A Little Wakeup Assistance!

I have chronic insomnia and it almost impossible to drag me out of bed in the morning. I've tried all the tricks the experts tell you: have your coffee brewed and set on timer to  several minutes before you awake. Have fluffy mats on the floor and slippers to make your feet feel good. Have your healthy breakfast prepared the night before. Prewarm you bathroom, know what you are wearing, have the keys ready, etc, etc. 

But I suspect this little device might/could help:

A cupcake alarm clock?  *perk*  Would I wake to the wafting scents of vanilla and sugar and buttercream?  Well, apparently not on this version. Maybe the 4.0? But the sugary-sweet sayings will make one smile when getting out of bed and at the very least, who could chuck a perfectly lovely and pretty cupcake clock against a wall?? Not I. 

It's $22 at Exit 9 (facebook/twitter).

Buy one cupcake, get one free at Sprinkles Cupcakes today, plus cupcake cart at Dylan's Candy Bar NYC popup shop

Sprinkles Cupcakes, with locations in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, La Jolla, New York (Manhattan), New Port Beach, Palo Alto, Scottsdale, and Washington, DC, wants to make your Black Friday a sweet one with their buy one cupcake, get one free offer:



Sprinkles' holiday cupcakes, on sale through November 27th:



And in New York City, they've launched a cupcake cart at the Dylan's Candy Bar popup shop at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue, across the street from Bryant Park, through January 7th.



I brought the Sprinkles vegan red velvet cupcake to The Gayle King Show as "best red velvet cupcake" - you can ask for their gluten-free or vegan red velvet cupcakes daily.


Sprinkles New York

Keep up with them at sprinkles.com, their Facebook page and @sprinkles on Twitter.

Magnolia Bakery's red velvet Rockette and truffle chocolate cupcakes

I stopped by Magnolia Bakery in Rockefeller Center and it was so crowded they were only letting in a few people at a time, but once inside, the line moved quickly. I'm bringing some mini cupcakes and some of these red velvet Rockette cupcakes and truffle chocolate cupcakes, along with s'mores (my favorite!) to a friend's Thanksgiving party. Will let you know how they go over! Visit magnoliabakery.com and their Facebook page for more information.

Two-eyed and four-eyed turkey cupcakes by Man Bakes Cake

Major turkey cupcake cuteness (hi, candy corn, and hi, turkey with four eyes!) by New York City's Man Bakes Cake, via Facebook, where you can see some of their amazing, totally amazing, over-the-top cakes. And some holiday cupcakes - get your orders in now! Email martinez_rudy at msn.com for inquiries.


turkeys!


"Christmas Cranberry Cupcake." Orange-Cardamom Spice cake filled with Mulled Wine Cranberry Curd, Pomegranate Buttercream and Sugared Cranberry.


Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream and Gingerbread Men.


Red Velvet Cake filled with Chocolate Ganache and topped with Eggnog Buttercream.


Red velvet cupcake with eggnog buttercream.


"Naughty and Nice Cupcakes." Red Velvet Cake filled with Spicy Chocolate Ganache and topped with Milk Chocolate Buttercream.

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!

Cupcake review: Candied sweet potato and pumpkin spice gluten-free cupcakes at Tu-Lu's Gluten-Free Bakery

Tu-Lu's Gluten-Free Bakery in New York's East Village (338 East 11th Street) is an adorable shop, with several stools, beautiful cupcake owl art on the walls, and an assortment of desserts and paninis, all gluten-free. Their cupcake flavor of the week is candied sweet potato, which is candied yam mousseline on sweet potato cake. Their other seasonal flavor is pumpkin, which I think had a cream cheese frosting. I tried each of them ($3.15 per cupcake).



Both were very good, especially the cakes. Moist, sweet, thick but not overly dense. They felt hearty and perfect for fall. I recommend Tu-Lu's all the time to people who can't eat gluten and while I can eat gluten, I go there just because they're delicious. They also offer mini cupcakes, and I love the way the mini candied sweet potato one looks; I don't have a good photo of it, but it's got that same little marshmallow bit on top, just extra tiny. And not a cupcake, but I also highly recommend the Mallomar cookie. They also do delivery, and you can see their full menu on their site and contact them at 212-777-2227. I'd call now for Thanksgiving orders (I'll probably be bringing some of their treats to my gluten-free family members).

You can also find them on Facebook and @tulusbakery on Twitter.














And a little Halloween pumpkin!

Tour de Sweet with Jessie Oleson at Butter Lane

It was wonderful to see Jessie again at her book tour (Tour de Sweet), one stop of which was held at Butter Lane in the East Village.

Jessie and her parents, reviewing the CakeSpy book:

I thought it was awesome that her folks came out for the book tour!

