Cupcake the Dog

Meet Cupcake the dog!


Isn't she adorable?! Alas, she does not belong to me. Cupcake and her brother, Handsome, belong to my co-worker Dana. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Cupcake or Handsome yet, but I hope to soon. In the mean time I couldn't resist posting her adorable mug.

Also, isn't Cupcake an awesome dog name? I'm adding it to my list of possible dog names for when Scott and I finally get a dog :). I think I have a thing for dogs named after food.

Thanks, Dana, for sharing Cupcake's photo with me!

(and thanks to Dr. J for telling me about Cupcake!)

Cupcakes of Ann Arbor, MI

Last week I stepped in for a co-worker on a trip to Ann Arbor. He seemed a bit on the eager side to let me go in his place. Now I know why.

That's not even the coldest! The temperature read -12 at one point during my drive to the airport. ANYWAY, other than the cold, Ann Arbor is a really neat little town and I'm looking forward to visiting sometime a little more...temperate.

Since I was going to a new place, one of the first things I did, of course, was see if there were any cupcakeries I could visit. Cupcakes Take the Cake listed Cake Nouveau on their handy dandy cupcake bakery list and a Google search revealed that the Birmingham based Cupcake Station had recently opened a shop in Ann Arbor. I had a bit of free time between events so off cupcake tasting I went.

First up: Cupcake Nouveau

Cupcake Nouveau is an adorable little shop with couches and tables for cupcake enjoyment. Also a big plus - their cupcakes were buy one get one free, so I got all 4 flavors they were offering that day for a grand total of $5.

As soon as I saw the cupcakes in the case, I got a little nervous. They were a little too glisten-y, which, as I've stated here before, tends to throw up alarms for me. It can only mean two things - too much butter or not enough. But, I thought I'd give them a shot anyway.


I took one small taste from each of the frostings and each of the cakes. And nothing else. Unfortunately, the cupcakes just really weren't that great. I really wanted to like them, but ultimately they just weren't worth the calories. Frosting was just too light for my tastes. The cake was ok, but nothing to write home about.

Stop #2: Cupcake Station


Cupcake Station is also a cute little shop with tables and areas to sit and enjoy your cupcakes.

They also have tons of cupcake gear! I love cupcake gear :). You can check out their stock on-line. If you order over the phone, they'll even ship to you.

One day I will have kids and buy them tons of cupcake related gear.


I got the shirt on the upper right. It has a cupcake and an alien and it says "Take me to your cupcakes." I couldn't resist. I wanted "Cupcakes save the world," but they didn't have my size.

Cupcake station has some standard flavors as well as some rotating specials. You can also design your own cupcake and submit it to Cupcake Station. If yours is chosen they feature your cupcake for the month and you win half a dozen cupcakes!


Their cupcakes come in regular and mini sizes. It occurs to me now that since I was just tasting, I should have just gotten the minis, but oh well.

They also have some daily specials:


I chose 4 cupcakes (this seems to be my M.O.):

From the upper left and continuing clockwise: White Bumpy Cake (signature dark chocolate cake with white cream bumps, dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with dark chocolate), PB&C (signature dark chocolate cake with peanut butter cream frosting, topped with peanut butter cups and chocolate shavings), Chocolate lovers (dark chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting, sprinkled with chocolate shavings), Vanilla petals (very moist vanilla bean cake with butter cream frosting). All cupcake flavors and descriptions can be found here. You can also create your perfect cupcake on-line or in store and they will build it for you! Very cool.

I loved all of the Cupcake Station flavors but my favorite was White Bumpy Cake. Cupcake with extra frosting (like Sweet Revenge) and then dipped in chocolate! Definitely something I've yet to see and a big win.

Another thing I enjoyed about these cupcakes was that they had crunchy tops. I'm not entirely sure how this is achieved, but I always like them when I have them.

My last cupcake of the trip was an inadvertent discovery. I went to the highly recommended Zingerman's for a sandwich and bread shopping trip. If you haven't been to Zingerman's and ever find yourself in Ann Arbor, you must go. It is amazing. Gourmet food market, deli, coffee bar, all rolled into one. They have an amazing bakery with breads like chocolate sourdough and parmesan pepper and an over flowing cheese counter that I of course couldn't resist. I ordered a pastrami sandwich from the deli and went to sit down next door. When I went to order a coffee I noticed them sitting there in the bakery case: cupcakes. Needless to say, I had to buy one.

The pastrami sandwich was delicious, but unfortunately, the cupcake, not so much. Cake was too dry, frosting could be removed from cupcake in one piece, and overall it just wasn't very tasty. They may have been a few days old. Zingerman's other baked goods are delicious, but as is often the case in a regular bakery, the cupcakes are an after thought - something made with leftover cake batter. I still highly recommend Zingerman's as a whole - just skip the cupcakes.

