Yappy Hour with Cupcakes

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Stacy

MAS Rescue (Maryland Animal Sanctuary Rescue) is a volunteer and foster-based animal rescue that is very special to me because my husband, Ken, and I adopted our wonderful puppy (now almost two years old) from them. We can’t thank them enough for caring so much about her before she found her forever home with us. On the first Tuesday of every month they host an event called “Yappy Hour” where people can meet some of the dogs looking for new homes and purchase wine and/or beer to support MAS Rescue (a dollar of each sale goes directly to the rescue). Last week, in addition to beer and wine, they were selling Guinness and Baileys cupcakes donated by Honey Bee Delights.

This flavor was very appropriate since St. Patty’s Day is right around the corner. Once I heard that this month’s Yappy Hour would have cupcakes, I knew I would be stopping by after work to try one and support my favorite rescue. The cupcake was made with a Guinness chocolate cake base, Baileys Irish Cream frosting, and topped with green sugar sprinkles. They were being sold for $2 each and a hundred percent of every sale was going towards the rescue.

If I’m being honest, this wasn’t my favorite Guinness and Baileys cupcake, but the standards have been set pretty high. The cake had a nice stout flavor and was light and fluffy, but was a bit dry. The frosting seemed to have a cream cheese base and I was having trouble tasting any Irish cream in it.

Even though it wasn’t my favorite, I was happy to support MAS Rescue and try cupcakes from a new baker at the same time. I would definitely go to the next Yappy Hour for a drink and to buy more cupcakes from Honey Bee Delight, knowing that it’s going towards a great cause.

If you want to learn more about MAS Rescue and Yappy Hour, please visit their website or Facebook page.

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

Tweet’s Sweets Charity Event: Cancer Bites, We’ll Bite Harder

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Stacy

Tweet’s Sweets, an up and coming sweets baker in the DC area, was recently introduced to us via email from Baltimore Eats. The owner and head baker, Ros (AKA: Tweety), is passionate about raising awareness and eradicating cancer, so she is using her business to make a difference.

Her most recent event, Cancer Bites: We’ll Bite Harder, located in Washington DC on October 19th, 2012, will raise money to allow patients to seek holistic treatment, pay for medicine, and anything else that often comes up when a person is fighting cancer.

Tweety graciously agreed to answer some questions about herself, baking, and her commitment to ending cancer, for us to share with our readers:

Do you mind sharing with us how you got the nickname “Tweety?”
I was given this nickname my first week at Howard University because my suite mates couldn’t remember what my name was and my entire dorm room was covered with Michael Jordan and Tweety stuff. So they decided they were going to call me Mikey or Tweety and I wasn’t going to answer to Mikey. ; )

What is your favorite cupcake to eat and what is your favorite cupcake to bake?
My favorite cupcake to bake is probably the Suga Mama (Sweet Potato) cupcake because it gives off the yummiest smells when it is baking….smells just like my Nan’s kitchen when she used to bake her sweet potato pies. My favorite cupcake to eat is tied between Tweet’s Heart (Chocolate on Chocolate) and MSC (pineapple upside right cake) because I love love love love – did I say love? – me some milk chocolate and (as quiet as it is kept), my favorite dessert is pineapple upside down cake.

Can you tell us a little bit about why you are so dedicated to eradicating cancer and helping those who are fighting it?
Cancer has come for some people that have helped shaped my life: my grandfather, my favorite uncle, some of my cousins and aunts and now it’s coming for one of my best friends. I hate cancer because it’s one of those diseases that you really can’t protect against. It doesn’t discriminate. It affects the young, the old, the rich the poor, black, white, healthy eaters, and non-healthy eaters. Many lose their battle with cancer because they can’t afford to fight or because they don’t know how to fight. I want to change this….I have to change this.

We saw there will be live music and cupcakes at your event, Cancer Bites, We’ll Bite Harder. Can you give us a sneak peek of what cupcake flavors attendees will be indulging in that evening?
Lol, I can tell you that the Licia’s Puddin and the Suga Mama will definitely be on site but as far as which other yummy goodness I am going to whip up, readers will have to come out and see and taste for themselves.

