Homemade Avalanche Bark

Besides a million other things, my friend Jill and I share a special bond: sweets. We both love sweets more than practically anything else.

Jill is almost 37 weeks pregnant. Neither of us have kids yet, so this is a pretty big deal! Last night I threw her a baby shower. Of course, I made sure there were plenty of treats to get us on an everlasting sugar-high.

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One of the desserts I brought was Avalanche Bark. If you've never tried or even heard of Avalanche Bark, you have been missing out. You can find Avalance Bark at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, but I recently came across the recipe on cookies and cups.

Photo: cookies and cups

Avalanche Bark is similar to rice krispie treats, except there's even more goodness: semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and peanut butter. Super easy to make, no baking involved.

More Cupcakes Coming to Orange County

Foodie is Disguise is reporting that two more cupcake shops will be opening in Orange County. He says,

"One will be opening in Mission Viejo across from the Gateway Plaza Shopping Plaza in April and the other will be located at Downtown Disney this summer."

I reported on the opening of a cupcake kiosk in Downtown Disney in December. Before I had a chance to visit, I heard that the kiosk closed.

The kiosk was owned by a company called The Cupcake Store. Upon further research, found out that The Cupcake Store has just opened a new cupcake shop in Mission Viejo in March. Their website is also reporting that they will be opening a location in Disneytown Disney soon. Sounds like the mystery is solved: the two new stores are actually one company.

And hopefully their cupcakes have improved because I talked to several people who tried their cupcakes at Downtown Disney and they said the cupcakes were no good.

What's New, Cupcake? Book is here

If you've ever had a thought about making creative cupcakes, you've probably seen the cookbook, "Hello, Cupcake!" Talk about cute cupcakes!

Photo: Amazon

Well, the authors, Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, are back with more. Their newest cupcake cookbook, "What's New, Cupcake?" is now available for sale. You can find it on Amazon for $11.53, but I'm sure it's available at most other bookstores too.

Just a sample of the amazing cupcakes you are sure to find in this book...."An Apple for the Teacher Cupcakes."

Photo: Amazon

Sweet Tooth Fairy Opens New Location

Although I have a race on Saturday, I secretly wish I was going to be in Utah for the grand opening celebration of the Sweet Tooth Fairy's second store. I reviewed the Sweet Tooth Fairy almost three months ago and have been in love with them ever since. Their success has led to the expansion of their second store in Draper, Utah.

Their grand opening celebration takes place on Saturday, March 27 at 10:00am. They will be giving away 100 mini cupcakes on a first come first serve basis. They will also be holding a giveaway for a year's supply of cupcakes (one dozen a month for a year). Oh how I would love that!

First Taste of Doughboys

Being the Cupcake Activist definitely has advantages. Whenever my friends and family run across something cupcake, they are sure to pass it my way. After our running workout on Saturday, my good friend surprised me with a box of leftover cupcakes. The cupcakes were from Doughboys Cafe in Los Angeles.
Three flavors: Red Velvet, Hummingbird, and Golden. The cake was good on all of the cupcakes, but the frosting lacked. It wasn't creamy enough and there wasn't enough of it. Still pretty decent cupcakes though.

I would like to stop by Doughboys in person to try some of their regular menu. How does their P B C & B sound? A chunky peanut butter, bittersweet chocolate, and banana sandwich on their pan de mie bread, dipped in egg batter and grilled, served with raspberry dipping syrup. I guess I'm just a sucker for sweets that I can pass off as a meal.