Also on tap were Rachel and Nichelle, all of us enjoying Jessie's company, the cupcakes, the new book and each other.

"Why yes, that is a giant cow mural on the wall. Why do you ask?"

I even (cake)spied some of Jessie's artwork at Exit 9, down the block on Avenue A, perfect for the holidays:

Thanks for making NYC one stop of your sweet-filled tour, Jessie!

;)

With Pride and Frosting

I heart NY too:

Image courtesy nycscout.

Is $2.50 too much to pay for a mini cupcake? These Dessert Club ChikaLicious ones were worth it!

I'll be posting more about cupcake prices, thanks to your responses to us on Twitter about how much you'd pay for a cupcake, but wanted to share that while in general, I'd say $2.50 is very high for a mini cupcakes, I paid $2.50 each for these 4 mini cupcakes today from Dessert Club ChikaLicious and they were worth it!


the four beautiful mini cupcakes I bought

Not an everyday indulgence, by they weren't just random cupcakes shrunk down to tiny size. Firstly, they don't have these flavors--banana, strawberry, lychee and green tea--in regular size cupcakes, as far as I know. Secondly, the care and attention that went into the look of them was impressive. I daresay their mini cupcakes looked even prettier than their big ones. I feel like both those things worked in the favor of the mini cupcakes. These were flavors I've rarely seen at all in cupcakes, and not flavors I'd seen at ChikaLicious. They are also, in the case of the lychee and green tea, a little unusual, so perhaps not flavors that people would want to try in larger form, or at least, not everyone. That's my thinking on it.

My general thinking on cupcake prices as a consumer is that I'm willing to try something if I've never had it before, even if the price is something I'd generally consider too high. It also depends on the presentation, delicacy, type of cupcake, and size. Not all "mini" cupcakes are the same size; some are one-bite, two-bite, or multiple bite. Some are filled, some are topped with lots of frosting, some are just mini versions of larger cakes. I think it truly depends on what you're looking for. Often I prefer mini cupcakes and wish more bakeries sold them, even though I'm sure it's more of a pain in some ways to make them. I like them when I'm trying new cupcake flavors or bringing cupcakes to a party; if I can get more minis for the same price, like 18 mini cupcakes vs. a dozen regular ones, I'll choose the 18 because that looks more impressive and they can be passed around more easily. What do you think about cupcake pricing? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter, or at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and if you sell cupcakes and want to share how you set your prices, feel free to drop us a line with "Pricing" in the subject.

You can find ChikaLicious at dessertclubnyc.com and @ChikaliciousNYC on Twitter.

Speaking of ChikaLicius, look out for them as I talk about them with Gayle King live today 10-11 EST on OWN on The Gayle King Show!


mini cupcakes!




green tea mini cupcake, outside and in


cupcake prices

VERY salty caramel cupcake and getting into the Thanksgiving spirit at Sprinkles

I bought this salty caramel cupcake at Sprinkles Cupcakes in Manhattan today ($3.75) and was impressed with how salty it was! You can see the salt crystals on it, and taste definitely errs on the more salty than caramel side, but not so salty that it's not pleasant to eat. Without checking, I'm not sure what the cake was, but it was moist and went well with the cake. They have this salty caramel in limited rotation, so it's worth checking out. Visit sprinkles.com as well as @sprinkles and their Facebook page to find out what's new, and see below for them getting into the Thanksgiving holiday spirit with upcoming limited edition holiday flavors and "gobble" letters to decorate your cupcakes!






Thanksgiving cupcake flavors starting next week


>



door of Sprinkles NYC

Cuppie Meets Ray's Pizza, or NYC gets ready for the invasion of Cakespy's Jessie Oleson

Did you know that our friend and Cakespy blogger, baker, artist and shop owner Jessie Oleson is on tour for her first cookbook, Cakespy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life (one word: S'moreos!!), specifically Tour de Sweet? (Click for all tour dates.) Well, she is, and I highly encourage you to check it out! We'll be there on November 9th at 2 pm Butter Lane and November 10th at 7 pm in Red Hook, and there are events this coming Monday and Tuesday in Boston. Treats are in store and her cookbook makes me want to lick the pages; more on that soon!



Alas, I don't think we are going to be as lucky as Jessie, who got to hang with Jay Mewes and Kevin Smith: (via Flickr)

Halloween eyeball, ghost, worm/dirt and candy corn cupcakes, plus pumpkin patch

These cupcakes are by Polkadot Cupcake Shop of New York City/New Jersey, via Flickr, celebrating Halloween and pumpkin patch, their October flavor of the month. Find out more about them at polkadotcupcakeshop.com and on Facebook and @sweeterwithcake on Twitter.