Cupcakes Take The Cake

Photopost: Cupcakes, Cubed!

2012-05-26T23:53:00.002-04:00

Here are some nifty cubed cupcakes by, of course, Cupcakes Cubed in Texas!

Mm...sweet cherry pie!

Red velvet signature.

PB & J-infused cupcake.

Almond crème-infused cupcake.

Gorgeous tie-dye!

Black raspberry chip.

The French Riviera.

Carrot cake.

Banana-rama! Looks like the best banana pudding. Yum!

;)

Adorable Crochet Cupcale Pencil Topper

2012-05-26T23:42:00.000-04:00

Cupcake pencil topper by Cuddle Bug Kids. Crochet patterns available at the blog.

Mario Tennis cupcakes sent by Nintendo UK to promote new game, made by Lola's Cupcakes

2012-05-25T15:39:00.002-04:00

UK media is abuzz on Twitter about the Mario Tennis cupcakes delivered by men in tennis outfits being in honor of the Mario Tennis Open sent to them courtesy of Nintendo UK, made by Lola's Cupcakes. Here are a few of the photos heating up the internet.

by bm_duncan on Instagram

by Alexxsia Elizabeth from Company Magazine via Lola's Cupcakes on Facebook - for orders, visit lolas-kitchen.co.uk

by IGN UK (@IGN_UK) (IGN UK called these "absurdly chocolatey" and it's unclear if they are also made by Lola's or by someone else, since they are a different style than the others - if you have info, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and we'll update this post)

@StylistMagazine tweeted: "Men dressed as tennis players offering us ‪#MarioTennisOpen‬ cupcakes? Just another day in the Stylist office..."

by @Grazia_Live

Red, white and blue strawberry raspberry Memorial Day cupcake

2012-05-25T14:34:00.001-04:00

Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe in Rochester, New York is ready for Memorial Day (though they will be closed Sunday-Tuesday). They've whipped up this patriotic cupcake that consists of: "White chocolate cake filled with a raspberry blueberry cream ,topped with raspberry blueberry white chocolate swirled buttercream and a white chocolate dipped strawberry drizzled in blue." They are also debuting their blackberry Chardonnay cupcakes at their Park Avenue store (no photo yet): "Chardonnay cake filled with a marscapone Chardonnay cream, spritzed with chardonnay and topped with a blackberry Chardonnay swirled buttercream." Today's flavors are "Mango Pineapple Smoothie, Roc City Crunch, Strawberry Peaches & Cream, Funky Monkey, Lemon Raspberry, Pina Colada, Chocolate Velvet, Cherry Hazelnut Almond, PB&J, Dulce de Leche, Toffee Crunch, Cookies & Cream, Almond Bliss, Carrot Cake, Grasshopper, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Sinfully Chocolate, Very Vanilla" (I like that they put those right on their website!). They can be reached at 585-210-8014 or sugarmountainbakeshoppe at gmail.com, and you can find out more on their Facebook page or visit sugarmountainbakeshoppe.com.

Cupcakewurst

2012-05-25T09:30:00.000-04:00

Cupcakewurst. Yes. This is a reality. That is cupcake batter that has been baked in sausage casing. It's an interesting concept dreamed up by Cupcake Project but definitely makes for a fun dessert!

Looks like a hot dog but it's a cupcakewurst on a halved long john donut with raspberry sauce! Cake on cake! If you're up to it you can recreate these yourself using Cupcake Project's guide here!

Cupcakes on a plane: Virgin Atlantic now offers cupcakes for sale to its customers

2012-05-24T13:51:00.000-04:00

The day has finally arrived: you can fly with cupcakes. Also exciting: you can call your friends and tell them how awesome eating cupcakes on flight is! According to CNN, "Virgin Atlantic recently announced that passengers can make calls on their cellphones on the airline's Airbus A330 and Boeing 747 flying between London and New York." Virgin Atlantic's partnership with The Indulgence Cupcake Company took flight yesterday. You can pre-select which cupcakes you want from the Virgin Atlantic website at least 4 hours (7 days for your MAN and GLA flights) before your flight (your options are chocolate or lemon) and they'll be delivered to your seat! From a March 2012 press release:

Passengers flying on Virgin Atlantic flights can now pre-order a specially designed pack of 4 cupcakes to be delivered to their seat on boarding the aircraft from Virgin Atlantic’s retail therapy shopping website (http://www.retailtherapyshopping.com/). Managing Director Jeremy Jacobs says “We are very excited to start supplying Virgin Atlantic passengers with our cupcakes; we are committed to supplying the very best British cupcakes and are very excited that passengers will be able to celebrate a special occasion or trip with a box of our tasty cupcakes at 35,000 feet!” Indulgence Cupcake Company hope to expand the product range currently on offer and will be looking to offer seasonal specials to customers around the popular holiday periods.

