Another Wine and Cupcakes Event

Swirl Events and Cupcake Takes the Cake blog presents...

a Wine and Cupcake Tasting!

Mingle with other cupcake and wine lovers as you taste each pairing and debate the merits of red velvet with a spicy Shiraz in hand.

What: Cupcakes from Luxe Sugar paired with wines from around the world

When: June 4th, 7-9 PM

Where: Ave NYC 15 W. 28th St.

How much: $25

Just email info@swirlevents.com for more information.

Kumquat Cupcakery at the Brooklyn Flea

Over the weekend my sister and I stopped by the Brooklyn Flea. I've been wanting to go for a while now and although the weather wasn't perfect, we came across some great finds. One of which was mini cupcakes from Kumquat Cupcakery.


Located in Fort Greene, the Brooklyn Flea features a variety of vendors selling everything from vintage clothing to bracelets made from old records. Kumquat Cupcakery also had a table with 3 different mini cupcakes to choose from ($1 each). Emily and I both selected the red velvet cupcakes and while they were gone in 2 bites, we loved them!

Kumquat specializes in catering mini cupcakes and offers a variety of flavors. It seems like they rotate their selection each week at the Flea which is great news because there are so many I'd like to try. Check them out!

NYC's First Cupcake Truck!!

All I have to say is, "It's about time!!"

Introducing CupcakeStop:

It’s a well known fact that New Yorkers are always on the go.

At CupcakeStop, we believe that despite this, everyone deserves to indulge themselves with a gourmet snack. That’s why we decided to take our delectable cupcakes, baked fresh daily from the highest quality ingredients, and load them onto New York’s first mobile cupcake shoppe.

The CupcakeStop Truck offers a convenient way for even the busiest and discerning New Yorkers to enjoy a delicious cupcake.

Locations are still TBD but they have quite an impressive array of flavors (triple chocolate, oreo crumb, chocolate peanut butter swirl, mint chocolate chip, coconut cream, banana pudding and more) and will be operating from 10AM to midnight.

CupcakeStop begins June 3rd. Can't wait!!

Gingerbread Cupcakes

From Martha Stewart Living

Use large cupcake papers and two jumbo muffin tins to bake these cupcakes. They are glazed with either a chocolate or butter glaze and then piped with meringue buttercream.

Ingredients

Makes 10

• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup unsulphered molasses
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 recipe Butter Glaze
• 1 recipe Chocolate Glaze
• 1 recipe Meringue Buttercream

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 10 jumbo muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
3. Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Cupcake Variety at Magnolia?

I stopped in a Magnolia Bakery the other night (my sister was in town and wanted to try a cupcake) and noticed something rather peculiar. The bakery had a variety of cupcakes available for individual purchase!!!

I've often found that the only options available were the vanilla and chocolate (and once in a while red velvet), but lo and behold, they had a caramel cupcake and a devils food cupcake. Imagine my amazement!

Has anyone ever tried these other flavors? I wasn't feeling too adventurous that night as I had my heart set on a red velvet but if I come across them again, I will definitely give it a try. All hope is not lost, Magnolia!

Butter Lane Cupcakes

Last night James and I made our way over to Butter Lane (after dinner at Moes for Cinco de Mayo, of course!) to grab some cupcakes. Since I didn't make it to their Cupcakes and Champagne event last week, they've been on my mind as a place to try. The bakery is a cute little space in the East Village with a giant chalkboard full of cupcakes and icing flavors to choose from. James decided on one much like the photo above and I selected the chocolate cupcake with raspberry frosting.

I was quite impressed by the wide array of flavors including raspberry, blueberry, french vanilla, pineapple, and more! It looks like they're constantly updating and changing their selection too. I loved the idea that you could basically create your own (first choose your cake, then choose your frosting!) rather than only have the option to choose from a case of cupcakes and flavors in front of you.

As for the cupcake, the cake itself was moist but slightly crumbly, a personal pet peeve, and the icing was delicious. Ever since my Boston trip, I've been very interested in raspberry icing so I was pleased to find this option available at Butter Lane. This was a great cupcake and I look forward to trying many more cake and icing combinations. And James seemed to really enjoy his too! :)

THE JOURNEY:
Amai Tea and Bake House RIP
Amy's Bread
Babycakes
Baked*
Baked by Melissa
Batch RIP
Billy's Bakery
Buttercup Bake Shop
Butter Lane Cupcakes
Crumbs
Cupcake Cafe
Dessert Club ChikaLicious
Eleni's
How Sweet It Is
Kitchenette
Lux Sugar*
Magnolia
Martha's Country Bakery*
Make My Cake
Out of the Kitchen
Royale Cafe and Pastry (sells Baked* cupcakes!)
Starbucks (limited time only)
Sugar Sweet Sunshine
Sweet Revenge
Tribeca Treats
Tonnie's Minis
Two Little Red Hens

*Borough bakeries

Mini Tiered Cupcakes

How great is this?!? Cupcakes that look like mini tiered cakes. I love it!

I found some for purchase on Amazon. Slightly different cake pan - they make 6 rather than 4 - and at a great price of $14.49.

Ice Cream + Cupcakes Contest

Another bake-off! This time involving two of the best desserts in town -- ice cream AND cupcakes!
Check out the official rules and prizes here. I'm including a few of my favorites from last year's entries below. Good luck!

Coconut and Lime's Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Cooking in Cleveland's Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream Cupcakes

Beantown Baker's Cookie Dough Chocolate Ice Cream Cupcakes