A hamster and a "cupcake"

I couldn't resist sharing one of today's Cute Overload updates...Cali the hamster enjoying her first birthday party complete with cake!

You can see more pics on her family's blog!

Its cupcake weekend!!!!

As this weekend straddles two months (as David of Outsider Tart so eloquently put it in their weekly market update!) it is officially CUPCAKE WEEKEND! And what a fantastic sounding array of cupcakes are on offer;

Unfilled options:

Lemon Seed - believe it or not, based on a Victorian recipe with coriander, caraway and currants

Arizona - an oatmeal cake recipe with coconut, pecan caramel drizzle

Lemon Raspberry Corn

Chocolate Polenta - a test run had us addicted

Filled options:

Mexican Chocolate - a hint of cinnamon with pecan fudge glaze

Lemon Meringue

Indian Pudding - a corn and molasses baked pudding inside cream cupcakes

Coffee Hayzelnut - because we just had to use hay one way or another - a coffee flavored cake with a hazelnut filling

Read the story behind the Arizona theme on their blog and GO BUY CUPCAKES! It's going to be cold out there this weekend so you need some comfort food..and their lemon meringue cupcake is to DIE for! Manny's already excited about the Mexican Chocolate!

Btw - if you use walkit.com to find your way to Chiswick Farmers Market type in Dukes Meadow as your destination - they've kindly added it as a destination for me after we got lost last time! How cool are they helping us find our way to cupcakes!

Cakespy take it to the sweet!

Cakespy decided to something cute (in their words "touchy feely") about the fact that sometimes life sucks..long commutes; waiting in line; dealing with rude people; being broke...I'd personally add having a cold that NEVER goes away (possibly due to long commutes and people with not enough manners to cover their hand when they cough/sneeze on me..hmmm), but all in all, I'm with Cakespy, sometimes life does suck.

So what to do? If you're me - eat a cupcake, if you're Cakespy, bake a load of cute plaster of paris cupcakes and leave them inspirational messages around the neighbourhood - how sweet! You can see more pics and read what happened here.

This reminds me of our good old UK version, The Great Cake Escape. I've still not managed to get to one of their events, or find a cupcake, but they're going to be at the Amersham Arms pub on the 7th Feb so I may try and get along then, although I aim to be in Richmond as its Outsider Tarts cupcake day and I'll miss March as I'll be in NY so am planning a pre-birthday treat from my fave cupcakers!

Thanks to Cakespy for the pics and the cuteness!

Cute birthday card

My mums birthday is in March so I was chuffed to see this adorable card on one of my many trips to Marks and Spencer's. I'm sure she'll love it! I always want to send her a cupcake but they go off too quickly in the post as they're all buttercream and stuff so I usually send her some magic cakes from Konditor and Cook or yummy macaroons from Paul or Laduree which she loves!

The card can also be bought online.

Crazy in love...for cupcakes!

Wilton's latest email is chock-a-block full of Valentines goodies for you to surprise your loved one with this February 14th.

You can see all the Valentines cupcakes here, but I thought I'd share a few of my faves above!

Lolas Love...an update

From today's inbox - an update on Lola's Love cupcake valentine box and the flavours they come in; strawberry, marshmallow, pink champagne and red velvet.

I heart all these flavours - they sound totally yum!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is Chinese New Year and I found these very cute "Year of the Ox" cupcakes on W's goodthings Flickr site.

I heart the little ox popping out the top of the cupcake!

I have the sniffles

I'm feeling sorry for myself as I'm ill, and as I can't eat a cupcake I thought I'd look for some "Get well soon" cupcakes and found these gorgeous ones on Happiness in a Bite's Flickr, aren't they gorgeous!

Sniff!

Cupcakes CAN heal!

I knew it!

I must pick these up when we're in the States - I'm accident prone and forever injuring myself so I might as well look cute when I do!

You can also buy them online here at Archie McPhee's.

Happy Burns Night!

Tonight we shall be celebrating Burns Night with (veggie) haggis, neeps and tatties and it got me to thinking about Scottish themed cupcakes....thanks to Cupcake Recipes I found these, aren't they cute! The top pic is meant to be a haggis...lol

Love is all around us...

Lola's have launched their Valentines cupcake box - time to start hinting to your other half ;)

Cupcakes to Kiss it Better

From Lola's website...

