Cupcakes Take The Cake

5 Reasons Why I love cupcakes?

1) They are so cute and adorable, and they remind me of my sweet childhood=)
2) They are cheaper than buying a whole big cake.
3) They are small gifts of indulgence, so I feel less guilty after eating it, compared to having a slice of cake.
4) They are a convenient dessert to eat because they come in single serve proportions. No serving  utensils required.
5) They come in many flavors; however, you do not have to commit to one.

These 5 prime reasons inspired me to start my cupcake couture and catering business to spread my love of cupcakes to others. There are thousand people out there also love cupcakes; however, there is one group of people have been loving cupcakes so much that they even created a website to dedicate to CUPCAKES!

Cupcakes Take The Cake  was started in December of 2004. Three cupcakes lovers,  Rachel Kramer Bussel (the author and editor), Nichelle Stephens (the blogger and social media manager), and Stacie Joy (the photographer and editor) were inspired by the opening of New York City bakery Sugar Sweet Sunshine and the release of Clare Crespo’s book Hey There, Cupcake!,as well as the success of their friends who run the pizza blog Slice. All these inspired them to create a cupcake official website for cupcakes!

Who would have thought about a cupcake website could attract so many attentions, including MSNBC and Food Network.  This website is a bible for all cupcake lovers and someone loves sweet.  They include almost everything you need to know or want to know about cupcakes.  From cupcake reviews to cupcake recipes to interview of different bakeries around the whole world.  This is one of the most additive websites for browsing around.  And no doubt that this is the most developed and organized website about everything you need to know about cupcakes.

I am so honor to be featured on Cupcakes Take The Cake twice!  Our Lady Gaga's cupcakes were featured on this website back to September 2011.  And the triathlon inspired cupcakes (specially made for the Cupcake Activist) were featured on their website again this month.  And I am very happy that they love our creativity and works. 

DKNY New Cupcake Fragrances

DKNY is launching three limited edition cupcake inspired fragrances.  Three fragrances in flavors of Pink Macaroon, Creamy Meringue, and Tark Key Lime comes packaged in pastel pink, yellow, and green apple-shaped covers.

The Pink Macaroon is a soft, feminine fragrance that is concocted in notes of almonds, rose marzipan, nectarine, kumquat, pomegranate, and fruity flavors.

The Creamy Meringue on the other hand, is a cupcake-inspired scent blending notes of soft lemon cream, bergamot, freesia, frangipani, and passionflower. 

Last but not the least; the Tark Key Lime is a refreshing fragrance that blends notes of orange zest, bergamot, lime, mandarin, citrus flavor, and neroli.

Louis Vuitton Spring Inspired Cupcakes

If you have been following my blog, you might see the Louis Vuitton (LV) cupcakes I crafted about a month ago.  I received another order of  LV inspired cupcakes from the same customer about couple weeks ago.  She loved the cupcakes I crafted for her the last time and wanted to make order some more from me to bring to the LV store at the South Coast Plaza for their staffs.  So here you go...for you, all the fashion and cupcake lovers!

I hand painted the LV logo on the fondant. 

Aren't they classy?

From LV Spring fashion show

Inspired by the LV Spring fashion show

The mini speedy bags and I made them slightly different than the last time.  I simplified them a bits to make them look cuter and also add some flowers with the same color schemes to make everything tight together.

Close up of the Speedy bag

Inspired by the LV key chains

When fashion meets cupcakes

A very good friend of mine, Natalie is a great inspiration of fashion and styling.  What I love about her blog is she always teaching people mixing and matching your old pieces with new pieces, and high end fasions with something you can easily grab from Target and Forever 21.   We don't need to dress from head to toe in Gucci and Versace.  She makes fashion fun and affordable!

I had been following her blog, The Jassy Spot even before I opened my own.  On the top of giving out all the updated fashion information and inspiration, she often gives away FREE STUFFS (including new make up, jewelries, skin cares, etc) on her blog.  If you have not checked out her blog, you are definitely missing something in your life.

I am so very pleased that our fashion inspired cupcakes got featured on her blog today. 

Go check out Cupcake X Fashion on her blog here.

Yay to all fashion...and cupcakes lovers!  Happy Wednesday!