Do you have any advice to those hoping to raise money or organize an event for cancer awareness and research?
I will tell them to follow their heart and to never give up even when it appears like the event isn’t taking shape because organizing a fundraiser is a lot of hard work but the end result is so humbling and so worth it. The fact that folks are even talking about my event that I haven’t even met already makes my event a success in my book.

Do you hope to one day own a storefront or would you like to keep your focus on baking and hosting charitable events? Or do you see yourself one day doing both?
I am going to open a non-profit that will ultimately host my charitable events but I will continue using my bakery to raise money and awareness for causes that are near and dear to my heart.

We want to thank Tweety for taking the time to answer our questions! Her goal is to raise $10,000 and we are hoping that we can all help make that happen! Here are the details for her event:

For more information on Tweet’s Sweets, visit their website or Facebook page. You can also watch a video about Tweet’s Sweets and this event from Washington Eats, here. To donate or purchase tickets, CLICK HERE. We hope you can make it out to Tweety’s event and support her cause!

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

Desserts for a Cause: La Casa de Sweets

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Stacy

You may recall that last month we helped raise money and awareness for Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale. Being a part of this great cause was rewarding in so many ways. We got to witness the kindness of people who made donations without anything in return, we saw countless smiling faces during our bake sale, and even better, we made new friends.

At the end of April, our team captain, Jackie from La Casa de Sweets, invited us to her dessert party filled with tons of amazing sweet treats. We got to know Jackie a little better, talked and laughed with her other guests, and even participated in a board game over lemon mascarpone cookie dip, poached pears, Nutella mouse, homemade ice cream, cupcakes (of course), and so much more! Her family and friends welcomed us like old friends, even though it was their first time meeting us cupcake crazy girls. All in all, it was a fantastic night!

While talking with Jackie she revealed that she was a bit nervous making cupcakes knowing that the Crusaders would be tasting them, but she pressed forward and baked Raspberry Chocolate and Dulce de Leche cupcakes to add to the spread. I couldn’t have been more eager to try these cupcakes after hearing (and seeing) the flavors. Chocolate Raspberry has always been a favorite flavor combination of mine, and Dulce de Leche is a flavor I had been wanted to try, but never had the opportunity.

(Raspberry Chocolate cupcake from La Casa de Sweets)

Often fruit flavored frosting can be overly sweet and artificial tasting, but this one was just sweet enough to complement the decadent chocolate cake.

(Dulce de Leche cupcake from La Casa de Sweets)

After trying at least a bite of all the other desserts (so glad I have partners in crime to share with!), we tried the Dulce de Leche cupcake. Once we had each had a bite, I quickly forgot how much I usually like to share and informed my “partners” that they are on their own if they wanted more of this cupcake. The rest was all mine. I slowly savored each buttery caramel-like bite and was even lucky enough to take one home (which is happily sitting in my freezer, waiting for the moment when its number is up.)

Not only is Jackie a master of anything sweet, but she is kind, humble, and hospitable. She is true to the charitable woman she portrays on her blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

If you would like to order cupcakes or other desserts from Jackie, please visit her website here. All orders will go to raise money and help prevent childhood hunger in America and around the world!

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

Snickers Cupcakes: As good as they sound!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Stacy

Luckily, after all the struggles I had making the cake pops for the Great American Bake Sale, the cupcakes I decided to make were a piece of cake. (Please excuse the cheesy pun, but they really were SO easy – and tasty!)

When each of us were planning the desserts we wanted make for the bake sale, I knew right away what I would bake. A while back my big sister, Alissa, emailed me a recipe for Snickers cupcakes from Parents.com saying, “These look super yummy!!!” Knowing that she would be attending the bake sale and that these would be a huge hit, it was an easy decision.

The ingredient list was simple. For the cake: 1 box of devil’s food cake mix, 1 box of instant chocolate pudding mix, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, water, vanilla extract, and 24 miniature Snickers. The frosting was even easier: a tub of buttercream frosting, caramel sauce, and sea salt. Obviously, this was the perfect recipe for me.