LOLA's is working throughout February to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital's Kiss It Better Appeal, which helps fund research into causes and treatment of childhood cancer. The children at Great Ormond Street have created a scrumptious Kiss it Better cupcake. A gorgeous freshly baked vanilla cake swirled with a raspberry-ripple centre in a pink case. It is topped with a deliciously creamy buttercream icing and sprinkled with frosted hearts. This special cupcake costs £2 and has been released just in time for Valentine's Day. LOLA's will be donating 30% from the sale of this cupcake to the campaign. You can order a whole box or we can include the KIB cupcake in any of our cupcake boxes throughout February. To order, visit our online store. For further information visit http://www.gosh.org/kiss-it-better/get-involved/kiss-it-better-on-the-high-street/lolas-kitchen/.

I shall definitely be heading over to Lola's at Selfridges to buy a couple of these, they not only look fantastic but are for a great cause.

Thanks to Lola's for the pic

What happens when a cupcake hearts a squash?

From Serious Eats ...

What happens when a cupcake goes on a journey away from its world of candies and sweets—on a boat made of sugar cubes, naturally—and accidentally ends up an unknown land of naked fruits and vegetables? It learns some non-water soluble architectural tricks and falls in love with a squash. From animator and illustrator Kirsten Lepore comes Sweet Dreams, a 10-minute stop-motion animated film that captures a snippet of this adventurous cupcake's life. Don't miss the the great background music and the mostly food-based sets.

Click here to watch this wonderful animation. I feel I have to do my BBFC bit now and warn you it contains scenes of mild peril and cupcake nudity!

Living with cupcakes

Yesterday I finally got my hands on Martha Stewart's Living magazine - the cupcake special! The cover is so cute and I've barely looked inside - except to take a few pictures for here, as I want to savour my food porn in peace and I've not had a chance since buying it! I shall leave work early on Monday, go sit in a coffee shop, or perhaps Primrose Bakery with a cupcake, and oogle the gorgeousness within!

Yes I'm sad.

You can preview the magazine here, where you will also find the recipes for some of these beautiful looking cupcakes!

I love She loves cupcakes!

My purchase from Etsy seller rkdsign88 arrived the other day and its ULTRA cute!

As well as my print "She loves cupcakes", I also got another print called "Welcome to my house" and some adorable gift tags. These are some of the cutest cupcake items I've seen!

Please check out the other gorgeous prints here and buy stuff, you wont be disappointed!

Sticky, messy, chewy, gooey

I think I just heard Manny drool..lol

I spotted the book Sticky, messy, chewy, gooey - deserts for the serious sweet tooth by Jill O'Connor in Fred Flare's fantastic valentines day selection.

In addition to each sugary favorite, the author has included simple techniques and tools to help home cooks recreate each decadent treasure again and again. Sprinkled throughout are tips on using phyllo dough, toasting nuts, and making a heavenly ganache, so every over-the-top treat tastes as irresistible as it sounds. For the serious sweet tooth, pour a tall glass of milk and get ready to bite into all that's Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey!

Also available at Amazon. Those cupcakes look fantastic don't they!!

Obama cupcakes...yes we can!

Today's inauguration of Obama as the US President was the perfect excuse for my first cupcake of 2009 so I decided to break my cupcake fast at Hummingbird Bakery in South Kensington.

As well as two special inauguration cupcakes (vanilla with vanilla frosting), I got a red velvet and today's special flavour, green tea for us to share!

The cupcakes were all really nice, the red velvet my favourite as usual (Hummingbird make one of the best red velvets!). The green tea was tasty - although I felt the cake was a bit dry, the frosting was really yummy! I'm sure the health properties of the green tea cupcake evened out any calories/fat in the other ones as green tea is full of healthy stuff allegedly!

I wish my feet were tiny!!!

Then I could get these fabulous wellies...perfect for the monsoon type bloody weather we're having at the moment!

I'm going to Debenhams tomorrow to demand adult size cupcake wellies!!!

Martha Stewart cupcake extravaganza!!

The ladies over at Cupcakes Take the Cake went to see Martha filming her cupcake special of her show to be shown this week in the US - I'm hoping I can catch it on the Internet somewhere!!! You can see their photo blog of their visit here.

