Blast from the Past: The Cupcakery in Las Vegas

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

Long before the Cupcake Crusaders had this blog, we had dreams about what it might become. A place to share our love, stories, thoughts, and photos of cupcakes. Almost a year before our blog began, in August of 2010, my husband and I went to Las Vegas as a last hoorah before taking the plunge into parenthood. Prior to leaving, I did plenty of research to find cupcakes while on vacation. After finding out that the hotel-casino we were staying in had a cupcakery IN it, I knew I didn’t need to worry about going through cupcake withdrawal.

(Dan and I stayed at the Monte Carlo, where The Cupcakery has one of its locations.)

The Cupcakery has three locations in Las Vegas, The Monte Carlo being one of the long standing ones. As luck would have it, we were staying at the Monte Carlo, so before hitting the slots, “The Strip,” and the drinks, I HAD to scope out the cupcakes.

Kir Royale

It was so hard to select just a few flavors. I didn’t want to get too many, knowing we’d only be in Vegas for a few days and that I’d hopefully be collecting more cupcakes on our explorations. There was one that I did have my mind set on prior to arriving and that was the Kir Royale, a raspberry cake with champagne frosting. Dusted in glitter, this cupcake was made to stand out. They had a couple remaining in their display when we showed up, but my built up excitement was replaced with disappointment after tasting the overly sweet cupcake that was lacking in any hint of bubbly.

Grasshopper

At the time Dan was still my little cupcaker in training so I helped him select flavors I thought he would like. The Grasshopper was a chocolate cake with mint chocolate frosting. Just like the Kir Royale, we remember it being too sweet for our liking, which was surprising with a cupcake that has a dark ganache frosting. According to The Cupcakery’s website this is one of the original flavors and, “has gotten better by the year.” So it would be worth a second tasting to see if they are right.

Mound of Joy

We saved the Mound of Joy and Boston Dream cupcakes for breakfast the next day. This cupcake did not skimp on toppings, with a coconut cake, chocolate buttercream frosting, and rolled in shaved almonds and coconut. Luckily it wasn’t as sweet as the cupcakes we indulged in the night before and I remember really liking it.

Boston Dream

Clearly I haven’t changed much in three years, because if I see a Boston Cream (or Boston Dream, to The Cupcakery) I have to get it. And it’s perfect for breakfast! Just like the Mound of Joy, this cupcake was not overly sweet. It is your standard Boston Cream concoction, with vanilla cake, Bavarian creme filling, and dipped in smooth chocolate ganache. Very tasty.

My husband and I had a lot of fun in Vegas, playing penny and nickel slots (we love the video slot machines), walking around, taking in the lights and sights, window shopping, and helping ourselves to a few cocktails. Cupcakes just made the trip that much sweeter (for me anyway). Although it’s been a few years, according to The Cupcakery’s website these cupcakes are still available (and even look the same) and they are still located in the Monte Carlo. When I get back to Vegas, I wouldn’t hesitate in trying them again since it’s been so long. Although they weren’t my favorite in Sin City, the location is very convenient. The Cupcakery was the first cupcake place we found on this trip but there were others, so look out for more to come!

(In addition to The Cupcakery, The Monte Carlo also has an ICE BAR. Minus 5 may have been a little pricey, but totally worth the experience!)

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Caroline’s Cakes Cupcakes Fly High

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

Crusader Stacy recently posted about a day of cupcakes in Orlando, FL with our good friend Marina, who is expecting a baby boy this June. Although I wasn’t able to join them on this fun expedition, I received the honor of designing the invitation and corresponding party pieces for Marina’s Maryland baby shower. Since the father-to-be, Tim, is a U.S. Marine and works in the airplane field (I’d mess up his title, so I won’t even try) the selected baby shower theme was “Taking Flight.” With this theme in mind, I designed the invitation with a cute airplane and incorporated some fun patterns that were used on signs, party favors, and the (very important) cupcake toppers.

As the cupcake experts in our circle, the grandma-to-be (affectionately referred to as “Mom Cook”) was hosting the shower and contacted Stacy and I for a recommendation. Although we hadn’t tried Caroline’s Cupcakes in Annapolis, MD, we suggested that she grab a cupcake from them as a sample. Caroline’s Cupcakes is super close to where the party was (also the same place as our favorite high school hang-out house), making it very convenient. Mom Cook tried their cupcakes and decide that they would be best.

