valentine's day VIDEO: How To Pipe Two Tone Cupcake Icing

Sarah of Blue Door Bakery gives a quick and easy tutorial on how to pipe two tone icing using a Wilton 1M tip from Wilton 2104-6667 12 Piece Cupcake Decorating Set.
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valentine's day Cupcake fondue tutorial by Amanda of Bake It Pretty!

Two words: Cupcake Fondue. That is really all you need to know to get you to click on over to Pint Size Social where Amanda Krueger from Bake It Pretty is interviewed and tells you how to make this delicious-sounding treat. Here's one of the instructions:

3. Pour frosting into the fondue pot. There’s really no need to heat the mixture, but you can keep a small tea light or very low flame underneath just for looks! Display sprinkles and toppings in small ramekins or portion cups and arrange around the fondue pot. Skewer cupcakes in the side and dip the top half into the fondue, then flip the cupcake over and the frosting will drip nicely down the sides. Sprinkle liberally with your favorite toppings.

Wow wow wow wow wow is all I have to say. This sounds so fun!




images via Pint Size Social

valentine's day Cupcake resolutions and peppermint chocolate frosting at Butter Lane

I stopped by Butter Lane in the East Village (Manhattan) the other night. They were out of eggnog frosting, which I would've tried out of curiosity, but I bought a chocolate peppermint frosted chocolate cupcake (I was told to try it with chocolate) for $3 and was very happy. It wasn't quite as full-on peppermint as I might have liked (the frosting equivalent of, say, Starbucks' peppermint hot chocolate, which is very pepperminty), the peppermint seemed more concentrated in the crushed candy cane at the top, but it was very good, and also rich.

I couldn't finish it - that's actually a compliment! See butterlane.com and follow them @butterlane on Twitter for the latest news and info on their cupcake classes. I did appreciate their cupcake resolution sign. Still trying to work on my 2010 cupcake recap before I get to my 2011 cupcake resolutions!

valentine's day Pretty rose with glittery petals!

I have always wanted to learn how to pipe buttercream correctly and just don't have the hang of it. It'd be worth the time and frustration though if I could be assured that I would create something this beautiful:


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Just look at the glitter!


The artist (Star Bakery Liana) recommends this YouTube tutorial, by Fair Cake in the United Kingdom, for instructions on using the petal tip.

valentine's day How to make fancy holiday cupcakes with Magnolia Bakery's Bobbie Lloyd

Another cupcake video tutorial, this one featuring Bobbie Lloyd of Magnolia Bakery, rocking her I Cupcake LA t-shirt, on Access Hollywood.

valentine's day Chocolate candy cane cupcake plus recipe link

This chocolate candy cane cupcake is by blogger All Betz Off, where you can get the recipe too. She writes about some of her frosting woes and then concludes:

If you do attempt to make these cupcakes I would suggest sticking them in the freezer for a bit before you frost them to give the top layer of cake a chance to harden up. I should have done this but didn't have time. Also, you can either make the cupcakes from scratch or you can do the abbreviated version from a box.

valentine's day Gingerbread Cupcake Recipe

I originally posted this recipe back in 2008, but it remains one of my all time favorite holiday cupcakes. If you're looking for a delicious cupcake that incorporates the flavors of the season, look no further. These mini gingerbread cupcakes boast a sophisticated flavor that will satisfy all of your holiday entertaining needs. Enjoy!

valentine's day

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Gourmet - January 1990

Cupcake Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounce cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups confectioners' sugar depending on desired consistency
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation
Into a bowl sift together the flour, the ground ginger, the cinnamon, the cloves, the allspice, and the salt. In another bowl cream 1/2 stick of butter, add the granulated sugar, and beat the mixture until it is fluffy. Beat in the molasses and the egg, beating until the mixture is smooth. In a measuring cup combine the baking soda with 1/2 cup boiling water and stir the mixture to dissolve the baking soda. Stir the mixture into the molasses mixture (the mixture will appear curdled) and stir the molasses mixture into the flour mixture, stirring to combine the ingredients well. Line muffin tins with paper liners and spoon the batter into the liners, filling them halfway. Bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. (The cupcakes will be flat or slightly indented on top.) Transfer the cupcakes to a rack and let them cool.
In a bowl cream together the cream cheese, and 2 tablespoons butter, add the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla, and beat the mixture until it is fluffy and smooth. Pipe or spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Top with desired decorations.

