Cupcake review: chocolate graham mini cupcakes, plus cupcakes to match Revlon lipsticks, by Baked by Melissa

Mini cupcake empire Baked by Melissa is expanding fast. It just opened its fifth New York City store, so joining SoHo, Union Square, Grand Central and the Fashion District is the new Upper West Side store, located at 2325 Broadway, between 84th and 85th. From My Upper West Side.

“We’re a family business, and the Upper West Side is a fantastic family neighborhood,” said Brian Bushell, CEO of Baked by Melissa and Ms. Bushell’s brother. “As a business, we’re still a baby, and we feel very lucky to be growing up in New York City.”

Their November flavor of the month is chocolate graham, which I found a fun cupcake for the caramel lover. I'm always amazed at how such tiny cupcakes can actually be filled cupcakes, and at $1 each (discounts when you buy in bulk) they're a bargain. They've also introduced chocolate-covered cupcakes, which are pricier but look like a fun holiday treat; I haven't tried them yet but hope to soon. They also do mail order, and you can get all the details at bakedbymelissa.com.











And some fun from their Facebook page, including a plug from O. The Oprah Magazine for their new chocolate-covered mini cupcakes, which I'm excited to try, as well as some fun custom cupcakes, including ones for Coca Cola, Marc Jacobs and, coolest in my opinion, cupcakes to match some Revlon lipsticks!

Join us Saturday at Brooklyn Cupcake for guava, tres leches, coconut and more delicious cupcakes!

Our next meetup is in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, this Saturday at 2 pm at Brooklyn Cupcake! Hope you can make it. Next month is our 7th anniversary party (7 years, woo-hoo!). And our Cupcake Cruise is happening next summer. So many exciting cupcake things going on. Today I stopped by Brooklyn Cupcake because, despite living in Williamsburg, I hadn't been before. It was delicious, with cupcake flavors I've never seen before, like guava con queso, cozy and features great cupcake art. I'm excited about the meetup. Their cupcakes are $2.50 each (6 for $13.50) and they have 16 flavors, with a few special ones on occasion, and tiramisu on the weekends. You can also follow them @BrooklynCupcake on Twitter and on Facebook.

Join us this Saturday, November 5th, at 2 pm!

We're visiting a new local cupcake bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn Cupcake. Inspired by Latin-and-Italian mixed family-owned and operated bakeshop offers flavors ranging from flan and guava con queso to tres leches (filled with three kinds of milk) and tiramisu. We will be giving away two cupcake stands at the meetup!







I bought 6 to try:

peanut butter chocolate and guava con queso cupcakes



inside the guava con queso cupcake



Oreo cookie and rainbow cookie cupcakes







inside the filled rainbow cookie cupcake, inspired by the Italian rainbow cookie, an almond cake, hard for me to describe, very unique



apple pie and coconut cupcakes - a guy sitting there told me that the apple pie cupcake was the best and I liked it a lot but...coconut was my favorite! Real pieces of coconut, plus a creamy delicious coconut frosting and a vanilla cake. That one was divine. They were all good but if you're a coconut fan you have to check it out!



apple pie cupcake closeup



Cupcake art for sale by Xmental University



Brooklyn Cupcake335 Union Avenue (between Grand and Maujer)Brooklyn, NY347-762-2253info at brooklyncupcake.com





and a Halloween cupcake tower from their Flickr account

Occupy Wall Street gets its own cupcake from Bake It in a Cake: Choco-pie Wall Street cupcake, with recipe link

Always creative filled cupcake blogger genius Bake It in a Cake pays tribute to Occupy Wall Street (and to chocolate lovers) with this Choco-pie Wall Street filled cupcake - click through for the recipe. Specifically, it's "a chocolate cupcake with a chocolate pudding pie baked in the center of it, topped off with cream cheese buttercream and, of course, a gold coin."

10 candy corn cupcakes for Halloween plus bonus candy corn cake pops!

I am not a huge candy corn fan myself, so I don't even know if candy corn is available at other times of the year, so maybe you can also make these any time, or save up your candy corn. Either way, candy corn lovers, this post is for you!


Candy corn colors in a triangle inside a cupcake??!! These deserve a special round of Halloween applause! They're by blogger Sugar Turntable, who tells you how to impress your guests with these very special filled cupcakes.



Mini candy corn cupcakes by blogger Pink Parsley, where you can get the easy recipe for these cute treats.



Lots and lots of candy corn on these cupcakes by sweetshannan on Flickr. They're "yellow cake infused with honey, candy corn flavored buttercream with candy corn and peanut bits."