She opted for a single flavor, carrot cake. The party was during brunch time, so it was a great selection. Caroline’s baked the cupcakes in white wrappers and kept the tops unadorned, allowing us to dress them up ourselves.

The cupcakes from Caroline’s were very good. There was a home-baked, comforting quality about them. The cake was super moist and spiced just right. The cream cheese frosting was a perfect balance of sweet and savory, which was great for my first cupcake of the day, and was a nice complement to the full party spread. Caroline’s also specializes in layered cakes and they are no stranger to special orders for every occasion. Even though I’ve only tried one cupcake (so far) I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them again.

The party was a lot of fun. I enjoyed spending time with people that I don’t see often enough and being the crazy friend that talked Marina’s baby bump (she’s seriously the cutest pregnant chic ever).

Having my little girl has given me a greater appreciation for what new parents go through and I am so excited for my friends to be entering this next chapter in their lives. Sure there are challenges and it isn’t always easy, but their baby is entering a family that has hoped and prayed for his arrival. Marina and Tim will be amazing parents and all of us will shower their baby boy with so much love…this party was only the beginning! Congratulations Marina and Tim. We can’t wait to meet your little man!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

A Baker with a Heart in PA

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Crusader Elisa

Everyone knows the story of the Tin Man and his yearning to “only have a heart.” Luckily for him, the Wonderful Wizard had everything under control in the land of Oz. While Evans City is in Pennsylvania and not Oz, it seems the Tin Man has landed there and has his heart set on baking.

Tin Man Sweets is an adorable bakery in that little town, just north of Pittsburgh. Named the number 2 cupcake in Pittsburgh, I knew they deserved a visit. My Nona’s 81st birthday in March was the perfect excuse to head up that way to hang out and eat cupcakes. The shop is full of baked goods; pies, muffins, donuts, bread, even gluten free options, but I only went home with 3 cupcakes to taste.

Vanilla Vanilla

Standard flavors aren’t always my thing as I prefer more exciting combinations, but this cupcake was a vanilla masterpiece. The perfectly moist cake and smooth frosting were both bursting with vanilla flavor. My only issue with this cupcake was that it was gone in too few bites.

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

All three of the Crusaders like flavor combinations with peanut butter, and this cupcake wouldn’t disappoint any of us. Chocolate cake, so often, seems to be dryer and too sweet. Not the case with this cupcake, it was simply sweet enough, moist, and very rich. The peanut butter frosting was smooth and creamy with a punch of peanut flavor.

Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Wow was I glad that I saved this cupcake to eat last. The banana cake was light and moist, unlike most which are dense and muffiny, and had true ripe banana flavor. Paired with the same smooth peanut butter frosting, the flavor combination is one of my new favorites! I liked this cupcake so much that I might have to try and make my own version of this cupcake for my next baking experiment!

(My Tin Man “trio,” with my favorite in front!)

With a heart of gold, this bakery was worth the trip out to Evans City. Moist cake, smooth frostings, and great flavor combinations made Tin Man Sweets cupcakes the perfect dessert for a visit with Nona. The next time I make the trip up that way I plan on stopping in and trying some of Tin Man’s other sweet offerings, as well as bringing back some cupcakes for Crusaders Jenn and Stacy to try!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Elisa (Baltimore, MD)

Ooh La La Cupcakery’s New Storefront is so Trés Chic

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Stacy

With a wall-mounted flat screen tv, a couple of high top tables with chairs, and bold black, white, and pink decor, Ooh La La Cupcakery‘s new location is certainly a big step up from their previous location in Inner Harbor (although, while that location wasn’t a full walk-in shop, they did a great job glamming it up as best they could).

Their new shop on 1216 North Charles Street opened at the beginning of February, less than a block away from where my weekly grad-school class meets. Even though it’s been over two months since their opening, I wasn’t able to stop in until this past weekend. Working full time, going to school, and keeping up with this blog have put a serious limit on any free time I used to have. Thinking back, it’s been about two months since I’ve actually gone cupcaking in a full service cupcake shop (I’m not counting stops at cupcake trucks, fundraising events, etc. Of course there have been cupcakes, just no new visits to actual cupcake shops).

