Sift Cupcake and Dessert Bar Now Shipping Treats Nationwide!

Northern California's prized Sift Cupcake and Dessert Bar now ships its scrumptious cupcakes (as well as other treats like frosting shots, ice cream sammies, and profiteroles) nationwide! I have been on the fence for years about shipping cupcakes but I have to say Sift managed to get their Santa Rosa, California, cupcakes to sweltering hot humid NYC in fine condition. Still quite frozen!

Grady the cat is interested in the new arrival.

Both cats (Meat and Grady) wonder what's in the box.

Plenty of dry ice -- dangerous for kitties:

Unveiling the iconic Sift box!

Here are the frozen solid cupcakes:

This was so tough. I knew I had to wait until they thawed to eat them but they just looked so damn good. I didn't want to chip a tooth so I practiced patience (not one of my better skills).

The instructions were clear:

Waiting...waiting...

The box came with a card detailing the possible flavors included:

My box came without the bacon-topped "Stud Muffin" because I think the Ballus Family remembers that I am a vegetarian. Thanks, guys!



When the cupcakes thawed they were devoured by my cupcake-loving company. No cupcakes for you, Mr. Grady:

All of the cupcakes survived their trip very well. I would definitely order from Sift any time I had to ship cupcakes, or if I knew a place in the USA that didn't have cupcakes (ohh the shame!). This would be perfect for making a sick or recovering friend happy, or for newlyweds who might not make it out of bed, or for a kid's birthday party that you can't attend because you are out of town and crying on the inside. (Too much personal info there, sorry.)

The cupcake I was worried about, the Vanill-ahh (due to the cherry) was just delightful when thawed. Ditto the Knock Your Sox Off (Boston Cream Pie flavor). Even the cream cheese frosting flavors like the Oh La La famous red velvet held up (but was snatched out of the box first so your truly didn't get to taste it.

In fact, the dozen cupcake disappeared so quickly I barely had time to photograph them. I nabbed a Snickerdoodle for myself, even the cookie topper was fresh and delicious. An ice-cold glass of iced coffee and that cupcake, plus a few good friends made for a wonderful day. Thanks, Sift!


;)



You can keep up with Sift on Twitter or Facebook as well. 

Happy National Peanut Butter Cookie Day Girl Scout Cookie Taglong cupcakes

Happy National Peanut Butter Cookie Day! That one is so specific it did make me wonder for a moment, "Do we have too many food holidays?" but I love food so I'm gonna go with it. (If you're wondering, National Peanut Butter Day is January 24th). I found out about this holiday via Glendora, California bakery The Cake Mamas on their Facebook page, where they shared these celebratory Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie cupcakes. Visit thecakemamas.com for more information.

144 cupcakes form the utimate Super Mario Brothers cupcake cake

All of these Mario and Super Mario Brothers cupcakes are by C for Cupcake Cupcakery in Orange County, California, whose triathlon cupcakes we've featured, via their Facebook page, from two separate orders, one of an endless assortment of custom cupcake toppers they make. Find out more on their website and you can also shop in their Etsy store (though as of this posting it's empty, so your better bet is their website). I was originally drawn to some other cupcakes of theirs, but I'll save those for another post because these Mario cupcakes deserve their own spotlight. C for Cupcake cupcakery can be reached at c4cupcakecupcakery at gmail.com or 626-319-8399. We'll be sharing more from them soon, but do check out their Facebook photo albums for lots more cupcake topper creativity.


the cake!

And a few closeups:











These were from another Super Mario order:

Starting the Dr. Seuss love early with first birthday Cat in the Hat cupcakes

These first birthday Dr. Seuss cupcakes are by Kupcakespot in Orange County, California, via their blog. Find out more on their Facebook page and contact them at kupcakespot at gmail.com or 714-791-1780.