I really would love a Zingerman's in San Francisco, but for now I can get my fix without the plane flight by ordering from them on-line. Mmmm...chocolate sourdough...

The hands down favorite of my mini-Michigan cupcake tour was Cupcake Station. Whenever I make it back to Ann Arbor I will definitely be stopping in again.

Coffee cupcakes

A few months ago while on a shopping frenzy at Spun Sugar in Berkeley I bought dark and white chocolate covered espresso beans which I thought would be great cupcake toppers. I finally got around to making a coffee cupcake a few weekends ago, just so I could adorn them with the little delicious morsels:


Since I was already making brisket that day, I didn't want anything too complicated so I decided to just alter a box recipe. I used devil's food cupcake mix (I replace the water with 1 c. buttermilk and 1 extra egg than called for on the box) and added 3 tbsp. of espresso. The espresso ended up throwing off the moisture balance in the batter a bit and my cupcakes came out a little on the dry side, so next time I might add a little extra buttermilk to even it out. The frosting is canned vanilla with a tablespoon of espresso. I know it looks like cookies and cream, but it's coffee :).

More Cupcake Jewelry from Pnut

Last week when I was posting about Tiffany's expensive cupcake collection, I went to find a link to a photo of my cupcake necklace from Pnut Jewelry. While on the website, I discovered Pnut has a bunch of other cupcake jewelry in their collection these days. All Pnut jewelry is hand carved by Rusty Pistachio, who in addition to having a super awesome name, is an NYC based jewelry designer and creator. You can read more about him here. Some of the pieces aren't too out there, price wise, especially given that they are hand made. Others a bit ridiculous. I see myself maybe getting another piece or too from Pnut in the future, but I won't be purchasing the white gold cupcake with diamonds anytime soon!

The Swirl and Cupcake Double Charm - $184

Plain cupcake - $98

Solid gold cupcake with wings pendant - 14K: $639, 18K: $990

Solid gold cupcake pendant - 14K: $600, 18K: $960

18K white or yellow gold cupcake with diamonds - $2275

Sterling silver cupcake with white stones - $230

Cupcake with wings - $98

Sterling silver winged cupcake w/ multi colored stones and small ball chain - $236

Sterling silver cupcake with yellow sapphires - $285

Cupcake with yellow sapphires (top and sides) - $365

Cupcake ring - $110

Solid gold cupcake ring - 14K: $570, 18K: $975

Cupcake with wings bangle - $190

Sterling silver cupcake with multi-colored stones (the one I have) - $230

Not in love enought with cupcakes to wear them around your neck, wrist, or finger? Pnut has plenty of other jewelry too, from ice cream cones to brass knuckles. Talk about opposites :).

Another link!

I was thrilled to discover today that another of my favorite blogs, Cakespy, linked to my LA Cupcake Crawl post today! Thanks, Cakespy!

:)

I love Converse

But I would love Converse even more if they made this in adult sizes:


I know I'm not the only one who would buy them!

Update: THEY DO!!!

NY Cupcake Tour Take 2

Scott and I went to NYC for NYE this year and of course this meant more cupcakes to try!! On our first trip to NYC last year Scott and I visited 9 bakeries in 6 days. On this trip I wanted to try and hit mostly new ones.

Stop #1: Magnolia Cupcakes in Rockefeller Center

OK so I've been to the Magnolia in Greenwich so this was my one repeater, but mostly it was because I wanted to try and buy one of these t-shirts. Unfortunately they only had odd sizes and funny colors. Maybe next time.


Since we were there at around 9pm they only had chocolate and vanilla cakes with vanilla buttercream. The cupcakes were good, but nothing to write home about. If possible I think the original Magnolia is better. The cupcakes I make at home using Magnolia's recipe come out better. Maybe it's just the quantities they have to turn out. Oh well.

Stop #2: Royale Bakery


Royale was our first stop on a mini cupcake tour. Royale is a cute little shop with a ton of delicious looking baked goods. We grabbed a red velvet and cookies and cream cupcake and big glass of orange juice.


I knew it was a bad sign when the cupcake wrappers didn't come off the cupcakes in one piece. The wrappers stuck to the cupcakes because they were too overdone. However on the way out we noticed samples of the lemon poppyseed cake, which was really delicious. So maybe the problem with the cupcakes was a one day fluke. Oh, and the cupcakes are only $2, so big win there.

Stop # 3: Batch


As soon as we walked into batch I knew I would love it because of all the unique flavor combinations. I'd heard all about their Bacon Caramel Pumpkin cupcake, so I was thrilled to see there were still a few in the case.


Scott and I picked out 4 cupcakes: Bacon Caramel Pumpkin, Carrot Salted Caramel, Green Tea, and a Vanilla Bean (for a base line).