There is something wonderful about stepping into a room filled with beautiful cupcake displays. I love the process of reading the names, asking questions, and narrowing the options down to my final selections. Obviously I like eating cupcakes, but I also really love the entire experience. However, if the service isn’t good, it can ruin that experience. On my first visit to Ooh La La in the Inner Harbor, I was helped by a young man who seemed less than eager, but this time, that same gentleman was AWESOME. He greeted me an enthusiastic “hello” and a warm smile before going over the flavors. I guess everyone has off days, and I was glad to see his happy side.

On that day Ooh La La had many refreshing warm-weather flavors and tasty looking classics available, so it wasn’t an easy choice to make. I saw the Birthday Cake cupcake and knew right away that it was going home with me (I can’t say no to anything with sprinkles). Then I decided on the Pistachio, Key Lime, and Lemon cupcakes as my remaining three.

At first, I was a little disappointed that my cupcakes weren’t placed in a cupcake box (I’m always worried they will be smooshed and destroyed before I can take pictures), but the cupcakes were arranged neatly in their containers and carefully placed in a white bag with a pretty pink ribbon. They even included pink napkins and an information card on Ooh La La. And luckily their cupcakes are pretty sturdy and held up nicely on the ride home.

Pistachio Cupcake

For some reason pistachio flavored food intrigues me, but I think I’ve decided that it’s just not a flavor I enjoy. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Ooh La La’s Pistachio cupcake. The cake was moist, the pistachio flavor was present throughout the cupcake, but I didn’t dig it as much as the others. But, if you love pistachios, then you should definitely try this cupcake.

Key Lime

The cake on this cupcake was moist and had a nice key lime flavor, but the best part was the frosting. It was perfectly tangy and sweet. I REALLY wish this cupcake had a filling. It might actually be the first Key Lime cupcake I’ve tried that didn’t, and I think that it helps make the cupcake reminiscent of a Key Lime pie. Still, it was a tasty cupcake.

Lemon

This cupcake was so good and exactly what I look for in a Lemon cupcake. Similar to the Key Lime cupcake, it was the perfect blend of tangy and sweet. This was easily my favorite of the four. There is really not much else to say other than: YUM.

Birthday Cake

Sprinkles! As I mention above, the second I saw how jam-packed this cupcake was with sprinkles, I knew it was going to be all mine. Funfetti is one of my favorites, and this cupcake was like Funfetti taken to the next level. It even tasted almost like a spoonful of sprinkles! Which is a good thing—at least in my book. This cupcake was sweet, fun, and totally put a smile on my face.

Other than the fabulous new location and storefront, I really enjoyed how the cake AND frosting were flavored in all the cupcakes I purchased. More often than not, cupcake shops will use a basic yellow or chocolate cake as a base and then just flavor the frosting to create a variety, but not Ooh La La. They also offer chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate dipped pretzels, candy covered apples, and ice cream.

Their website is currently under construction, but they have been very active on their Facebook page, where you can follow them to stay updated on new flavors and specials.

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Stacy (Baltimore, MD)

Baking Adventure: Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

CookieMonster_Cupcake1
(Cookie Monster Cupcakes by the Cupcake Crusaders. Photo by Kenneth Adam Photography.)

We Crusaders adore our nieces. We’d do anything for them and for our big sister. So when she asked if we could help throw her daughter Lily a Cookie Monster themed 2nd birthday and make, “those Cookie Monster cupcakes,” we said, “Easy-peasy!” And guess what? They ARE easy!

(Some of the party details: Balloons, bags with custom labels, and of course Cookie Monster. Photo on the right by Kenneth Adam Photography.)

You’ve probably seen Cookie Monster cupcakes on the internet. There are different ways to go about doing it, but the one I followed more closely was from Bird On A Cake, with just a few adjustments.

I started with boxed cake mix for the cupcakes and baked chocolate chip cookies, using Pillsbury dough. Then I cut slits in the cake, as Bird On A Cake suggested. Bird On A Cake used Famous Amos mini cookies, but I planned to break my larger cookies in half. While I was cutting out slits I thought, “Wait, why am I doing this? I’m not inserting a mini cookie.” But then figured it would still keep the cookie half in place, since there isn’t a lot of frosting when using the “grass” piping tip.

(I made my cuts larger for the bigger cookies and really pressed the cookies into place so that they would stay put.)