More cupcake bouquets prettier than real flowers

Or at the very least these cupcake rose bouquets by Los Angeles' BlakeyCakes is at least a beautiful as a real bouquet! Right? Via BlakeyCakes on Facebook. Contact owner Blake Anthony for orders at b.arias101 at hotmail.com or 818-577-8302 and visit blakeycakes.blogspot.com for more information.

Tour de Cupcake bike ride is this Sunday, May 20th in Chico, California

Cupcakes and bike riding and nature and a little mystery and fundraising! Fabulous. From Chico News & Review:

Butte Bicycle Coalition is holding its first-ever Tour de Cupcake on May 20, from noon-2:30 p.m. The ride is modeled on urban bike-messenger races—“a way for bike messengers to be challenged in knowing the quickest routes from point A to point B and so on,” wrote Laurie Niles. Maps will be given out on day of the ride; choose your route and score points (and cupcakes!) for checking in at bike-route stops. Awards given for best-decorated theme bike, most points gathered and fastest rider.

Learn more and register at www.buttebicyclecoalition.org (or sign up at Lyon Books, 121 West Fifth St.). The fundraiser costs $15 per rider, $5 each for kids and $25 for a family of four. Proceeds go to support Butte Bicycle Coalition. For more info, call Niles at 342-1995.

More details from the event's official Eventbrite page, where you can register:

*The Tour de Cupcake is fashioned, though slowed down, in an “alley cat” bike messenger race format.

What this means is, you don’t know the (mini cupcake) stops to the day of the ride.

Four mini cupcake stops + 2 (optional) challenge stops will be given to you DAY of RIDE in the form of a BIKE MANIFESTO/BIKE MAP. YOU CHOOSE YOUR ROUTE!

AWARD Categories are:
QUICKEST RIDE (from noon start, stopping @ 4 check in points ---> finish)
MOST POINTS ( points given @ each check in spot + for eating mini cupcakes)
BEST THEME DECORATED BIKE

And via Bike Chico! 2012 on Facebook: "Marcie's Cupcake Kitchen providing: *fresh strawberry with strawberry swiss meringue, death by chocolate & vanilla with swiss vanilla meringue...Melia Yamada-Bryant of Dandy Delights providing: red velvet & chocolate mint cupcakes."

Class of 2012 graduation cupcakes plus cupcake classes to make space, zoo animal, cowboy cupcakes and more

Sift Cupcakery in Cotati, Napa and Santa Rosa, California, is selling these Class of 2012 graduation cupcakes and is hosting all sorts of cupcake decorating workshops, from a space cupcakes to Memorial Day, zoo animals, Father's Day, cowboy cupcakes and more! All the details are available for download on their website, siftcupcakery.com and you can keep up with them on Facebook.

Hello Kitty meets The Avengers cupcakes!

Love these Hello Kitty meets The Avengers cupcakes by Animated Cupcakes in Garden Grove, California! Via Flickr. See animatedcupcakes.com.

Cupcake Wars winners Goodie Girls reprise winning flavors

Cupcake Wars winners Goodie Girls, located in Glendale, California are bringing back their winning flavors from the Kentucky Derby episode in conjunction with a rerun of the show, and they'll be on the show again June 3 for a Cupcake Wars champions episode. They've also got their mocha-licious cupcake and cupcake push pops! "[T]the winning cupcake display included Derby-inspired flavors including Mint Julep, Peaches ‘N Cream, Bubbly (dark chocolate cake, strawberry filling topped with Champagne frosting) and Starbuck’s signature flavor, Blueberry Pancakes, all finished with a dusting of edible glitter." Description via Eat, Drink & Be Merry, where you can also get their chocolate champagne cupcake recipe! All photos via their Facebook page. Find out more and sign up for their mailing list at thegoodiegirls.com.


