Quick Update: One Sweet Slice

Janell, the owner of One Sweet Slice, emailed to let me know that there will be a delay opening the store because they are required by South Jordan to add another bathroom in order to host events and parties like cake/cupcake decorating birthday parties. They will most likely open early to mid-June. As soon as I know the grand opening date, I will let you know. I am so excited!

Thanks for the update, Janell!

One Sweet Slice

A new cupcakery is coming to Utah and I am so excited! It's called One Sweet Slice and it will be located in South Jordan at 10600 Redwood Rd (in the same strip mall as Cafe Rio). The owner, Janell Brown, has actually been creating cake masterpieces for six years in Utah, but this is her very first store front. You have to check out her photo gallery - her cakes are gorgeous.

According to One Sweet Slice's facebook page, they will be opening on May 16. They will sell cupcakes, wedding cakes, birthday cakes, and more. I am planning on attending the grand opening and I will post my review here. I can tell just by looking at the pictures on their website that they are going to be fabulous!

PB Cupcakes, White Chocolate Cupcakes, and Cake Pops

This weekend I played around with cupcake recipes and made a couple of new fun creations. I made peanut butter cupcakes using the Andes Mint Cupcakes recipe (click for recipe). Instead of adding Andes Mints into the batter, I used peanut butter chips and topped the cupcakes with a whipped peanut butter frosting. If you like eating peanut butter straight out of the container, this cupcake will satisfy your biggest PB craving. They were so peanut buttery. 

The whipped peanut butter frosting is; 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup of butter, and 1 cup confectioners sugar. Mix the peanut butter and butter together and then add the confectioners sugar 1/4 cup at a time. Whip until light and fluffy.

I also used the same batter and added white chocolate chips instead of Andes Mints. I made a butter cream frosting, but should have used a white chocolate frosting like this one. I frosted the cupcakes using a new technique I learned watching Cupcake Wars. I put the tip (size 807) right in the center of the cupcake, not quite touching the cupcake, and then squeezed my frosting bag without moving the tip. The more you squeeze, the farther out toward the edge the frosting goes, until it's a perfect round circle and just the right amount of frosting. I really loved the way they turned out.

And I made Cake Pops using my Bakerella cookbook. I made the Basic Chocolate Cake Pop recipe, dipped them in pink melting chocolate, and then added mini white nonpareils. Don't they look like the new Starbucks Cake Pops? They were very time consuming, but so worth it. My husband said they were amazing.

After all of that I am going to take a couple of weeks off from baking and just enjoy treats from a local cupcakery.

Wrap Your Cupcake Up In Style

If you aren't really into decorating cupcakes but would like to make them look professional and stylish, look no further. Bella Cupcake Couture carry a ton of different wrappers to make your cupcakes look fantastic. All you have to do is bake and frost your cupcakes, stick them in a wrapper, and then wait to hear all the comments about how beautiful they are.

You can order them online or search for stores that carry them in your area here.

Cupcakes For Baby Girls

Just about every where you shop for baby you can find something with a cupcake on it. I just wanted to share a few of my personal favorites. (I apologize I don't have anything for baby boys. Cupcake baby products are just not very manly.)

The cupcake nursery clock and crib set are by Trend Lab. They also carry burp rags, blankets, bibs, and more. I have the burp rags and bibs for my baby and they are my favorite - and not just because they have cupcakes on them. You can also find some of the cupcake Trend Lab products on Target.com.

Boppy sells a cupcake nursing pillow cover. I found mine at Babies R Us.

The Children's Place has really cute clothes for both babies and little girls with cupcakes on them. I just love The Children's Place because the quality is really good and they're really affordable.

My very favorite baby blankets are by Aden + Anais. The are a 100% natural cotton muslin and they are so soft. I absolutely love them. This collection is called "Baby Cakes Swaddle" and as you can see the first one has cupcakes on it. I bought them at a cute children's boutique called Oopsie Daisy, but they are available other places and online. 

 

Blue Lemon

This past week my Mom and I had lunch at Blue Lemon in Salt Lake City, UT. It's a cafe and bakery that serves everything from gourmet entrees and artisan sandwiches to smoothies and cupcakes. As Blue Lemon calls it "it's pure clean food with a twist." They even offer gourmet cooking classes and catering. The Salt Lake location is part of the new City Creek Center and they also have a location in Highland, UT.

I heard Blue Lemon had amazing cupcakes, so I had to check them out for myself. We ordered the artichoke and tomato panini with sweet potato fries and two cupcakes to share. All I can say, is the cupcakes did not disappoint. (Actually, all of the food we ordered was delicious.) The "Oreo" cupcake was amazing. The chocolate cake was so moist and the buttercream frosting was indescribable. It was so buttery and not overly sweet. The top of the cupcake had Oreo cookie crumbles. It was a perfect cupcake. The "Vanilla" cupcake was really good as well. A rich vanilla taste with the same yummy buttercream frosting. I will definitely be going back to try more flavors of their cupcakes.

If you stop by to try a cupcake, take a friend to share. They are huge.

Click for locations, hours, and their menu www.bluelemon.com

Cupcake Wars Recipes

I am a huge fan of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. It's one of my favorite shows and I have watched it religiously each week.