I did have a temporary freak out moment, when I realized that the box mix in the recipe was 18oz and mine was only 15oz, and that it called for a 3.9oz box of pudding mix and I only had a 1.9oz box. Even though I was excited to try a new modification to a box mix, I decided to scrap it this time and just add the pudding mix to the cake mix and follow the rest of the directions from the back of the box. I have done this minor modification before (see here), knew it would work, and didn’t want to take any chances. I did decide to add chocolate chips to the batter though, after learning that my mother-in-law does this with her chocolate cake (and it’s amazing!).

Once the batter was mixed, it was time to add in the Snickers. The recipe requested that they be frozen, but cutting frozen miniature Snickers bars is not an easy task. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Instead, I would suggest cutting the Snickers in advance and then putting the halves in the freezer.

After those two small inconveniences, I was ready to mix the frosting. With only 3 ingredients, there was no way I couldn’t mess this up.

Despite using frosting from a tub, this is probably one of the best I’ve ever made. Normally tub frosting is overly sweet, but the caramel flavor blended really nicely with the butteriness of the frosting and the addition of the sea salt created a nice balance.

Once the cupcakes were cooled, I was able to pipe the frosting, add a caramel drizzle, and top with crushed Snickers. Easy Peasy.

Don’t you wish you could dive into your monitor and eat one of these? I wish I could. I only had a chance to try part of one while baking to make sure the cake and frosting worked well together, but since they sold out at the bake sale, that small taste was all I got. I know for a fact that I’ll be baking these again! They are a cinch to make and too delicious not too!

Do you have a favorite recipe you love that is almost too easy? If so, let us know! We are always looking for new cupcakes to try!

– Posted by Cupcake Crusaders, Stacy (Baltimore, MD)

We are working to help end childhood hunger!
Together we can make a difference!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

A Baking Adventure: Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Crusader Jenn

I’ve never really participated in a bake sale before. I’m sure that’s hard to believe since I’m such a sweets lover. My participation is limited to purchasing bake sale items for my own enjoyment. I have no idea about what the “rules” are. But when we Crusaders decided to host our own bake sale to raise money for Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale, I thought, “How hard can it be?” Then I happened to watch the movie I Don’t Know How She Does It. Sarah Jessica Parker’s character has to take something to her daughter’s school bake sale and, for fear of looking like a failure to the highly domestic moms, she doctors up (or destroys, depending on how you look at it) a store bought pie, hoping to pass it off as homemade. This put fear in me. Do bake sale items HAVE to be homemade? And if so, what qualifies as homemade? Does it have to be from scratch? And what if it turns into a TOTAL disaster?!

Deciding that as a stay at home mom I should have the time to do a recipe from scratch, I searched the internet for the perfect bake sale cupcakes. Stacy would be doing chocolate, so I wanted to something that would be more of an opposite, but still fun and seasonal. With these thoughts in mind, I came up with Lemon Raspberry cupcakes with a raspberry filling and a lemon cream cheese frosting. The problem with being a new baker and at the mercy of the internet for recipes is that if you haven’t tried it, you don’t really know if it’s going to be good. So, when I found LemonCupcakes.net, claiming that the recipe on The Little Red House blog was the best, I decided to trust them. The recipe is for Lemon Coconut, but the cake is purely lemon.

Lemon Cupcakes:
As soon as I saw that the recipe included using more than one bowl, I panicked. Anything using more than one bowl for a cake is bound to be complicated and I only had 40 minutes, if I was lucky! My goal was to get the cake batter done and in the oven before my daughter woke up from her morning nap. Well, that didn’t happen.

(Prep time included zesting 2 lemons, squeezing fresh lemon juice, and separating eggs.)

(One of the more unique steps: rub the sugar and lemon zest together in a bowl until the sugar takes on a yellow hue and becomes fragrant.)

At some point during my process of measuring dry ingredients and whisking the eggs and buttermilk, Leah woke up from her nap, only adding to my level of stress. How was I going to finish this complicated recipe (okay, complicated for ME) with a curious, mobile, and awake 9 month old? I prepped an area in the family room next to me, removing the dog’s water bowl, so that Leah could freely, and safely, roam around while I finished up the batter and kept an eye on her. Of course this would be the day that she learned how to turn the tv on and off…but the batter was much more important than the tv at this point!