For the frosting I used the same recipe from our Cadbury Creme Egg cupcakes, with only vanilla extract. To get the blue I wanted, I purchased Wilton’s Royal Blue gel dye, adding a little at a time until I had the desired color. After piping the frosting I added the Wilton White Candy Melts for the eyes, and then used Wilton’s Ready-to-Use black frosting and a fine point decorating tip to pipe black dots. Once that was all done, I pressed the chocolate chip cookie half into the slit for the final, finished look.

(Photo by Kenneth Adam Photography.)

I also whipped up some cupcakes with homemade chocolate frosting. This was a first for me, and for some reason I’ve been afraid of making chocolate frosting. I don’t know why and it proved to be just as easy as vanilla buttercream! I used a recipe from The Food Network, with modifications (I’m beginning to think I can’t do anything straight forward). I used Hershey’s Dark Chocolate cocoa powder, doubling the amount called for, added in an extra stick of butter, and 1 additional cup of confectioner’s sugar.

(Cupcakes topped with Cookie Crisp cereal. Photo by Kenneth Adam Photography.)

The end result for the frosting was stiffer than I expected, but the frosting still remained smooth. It was dark, rich, not too sweet, and turned out to be even more popular than the cute Cookie Monster Cupcakes!

(All the cupcakes arranged together created just the right amount of color and cookies. Photo by Kenneth Adam Photography.)

The party was a huge hit and the theme was pulled off effortlessly. I was glad to help from the start, designing the invitation, to the end, hosting the party at my house and making the cupcakes.

(Invitation designed by myself.)

The weather was amazing and everyone had a great time. It even seemed like guests didn’t want to leave! I also got to make cookie pops, which I’ve been wanting to do for a while now!

(Photo on the left by Kenneth Adam Photography.)

Although I may have been exhausted by the end of the day, the party also made me look forward to Leah’s 2nd birthday coming up in just a few months. I hope I can bring together the color scheme, cupcakes, and other treats as well as we did for my niece’s party!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Fenwick Bakery: A True Baltimore Bakery

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Stacy

Opening Day at Camden Yards is not an event to be taken lightly in Baltimore City. If you happen to be stuck at work (like me), don’t expect emails in your inbox or the phone to ring, it just won’t happen—or at least not often.

This past Friday was Opening Day and even the local bakeries get into the spirit. Fenwick Bakery never misses a chance to celebrate our city’s sporting events, so on Friday they converted their Fedora (a cupcake baked without a liner, flipped upside down, and then covered in a chocolate shell whose shape mimics its namesake) into an Orioles’ Rally Cap:

FenwickBakery1
(Photo from Fenwick Bakery’s Facebook Page. No harm or infringement intended.)

Fenwick Bakery is a true Baltimore bakery, even if it isn’t located within city limits. According to them, their “love story” began when the two original owners married in 1913 and opened a bakery shortly after (originally named Uebersax Bakery). A century later, it has only had three different owners and still uses original recipes.

When you first walk in, you are immediately struck by the smell of fresh doughnuts. If that’s not enough to put a smile on your face, the two displays filled with baked goods that make up most of their small storefront surely will. But don’t expect any fancy decor or over the top greetings. Fenwick Bakery is a no-frills bakery that only promises to produce fresh, tasty treats. The women behind the counter won’t greet you with an over-the-top smile and perky “hello,” but they will ask you what they can get for you and put your order together quickly. If you are lucky, you might even get called “hon” or “babe.”

Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to pick up their recent Orioles’ Rally Cap Fedoras, but it did remind us that we have been bad bloggers and haven’t shared ANY of the treats we’ve enjoyed from Fenwick Bakery, including the Fedora.

(Their classic Fedora and a Black Bottom cupcake we tried on our first visit)

When we tried the Fedora it had the perfect, rich, moist chocolate cake. The Black Bottom cupcake was the same, and might have been the best Black Bottom I’ve ever eaten.

On our first visit they didn’t have any regular cupcakes, but it wasn’t long after that I decided I NEEDED to try their doughnuts. While there, I saw they had made special Ravens cupcakes for the playoff games (yes that was about 3 months ago…did I mention I’ve been a bad blogger?).

Words can’t describe how unbelievably amazing their doughnuts are. They don’t have a ton of flashy flavors like Dunkin Donuts or Fractured Prune, but they are melt in your mouth amazing.