I loved all of the Batch cupcakes, with the exception of the green tea, but that's just because I'm not a fan of green tea. Each and every one of the Batch cupcakes was oh my god amazing. But my hands down favorite was the Bacon Caramel Pumpkin. This was the only cupcake that Scott and I ate the whole thing (given that we were eating 4 in a sitting, we tried not to eat all of anything). The bacon doesn't really add to or take away from the cupcake, it's just kind of there. The pumpkin cupcake is moist and has the right amount of spice. But the caramel frosting, oh the caramel frosting. I dream of that caramel frosting. I want to eat buckets of it. Mmmm...

Stop #4: Sweet Revenge


Sweet Revenge, like Batch, doesn't make just your typical cupcakes. The had 5 cupcake flavors. We bought 4: Sweet Revenge (peanut butter cake, ganache filling, peanut buttercream), Pure (Mexican vanilla cake with buttercream), The Nog, and Crimson and Cream (Raspberry Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting).


Check out all that frosting on the top of each cupcake! A bakery after my own heart. I enjoyed all the Sweet Revenge cupcakes. The cake was perfect, the flavors were right on, and the frosting was the perfect consistency and was the right ratio to the cake. I like how they experiment with the classic red velvet. The raspberry was a good improvement. The peanut butter was so rich and delicious. The Pure cupcake was one of the most delicious vanilla cupcakes I've ever had. Over all a winner!

Stop #5: Butter Lane


I've been dying to try Butter Lane after reading rave reviews by Cupcakes Take the Cake, Serious Eats, and Blondie and Brownie. When we walked in the door I noticed the icing offering on the counter before me and I knew immediately that I would love Butter Lane.

I've heard so much about their banana cupcake I was thrilled to find out they still had some that day. Scott and I picked our standard # of 4 cupcakes: banana, strawberry, vanilla with American buttercream, and chocolate with French buttercream.


I can't decide which buttercream I like better. They both have an excellent flavor and the French is just lighter in texture. I think I love them both for different reasons. The banana definitely lived up to my expectations. Very rich and pure banana flavor. The strawberry, one of my all time cupcake flavors, really only had strawberry in the frosting but oh was it good. You can even see chunks of the fresh strawberries in the picture. Butter Lane was a great new discovery for cupcake eating in NYC. Nothing fancy, just pure delicious flavors and excellent cupcakes.

Stop #5: Penelope

Penelope was recommended to me as a brunch place the last time I was in NYC and staying in Murray Hill. I didn't get to try it last time around but I'm so glad I did this time. Their brunch menu was a perfect pick me up on a cold New Year's morning. On the way in I noticed their baked good section had some cupcakes so after Scott and I devoured our delicious brunch, I asked the waitress about them.


Turns out they make them in house, using the Magnolia recipe. It being our last day in NYC, I figured I needed to have one more cupcake so I ordered a vanilla vanilla. These tasted just like when I make the Magnolia recipe at home: delicious. The vanilla cupcake was light and flavorful and the frosting was nice and sugar-y, the way I like it. A nice end to our NY trip.

Now that I've had cupcakes from 13 different NYC bakeries, I think next time I need to start some repeats. Butter Lane, Sweet Revenge, and Batch are all on my repeat list for sure. As for new bakeries for next time, I think it will be time to do a Brooklyn cupcake tour :).

Tiffany Cupcake Jewelry

I knew Tiffany & Co. had a cupcake necklace, but apparently they have quite a little line of cupcake related jewelry. As pretty as a lot of it is, and as much as I love cupcakes, I can't believe anyone would spend some of these prices! Starting from the least expensive:

Cupcake charm with pink enamel finish and sterling silver ($150 or $200 with the necklace):

You can also get the above on a sterling silver link bracelet for $600 or a necklace for $1000:

Cupcake charm in 18K gold with multi-colored gem stones for $1,350 or on a chain necklace for $1,500:

The above can also be purchased on a gold link bracelet for $2,850 or a gold link necklace for $4,050 (you know, for those of us with so much money we just don't know WHAT to do with it):



Personally I'm happy to stick with my cupcake necklace from Pnut jewelry that Scott got me for my last birthday.

A Cupcake Christmas

With my love of cupcakes reaching feverish pitch this year, it was only natural that my family would catch on. My holiday gifts this year included several cupcake related items.

My grandma got me some super cute pieces from Boojiboo including this awesome retro apron:


and these matching dish towels:


And these cute cupcake plates (not from Boojiboo):


Each one has a different saying and a different cupcake.

My cousin Jenny got me a recipe box and a red velvet cupcake mix (I will report back once I've tried it):


Scott got me a cupcake ring from Metal Sugar, which I had admired here previously:


In addition to my new amazing ice cream maker, Scott's folks got me this cute cupcake calendar:


My mom and dad found this great wine label and of course had to buy me a couple bottles:


Plus my mom also found these cute photo holders (I also love pineapples, thus the second choice):


Thanks, everyone! :)