After combining all the ingredients with a hand mixer, and having the spatula shoot straight through the mixing attachments twice, it was finally done and ready to go into the cupcake pans! A couple of adjustments I made to the recipe: I choose to use real lemon juice instead of lemon extract. Knowing that extract is more concentrated, I used at least 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Also, I didn’t realize the recipe called for cake flour, not all-purpose flour. Instead of going to the store, I looked up how to use all-purpose flour as a substitute (who knew there was a specific cake flour?!). After baking, I was surprised by how little the cupcakes rose. I thought, “Oh no! Something went wrong! I should have just followed the recipe exactly!”

(I filled the liners 2/3 full, like you are usually suppose to do, but it hardly rose while baking.)

(I did like that you could see flecks of yellow from the lemon zest.)

I cut out a part of the cupcake center, since I’d be filling them later anyway, to taste it. The cake was dense, but so moist! Relief set in. Only two more items left to make!

Raspberry Filling:
I found a recipe for raspberry cake filling on Food.com. It looked so simple and it was! I think it also helped that I waited until the next day, when someone else was home to keep an eye on Leah, so that I could put all my focus on making the perfect filling.

(Only 4 ingredients needed for this recipe! So easy!)

(The filling had an amazing color!)

Just as I’ve done before, I cut out the centers of the cupcakes so they’d be ready to spoon in the filling. One day I’ll experiment with my filling injector, but now was not the time to risk failure, especially after making it this far.

(I used a grapefruit knife this time, and it worked perfectly!)

(As I mentioned in my last baking experiment, baby spoons work perfectly for dropping in the filling. My favorite is The First Years’ Take and Toss spoons.)

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
When it came time for the frosting, I decided not to go with the option on The Red House’s recipe. I was worried that it wouldn’t be lemony enough. Instead I used a recipe from Annie’s Eats for their Blueberry Lemon cupcakes, which uses lemon juice and zest.

(Always be sure to have extra confectioners’ sugar, in case you need to stiffen up the frosting to get the texture you are looking for.)

After using the 3 cups of sugar the recipe calls for, I thought the frosting was the consistency that I wanted. However, when I got around to piping, it was very runny. So, I dumped the frosting out of my stainless steel piper and added another 1-2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. That seemed to help a little, but it still wasn’t the exact consistency I wanted. I went with it anyway, knowing that since it was warm in the house getting the consistency just right would be difficult and that the frosting would set up better as soon as I moved them to a cooler location.

(I added some yellow sprinkles, but felt it was still missing the splash of red to represent the raspberry.)

(I went to the store later that night for fresh raspberries. I think it really helped the look!)

(I like how the filling soaked into the cake.)

The lemon and raspberry came together in a perfect balance. I was worried that the filling wouldn’t bring enough raspberry flavor, but it was perfect. Despite all the hard work, I will definitely make these again! They were a huge hit at the bake sale and that’s what really matters!

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

We are working to help end childhood hunger!
Together we can make a difference!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

Messy Memories and Cake Pop Creations

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Stacy

Sometimes I have moments when I realize how lucky I am to have my friends in my life. I mean, I always know that I’m fortunate, but every once in a while something happens and I think to myself, “What would I do without these fabulous ladies?” Well, last Friday night was one of those moments. My friend, Kerry, and I hadn’t seen each other in quite a while, so I invited her to my house to do a little baking for Share our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale. The task at hand would be a first ever attempt at cake pops.

Neither of us had made them before, but I thought I owned everything I needed to make it a painless process.

Well, I thought wrong.

Even with the help of my BabyCakes cake pop maker and cake pop mix, we still encountered many problems. At first, things started out smoothly. The cake mix was made and each batch of 12 was baked for 4 to 6 minutes creating perfect spheres of moist chocolatey deliciousness.