After having a great experience with the Fedora, Black Bottoms, and doughnuts, I had high expectations for their cupcakes. Unfortunately, they didn’t live up to my hopes. The cake was dry and the frosting tasted different than that of the oh-so-wonderful frosting on their doughnuts. I was bummed.

I don’t think I’d get their cupcakes again (never say “never” though, right?), but this down-to-earth bakery still has a lot to offer. And there is no way I can stay away from those crazy-good doughnuts for very long.

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Stacy (Baltimore, MD)

Elisa’s “From Scratch” Baking Experiment: Boozy Blue Hawaii Cupcakes

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Crusader Elisa

It’s April, but feels more like February. Urgh. I am very ready for warmer weather, which must be why, when thinking about cupcakes to make for my next experiment, my mind wandered directly to tropical flavors. Coincidentally, I happen to have the Booze Cakes cookbook (which I have been eager to use) and found the perfect recipe to quench my tropical thirst: Blue Hawaii Pineapple Upside-down Cupcakes.

I know… it’s not my own flavor combination, nor is it filled, but it was all I could think about making once I saw it. It was a complicated recipe, that included several challenges: homemade rum sauce and boozy whipped cream, dying and layering batter, and toasting coconut – all from scratch. After gathering all the ingredients, including a bottle of Blue Curaçao, I was ready to bake. I only hoped my cupcakes turned out as beautiful as the photo in the book.

First things first, the Rum Pineapple topping. Butter, brown sugar, and rum makes the sauce, and I was so excited to use the Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum I brought back from a trip. (Side note: If you go to Jamaica, buy a large bottle of this rum, it is totally worth it.) The sauce gets spooned onto the pineapple rounds at the bottom of the cupcake pan. No liners for this baking experiment, the top was really going to be the bottom for this cupcake.

Once the sauce and pineapple rounds were in place I moved on to making the batter. Having never dyed batter before, it was interesting dividing it out and adding the food coloring. It felt and looked more like I was mixing paint than making cake batter. Very fun! And I had no idea you had to cool the first layer before you add the second layer. (I’m now looking forward to the challenge of making more color layered cake recipes.)

The cake didn’t bake up the way that normal cupcakes do, instead it stayed very flat. But it looked that way in the pictures, so I tried not to worry too much and moved on to make the “spike whipped cream,” which was possibly the easiest and BEST recipe for really fantastic boozy whipped cream:
• 3 cups (1 pint) heavy cream, cold
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons liquor, wine or liqueur
• food coloring (if desired)

The Appleton Estate Rum made another appearance, and I couldn’t believe how much rum flavor came through in the whipped cream. Assemble and voila!

(Almost as pretty as the picture in the book!)

I managed to create my own little teleportation device in the form of a cupcake… all together the flavors whisked me away to a tropical beach! I literally closed my eyes and imagined laying on a beach while drinking a pineapple and rum cocktail. The cake turned out a bit on the dense side, but it was so moist and flavorful that it didn’t matter. Boozy for sure: you could definitely taste the rum and the blue curaçao in the cake, as well as the rum in the whipped cream. On a cold too-much-like-winter day in April, a little bit of the tropics is just what this Crusader ordered!

Moogie & Pap also made these cupcakes. To read about their results and to get the full recipe, click here.

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Elisa (Baltimore, MD)

From Baking Memories to Cupcakes for Gayle King: Q&A with Michelle Kupiec, Owner of Kupcakes & Co.

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

If you follow us, you already know that Kupcakes & Co. (Elkridge, MD) is one of our favorite cupcake spots. Not only do they produce a consistently delicious cupcake, the employees are friendly and helpful, the selection is beyond amazing, they are always looking for ways to expand their offerings and improve, and they take every opportunity to give back to the community.

(New cupcake flavors: French Toast in the back and Black Cherry in the front.)

Our first visit was back in the winter of 2011, during their Cupcakes with Santa event, and it was love at first sight. During our frequent visits since then, we’ve gotten to know the “family” including Michelle, whose hands on approach, kindness, and enthusiasm is no doubt one of the reasons that we are always greeted with a smile from the Kupcakes’ team.

We wanted to get to know Michelle a little better, so she agreed to answer some of our questions. We hope you enjoy getting to know her and Kupcakes & Co. better too!