Passengers wishing to place an order must to do a minimum of 4 days before their flight (7 days for flights departing Manchester or Glasgow) either through the Virgin Atlantic’s retail therapy website or the call centre on +44 (0)844 579 0055.

According to their Facebook page, Indulgence Cupcake Company's first cupcakes were flown today to Canada on flight VS095!

these cupcakes aren't available on planes, but were a custom order by Indulgence Cupcake Company using the Virgin Atlantic logo on edible disks - contact them at 01273 419727 or email us at contact at indulgenceupcakecompany.co.uk to place an order

Guest Post: Back a sustainable cupcake bakery on Kickstarter

2012-05-24T10:54:00.000-04:00

This guest post is by Kaylen Wissinger, owner of Farm Fresh Cupcakes in St. Louis, Missouri. If you are interested in writing a guest post for us, email cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and briefly tell us what your post would cover (we especially love cupcake event previews and roundups, posts related to current cupcake events and cupcake/charity writeups, but are open to guest posts of all kinds). All posts are, of course, at our editorial discretion.

When I created Farm Fresh Cupcakes in April 2011, I had set out to create cupcakes using local, natural ingredients. I recognized the importance of keeping cash flow in my local community, and plus - these were the people I knew best! St. Louisians love their sweet treats. However - while I hoped for success, I was happily surprised how quickly people came to know me and my product.

After a few months of selling at two area farmers markets, I had built up a regular customer base. I had FANS! I was ecstatic. People enjoyed my cupcakes and cake balls, and they were coming back for more. Custom orders started to trickle in, and then wedding orders.

When the farmers market season ended, I sadly packed up my tables and tent for the last time until 2012, and buckled down for the winter - creating and testing recipes, revamping my business plan, making plans to expand, and snagging more wholesale customers.

Over the winter of 2012, the plan for Whisk: a Sustainable Bakeshop was envisioned. I was ready to open a shop - a place where people could go, any day of the week, to get their sugar fix. I would expand my product line, and still keep in touch with the "farm fresh" vibe by working with local and/or natural suppliers. I added "sustainable" to the shop name, because I want customers to know that this shop will be as sustainable as possible. I'm planning on installing rain barrels, having a community compost pile, installing as many EnergyStar qualified appliances/pieces of equipment as possible, using low VOC paints...the list goes on and on (seriously! Click here to find out more of my hopeful sustainable practices!). In addition, I'll be providing some much-needed gluten-free and vegan sweet treats options to the Saint Louis area. It was difficult to create gluten-free treats in a shared kitchen (since I couldn't keep track of whether or not other tenants were cleaning equipment properly), but in my own space - it's definitely a possibility.

My hope is that Whisk becomes a place where great things happen - both in the kitchen (fresh popsicles, artisan doughnuts, pies, cakes, breads, cookies, tarts, scones, and of course CUPCAKES) and out (trivia nights, community meetings, and game nights, to name a few ideas). I can't wait to get started making my dream a reality!

And you can help! I created a kickstarter campaign to help with some of the start-up costs associated with opening a business. Click here to be taken to the kickstarter page to read more about the history of Whisk and the plans that I have for the space. Even $5 helps! The kickstarter campaign ends on Monday, May 28 - we're running out of time to complete our goal!

Even if you can't contribute financially, please be sure to tell your friends and family (or anyone else that you know in Saint Louis) about this project. I appreciate the support, and I want to extend a special thanks to the lovely Cupcakes Take the Cake gals, for allowing me to write this guest post! Aren't they fantastic?!

