Snapshots from Swirlz Cupcakes in Chicago

Swirlz in Chicago, where I'm posting this from, has free Jameson shots out for St. Patrick's Day and some mini cupcakes to try. All the cupcakes I tasted were delicious, especially the gluten-free Twixie cupcake, which has chocolate cake, a layer of melted chocolate, a layer of shortbread cookie, salted caramel buttercream, drizzled with homemade caramel, and the Thin Mint cupcake, which has chocolate cake, with a layer of chocolate, homemade chocolate sugar cook, mint buttercream (that was extra smooth and light) and hand-dipped in chocolate, and the vegan, gluten-free mint chocolate chip! More about Swirlz later, but definitely check them out at swirlzcupcakes.com.


gluten-free Twixie




triple chocolate mini cupcake (chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked in, with a layer of chocolate ganache, with chocolate frosting and dipped in chocolate and then drizzled with white chocolate!)


banana Nutella cupcakes (these sold out before I got to try one!)


Jameson buttercream frosting shots

St. Patrick's Day Bailey's Irish Coffee cupcake

From cupcake mastermind Blake Anthony of BlakeyCakes in Los Angeles comes this St. Patrick's Day Irish coffee cupcake. Via Facebook. The official description: "A soft, moist chocolate cupcake made with Bailey's Irish Cream and a dark, coffee infusion chocolate bar. The toppings include a creamy chocolate buttercream frosting that has also been spiked with Irish cream with a swirl of whipped cream on top of that and decked out with a lucky shamrock clover marshmallow!" Email b.arias at hotmail.com or call 818-577-8302 to order.

The Lorax Truffula Tree vegan dark chocolate cupcakes with cotton candy on top, plus recipe link

Find out how to make these dark chocolate vegan cupcakes with cotton candy on top, styled in homage to Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, at Meet The Shannons (via Babble).

Spicy dark chocolate ancho chili fudge cupcakes plus recipe link

One half of food bloggers The Foodie Couple made these spicy dark chocolate cupcakes with ancho chile chocolate ganache and fudge frosting for the other's birthday and writes:

The best part of the cupcake was the wonderful ganache so thick and gooey with just a hint of ancho spice. The cupcake itself was also very moist the ancho chili and cinnamon were just back notes to the dark chocolate. And the fudgy frosting...so good.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

If you're looking for some boozy cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day, these cupcakes are the ones! They're Guinness chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate ganache filling that has Irish whiskey in it, and they're topped with Bailey's frosting. For all the recipes, check out this post from Quick Feet, Good Eats.

Chocolate, red wine and goat cheese cupcakes, plus recipe link!

Blogger Buttercream Blondie made these beautiful chocolate and goat cheese cupcakes for an Oscar party menu, and has the recipe!



From her post:

I opted to go with a cupcake because it's fitting for any party you're having. In order to dress up my chocolate cupcake, I decided I would incorporate goat cheese. I made a goat cheese frosting that is light and airy like a mousse. Light brown sugar in both the frosting and cupcake add a wonderful layer of flavor. That slight tang of the goat cheese frosting paired with the chocolate cupcake is a flavor combination that should not be missed! This is also a great way to try goat cheese in a dessert if you haven't gone there yet. At this point the cupcake was good, but it needed that finishing touch. That's when the red wine popped in my head. I got a sweet red wine and let it reduce till it got nice and syrupy. I spooned a little of the reduction over the frosting, and that's when the magic happened. Besides adding a fantastic color to the cupcake, the wine added a sweetness that was needed. With underlying hints of cherry and pomegranate shining through, it balanced the cupcake beautifully. The final product is incredibly luscious, yet refined at the same time.

While I'm posting about her, I must also include her penguin cupcakes, not because they're related to the goat cheese ones, but because they are so cute!

Make chocolate cupcakes in your microwave!

Blogger Casa Veneracion shows you how to make chocolate cupcakes in your microwave! In a coffee mug!



From the post:

These cupcakes are my first attempt with microwave baking. Really easy. No mixing bowls needed. Just a fork to stir. And the really wonderful thing? My trepidation was that they’d come out hard and dry. But they were soft and moist. Granted, the texture is coarser than that of a cake or cupcake that had been mixed using the regular procedure. But, oh, the effect is really rustic and I love it. The cupcakes rose higher on one side but they were uniformly baked.