You are very involved in organizing fundraising events throughout the year. What are some the organizations you support and why do you think it is important give back to the community?
We support the Blossoms of Hope Foundation of Howard County. This is a foundation that helps women who are struggling and coping with breast cancer. We have created a special, Blossoms of Hope cupcake that we give back 50% of the sales to during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. We also help out at their Pretty in Pink event in April as well. Another foundation we support is Team Fight, The Ulman Cancer fund for young adults. We have created a Team Fight cupcake that we bake for them for their Blue Jeans Ball and give back a portion of the proceeds to that as well. We also have a huge fundraiser called Kupcakes with Santa when we donate 100% of the profits back to the Howard County General Hospital, where one of my twin daughters spent 5 years. Our weekly donations of cupcakes go to the Route 1 Homeless Shelter, The Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center and the Love Mission of Howard County. These people would never have the opportunity to try our cupcakes, so it feels wonderful being able to give them some of our sweet treats each and every week! We feel it is so important to give back to our community and help those in need. There is always going to be a time in our lives that we need the support from others and at Kupcakes & Co. giving back is a huge part of what we are all about.

On your website, you talk about baking with your mother while growing up. What is one of your favorite baking memories with her?
My mom is my inspiration, my hero, my best friend! She and I always had so much fun baking in the kitchen together.

My most memorable experiences with her are baking our famous pound cake. It was super delicious, from scratch and we always had fun, laughing and carrying on in the kitchen! We used to say that no matter what, if we were in the kitchen together, we could get through anything! She also used to let me experiment with ingredients all of the time and never minded if some of my creations turned out a little crazy! She was super supportive of me then and continues to be everyday!

You also mention that you began baking with your daughters from an early age. What were some of the first things you taught them in the kitchen, and can you offer any tips for other parents who’d like to start baking with their children?
Allie and Amanda always loved being in the kitchen baking with me! We baked Christmas cookies together from scratch and I used the same recipes that my mom passed down to me. Sugar cookies were their favorites because they could be so creative and make such a mess. They would spend hours making and rolling out the dough, then cutting out the cookies and finally decorating their masterpieces. We also loved to bake sweet treats for all of their teachers – it was such a tradition that the teachers could not wait for their gift from Allie and Amanda each holiday because they knew they were going to be baked with love! The tips I would recommend would be to have PATIENCE, allow for lots of creativity, don’t mind the mess and by all means…have FUN

(Wedding cake and cupcakes. Photo courtesy of Kupcakes & Co.)

What is your favorite tool in the kitchen?
My favorite tool is my cupcake scoop. The reason is that we have tried hundreds and hundreds of cupcake recipes and my scoop is just a daily reminder of how far we have come! Each time we try out a new recipe, the same excitement is there for me: How will it turn out? How can I make it better? How will everyone like it?

You recently began expanding the line of baked goods you offer at Kupcakes & Co. Besides cupcakes, what is your next best seller?
Our gourmet cookies are huge sellers at Kupcakes & Co. My daughter, Amanda, who attends the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) shared with us one of their secret CIA recipes for Sweet & Salty cookies and we can’t bake then fast enough. Also, our Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies are great sellers as well – that recipe was given to me from my very best friend, who lives in Maine. It has been in her family for years! Biscotti, coffee cake and scones are also yummy treats we sell. I also have to mention that we are selling so many cakes now. We have such talented bakers/pastry chefs at Kupcakes & Co. and we are getting more and more calls everyday for cakes. We average about 8 cakes a weekend – some very simple and some very elaborate!

(Fun and beautiful decorated cakes. Photos courtesy of Kupcakes & Co.)

Do you have any other goodies you are working on that you can give us a sneak peek of?
We are coming up with seasonal goodies all of the time. We just introduced our spring Lemon Wedding cookies and our cupcake clients seem to love them. Also, for Easter we made sugar cookie sandwiches, shaped liked bunnies and filled with ganache. We just had a client ask us to make cannoli for her wedding this summer, and we said, “No problem!” We are really expanding our sweet indulgences and are proud of the feedback we get from our customers.

With so many wonderful flavors already, how did you come up with the idea to offer an additional boutique line of cupcakes?
We have almost 70 signature cupcake flavors that we are very proud of. Our customers have been asking for filled cupcakes for a while now. We really worked very hard on this concept and decided that a Boutique line of filled cupcakes would be a perfect complement to our signature line. Since we use only the finest ingredients, we knew they had to have the WOW factor and we could not be more thrilled by the comments and feedback we get from our customers! We try and surprise our clients right before our newest 3 flavors come out and have them guessing the flavors. Our newest 3 Boutique cupcakes debuted last Friday and Saturday, right before Easter and the theme is PIES! Oh yes, they are going to knock everyone’s socks off! We are super thrilled about this.