Red velvet waffle cones, red velvet cupcake topping, cupcake ice cream sandwiches, root beer floats and more at Sprinkles Ice Cream grand opening today in Beverly Hills

2012-05-24T09:36:00.002-04:00

I'll share more soon about why the hot cupcake trend of 2012 is cupcakes and ice cream, with bakeries incorporating ice cream into their shops in all sorts of ways, but right now I want to tell you about today's Beverly Hills opening at 10 a.m. of Sprinkles Ice Cream, located at 9631 South Santa Monica Boulevard, adjacent to the original Sprinkles Cupcakes bakery and the 24-hour Sprinkles Cupcake ATM. Their website says national shipping is coming soon. You can get a root beer float, various flavors of ice cream (see below), and an ice cream sandwich where the ice cream is sandwiched between cupcakes or a red velvet waffle cone. You can follow them at @sprinklesicecrm on Twitter for the latest news. Their hours are Thursday-Saturday 10-11 and Sunday-Wednesday 10-10, and they can be reached at icecream at sprinkles.com or 310-274-7890. If anyone visits this week and wants to write a guest post about it, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com with "Guest Post" in the subject line.

These photos are from Sprinkles Ice Cream's Facebook page, where I learned:

Keeping with Sprinkles modern aesthetic, architect Andrea Lenardin designed a new take on the old fashioned scoop shop. Sprinkles Ice Cream is blanketed with white corian and penny tile offset by rich pops of red. While “chilling” on the spacious indoor-outdoor bench, ice cream enthusiasts will delight in decoding Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream recipe inked onto the overhead rotunda.

Here are the ice cream flavors they're offering: banana, butter pecan, cap'n crunch, cherry vanilla, chocolate chip, chocolate sorbet (dairy free), coffee, coffee almond fudge, dark chocolate, malted milk chocolate, mint chip, peanut butter, pistachio, Sprinkles Red Velvet, rocky road, salty caramel, strawberry, strawberry sorbet (dairy free), triple chocolate, vanilla bean. Cookie flavors are: chocolate chip, double chocolate, peanut butter pretzel chip, salted oatmeal cornflake, snickerdoodle, fudge brownie.

From their Facebook page, here's how to make a

Sprinkles red velvet ice cream

they offer sauces including salted butterscotch, hot fudge or chocolate crackle

dark chocolate ice cream

cupcake ice cream sandwich

red velvet waffle cones

root beer float

pirate cupcakes from the Sprinkles Facebook page, so cupcakes don't feel left out of this post

In other Sprinkles news, their Cupcake ATM photo contest ends May 31st!

Betty Boop and red rose pops plus a cake pop cake!

2012-05-24T07:31:00.001-04:00

Betty Boop cake pops by Norwich, UK company Welcome Treats. They can be reached at welcometreats at yahoo.co.uk and you can find out more at www.welcometreats.co.uk/ as well as their Facebook page and Flickr account (where these photos are from) and @welcometreats on Twitter.

Last but not least, a cake pop cake!!

Macaroons on MacTop cupcakes by The Sweet Lobby offer the best of both worlds

2012-05-23T19:00:00.001-04:00

When I saw the name "The Sweet Lobby" in a headline, I actually thought it was a lobbying group! Instead, it's a Cupcake Wars winning cupcake and macaron bakery located in (where else?) Washington, DC at 404 8th Street SE that was featured on Cupcake Wars Champions. These photos are via their Facebook page, and their signature cupcake is the MacTop cupcake, featuring a macaron on top! They can be reached at 202-544-2404 or info at thesweetlobby.com and you can get more info at thesweetlobby.com. Some photography by Red Shoes Photography.

The Madagascar: "A fried plantain cupcake, filled with a tamarind mousse, topped with coffee buttercream, coffee-tamrind drizzle AND a rice krispy coated coffee-plantain macaron"

red, white and blue macarons - I can see these on July 4th cupcakes, or even a flag cupcake/macaron cake

2012 cupcakes

s'mores cupcakes

Charming Cupcake Fabrics At Spoonflower

2012-05-23T16:59:00.001-04:00

It's almost summer which means sundresses, shorts and sleeveless shifts. When I was a little girl, my mom would sew sundresses for me using cotton fabric at the local Hancock Fabrics. Now, you can create you own fabric or buy cupcake-inspired fabric designed by others on Spoonflower. These lovely fabrics would be great for sweet summer sewing projects.

