inch thick; cut rope crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Shape pieces with fingers into snail’s head and tail; press onto front and back of shell.

4. Roll brown fondant into a very thin rope; cut rope into 2-inch pieces. Coil rope on top of shell and press to flatten.

5. Pinch off 2 tiny pieces of black fondant for eyes, and use your fingers to roll a tiny rope of black fondant for antennae; press onto head. Repeat to make additional snails.

------------

 Too much detail for you? Need some help? (I know I would.)  Martha Stewart has put up some very well done accompanying video tutorials to assist, and you can find them here.

All merchandise available at select Macy's stores and macys.com.




;)

Mama's little cupcake onesie at baby shower

I cohosted a baby shower for my friend Gloria this past weekend and will share more about the wonderful cupcake bar setup but first wanted to share this "Mama's Little Cupcake" onesie that was part of the onesie decorating! We used fabric marker and it was a lot of fun.

Next Cupcake Meetup: March 3rd And More

We're having a tiny meetup on Sunday, March 3rd at Prohibition Bakery. If you want to come, RSVP now. Please note that the cupcakes are boozy and you must be 21 and older to eat. The bakery is small so the meetup will be held to only a dozen people.

We are looking to you to offer suggestions for future meetups. A few people are interested in a cupcake decorating meetup. We would love to do so when we find a space and a instructor to do event. Any venue suggestions would be great!

New York City bakeries, do you miss us?!  Let us know, and I will set up some Friday afternoon cupcake gatherings this spring.  The group will be no more than a baker's dozen (13 people) and if you want to sponsor a cupcake happy hour, please let us know at cupcakestakethecakeATgmailDOT with the subject line: Baker's Dozen Fridays.

Aphrodite Cupcakes

It's February, but you'd think it was summer at Life is Sweet in Northern Ireland with the selection of fresh, fruit cupcakes they have at their shop today.

These Aphrodite Cupcakes are vanilla cake filled with fresh mango curd and topped with fresh passion fruit buttercream then drizzled with more of the gorgeous tangerine colored passion fruit juice.

I seriously want to make the trek to visit them just to try these!

Red velvet cupcake with a special message on top

I don't think we have to wait for Valentine's Day to send special love cupcakes, and these red velvet cupcakes for two by The Foodie Couple are a perfect way to show you care. Visit them for the recipe!

Triple Chocolate Malt Cake

Chocolate.

That's what this delicious creation is all about.

Chocolate malt cake, chocolate malt frosting, chocolate ganache.

Triple Yum!

Oh yeah, and it's decorated with chocolate malt balls too.

Because chocolate is my BFF.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is malted milk powder.

(I found mine by the chocolate milk powder in the store.)

It adds a subtle flavor that brings to mind a chocolate malted milkshake.

Your taste buds are going to love it!!

Triple Chocolate Malt Cake

adapted from Paula Deen's Holiday Baking (2007)

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Ingredients

Chocolate Malt Cake

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup malted milk powder
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Malt Frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup malted milk powder
• 5 cups confectioners' sugar
• malted milk balls for garnish

Chocolate Ganache

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Chocolate Malt Cake

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottoms of three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with wax paper. Grease the sides.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine the milk and malted milk powder; stir until dissolved. Add milk mixture, oil and eggs to flour mixture; beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat just until combined. Pour the batter into prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes (until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean).

Chocolate Malt Frosting

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and cocoa powder with electric mixer until creamy. In a small bowl, combine the cream and malted milk powder; stir until dissolved. Add the cream mixture to the butter mixture; beat at low speed until combined. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.

Chocolate Ganache

Place the chocolate chips in a metal bowl. Heat cream over medium heat. Watch it closely and immediately remove from heat when it starts to boil. Pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 or 2 minutes. Then slowly stir the mixture, stirring until all the chips have completely melted. Mix in the vanilla. Allow to cool until it reaches desired consistency.

Powered by Recipage

I may or may not have eaten a slice of this chocolatey goodness for breakfast.

Enjoy! 

Want some more yummy chocolate recipes?
Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

 Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cake 

  
I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This post was featured!

Gumbo Cupcakes

I know Mardi Gras was last week but I found these Gumbo Cupcakes on The Cupcake Project and just had to share them. Now I've seen some pretty crazy savory cupcake ideas but GUMBO?! I mean there's a shrimp...on top of this cupcake!

This incredible cupcake's creator, Stef, verifies that these cupcakes when fresh out of the oven definitely taste like gumbo! There's no fish in the cupcake so don't get too worried about the shrimp on top if you're not a seafood fan, you could maybe put a chunk of sausage on top instead!

These cupcakes are a tad bit more involved than your standard sweet recipe but based on the author's description I would have to think they're worth it! Check out the recipe here!

Chocolate ombre hi hat cupcakes by Bake It In a Cake

Whoa! That's what I have to say about these chocolate ombre hi hat cupcakes. I love any kind of hi hat cupcakes but these are extra special. Find out how to make them from Bake It In a Cake!

Now that's a cupcake: croquembouche profiterole dessert glamour at Jellytots & Dollymixtures

This weekend only, which means when I'm in the UK in two weeks I will not get to taste this amazing Jellytots & Dollymixtures croquembouche cupcake, but I hope some of you will! Here's the official definition of their croquembouche cupcake: "Your choice of vanilla or chocolate cupcake filled with a light and fluffy Bavarian cream. Topped with a layer of frosting and a caramel glazed, chocolate drizzled mountain of mini choux pastry profiteroles!" What an amazing concoction. Their Valentine's Day cupcakes are available through the end of February in stores on Saturdays and Sundays (or by special order), and the purple and white cupcakes were wedding cupcakes. Awww...all via their Facebook page. Contact them at info at jellytotsanddollymixtures.co.uk or +44 161 637 2199 and find out more at jellytotsanddollymixtures.co.uk. Their cupcakes are also available at Selfridges, Trafford Centre, Selfridges, Birmingham, Harvey Nichols, Manchester, Booths Food Stores, Knutsford and Booths Food Stores, Media City.