(Current line-up of Boutique Cupcakes including Coconut Cream on the left, Key Lime on the top right, and Boston Cream on the bottom right. Photos courtesy of Kupcakes & Co.)

We have to ask…what is YOUR favorite cupcake flavor?
Well, I have a few for sure… but my most favorite vanilla based cupcake is our Keylime. I love the tangy and fresh key lime buttercream and I have such fond memories creating it with my dear Amanda! My most favorite, chocolate based cupcake is Salted Caramel. The sweet & salty taste complement one another so well and I love the richness of the chocolate cake! My most favorite Boutique flavor is definitely, Brownie Batter – one taste and you will know why! The gooey brownie center and brownie buttercream is pure bliss!

(The retired previous line-up of Boutique Cupcakes, including Michelle’s favorite: Brownie Batter in the front.)

Lastly, you’ve had a lot of neat things happening at Kupcakes & Co. Can you share with us some of your favorite or most exciting orders?
Some of our favorite orders include all of the baby reveal cupcakes and cakes we do! The parents to be come in so super excited to give us a sealed envelope with their sonogram in it and we wait until they leave, then open it and scream…BOY or GIRL! We then stuff their cupcakes with either blue or pink buttercream and we are also so thrilled to be a smart part in all of this excitement.

We have had two very thrilling deliveries in the past two weeks. One was to NYC for a Premiere Party for Andrew Jenks, an amazing young filmmaker who produces and is on his show, “World of Jenks.” He showcases the lives of teens struggling with something and gets real with them on each episode he does. He also just wrote a book on his amazing life and it was his birthday as well. He ordered our cupcakes to help celebrate at his party and we were thrilled to be part of it all! We made custom cupcakes for him in his favorite colors (ORANGE AND BLUE FOR THE NEW YORK KNICKS!) with his favorite NYC sayings!

Last weekend we did another delivery to NYC, this time a special secret delivery to Gayle King, Oprah’s bff. Her assistant editor of O magazine is the daughter of the doctor that delivered my twin daughters, Allison and Amanda! Dr. Davis came to Kupcakes & Co. and asked if we would deliver cupcakes to Gayle, thanking her for all that she does for his daughter, Arianna. We of course said, “SURE!”

(Photos taken by Kupcakes & Co. during their most recent delivery to Gayle King in NYC. Photos courtesy of Kupcakes & Co.)

We got to meet with Arianna and she was very interested in “our story” and how much paying it forward we do. She texted me later to say that Gayle LOVED all of the cupcakes (we brought her 4 dozen to share with her staff) and her favorite was the Pancakes & Bacon! She also mentioned that she would definitely like to keep us in mind for stories that may fit into one of O’s magazine articles one day on Women in Business!

We want to thank Michelle for taking the time to answer our questions. We always love seeing a business who genuinely cares about the community and their customers grow and succeed. If you stop in, please tell them the Crusaders say hi!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

A Baking Adventure: Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

I don’t think I need to explain the awesomeness of Cadbury Creme Eggs, right? There’s something about them that causes excitement for their return every spring. So it seems only natural for the cupcake-lover in us to desire a merge between these wonderful morsels and cupcakes.

Because of this desire, there are A LOT of Cadbury Creme Egg cupcake recipes on the internet, but when I saw one from Pizzazzerie (one of my favorite blogs) it really stood out to me. I shared it with Guest Crusader Jen because teal is her favorite color and she loves Cadbury Creme Eggs more than anyone I know. She was visiting me the following weekend and quickly requested that we make them while she was here. So we did!

After looking at Pizzazzerie’s recipe, Jen and I decided to make a few modifications. While I would have loved follow the chocolate cake (from scratch) recipe, we decided to use a boxed mix, adding in a pack of pudding for extra moisture. It turns out that this was a really smart choice because I managed to forget the eggs in our batter! Thirty seconds after placing the cupcakes in the oven, we had to pull them out, fish out the chocolates, dump the batter back into the bowl, just to mix in eggs and start all over again. Can you imagine how much I would have messed up a scratch recipe? It was not my night to bake!

