Happy National Vanilla Cupcake Day!

We'll have many more vanilla cupcakes for you today as we celebrate National Vanilla Cupcake Day (have you made some? Email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com with "Vanilla" in the subject line and your URL or photo, though, as always, the best place to submit photos is via our Flickr pool) or send links we can retweet on Twitter (we're @cupcakeblog). Thanks and hope you have a delicious National Vanilla Cupcake Day! The next cupcake holiday is National Cupcake Day on December 15th! See the master list of American food holidays here. And tomorrow is our latest Twitter chat, taking place on Friday, November 11 at 2PM EST. Follow @cupcakeblog on Twitter as well as follow the hashtag #cupcakechat.

This beautiful vanilla cupcake is by blogger The Lone Baker, who always goes all out, and who has the recipe for you! Via Flickr. Officially, it's "Vanilla fairy cake with Fluffy Mock Vanilla Bean Cream and crystallised vanilla pod shred."

Vanilla cupcake necklace, earrings and ornament

I am working on a Halloween cupcake wrapup post, and in the meantime, looking ahead to National Vanilla Cupcake Day (November 10th) and Thanksgiving (November 24th). We'll be doing special posts around both those holidays, so if you have anything related to them we should know about, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and we'll do our best to include it. Each of these products, the vanilla cupcake necklace, earrings and ornament, are by different sellers on Etsy. Click through on the photos below to be taken to the sales page.



vanilla cupcake necklace - details: "Tiny Enameled Vanilla Cupcake with Rainbow Sprinkles 3D Charm Necklace in Silver with a Delicate 18 Inch Silver Plated Cable Chain"

Charm measures 17x13mm.

Silver plated cable chain is 18". If you'd prefer a different length, shorter or longer, up to 30" just include a note during checkout!



vanilla cupcake earrings - details: "Handmade cupcakes made of polymer clay
Silver dragees and a sweet cherry sit on top of this dreamy vanilla cupcake
surgical steel earring hooks light weight and non toxic"



vanilla cupcake ornament - details:

Hand-sewn from felt and finished with pink ribbon. Delicately filled with polyester filling.

Approximate size (width x height x depth): 7.3 x 7.8 x 2.0cm / 2.9 x 3.1 x 0.8""

Happy National Chocolate Cupcake Day!

How could I have forgotten? Happy National Chocolate Cupcake Day everyone!!

Maybe I will go around NYC and eat my fill of them and report back if I have time. I do know that on my birthday, November 10th, when I'm going to see Jessie Oleson of Cakespy on her book tour at Baked in Red Hook, Brooklyn, it's National Vanilla Cupcake Day.


triple chocolate cupcake by Mily's Cupcakes in Buenos Aires, Argentina, via Flickr. See milyscupcakes.blogspot.com for ordering information.

And in the non-edible kind of chocolate cupcakes, you can buy this chocolate cupcake necklace from cupcake jewelry maker The Glass Chef on Etsy for $29.95:


Description from Etsy:

This one is all chocolate, looks good enough to eat and brown goes with everything! It dangles from an 18 inch, sterling silver, adjustable chain and has a sweet little chocolate color, Swarovski crystal as the cherry.

5 coffee cupcakes and a recipe link to wish you a Happy National Coffee Day!

Happy National Coffee Day! I've been drinking coffee for about a year and can safely say that I'm now addicted to the taste and feel and, yes, caffeine. It's gotten to the point that until I've had my first cup in the morning I'm not really all there (sometimes, I'll admit, it's more like until I've had my second cup).

What about you? Do you like coffee cupcakes or would you prefer to enjoy a cup of coffee alongside a cupcake? Long before I started drinking coffee, I enjoyed the flavor of coffee ice cream, and to me that is what a coffee frosting should try to approximate, a sweet but strong flavor. But there are all sorts of ways to incorporate coffee into a cupcake, from the cake to the frosting to adding beans on top and much more.

In the spirit of coffee-loving as well as appreciating the spirit of food holidays, here are 5 coffee cupcakes as a way to celebrate.


Caramel latte vegan cupcakes by Sweet Elites Vegan Cupcakes of Fresno, California, via Flickr



coffee and chocolate cupcakes by purecakes (lizzie) on Flickr



Mocha bean cupcake (Devils food cake, mocha frosting topped with chocolate sprinkles and a chocolate covered coffee bean) by cup.cake.CT in Durham, Connecticut, via Flickr



Coffee and donut cupcake (the frosting is a very strong, delicious coffee flavor) I recently tried by Retro Bakery in Las Vegas, Nevada - and yes, I know my photograph perhaps doesn't do it justice, but trust me, it was good, and if you're ever at Retro I would definitely try this one. The coffee frosting and glaze on the cake balance each other out very well.



Coffee cupcake by blogger dulcis in fundo, where you can get the recipe!