News From Georgetown Cupcake/DC Cupcakes

Picture from Georgetown Cupcake - "Holiday Dozen"

Attention early Holiday shoppers! Katherine and Sophie, owners of Georgetown Cupcake (and stars of DC Cupcakes), will be on QVC's "Gourmet Holiday" show this Friday, November 4th, at 4:00 PM ET (click here to check the time in your area). They will have a one-time only special price on Georgetown Cupcake's Holiday Dozen. Don't forget to tune in!

Their cookbook, The Cupcake Dairies: Recipes and Memories from the Sisters of Georgetown Cupcake, goes on sale November 8th. To buy the book or other DC Cupcakes products, click here.

Last, but not least, don't forget to catch the DC Cupcakes Wedding Special (Katherine's getting married!) on November 11th at 10PM ET on TLC.

Miette: Recipes From San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop

Miette, San Francisco's most charming pastry shop, now has a cookbook. This hard-cover cookbook has over 100 recipes and 75 color photos of the sweets you can purchase right at the shop. Check out the scalloped edges on the pages, isn't that adorable? You can pick up a copy of this cookbook, here. You can also visit Miette's website, here.

I am really excited that I am going to San Francisco in a few weeks and will be able to visit this charming pastry shop. If you know of any other cupcake shops I should try between Reno, NV, San Francisco, CA, and Napa, CA, send me an email (besides Kara's Cupcakes, Miette, and Sift Cupcake - they are already on the list).

The Cupcake Diaries by Georgetown Cupcake

Katherine and Sophie, owners of Georgetown Cupcake and sisters on the hit show, DC Cupcakes, are finally coming out with their own cookbook called The Cupcake Diaries: Recipes and Memories from the Sisters of Georgetown Cupcake. It will be released on November 8, 2011 and you can pre-order by clicking, here. Pretty sweet!

For a sneak peek at some of the recipes inside the book, click here.

Cake Pops DIY Kit by Bakerella

Angie Dudley, author of the best selling cookbook, Cake Pops, and creator of the very popular wesbite, Bakerella.com, has a new Cake Pops DIY Kit coming out later this year. This kit will make it easy to make your very own cake pops at home. It comes with a booklet with step-by-step instructions, clear cello bags, cake pop sticks, gift cards, and ribbon to wrap 48 cake pops. The kit also comes with five new cake pop designs!

To get your hands on the Cake Pops DIY kit, you can pre-order it, here. Also, if you don't have a copy of Bakerella's Cake Pops cookbook, you can order it, here.

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.

Mini Cupcakes Book Signing

Leslie Fiet, owner of Mini's Cupcakes and author of Mini Cupcakes, will be doing two upcoming book signings in Salt Lake City, UT. So grab your copy of this fabulous cupcake cookbook and head over to meet the author and have your book signed at one of the following events:

When: Thursday, March 24 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM
Where: Mini's Cupcakes, 14 East 800 South

When: Saturday, March 26 at 2:00 PM
Where: The Kings English, 1511 South 1500 East

Even if you can't make it to the book signings, pick up a copy of this cookbook anyway. The recipes are wonderful, the pictures are beautiful, and it's a book you'll want in your collection.

Cake Bites/Candy/Balls/Pops Are Everywhere

Cake bites/candy/balls/pops are little bites of cake and frosting mixed, smashed, formed, and then dipped in chocolate to make a heavenly treat. They are actually really easy to make. You can find recipes for them in several cookbooks, including Bakerella's Cake Pops. You can also find the recipe online by just doing a search for 'cake pops' or 'cake balls'. I personally am addicted to The Sweet Tooth Fairy's Cake Bites. She has perfected this tiny treat and I absolutely love them.

This past weekend I was out and about and found two new cake bite/candy/balls/pops cookbooks that have hit the shelves. Also, I went to one of my favorite markets and they had Cake Candy made by one of my favorite bakeries in Salt Lake City, Cakes de Fleur. I bought a little two pack, one chocolate, the other M&M, and they were delicious! This market also carries sweets from another Utah baker, Schmidts Pastry Cottage. They had Cake Balls and they were literally the size of a baseball. They were huge! I haven't tried them yet, but I do plan on doing so.

So, if you don't feel like making your own tiny cake treats just check your local bakery. They are all the rage right now and everyone seems to be selling them.

Mini Cupcakes

This weekend I made cupcakes from my new Mini Cupcake cookbook. They turned out really good. They are adorned with little chocolate hearts (below), which I made. They pretty much tasted just like the cupcakes that I had the day before at Mini's Cupcakes (Salt Lake City, UT). I am excited to try other recipes from this adorable cookbook.

Big News

Big News! Mini's Cupcakes have a cookbook coming out! YAY! If you have never had a Mini's Cupcake you should head over to one of their two Salt Lake locations. They are mini cupcakes which which means you can eat more, right? Right. They are also made with the freshest and finest ingredients - which makes them delish! The book is set to be released in March 2011. You can preorder it on Amazon.com right now by clicking here.

Also, my favorite little cakebites from The Sweet Tooth Fairy are going to make an appearance on QVC on February 7.

Way to go Utah cupcakes!