This sprinkles print would be lovely on a skirt.

Perfect for a birthday girl's sundress, an apron or tote bag.

Spiderman-inspired raw vegan cupcake topped with kale!

2012-05-23T13:34:00.001-04:00

Yes, raw food blogger extraordinaire Shannonmarie over at Rawdorable has a recipe for you for her "Cupcake Wars' Spidey Superfood Taste Challenge Cupcake."

Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries cupcakes for child's birthday party

2012-05-23T11:07:00.000-04:00

I'm a huge reader (I actually sometimes hold a book and my Nook in my hands and wish I could read from both at once!) so I love book cover cupcakes, and these fun children's birthday party cupcakes, featuring very detailed toppers with book covers from the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries, along with lipstick, polka dots, iPhone cupcakes and spelling out the girls name, which is also awesome, Albany, make these delightful! They're by Delicious Deliveries in Greensboro, North Carolina, via their Facebook page. They can be reached at 336-327-2238 or inquiry at YourDeliciousDeliveries.com and you can find out more at yourdeliciousdeliveries.com.

5 graduation cupcakes to celebrate the Class of 2012

2012-05-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

Here are five Class of 2012 graduation cupcakes that you can either buy or make, and at the end, a bonus of some graduation cupcake toppers you can add to your cupcakes. Congratulations, Class of 2012! Links below are to bakeries' Facebook pages, because that's where I found the photos. If you've made some special graduation cupcakes, email us with photos and details at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and write "graduation" in the subject line (we cannot guarantee posting, and, as always, the fastest way to get cupcake photos to our attention is by posting them to our Flickr cupcake photo pool, which now hosts over 115,000 photos and over 8,600 members).

blogger Nothing But Country shows you how to make these graduation toppers using mini Reese's peanut butter cups!

by Cupcrazed Cupcake Bar in Fort Mill, South Carolina

Angry Birds graduation cupcakes by Couture Cupcakes in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Extra festive cupcake by Pixie Dust Cupcakes in Norwalk, California

by Sweet! by Good Golly Miss Holly in Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida

And your bonus graduation mortarboard edible fondant cupcake toppers for sale on Etsy by The Sugar Co:

Snow Cone Cupcakes

2012-05-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

Summer is nearly here and these Snow Cone Cupcakes are sure to be an absolute hit at all the upcoming BBQs this season! Lucky for you these little lovelies developed by the ever creative Bakerella won't melt away!

Sure, these would be great for the Fourth Of July based on the color scheme above but you can use any color combination to recreate these for children's parties, gifts, etc! The snow cone effect can be achieved with sugar crystals, which have a larger size and chunkier texture than the usual sprinkles. But be sure to use sprinkles that match your icing color so you can get the best effect possible! You can check out Bakerella's full tutorial here!

Chocolate Darth Vader cupcake at Disney's Hollywood Studios

2012-05-23T01:32:00.001-04:00

Check out how big this chocolate Darth Vader cupcake topper is! It's for sale at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Via Between the Pages.

Apocalyptic, Adult and Vegan!

2012-05-23T00:04:00.001-04:00

From CupcakeCamp Boston 2012:

Not sure if these are the Mayan cupcakes mentioned:

Both shots courtesy thomasglobal. You can see lots more of thomasglobal's CupcakeCamp Boston shots here.

Have a giant cupcake serenade you at your next party

2012-05-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

You can have a cupcake come to your door and entertain your party guests, thanks to Bettie's Cakes and their Cupcake Mascot! They've got multiple locations in Saratoga Springs, New York, and you can find out more at bettiescakes.com and their Facebook page. They've also got a single decker and a double decker mobile cupcake bus that you can rent out for a party, and they do wedding cupcakes and cakes and much more.

Color wheel cupcake recipe from SprinkleBakes cookbook

2012-05-22T14:50:00.000-04:00

Here's a recipe for these fun color wheel cupcakes from this new cookbook by blogger Heather Baird of SprinkleBakes. Stay tuned for a contest to win a copy! Reprinted with permission from SprinkleBakes: Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist © 2012 by Heather Baird, Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co. Photographs @2012 by Heather Baird.

COLOR WHEEL CUPCAKES
YIELD: Approximately 20 cupcakes

This exercise will teach you the basics of color mixing. While mixing your own color wheel of cupcakes, use the color wheel as a guide while following the recipe instructions.