Another small change we made was using mini Cadbury Creme Eggs instead of the full-size ones. The full-size chocolate eggs would have been better in the end, but it would definitely be more costly. The mini eggs sunk to the bottom and melted more than it seems the full-size do. One tip a friend gave me is to freeze the candy first and then it doesn’t melt as much during the baking process.

I did make my own frosting, using Pizzazzerie’s recipe. Instead of almond extract I substituted pure orange extract, since Jen isn’t keen on almond flavor. I like almond, so I’m sure that would be an amazing complement to the Cadbury Creme Eggs, however the orange gave the frosting a hint of citrus flavor that went perfectly with the chocolate. I’ve only ever used fresh oranges for flavor, so I was concerned about overpowering the cupcake with citrus. For that reason, I only used 1/2 a tablespoon of extract. In the end, Pizzazzerie’s recipe yielded the perfect consistency for piping frosting (and also had a great flavor before adding the extract). It will now be my go-to buttercream recipe.

Jen and I of course kept the teal color, since that was one of the elements that originally attracted us (and it matched the Easter cupcake liners perfectly). The piped frosting created a “nest-like” look around the chocolate egg, which I loved. Once done, I couldn’t help but think that these might be the prettiest cupcakes I’ve ever made! Well…maybe the teacup cupcakes were a close contender…

We hope you are able to indulge in some fun cupcakes this weekend. Have a Happy Easter!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Groovy Girl Cupcakes

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Stacy

We love getting tips and cupcake sightings from our family, friends, and readers. Without their recommendations, we’d miss out on so many opportunities to try new cupcakes. A recent “tip-off” lead us to Groovy Girl Cupcakes, a trailer fully equipped with a commercial kitchen, located in Cockeysville, MD.

We don’t typically find ourselves in that area very often, but we each recently completed an eight week beginners’ calligraphy course with CCBC. So, every Thursday after work I would head up York Road for our evening class. I’m not sure how I missed the cupcake trailer, maybe because it’s parked by a gas station and I’ve never thought to glance in that direction?

After talking with Crusaders Jenn and Elisa, I decided to get just two flavors (Elisa wasn’t joining us for class that evening). They had about 8 flavors to choose from and it was really hard to just pick two, but I settled on the Butter Pecan (that was an easy selection) and the S’mores (came highly recommended).

Jenn and I decided that it probably wasn’t the best idea to eat cupcakes in the middle of our calligraphy class (things can get messy with pens, ink, and paper strewn all over our desks), so before going our separate ways, there was a solid debate on who would take which cupcake. Normally, we would just cut them in half, but we hadn’t taken any pictures and didn’t have a knife. In the end, since I bought the cupcakes, I won with my choice of the Butter Pecan.

(Like my fun little graphic? Learning the basics to calligraphy was so much fun! The three of us have decided to join the local guild and continue learning new techniques and experimenting with different pens, inks, and paper. We are addicted.)

Butter Pecan isn’t a flavor that I come across often, so I was really hoping this would be a great cupcake. Plus, the service at the cupcake trailer was wonderful and you could tell that the baker invests a lot of love into her treats. Giving a bad review with such good service is never fun. I wish I could say that this cupcake was amazing, but really, it was just good. Not bad, but just okay. The overall flavor of the cupcake was a nice blend of sweet and buttery with really strong pecan flavor (they do get extra points for this, I love pecans!), however the cake was a little dry.

Jenn had similar thoughts on the S’mores cupcake. She told me that the chocolate cake had a graham cracker baked into the bottom and it was filled with a light marshmallow filling, “that was wonderful.” But like mine, the cake was a little dry around the outer edges, however she thought that the combined flavors were really good.

I wish I had taken a picture of the cupcake trailer, but it was dark and I was on a time crunch. If you get a chance, if for no other reason than to see their adorable trailer and experience their great customer service, you should definitely stop by and try a cupcake or two for yourself.

- Review by Cupcake Crusader, Stacy (Baltimore, MD)

Cupcake Crusaders

We won't rest, until we've tried them all.

Category Archives: Cupcakes

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From Baking Memories to Cupcakes for Gayle King: Q&A with Michelle Kupiec, Owner of Kupcakes & Co.

A Baking Adventure: Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes

Groovy Girl Cupcakes

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