Thin Mint crunch cupcake comes to Georgetown Cupcake in March! Plus our take on mint cookies and creme, chocolate², pumpkin spicea nd banana chocolate

I stopped by Georgetown Cupcake in SoHo on Saturday with a friend and co-owner Sophie LaMontagne told me that Thin Mint Crunch is coming back in March, so Thursday I plan to be there early to try it. I also told her that I couldn't wait on the extremely long line when I was in Washington, DC last year and she reminded me you can order ahead at georgetowncupcake.com and skip the line! Also, the other day I was there on a weekdayand they told me that their free cupcake specials via GTownCupcake on Twitter (and Facebook, each day they announce a special flavor they're giving away in a limited quantity for free) tend to last until around 1 pm on weekdays. Obviously, the earlier you arrive, the better your chance for a freebie, but a heads up.

Below is a review and photo from blogger Never Turn Down a Cupcake:

This Girl Scout cookie-based flavor is a chocolate cake with crushed Thin Mint cookies baked inside, topped with a chocolate ganache and decorated with fondant Girl Scout decorations.

Even though I'm not a fan of mint chocolate, this was really rich and tasted mostly of chocolate which I liked, haha. The little bits of cookie inside were interesting and added a nice texture to both the cake and the frosting.

And these are the cupcakes we tried: the mint cookies & creme, for sale on Saturdays, which is so so good in my and my friend's opinion (it tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream!) and the chocolate², which is "Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a whipped Callebaut chocolate frosting topped with a fondant flower," was rich and wonderful. I ate half of it and felt like I'd gotten more than my share of very rich, thick chocolate frosting. I recommend them both!





And while I'm catching up on my blogging, I also tried pumpkin spice and banana chocolate. Both were very good. The pumpkin spice's official description is "Pumpkin spice cupcake with a maple-infused cream cheese frosting topped with a fondant maple leaf" and I can tell you that the maple frosting was unique and very good. I wasn't sure if I'd like it but it had this kick to it that made it amazing. The banana frosting was good too, though I liked the pumpkin spice better.

Tuxedo chocolate ganache cupcake gets classy, February only, at Jubilee Cupcakes

The Tuxedo Cupcake is a "chocolate cupcake with Swiss Meringue dipped in chocolate ganache" at Jubilee Cupcakes and Vintage Candy in Puyallup, Washington, for sale only in February. Via their Facebook page. See jubileecupcakes.com for more information.

Double Chocolate Pomegranate Cupcakes

I wasn't really a pomegranate fan until I saw these cupcakes. I've never had pomegranates before, and I'm a pretty picky eater, but everyting tastes better with chocolate, right? These chocolate cupcakes have pomegranate juice in them and are topped with white chocolate frosting.

For the recipes, check out the post on What Katie's Baking!

Fat Tuesday Cupcakes at the Cupcrazed Cakery!!

This is a chocolate caramel bacon cupcake...

Made by the ladies of Cupcrazed Cakery in SC.... yummmm!!!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

 

Cupcakes on fire! Flaming Baked Alaska cupcakes with brandy by "cupcake arsonist" Sprinkle Bakes

Check out these outrageous and inventive cupcakes by blogger and "cupcake arsonists" Sprinkle Bakes, who has instructions and the recipe! Here's a teaser on how she makes them fire up: "To make the blue-flame magic happen, turn down the lights and sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of warmed brandy over each meringue-coated cupcake." They're a followup to her chocolate cupcakes with flaming strawberries, which I've also included a photo of below. Wow! Kudos to her for daring to break open the flames for the sake of a cupcake.

Just call me the cupcake arsonist.

This is the second time I've intentionally set fire to this cutesy confection. What's the appeal? Maybe I feel the cupcake could use a break from its curlicued reputation. Or maybe it appeals to my inner juvenile delinquent who loves to play with matches. All I know for sure is, this is one incredibly delicious show-stopping dessert! It's a perfect dramatic finale for any dinner party.

Chocolate Lover's Cupcake



Everything about this cupcake is chocolate. How Sweet It Is was definitely thinking about us chocolate lovers when she made these super chocolatey cupcakes on Valentine's Day. They're dark chocolate cupcakes with--not regular chocolate frosting--but piles of chocolate cream cheese frosting, and they're topped with chocolate sprinkles and a piece of chocolate from a chocolate bar. That's a lot of chocolate. Check out her Chocolate Lover's Cupcakes post for the recipes!