Dairy-free candy corn cupcakes by The Celebration Shoppe, with instructions on making them egg-free as well, for those with food allergies!



From food blog Daily Nibbles, where you can find out how to make your own!



These candy corn cupcakes also wish you a Happy Halloween! By custom cupcake and cake company Cake Believe in Savannah, Georgia.



Hoosier Homemade shows you how to make these candy corn cupcakes on a stick!



Trick or treat (though mostly treat!) cupcakes by Happiness in a Bite (via Flickr) - the chocolate shell filled with candy corn on top is edible!



Candy corn ice cream cone cupcakes by Love from the Oven, using the Babycakes Cupcake Maker!



And, leading us right into our next big cupcake holiday, these turkey cupcakes would be great for Thanksgiving (and a great use of leftover candy corn). They're by Philadelphia's Small Indulgences (via Flickr).



And a bonus! Candy corn cake pops by blogger Eat, Live, Run, who made them and got to meet cake pop queen Bakerella (more about her and her new Cake Pop Kit and book tour soon!).

The Impulsive Buy Impulsively Buys and Tries Betty Crocker FUN-da-middles Cupcake Mix

I admit that I see this on my grocery (shoutout to Key Food!) shelf but I never buy it.

Shot courtesy theimpulsivebuy.

It just looks like trouble. I was curious though if anyone else had tried it and was happy to stumble upon this writeup by the Impulsive Buy.  From Stephanie's piece:

"Mistakes happen. For example, I think it was a mistake to use such a dopey name for the new Betty Crocker novelty cupcake mix. FUN-da-middles? I think I see what they’re trying to do here with the cupcake middles being filled with frosting and “Fundamental” being a word. But really Betty Crocker? FUN-da-middles? I…I just can’t.

I’m mature enough to admit when I’ve erred. Unfortunately, this tends to happen long after I’ve pulled twelve incorrectly-baked Betty Crocker Creamy Chocolate Filling FUN-da-middles cupcakes out of my oven and have realized that the trademark gooey center has pushed itself towards the edges of my bite-sized dessert and has made it into an entirely different snack food, one that doesn’t nearly resemble the dessert pictured on the box and isn’t at all FUN. So now, although I’d intended to write a review of two FUN-da-middles cupcake flavors, it’s now just going to be about one. The one I did correctly. My bad.

Baking doesn’t come naturally to me. Apparently, neither does following directions."

 Ouch.

Shot courtesy theimpulsivebuy.

You can read the entire piece here, and I recommend that you do. And then let me, Stacie, know if you've tried the mix and what your experiences have been.

;)

Halloween vampire bite and pumpkin cupcakes by Melbourne's Sugadeaux Cupcakes

How will you be celebrating Halloween? If you're in Melbourne, check out these Halloween cupcakes with a twist by Sugadeaux Cupcakes: a vampire bite cupcake ("vanilla cake with "bloody" jam centre and bloodied fang marks") and a pumpkin fall spice cupcake ("Vanilla cake spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, with a ghoulish pumpkin decoration"), for sale only on Halloween (see Facebook for details on this special). via Flickr. Get ordering information at sugadeaux.com.au or on their Facebook page.






And in non-Halloween cupcakes, they've also got some new cupcake flavors for you to try:


peach sweet tea cupcake ("iced sweet tea flavoured cake with peachy frosting")



milk n honey cupcake ("old secret family recipe for honey cake paired with cream cheese frosting")



chocolate chip cupcake ("vanilla cake studded with choc chips, creamy vanilla frosting and a cookie piece garnish")

Candy corn lovers and haters can enjoy these fun Halloween cupcakes

Candy corn! It's something people tend to either love or hate (I'm a candy corn hater, sorry, but they do look cute), but now there may be a way to unite candy corn lovers and haters, courtesy of cupcakes and blogger Sugar Bean Bakers, who'll tell you how to make these fake-'em-out holiday tricks/treats. She writes:

Candy corn is pretty synonymous with my favorite season, so, I tolerate it. As a decoration.

I decided to make some cupcakes that LOOK like candy corn. NOT taste like. Look like.

Delicous peanut butter and jelly cupcakes at Hill Country BBQ

Thanks to the lovely folks at Google Places, I got to go to a dinner at Hill Country BBQ in New York City on Thursday night, celebrating the new cookbook by Homesick Texan blogger Lisa Fain, The Homesick Texan Cookbook. All the food I had there was delicious, and Hill Country features among their desserts, peanut butter and jelly cupcakes with Reese's Pieces on top. They have a not too sweet, smooth, delicious peanut butter frosting on top of a vanilla cake filled with grape jelly. Delicious! Save room when you eat there for dessert.