valentine's day 5 frosting shots from Butter Lane: hazelnut chocolate, cranberry, blackberry, pumpkin and apple spice

I'd read that NYC's East Village cupcake bakery Butter Lane has new Thanksgiving frosting flavors and I wanted to check them out last night. I love their moist cakes, in vanilla, chocolate and banana, but at $3/cupcake, and after dinner, I was more in the mood just for the purity of the frosting. They do a great job with their frosting shots; they're $1/each and mine were very carefully prepared and packaged so as not to spill, plus they had garnishes on top.


5 frosting shots: Cranberry, Blackberry, Pumpkin Spice, Apple Spice, Hazelnut Chocolate (which is different from their other chocolate frostings)


hazelnut chocolate frosting shot closeup

Out of these, cranberry was far and away my favorite. It was a little tart but sweet as well, and refreshing. It very much tastes like cranberry, and the same for blackberry tasting like blackberry - if you like those fruits, check them out for sure. Pumpkin spice does have a bit of a kick, as does the apple spice, which was my least favorite of the five. The hazelnut chocolate was intense, in a good way, and the nut shavings added a little texture. They also have tiramisu frosting, but they told me that that wouldn't be so good as a standalone frosting shot because it works better on a cupcake so you get the full experience.

I think I've said this before, but unless you have an extremely high sugar tolerance, these are almost impossible to finish. I recommend bringing a friend or two; you really notice when eating frosting shots how rich frosting itself is, and how much the cupcake is actually the marriage of frosting and cake, and how each complements the other. What I like about Butter Lane is that because it's mix and match, you can ask them which cake would go best with which frosting, and they're happy to share their opinion.

They've also just launched a loyalty program using PlacePunch (more next week on other cupcake bakeries with loyalty programs). I'm not 100% sure how it works, but you can log in using Twitter, Facebook or Foursquare, and you get points for checking in, like this:





See more of my photos from last night in this Flickr set


sea salted chocolate frosting on vanilla cupcake

Visit them at Butterlane.com as well as Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook for the latest news. They offer cupcake classes twice a week.

valentine's day Pretty cupcake rose and starburst piping

These photos are from the blog Decadent Philistines Save the World (what a name!). Go there to find out more about how they were made.

valentine's day Peppermint frosting from New York's Kumquat Cupcakery is a winter winning flavor

I ordered some custom cupcakes from New York's mini cupcake company Kumquat Cupcakery from owner Keavy Landreth, who's now a friend and who shares my birthday. I've had plenty of her cupcakes before but I think her peppermint frosting stands out as my new, ultimate favorite, supplanting even her peanut butter frosting that I love. I've been describing it as "like the inside of a York peppermint patty," in that it has that cool burst of peppermint onto your tongue, and is the kind of frosting that even in mini cupcake form, you want to take small bites of to truly savor.




red velvet and peppermint cupcakes

I also had her make red velvet cupcakes with vanilla frosting, because I'm not a big cream cheese frosting lover. All were a hit!


peppermint frosting on vanilla and chocolate cake





Email orders at kumquatcupcakery.com to order, visit kumquatcupcakery.com for flavors and their blog for the latest. Ordering details:

Each dozen is $15.
The minimum for delivery is THREE (3) dozen cupcakes.
All Orders must be placed THREE (3) days prior to delivery.
Deliveries are being made up to 100th Street in Manhattan, Williamsburg, Green Point, Fort Green, Park Slope and Carol Gardens in Brooklyn.
There is an extra $5 charge for all deliveries under $100.
Due to the delicate nature of frosting, we do not ship cupcakes.
All orders are nonrefundable, unless we fail to deliver.