It wasn’t until we got to the chocolate glaze mix (which is included in the overpriced box mix) that we thought, “Something is not right.” The first surprise was that the glaze was a powdered mix. I’ve seen and eaten a lot of cake pops in my time and I was pretty sure that most are made with a chocolate or candy coating, not something that starts from a powdered mix. But, we carried on like good little bakers, following all the directions and mixing every ingredient with care.

Once all the ingredients were incorporated, we both agreed that it looked… strange. It didn’t look appetizing at all, and when we tested the glaze all I tasted was confectioners sugar. There wasn’t a hint of chocolate in sight. Despite that, we decided to proceed, hoping that the flavor would work better once it was combined with the cake.

This is where we ran into yet another problem. The glaze wouldn’t set up and we ended up with a dripping mess. So instead of cake pops, we decided they would be cake truffles. However, they didn’t look very appealing either.

Instead of a smooth chocolate shell, it looked waxy and gross. I decided right then and there that there was absolutely no way I could or would sell them at the bake sale looking (and tasting) like this. We had 16 un-dipped cake balls left and needed to figure out what we were going to do with them. After digging through my candy basket (any sweets lover should have a proper candy basket), I found enough chocolate bars to melt down to dip the remaining cake balls in.

After a short debate on microwave versus rigging up a double boiler, we decided to go with the later. The microwave is a little risky and easy to over cook the chocolate, and since we were running on a limited supply, I didn’t want to take the chance. The double boiler was super easy and ended up being the perfect solution. Finally we were doing something right!

We also decided to dip the sticks in the chocolate, then insert them into the cake balls so that they stuck to the stick and didn’t spin around (like they did in the first round with the nasty glaze).

This worked like a charm and before we knew it we had 16 beautifully decorated cake pops chilling in the refrigerator.

While we sat there with a glass of wine and waited for them to set up (we couldn’t have done all that hard work without sampling one before Kerry left), I thanked Kerry repeatedly for being there. If it hadn’t been for her I would have probably thrown all the cake pops against the wall in frustration, instead of laughing my way through all the ups and downs.

The next morning I proudly texted a photo of our accomplishment to Crusaders Jenn and Elisa. They both responded with praise, until Jenn asked how many I had… After finding out I only had 15, she asked if I could possibly make about 10 more. I explained that in order to do so, I would probably have to take some of the batter from the cupcakes I planned to make later that day. After a little back and forth, we both agreed that I should do just that. So I found myself making cake pops again.

You would think that after all the struggles of the night before, I would have had no problems the next day, and I did have fewer problems, however, the one I did have was a pretty big one. The cake batter for the cupcakes was not the same as the cake batter for the cake pops. Of course I didn’t realize this until I pulled the cake balls out of the cake pop maker and instead of having perfectly round spheres I had something that looked like these:

Misshapen, wrinkly, deflated looking cake balls. Just like the night before though, I didn’t let this stop me. I melted chocolate (which I had to purchase after depleting my supply the night before), stuck the sticks in, and let them set before dipping and decorating. My hope was that the chocolate and sprinkles would hide the imperfections of the cake balls, but I wasn’t prepared for what happened as I was decorating them.

If you aren’t sure what you are looking at, let me describe it to you. Apparently the cake was too soft to hold up all the chocolate and sprinkles, so it plummeted to the bottom of the stick, poking a hole clear through the entire cake ball. At this point I was screaming nasty four letter words in my head without my friend by my side to help me laugh it all off. Luckily it only happened with 2 cake pops so I was left with 10 new ones.

In the end I learned some valuable baking lessens: first, never use a glaze that comes in powdered form from a box. Second, I really need to figure out how to make a denser cake if I’m going to keep making these since I don’t want to spend $10 on a box mix. Last, the BabyCakes cake pop maker was the easiest part in the whole process and I will definitely be using it again.

Even with all the problems that came up, I still produced 25 quality cake pops that brought smiles to many kids’ faces during the bake sale, I made some great memories with a good friend, and I helped raise money for a great cause, so it was all totally worth it.

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

We are working to help end childhood hunger!
Together we can make a difference!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

Bake Sale Success!