Cupcake Wars winning flavors


mocha-licious cupcakes




Cupcake push pops! (aka cake-ups, yes, the Peeps were from Easter, but too adorable not to post now)

Limited edition spicy Mexican chocolate cupcake at Kara's Cupcakes, through May 6th

Today through May 6th, get this special limited edition cupcake in honor of Cinco de Mayo at Bay Area (California) cupcake bakery Kara's Cupcakes. It's a chocolate cupcake with a cinnamon & chile chocolate ganache. Visit them at karascupcakes.com and on Facebook for more information.

Happy royal wedding anniversary, Will and Kate!

Last year we posted lots of royal wedding cupcakes to celebrate Prince William and Kate Middleton's April 29th wedding, including the infamous Princess Eugenie's hat cupcake by Wir Machen Cupcakes. A year and a day later, we're wishing them a happy anniversary. Here's one we didn't see until recently that is pretty funny, by Big Sugar Bakeshop in Studio City, California, which was their daily special last April 29th.

Sprinkles Ice Cream Opening May 24!

Recognize that famous dot? Though it may be little, it is fierce and has become infamous nationwide! Sprinkles, famously known for their cupcakes is branching out into the ice cream world, thus the fancy cone you see above.

Sprinkles Ice Cream is set to open next door to it's cupcake counterpart on May 24. Sandwiched between the two shops is the ever so popular Cupcake ATM. In addition to introducing house churned ice cream to their repertoire, this new Sprinkles shop will be selling homemade brownies and cookies! Aside from getting your ice cream in the standard waffle cone or cup, Sprinkles Ice Cream offers their ice cream stuff between two fluffy cupcake tops!

Head over to the grand opening and taste Sprinkles Ice Cream for yourself! You can keep up to date on all things Sprinkles Ice Cream via their facebook.

Sprinkles Ice Cream

9631 South Santa Monica Blvd.

Beverly Hills, CA 90210

11th birthday spa party nail polish and flip flop cupcakes

Cute spa party cupcakes featuring nail polish and flip flops plus personalized wrappers! They're by Icing Cupcake in Burbank, California, via their Facebook page.

San Diego Food Blogger Bake Sale

It's that time of year again for the Annual Food Blogger's Bake Sale! The San Diego sale is headed up by Marie of Meandering Eats, the sale features San Diego’s amazing food bloggers coming together to fundraise for Share Our Strength. One in five children in the United States struggle with hunger and Share Our Strength creates initiatives to ensure that children have adequate access to nutrition in school and at home.

The National Food Blogger Bake Sale was created by Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking in 2009. After two successful years, she is teaming up with the folks at Bloggers Without Borders to promote all of the sales across the country. If you are not from San Diego and would like to participate, please check out the list for locations and hosts.

Our fabulous host, Great News! Discount Cookware and Cooking School, will be hosting us again this year on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 10AM. Please join us as we gather for another incredible sale with a goal of $2500 or more for Share Our Strength!

Great News!

1788 Garnet Avenue
San Diego, CA 92109

If you can  make it, I can guarantee a selection of some of the best baked goods these talented bloggers have to offer. There will of course be CUPCAKES! And Full Circle Foodie will be bringing an assortment of Cotton Candy Meringues which you don't want to miss!

San Francisco map made of cupcakes!

I love when art and cupcakes combine, and Cups and Cakes Bakery in San Francisco has shown some major city pride by creating a map of San Francisco with cupcakes! WOW. Love that the 7 mile by 7 mile city is represented by 49 cupcakes too. What an incredible and fun project. Congratulations! From their blog post: "We wanted to do something cool for a local mapping group in San Francisco that meets everytime this year for WhereCamp. Instead of just making regular cupcakes, we made cupcakes in the style of MAPTILES." They're located at 451 9th Street and can be reached at 415-437-2877 or order at cupsandcakesbakery.com and you can find out more at cupsandcakesbakery.com and on Facebook. They tell us:

Data by Open Street Map (CC BY 3.0)
Maptiles by Stamen Design (CC BY SA)
Cupcakes by Cups and Cakes Bakery (EATEN BY 1PM)

Interview: My Delight Cupcakery

Can you please tell me a little about yourselves?