Today they also featured the cupcake special of Martha's Living Magazine, which I've been excited about getting my hands on since I read about it on Chowhound last week - I even went to Borders to check they get the magazine in, and they do...yay! I cannot wait to get my hands on this food porn!

If you want to make something from this issue now, check out the coconut cupcake recipe here.

I'm REALLY hoping this has arrived in London as I'm off shopping tomorrow for inauguration cupcakes and am v.keen to get my hands on this!

Thanks to Stacey Joy for the pics of the magazine, and to Martha Stewart's site for the coconut cupcake pic!

MUST HAVE cookbook

The Hummingbird Bakery is one of my favourite cupcake places and they are releasing a cook book!!!! I simply MUST have it. According to Amazon it's published March 12th which is the day after I get back from NY - I'm now deciding whether to pre-order from Amazon, hope someone gets me it as a gift (my birthdays March 6th), or go to the shop to get it on release day, therefore meaning I'd get a cupcake as well :)

Decisions, decisions!

I shall deffo be making Hummingbird cupcakes in March! The cover of the book is making me wish I'd gone up there today for a cupcake rather than holding out till next weekend when I plan to break my cupcake fast of 2009 with some green tea cupcakes from Crumbs and Doilies and a red velvet from Hummingbird!!!

Lolas - yes we did

Lola's Kitchen have Obama cupcakes available at their on-line store now.

Barack Obama will officially become the 44th president of the United States.

LOLA's scrumptious cupcakes are baked fresh every day and make the perfect gift for clients, friends and family in the exciting run up to Obama's Inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009.

Each cupcake is hand iced in red, white and blue icing and matching sprinkles. They will also have the USA flag and an image of Obama.

Available in any selection of LOLA’s flavours, your order is hand delivered with a personal gift note.

I have emailed them to ask if they are available at their concession in Selfridges also.

Its all in the frosting

Mrs Beasley's of Hollywood certainly live up to their slogan - their cupcake to frosting ratio is making me drool! Her colossal cupcake comes with 3" of frosting..yummy!!

I wish somewhere in the UK would do something similar to the 100 calorie popper cupcakes they do - although I suppose the mini cupcakes at the Primrose bakery or Crumbs and Doilies are similar - just when I'm buying I tend to be swayed by their normal size cakes!

And of course no cupcake business in the US is complete at the moment without their Obama cupcakes!

More Inauguration cupcakes

Georgetown Cupcakes in Washington DC are doing some rather yummy looking inauguration cupcake - the rest of their cupcakes look very tasty as well :)

Obama cupcakes

So finally America will have their new president next week and lots of places are doing inauguration cupcakes. Alpha Mom shows you how to make your own Obama Cupcakes toppers for your inauguration party!

The blue frosting looks AWESOME

Gorgeous!

Another place I may have to add to the New York Cupcake Tour list is Kyotofu - their chocolate souffle cupcake has been voted the best in New York by New York Magazine!

I think I can hear Manny drooling as he spots this picture!

You can order the cupcakes on line for your valentine as well :)

I like the sound of their yuza vanilla cupcake as well but it looks more like a muffin to me as its unfrosted!

These moist, light cupcakes are made with yuzu, a Japanese winter citrus fruit, and Tahitian vanilla. Recommended for sweets lovers looking for a lighter take on the usual cupcake.

Their cakes look absolutely stunning though - I hope they taste as good as they look!

Le Cool Cupcakes

As featured in this weeks Le Cool email

Bakery Primrose Bakery
With claps and squeals of delight, it was on a recent shopping trip that me and my friend stumbled upon this treasure trove of a bakery just off Covent Garden. More twee than a Disney movie, Primrose Bakery is an upscale cake haven suitable for kids, but really catering for grown-ups of the female variety. Help yourself to a (quite amazing) cappuccino and pick from an array of fine and divine cupcakes topped with sweet halos of icing. With a minimal number of tables, I imagine this place is chocca at the weekend (and for good reason too), but should you be so lucky to bag a space, take the time to enjoy this cute little sweetspot with your best female friends, reading coffee table magazines and people watching from the big window. With five-star cupcakes, this is the fine dining of floured goods

The pics are of some lovely cupcakes we enjoyed at Christmas from Primrose!! I fully agree with Le Cool, the cafe is cute as a button but very small - I've managed to bag a seat twice and am always happy to have grabbed one!

Talking of cupcakes...I still haven't had a cupcake since before New Year....good grief!