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Stacy

Yesterday, Crusaders Jenn, Elisa and I held our very first bake sale at Horizon Church in Owings Mills, MD. Our goal was to raise money for Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale to support the No Kid Hungry Campaign, and thanks to the Horizon family, we did just that!

It was amazing to see how happy all the sweet treats made everyone and to witness the generosity of those who donated without asking for anything in return. We started with 2 dozen Chocolate Chocolate cake pops (which the kids LOVED!), 2 dozen Snickers cupcakes, 2 dozen Lemon Raspberry cupcakes, and 2 different kinds of blondies. By the end we couldn’t believe we had sold almost everything!

Even though we did really well and raised about $140, we still haven’t reached our target of raising $300 dollars for this wonderful cause. If you aren’t familiar with the Great American Bake Sale and the No Kid Hungry campaign, you can read more here or see our interview with La Casa de Sweets, a charity baker that is committed to raising money and awareness for hungry kids in America.

We are raising money until April 30th, so if you are interested, please consider donating! Even if you can only give $1, every little bit helps!

Throughout the week we will feature our recipe reviews for the Chocolate Chocolate cake pops, the Lemon Raspberry cupcakes, and the Snickers cupcakes. If you decide at any time that you would like to donate, you can find a link in the right column on our home page or at the bottom of all of our posts.

Thanks again to everyone at Horizon Church, and thank you to all our readers for your support!

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

We are working to help end childhood hunger!
Together we can make a difference!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

Charity Fundraiser Baker? What’s That?

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Stacy

As you may know by now, we have joined with La Casa de Sweets to raise money for Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale to end childhood hunger in America. Jackie, from La Casa de Sweets, is a charity fundraiser baker which means that she bakes and blogs specifically to raise money and awareness to fight childhood hunger in America.

This busy blogger (and mom of two) took some time out of her hectic schedule to answer some questions about herself, why ending childhood hunger is so important to her, and why you should join in this fun and important event.

What made you decide to become a charity fundraiser baker?
I decided to become a charity fundraiser baker to raise money for hungry children. As a teacher and mom I know one of the worst things you can witness is a child going hungry. My Masters course work focused on Child Health and Promotion around the world, so I have a pretty good understanding of what the problems are relating to hunger, and what needs to be done about it. I’ve always loved to bake, and when I decided to start my own baking business, I knew it had to be for a reason. So, I decided to help raise awareness and money to help end childhood hunger.

Why should people donate or join the Great American Bake Sale?
The Great American Bake Sale is such an awesome event! Bakers from across the country come together to raise money for the No Kid Hungry campaign, it’s just so inspiring! I feel so honored to a tiny part of such a huge event. Unfortunately not everyone knows that 1 in 4 children in this country face hunger every single day. That’s such a heart-wrenching number. But, the good news is, there is a solution. Raising awareness and supporting programs such as GABS will help people realize this is something we can fix. Every single donation counts. Every $5, $10, $100 donated will make a huge impact on the lives of kids around the country. If that’s not something worth doing, I’m not sure what is.

Has any charity event been extra special or exceeded any goals or expectations you set for yourself?
I’ve launched and advised several large fundraisers, and I’m always so happy after every one, because I’ve seen that people care. In a time where everyone’s circumstances are far from secure, I’ve seen people go out of their way to help, to raise money, to get the word out there. And that makes all the hard work worthwhile!

Crusader Jenn, the mom in our group, wanted to know how you manage to find time to raise your family, maintain your blog, bake, and raise money and awareness to end childhood hunger all at the same time?
How do I find the time? I’m not sure, really. I raise our two daughters (our oldest is almost 3 and our youngest is 16 months old), bake and sell for charity, organize fundraisers, work with companies and individuals to raise awareness, bake for my blog, make three all-natural vegetarian meals a day, go to church, and enjoy time with family friends, every single week. My prayers for strength are definitely being answered every single day!

