The Cupcake Activist

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Pumpkin Season!

I love this time of year! I love that the weather is getting cooler. I love snow in the mountains. I love thinking about buying Christmas gifts. I love holiday parties. I LOVE baking goodies. And I love that pumpkin becomes a popular flavor for desserts! I absolutely love pumpkin cupcakes!

I was so excited to get a tweet from The Perfect Circle Cupcakery on Saturday saying that pumpkin cupcakes were on their menu from Oct. 1-Dec. 31. Surprisingly, I didn't have any plans for the afternoon so I ran (well, actually I drove) over to The Perfect Circle and bought a Pumpkin Babycake.

I started taking some pictures, but I just couldn't resist a bite! Yummy!

There is just something special about The Perfect Circle's cream cheese frosting. To me, it is perfect! I can't wait to find another excuse to buy more pumpkin cupcakes.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Is Didelicious Cupcakes real?

You can't believe everything you see on TV. For example, last week I watched the second episode of Flash Forward on ABC. One of the clues that the characters were searching for was "D. Gibbons." Turns out that D. Gibbons was Didi Gibbons, the owner of Didelicious Cupcakes in Anaheim, CA. I knew this couldn't be a real cupcake shop because Anaheim is just down the street and I would definitely know about it. Right? Yes, no such place as Didelicious Cupcakes exists, but I love that it was used in the storyline. I also thought it was interesting that the cupcake owner was kinda a crazy lady who wore pink workout suits. I wonder how her cupcakes tasted?

Monday, October 5, 2009

More Halloween Cupcakes 2009

There's still time before your Halloween parties! Try making some different Halloween cupcakes to see which ones turn out the best. Here are some more ideas!

You can also view the Halloween cupcakes I found last year. Look here and here.

Friday, October 2, 2009

How to Ship Cupcakes

I've always wondered how you could successfully ship a cupcake. Seems like it would be a disaster, but it looks like I may be wrong. Beantown Baker (found via CakeSpy) shows us how to do it!

You will need: one batch of cupcakes, one half-pint Mason jar per cupcake, ribbon for decorating

Bake cupcakes as directed and allow to cool completely. Remove cupcake liner and cut cupcake in half vertically or horizontally. Place 1/2 of the cupcake into a sterilized 1/2 pint wide mouth jar. Add frosting to jar. At this point, add some fun extra, such as crushed Oreos or sprinkles. Place the other half the the cupcake in the jar (if you cut the cupcake vertically, it is easier to put both halves in the jar and pipe frosting between the two pieces).
Frost the cupcake as if it weren't in a jar. Add lid and ring to jar. Decorate with ribbon if you want. Be sure to tell your recipients to slide the lid off the jar as opposed to just pulling it up. Otherwise half of the frosting will stick to the lid.
Mail immediately or place in freezer for a day or two then mail them (it will allow them to thaw as they are traveling to the unsuspecting recipients).

Now I just need to figure out who the lucky first recipient will be!

I'm sure you will be seeing references to Beantown Baker on my blog in the future. Great recipes and great blog.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Cupcakes in the Middle East

First glance at Sugar Daddy Bakery's website and you wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Cute logo, list of cupcake flavors offered, and pictures of cakes/cupcakes. Click on branches and you will see one location listed as Abdoun Kurdi plaza. Where is that? Oh, it's in Jordan. Really?! Yes.

Photo: nytimes.com

I came across this article from nytimes.com about Fadi Jaber and the story of his first cupcake shop in Amman, Jordan. It's a pretty interesting read so I suggest you check it out. Fadi always had a love for American desserts, but fell in love with cupcakes when he tried a vanilla vanilla from Magnolia Bakery in New York City in 2004. Long story short: in 2007 he opened the first cupcake shop in the Middle East. It was a hit! He has since opened two other locations in Beirut and Dubai.