Now that season two has wrapped, they have posted the top 12 recipes on their website. That's right, you can make the top 12 best tasting and best looking cupcakes on Cupcake Wars Season 2 including; a Sweet Potato Cider cupcake with Marshmallow Frosting, a White Russian cupcake, and a Pulled Pork and Sweet Country Corn cupcake. Click here to check them out. You can also find other recipes from Season 2, here.

Update (August 2011): You can find the top 70 Cupcake Wars recipes, here.

How I Frost A Cupcake

I remember frosting cupcakes as a little girl. It was always my favorite part of the cupcake making process. My Mom would bake them and I would frost them. I would use a butter knife and put a large amount of frosting on the cupcake I was going to eat because I have always loved frosting. Today, I frost cupcakes using a decorating tip or spatula. See my "how to" tips below.

My How To Tip To Frost With A Decorating Tip:

To get the "swirl" look I use really big decorating tips - #806 (for small cupcakes) or #807 (for regular cupcakes). The only local place I could find tips this large was at Orson H. Gygi, a Kitchen and Culinary Supply Store. (If you can't find them in your area, do a search online for "decorating tips size 806 and 807" - I found several websites you can purchase them for less than $2.00 a piece.)

I use disposable decorating bags - size 12-16 inch. You can find these at craft stores or some grocery stores. I just cut the end so the tip fits about half way through and it's good to go.

Some people put a dollop of frosting in the middle of their cupcake and then start to "swirl" around it. I start my "swirl" in the middle and work out to the edge, around, and then up (a tip I learned from watching DC Cupcakes). The frosting in the middle prevents the top of the "swirl" from caving in. Caving = not a cute cupcake. Each time you circle, move closer to the center of the cupcake until you are right in the middle and then pull up.

The recipe for this cupcake can be found here.

See another technique to frost cupcakes (that I love) with a decorating tip here.

My How To Tip To Frost With A Spatula:
If you want your cupcakes to look more like Sprinkles Cupcakes, you'll want to use a small spatula. Take your spatula and place a dollop of frosting in the middle of your cupcake. Spread the icing out the edges almost like you are making a table top on top of the cupcake with frosting. Then take your spatula and circle the cupcake on the edge to give it a flat, smooth look all the way around.

You can find several how to videos on frosting cupcakes on You Tube. Frosting a cupcake should be fun. So take your time. Practice. And just have a good time. Just remember - messy cupcakes can taste just as good.

Peanut Butter And Co. Cupcake Mix

Peanut Butter and Co. has a cupcake mix for Mighty Fine Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Chocolate and Peanut Butter - what could be better than that? As stated on PB & Co.'s website "It's an all-natural baking mix with a homemade taste." The mix makes 8 large or 30 mini cupcakes. I need to get my hands on a box and try them. You can get them here.

The Cupcake Cup Challenge

It is time for the Second Annual Cupcake Cup Photo Challenge. I entered a picture of my Andes Mint Cupcake, which is now one of over 1000 entries. There are so many fun, beautiful, and creative pictures of cupcakes posted. Two lucky winners - one selected by the Food2 community and one by cupcake experts Nichelle Stephens and Rachel Kramer Bussel from Cupcakes Take The Cake - will each receive a deluxe baking and decorating set (valued at $75).

If you have a picture of a cupcake or cupcakes you would like to enter, just click here. Or just click and browse around. Like I said, there are so many fun pictures of cupcakes. There are only a couple of days left to enter and then the voting begins.

Mail Order Cupcakes

There are several places you can order cupcakes from that will mail them directly to your door. Godiva (shown above),  Williams-Sonoma (made by Perfect Endings from Napa Valley, CA), and Georgetown Cupcake to name a few. The shipping and handling fees can be a little steep because most require special handling and overnight shipping. Recently I ordered a dozen Georgetown Cupcakes for my Mom's Birthday and Retirement. They arrived the next day and they were in great condition. They were frozen and then shipped with ice packs to keep them cool. I just put them on the counter to thaw for a couple of hours before we enjoyed them. They were very fresh and delicious. I think they were worth spending $25 for shipping for. I am planning on trying the Williams-Sonoma cupcakes next - I will let you know how they are.

Note: Don't forget to search for coupon codes before ordering online. My friend searched "Georgetown Cupcake Coupon Code" and found a code for 15% off.

Cupcakes In The News

Today on the CBS Evening News they talked about how cupcakes have become big business with over 400 different cupcake store fronts in the United States. Once a bake sale staple, it's now a fashionable and profitable food.

Click here to read all about it (and watch the video):
Sweet! The Big Business of Cupcakes

Cupcake Wine

Cupcake Vineyards, located in Monterey County, California, have been making wine since 2008. As stated on their website, the wine label gets its name from the rich flavors in each of their wines - the tropical notes in their Chardonnay, the deep cherry aromas of their Merlot, the fresh berry notes in their Cabernet Sauvignon, and the lemon/key lime flavors in their Sauvignon Blanc.

I have found a couple of the Cupcake Vineyard wines in the Wine Store in Salt Lake City. If you can't find them locally and are unable to visit Monterey County anytime soon, then you can possibly order them online by clicking here.

They also have recipes on their website for gourmet cupcakes like Chocolate Blueberry Cupcakes and Lemon Rosemary Cupcakes along with the wine that pairs perfectly with each.

Cheers!

Update (9/30/2011) - Cupcake Vineyards now has Cupcake Vodka. Flavors include; Original, Chiffon, Frosting, and Devils Food. Click here to learn more.