And of course we have to ask: what is your favorite place to get cupcakes and what is your favorite cupcake recipe?
Cupcakes…umm…well I’m actually not a fan. Yikes! It’s so strange, I make all these sweet treats, sample them to get the full flavor and all that, but I can’t remember the last time I ate a whole cupcake! If I am in the mood for a cupcake, or any treat really, I always go to Kupcakes & Co. Not only is everything they make absolutely amazing, but Michelle (the owner) is one of the nicest, hard-working, and giving people I know. They raise money for charity all the time and have fun doing it. And having fun for a great cause is exactly what I like to do 🙂

After we promised to forgive Jackie for not loving cupcakes as much as we do (Hehe! Just kidding Jackie!), we asked her what her favorite desserts were:
I love strawberry pretzel salad, mud pie, and you’ll never stop me from eating soft and chewy cookies!!!!!

The Crusaders want to thank Jackie for taking the time to answer our questions! If you would like to donate to the Great American Bake Sale please click here. Remember, every little bit helps and no amount is too small!

To visit La Casa de Sweets website and view her recipes click here. Thank you!

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

We are working to help end childhood hunger!
Together we can make a difference!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

Favorite Cupcakes on the Outskirts of Baltimore City | Kupcakes & Co. | Elkridge, MD

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Stacy

Every Tuesday through the month of March we began counting down our Top 5 favorite cupcake places outside of Baltimore City and today, we are finally at #1! In order to make sure we did the proper research and included places that would “qualify” we decided that any place that was within a 45 minute drive from the Baltimore City boundary would be included. If you don’t see a place that you think should have been featured in our Top 5 let us know! We do our best to research where the cupcakes are, but there is no better way to find out than a recommendation!

We can’t say enough great things about Kupcakes & Co., located off Meadowridge Road in Elkridge, MD. Their little shop (which you can find around the back of a small shopping center) is stylishly decorated in their signature pink and black and features a custom built cupcake display case.

(Love the black and pink colors with the polka dots!)

(I’ve never seen a cupcake display quite like this!)

We instantly fell in love with Kupcakes & Co. during our first visit to their shop for Kupcakes with Santa. Not only did they “wow” us with their amazing cupcakes, but their hospitality was, and has always been, top-notch. It’s no wonder you often find a line going the entire length of the store, or even out the front door. But don’t let that deter you. They’ve got a great system down and you won’t have to wait long!

While none of us have ever tasted a cupcake we didn’t like, we want to share with you just a few of our favorite flavors:

Fluffernutter

This cupcake represents the classic fluffernutter sandwich that combines marshmallow fluff and peanut butter. You can actually see each of those components swirled in the frosting. It is also topped with a marshmallow dipped in peanut butter, which is a cleaver addition. Trying to slowly savor this cupcake was no small feat because it was so good it had me rushing to get to the next bite.

Blueberry Danish

Breakfast flavored cupcakes may not be a new concept in the cupcake world (Anyone familiar with the maple-bacon craze? Kupcakes & Co. has that too!) but this twist on a standard breakfast favorite has me wishing it was okay to eat cupcakes everyday for breakfast. The blueberry cake blends with their amazing cream cheese frosting to perfectly represent an actual blueberry danish.

The Elvis

I haven’t had the opportunity to try this peanut butter banana cupcake, but Crusader Jenn recommends this one and says that it is, “So moist and delicious.” I’ll definitely be getting it on my next visit!

Lemon Meringue

This cupcake has a lemon curd filling with a meringue topping and tastes just like a slice of lemon meringue pie, but with the added bonus of deliciously moist cake. My husband loves lemon meringue pie, so I’ll have to pick one of these up for him on my next visit too!

In addition to their stellar customer service and incredible cupcakes, there is one thing that truly seals the deal on Kupcakes & Co. taking our number one spot for favorite cupcakery on the outskirts of Baltimore City and that is their commitment to giving back to the community. Whether they are hosting events to raise money for pediatric units or creating special cupcakes that support cancer research and awareness, Kupcakes & Co. is always helping out with a great cause. So, if you haven’t already been to their shop, make sure to stop by and be blown away by their cupcakes and their service. And tell them the Crusaders say “hi!” 🙂

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

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Favorite Cupcakes on the Outskirts of Baltimore City | Kupcakes & Co. | Elkridge, MD