CUPCAKES
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

SWISS BUTTERCREAM
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
3/4 pound (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 small bottle (1 ounce) red gel food coloring
1 small bottle (1 ounce) blue gel food coloring
1 small bottle (1 ounce) yellow gel food coloring

Make the cupcakes:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 standard cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners.
2. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the sugar mixture alternately in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and scraping down the bowl between additions.
6. Fill the cupcake liners halfway with the batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
7. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn onto a rack to cool completely before icing.

Make the Swiss buttercream:

1. Set a medium saucepan one-quarter full of water over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk together the sugar and egg whites in a heatproof mixing bowl.
3. Set the bowl over the simmering water and whisk constantly until the sugar has melted. Cook until the mixture feels hot to the touch.
4. Remove the bowl from the top of the saucepan, wipe the bottom with a towel, and transfer the contents to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
5. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture has doubled in size and has cooled, about 10 minutes. The mixer bowl should feel cool to the touch.
6. Switch to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer on medium-low. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add the vanilla and beat again until it is completely incorporated and the icing is fluffy.
8. To mix the colors, in three separate bowls, divide the icing evenly and mix each primary color with the icing: 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 red. Mixing icing color is different from mixing paint because each food coloring is blended with white frosting and not a singular pigment. White lightens pigment, so add a large amount of food coloring to each frosting bowl. It’s a good idea to dedicate an entire 1-ounce bottle of each primary coloring for this project.
9. After each color is mixed, frost 3 cupcakes with about ½ cup of each color and place them in a triangle on your work surface. Place the yellow at the top, the blue to the bottom left, and the red to the bottom right.
10. In another bowl, mix equal parts (2 or 3 tablespoons each) of yellow and red icing to make orange. Frost a cupcake with the orange icing and place it between the yellow and red cupcakes.
11. In yet another bowl, mix equal parts (2 to 3 tablespoons each) yellow and blue icing to make green. Frost a cupcake with the green icing and place it between the yellow and blue cupcakes.
12. In still another bowl, mix equal parts red and blue (2 to 3 tablespoons each) to make purple (or violet). Frost a cupcake with the purple icing and set it between the red and blue cupcakes. These are your secondary colors. Note: Tertiary colors are created by mixing a primary color with its “offspring.”You may need to mix more secondary colors (orange, green, and purple) to produce tertiary colors.
13. Mix equal parts of red and orange icing to make red-orange icing. Frost a cupcake and place it between the red and orange cupcakes.
14. Continue this process with red and violet to make violet-red; blue and violet to make blue-violet; blue and green to make blue-green; green and yellow to make yellow-green; and yellow and orange to make yellow-orange. Your color wheel is now complete. You may have leftover icing and a few extra cupcakes. Frost the extra cupcakes and enjoy!

Let's toast to cupcakes! 8-year-old's birthday party rocks zebra print wrappers

2012-05-22T13:30:00.000-04:00

This party for an 8-year-old looks like it was a lot of fun, with a big 8 candle and zebra print decorated cupcakes! The cupcakes are by Staten Island's Petite Treat Cupcakes, and they posted a note the mom wrote on their Facebook page about what a hit the cupcakes were. I could so see that! The first two photos here are from the party, the rest are other cupcakes by them. They also do mini cupcakes, cupcake cones, and cupcake cakes. You can contact them at 646-481-2187 or via email at cupcakeco418 at gmail.com and find out more at petitetreatcupcakes.com.

Samoa cupcakes

Free Georgetown Cupcake cupcakes at Alyssa Shelasky's Apron Anxiety book party in Brooklyn tomorrow

2012-05-22T11:45:00.001-04:00

My friend Alyssa Shelasky's food and dating memoir Apron Anxiety just came out today, and tomorrow night in Brooklyn she's hosting a book party withh free cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake! The book isn't about cupcakes, but it is about a newbie learning how to cook, which might appeal to some of you. You can read the first chapter here and read Alyssa's blog at apronanxiety.com.

The book party is Wednesday, May 23rd, 6-9 pm at powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn at 37 Main Street in Dumbo. Official description: "Blogger Alyssa Shelasky details her transition from Manhattan city girl to apron-clad kitchenista in her new memoir. Join her to celebrate the launch with snacks from Georgetown Cupcakes and The Meatball Shop, and drinks from St. Germain."