Cupcake Flowers inspired by Cupcake Liners

I found these easy to make but cute flower decorating ideas online.  They flowers are inpsired by cupcake liners.  This first picture of the flower is made with cupcake liners.  Click here for the step by step tutorial.  The second picture is even easier to make, made with lollipop and cupcake liners.

This flower is made with cupcake liners.



This flower arrangement is made with lollipops and cupcake liners.

 This one looks a little bits hard, but the step by step tutorial seems very helpful.  Click here for tutorial.

Cupcake liners are not only for baking, they could make this beautiful flower too.  Check here to see more.

Cupcake Flower Arrangements

Flowers and Cupcakes, who has ever thought of they go well together. 

Here are some cute flower arrangements inspired by cupcakes I found on the internet:

It's such a great idea to brighten up your wedding party, your bridal shower, baby shower or birthday party.

Cake and Fashion

I watch Cake Boss religiously.  I watch it, record it, and sometimes re-re-watch it; that's how much I enjoy this show.  Buddy and his crew are very talented and creative about their cake design.

 
Couple months ago, I watched one of the episodes about making some fashion inspired cakes for the fashion designer, Issac Mizrahi for his new Fall 2011 Collection Fashion Show.  Issac Mizrahi debuted his Fall 2011 collection titled "Cake." at New York Fashion Week. The show was inspired by poodles and Wayne Thiebaud's painting of cakes.

Here are little recap from the show:

Issac stopped by Carlos Bakery in New Jeresy and asked Buddy Valastro to create some cakes for his fashion show.  Not just Buddy needed to create the cakes, he also need to find a way to make the cakes light enough for the models to carry on the stage.  It was a challenging project, but Buddy delivered great quality of the "cakes" (he used styrofoam to make the "cakes" and covered them with real fondant and fondant decorations) and meet the expectation of Issac.

(Courtesy of the Photo from the Fashion Wire website)

Inspired by the Fair - Deep Fried Koolaid

Smoked giant turkey leg, grilled corns, stuffed chili with cheese, giant hot dog, giant corn dog, funnel cake, and deep fried everything...hm...I smell OC FAIR! 

Mr. G and Mrs. G went to the fair over the weekend.  We always enjoy going to the fair because that's the only time we don't need to care about the calorie and nutrition information listed on the menu (because there is none of this information at the fair.  Eat at your own risk!)  And we did a lot of eating and cardio at the same time (hey, we walk around the whole fair.).

We have tried a new item this year - deep fried Koolaid!  We at first thought that it might be another gross item among all the deep fried stuffs.  Surprisingly, they taste amazingly good!  Mr. G's cousin and his girlfriend obsessed with this new treat, and they even went home to make their own deep fried koolaid.  I would like to share their recipe with everyone, so if you missed this new item at the fair, no worries!  DIY (Do It Yourself) at home!

Ingredients for Deep Fried Kool Aid:

3 Eggs
2 Cups of Milk
1/2 Cup of Sugar
3 2/3 Cups of Flour
1/2 Teaspoons of Salt
1/2 Cup of Cherry Kool Aid
2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
Vegetable Oil For Frying

Making The Batter:
Beat the eggs and the sugar together in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the milk while beating slowly. Add all of the dry ingredients, and beat until the mixture is slow and creamy. The batter should be a bright pink color. Add more kool aid as desired.

Cooking Directions:
Cook in hot vegetable oil for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the hot oil when the fried kool aid batter is golden brown and is crispy.

Allow the Deep Fried Kool Aid to cool a bit before eating. They will burn you badly if eaten too soon. Fried Kool Aid taste best with a fresh glass of Kool Aid!

Cupcakes inspired by Marc Jacob's Fragrances

Over the weekend, I made some cupcakes inspired by the Marc Jacob's fragrances.  The hardest part is getting the colors right for the Lola.  They came out so adorable!  I have a crazy idea.  It would be cute if I could find some models doing the same pose but holding the cupcake, instead of the perfume.  That would be awesome!  Any volunteer?

Marc Jacob's Lola 

Inspired by Lola

Marc Jacob's classic Daisy

Inspired by classic Daisy

New Marc Jacob's Daisy

Inspired by the new Daisy

A project inspired by Marc Jacob's fragrances

I <3 Marc!