Melinda Moreno, age: 50, co-owner of My Delight Cupcakery, administrative assistant for Praise Chapel Ontario; hobbies- spending time with family, hiking with my dogs. (right in photo)

Naomi Moreno, age: 30, co-owner of My Delight Cupcakery, Executive Pastry Chef. Hobbies: experiencing new and authentic cuisine, creating and enjoying art of all kinds. (left in photo)

What inspired your love of cupcakes?
Naomi: I’ve always had a passion for cooking and baking along with a creative eye. I started out with an easy bake oven, followed by the oven in my mom’s kitchen, and then the professional type at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts school. Before I had my own business, I made hundreds of custom cakes for family, friends, and friends of friends. I enjoyed experimenting with different flavor creations as well as making the cake visually beautiful. However, these cakes are very time consuming and limit a baker to pleasing one customer (or group) at a time. Cupcakes offered me a way to continue being inventive with flavors and artistic in their presentation, but with the added ability to share my creations with thousands of people each week.

How did your company begin? (catering, home kitchen, storefront)
Naomi: Like mentioned above, I began by baking cakes for family parties, then friends started to ask for their special occasions. Once I went to culinary school,  I knew I wanted to open my own cupcakery. When we began looking into opening a storefront, there were no cupcake-only bakeries in the Inland Empire and we knew the people needed one! It was not smooth sailing, but with the help of family and friends, we were able to open our doors to a group of enthusiasts lined up around the building on December 5, 2009.

Dulce De Leche 

What fuels your creativity for such unique flavor combinations?
Naomi:  I am constantly trying new foods.  I like to go out and experience current trendy foods.

I attended the LA Cupcake Challenge and your raspberry red velvet cheesecake cupcake was one of the greatest things I have ever tasted in my life! How did you feel about winning best bakery for the 3^rd year in a row?
Thank you! That’s flattering, especially coming from someone who has tried a lot of great cupcakes!
Winning LA Cupcake Challenge this year  was a huge honor! Since this year they did away with the “most original” “best traditional” and “best overall” categories and instead just did a “Best Bakery,” we knew it would be a harder win... an all or nothing set up. There were a lot of unique flavors this year, so we weren’t sure how it would go, but thankfully our 2 flavors stood out enough to grab the votes. Winning once is exciting, but winning three years in a row is just amazing! We’re just so thankful for all the love & support the public has shown us.

Red Velvet Raspberry Cheesecake @ Cupcake Challenge LA 2012 

What has winning at all these different Cupcake Events done for your bakery?
Winning these different cupcake events has helped grow our fan base, and also affirmed that we are doing something right! There is always the pressure to cut corners to cut costs, but we refuse to sacrifice quality. We only use the highest quality, REAL ingredients and we only sell cupcakes baked fresh that morning. It’s a difference you can taste, and the public has confirmed that by voting us #1 in every contest we have entered.

I went to your bakery a couple weeks ago to grab a cupcake on my lunch break and the line was out the door and in the parking lot! Is that the daily norm at the shop?
Yes, more often than not. Of course, there are lulls now and then, but business is steady most of the day and at times it goes from steady to crazy in the blink of an eye. When we have special menus (like for holidays) we definitely see an influx of customers coming in.

Thin Mint & Breakfast Cake

After successfully building such a fantastic bakery, what advice would you give new small business owners that you wish someone would have given to you?
Melinda: Be prepared for delays and whatever you think the cost will be, double it!  
Naomi: Follow your bliss! If you’re passionate about what you do, the trials are worth it.
What is your personal favorite cupcake flavor to eat and what is your favorite to make?
Naomi:  Eat - Pistachio; Make - Coconut Lemon

What is your favorite thing about cupcakes?
Their endless flavor possibilities!

My Delight Cupcakery
1520 N. Mountain Avenue
Ontario, CA

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