Keith Haring art cupcakes

2012-05-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

I love when one form of art inspires another for of art: cupcakes! Yes, I fully believe cupcake bakers are artists and their palette is expressed in what they bake. So I love these Keith Haring cupcakes by custom dessert company Eat My Cake in Dallas, Texas, via their Facebook page. We'll have more on them soon, but I wanted to spotlight these cupcakes because I'm a Keith Haring fan! You can contact them on Facebook for orders, and see more photos there or in their Flickr account.

11-year-old twins run charity Cupcakes for Kiddos

2012-05-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

A sweet and heartwarming cupcake news story:

Ella and Liliana Keathley-Helms are baking again.

The 11-year-old Lawrence twins were featured last year in the Journal-World after they started the nonprofit organization Cupcakes for Kiddos.

They’ll be making and selling cupcakes for Father’s Day to raise money for their latest good cause — the children’s scholarship fund at the Lawrence Arts Center.

There is a six cupcake minimum ($12), and orders must be received via email by June 12, with payment received by June 13. For more information and payment instructions, visit cupcakesforkiddos.com.

More info and photos from their website:

Don't live in Lawrence? Don't worry! We accept donations too. Simply send a check payable to Cupcakes For Kiddos and to P.O. Box 442315 Lawrence KS 66044 or contact us at cupcakesforkiddos{at}gmail{dot}com if you prefer to pay securely online with check or credit card and we'll get back to you with paypal instructions.

Cupcake Activist Review: Cupcakes Couture

2012-05-21T17:23:00.002-04:00

Cupcakes Couture of Manhattan Beach has been on my must-try list since I was first introduced to them two years ago at the LA Cupcake Challenge.

I was giddy with excitement as I pulled up to Cupcake Couture a few weeks ago. Their shop is located in the heart of Manhattan Beach, just a few blocks from the beach.

As much as I would have like to try ALL of the cupcake flavors, sometimes I have to limit myself. After all, I just had a baby and I'm working on getting back into shape. I went home with Lady in Red, Milk & Cookies, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Sea Salted Caramel.

Lady in Red: This is their most popular flavor and there's no wonder why! It was a red velvet cupcake done well. Tangy cream cheese frosting topped this moist red velvet cake. The frosting had a good consistency. This red velvet passed my test.

Milk & Cookies: Any cupcake with a chocolate chip cookie on top is a hit in my book. The moist cake wasn't just vanilla, as I suspected. It was a vanilla tres leche cake. Yum! The milk chocolate frosting on top was thick and chocolaty. Definitely a good choice!

Strawberry Cheesecake: This cupcake surprised me as my favorite of the day. The combination of flavors was outstanding! I loved that they used fresh strawberries in the cake and the crunch of the graham crackers on top was perfect.

Sea Salted Caramel: I usually don't enjoy whipped frosting, but the combination of this light frosting with the strong chocolate and caramel flavors made me change my tune. The caramel center was my favorite part. It makes sense that this is another popular flavor at Cupcake Couture.

Regular-size cupcakes are $4 each. Although a bit pricier than the average cupcake, these cupcakes are a good proportion size. I love how beautiful each cupcake was! All of their cupcakes were decorated with a little extra something. Gluten-free cupcakes and mini cupcakes are also available. Cupcakes Couture won my vote with their moist cakes, delicious frostings, beautiful decorations, and amazing flavors. Any time I am in the area, I will definitely stop by again. You should too. You can check out my full review here.

Cupcake Couture of Manhattan Beach

916 Manhattan Ave.

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

310-372-9200

www.cupcakescouturemb.com

Facebook: Cupcakes Couture

Twitter: @CupcakesMB

5 extremely cute animal cake pops

2012-05-21T13:47:00.000-04:00

I can't decide which of these cake pops I think is cutest, but if I were forced to pick, I'd go with the bumblebee! Second favorite: the owl. What do you think? They're all by Evie Mallow Cake Pop & Party Shoppe in Mississauga, Ontario (Canada), via their Facebook page. They can be reached at evieandmallow at yahoo.com and you can find out more at evieandmallow.com.