Festive pink and red sprinkles make all the cupcake difference, don't they?

Check out these devil's food cupcakes with white chocolate glaze by blogger I Wanna Be a Domestic Goddess. Don't the sprinkles make such a huge addition to the presentation? From the post:

An espresso flecked batter that gets it chocolate from both cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate, the scent of this batter will send you on an absolute chocolate high!

Be Mine, I Love You, heart, chocolate rose, chocolate strawberry and chocolate brandy cupcakes for Valentine's Day by London's Hummingbird Bakery

London cupcake special from The Hummingbird Bakery (various London, UK locations). Via @hummingbbakery on Twitter, some cute and love-filled Valentine's Day cupcakes. Visit hummingbirdbakery.com and their Facebook page for more information on pre-ordering them. They will also be for sale in the bakery February 11th.



Additionally, they have several special flavors:


"Fluffy chocolate sponge with a lightly whipped strawberry custard centre topped with a fabulously fruity swirl of strawberry frosting."


"Our signature chocolate sponge is paired with delicate rose-flavoured custard and rose-scented chocolate frosting."


"Hidden inside this chocolate sponge is a luxurious brandy-flavoured ganache centre. A deep layer of chocolate frosting and a blanket of chocolate shavings complete this sophisticated treat."

Double the cupcake love with Valentine's Day double decker raspberry chocolate heart cupcakes

These extra luscious, double the love Valentine's Day cupcakes are by blogger My Feelings Taste Like Cupcakes, via Flickr. They are double decker raspberry heart cupcakes made of: "Raspberry Cupcake with Cream Cheese Chocolate Frosting, Raspberry filling and chocolate ganache." Visit the blog for more photos like the cutout hearts and the recipes for the raspberry sauce, blackberry cupcakes and ganache!

Chocolate lover's Valentine's Day cupcakes by Nate's Cupcakes

Say Happy Valentine's Day to your favorite chocolate lover with these cupcakes by custom company Nate's Cupcakes in Hinesburg, Vermont, via their Facebook page. Email order at natescupcakes.com or call 802-393-8689 for orders, and find out more at natescupcakes.com.

Vegan rose chocolate cupcakes for Valentine's Day plus recipe link

Get the recipe for these vegan rose chocolate cupcakes from the blog My Little Celebration.



Blogger Dana reports that her taste testers couldn't tell the difference between this vegan cupcake and a traditional one, and writes:

Not only did the cupcakes turn out wonderfully, they tasted phenomenal! I don’t know why I’d ever bake a non-vegan cupcake again! The soy milk + vinegar mixture makes a creamy base for the batter, the cocoa powder gives them a rich chocolate flavor, and the oil keeps them unbelievably moist.

Honolulu cupcake excitement for tonight's meetup: chocolate mint marshmallow cupcakes by Tiramisu Cupcakes

I'm not sure which type of cupcakes Tiramisu Cupcakes will be bringing to tonight's Honolulu, Hawaii Cupcakes Take the Cake meetup, but I'm excited by this photo of their chocolate mint cupcakes! From their Facebook page (email tiramisucupcakes at yahoo.com for orders and inquiries). See you from 6-9 pm tonight at The Greenhouse Innovation Hub at 685 Auahi Street in Kaka'ako! I'll post a recap for those who can't make it and will be blogging about Hawaiian cupcakes all week.


Chocolate cake w/ mint marshmallow frosting and chocolate mint bits.



More from their Facebook page:

Tiramisu [Tir-a-mi-su]:What's in the name? In translation, tiramisu means "pick me up," or "lift me up". It is also the cupcake that started the YummyCups craze. As a former co-founder of YummyCups, I found it only "fitting" to name my new adventure after the cupcake (tiramisu).

I also like that they put a cupcake on the side of a cake!

Awww...the I Love U Valentine's Day chocolate cupcake from Retro Bakery

Sweet in every way! This Valentine's Day chocolate cupcake with vanilla fluff dipped in chocolate fudge will be available February 12-14 only at Retro Bakery in Las Vegas, who we love. Normally the grammar stickler in me would want this to say "I love you" but I will let it slide since I know that might not fit in the pretty script across the cupcake. I have a vacation to plan to Vegas soon (I somehow agreed to a "great deal" by phone and wound up with a two-night hotel credit) so I am looking forward to having more of their delicious cupcakes. Visit retrobakerylv.com for more information. Via Flickr.