A cupcake baked into a cupcake with a cupcake on top = cupcake WIN

Sometimes you see something and you just think, "The internet was created so I could have this moment of pure and total joy." That's how I felt when I saw this cupcake baked into the middle of a cupcake with a mini cupcake on top. I first discovered it while searching Pinterest (here's where we're pinning) and tracked it back to the wonderful Ninas kleiner Food-blog. She used an aluminum foil cutter and gives exact instructions on how to make these (her blog is in German, but at the top there's a button to get it translated into English, or whatever your preferred language is). Part of me is thinking, Well, I can stop cupcake blogging now because this is IT. But I also know that cupcake blogging is forever, and there are endless variations on our beloved dessert. Still, this is pretty amazing and I'm in pure food awe.

What's inside these ice cream cone cupcakes?

The answer is...chocolate cake layers with banana cream and chocolate ganache! They look amazing. I love the layering; I've only ever eaten ice cream cone cupcakes that had plain cake inside (not that there's anything wrong with that). I think the magic of the ice cream cone cupcake is that it looks like one thing but is actually another. With all the cupcake/ice cream mashups happening at bakeries all over, I'm waiting for someone to make ice cream cone cupcakes with actual ice cream on top and cake inside! These by Toronto's OMG Baked Goodness, via their Facebook page; find out more at omgbakedgoodness.com.

White wedding mini cupcakes by Baked by Melissa, June's flavor of the month

Yesterday I stopped by the Baked by Melissa shop on 14th Street off Union Square, one of multiple Manhattan locations, and bought one of their mini cupcake flavor of the month: wedding cupcakes. They get their cake whiter than any cake I've ever seen! The cupcake was pretty good, the best part being the Bavarian cream filling inside; obviously, these are small cupcakes, so there wasn't much in it, but there was enough. The white chocolate shavings are a nice touch too. They're $1 each, with price breaks the more you buy. Baked by Melissa also does mail order, and I learned that they sell colorful gift cards (see below) and that owner Melissa Bushell is getting married this month! Visit bakedbymelissa.com and their Facebook page for more information.

Memorial Day red, white and blue patriotic cupcakes

Happy Memorial Day to our United States readers! Here are some red, white and blue cupcakes and cake pops to celebrate.


American flag cupcake by The NY Melrose Family


Red, white and blue star cupcakes by Garden Grove, California custom cupcake company RooneyGirl BakeShop via Flickr


More patriotic star cupcakes by Hoosier Homemade, where you can find more Memorial Day cupcake ideas




Blueberry and cherry pie cupcakes (they're both on top and baked inside!!) by Wisconsin custom cupcake baker Amanda Cupcake

Review: peanut butter and jelly filled cupcake to make you feel like a kid again

I was taking a walk yesterday and stopped in at Empire Cake in Chelsea (Manhattan), lured in by the sign outside touting peanut butter and jelly cupcakes. On the top, there's only a small round dollop of jelly, but inside there's a lot, which is just the way I like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or cupcake. The frosting was actually very light and whipped and didn't taste as strongly of peanut butter as I would have suspected. The jelly was, I think, grape jelly, and that was thicker and I wound up scooping most of it out with a knife and pairing it with small amounts of cake and peanut butter frosting. A deconstructed cupcake is still a cupcake, right? I wish the frosting had been a bit stronger tasting, but other than that, this cupcake was definitely worth it.

Bookworm "dirt" cupcakes, "reading rainbow" cupcakes, wise owls, lions and ladybugs for a kids' story hour by JannaBee's

CupcakeCamp Boston is coming up this Monday, May 21st, and on their website they've been profiling various bakers whose cupcakes will be available, and one of them was custom dessert company JannaBee's, which led me to their Facebook page and these adorable cupcakes! The first few cupcakes and the pretzel ladybug (not a cupcake, but I couldn't resist, plus I could see mini versions of these ladybug pretzels, or other painted pretzels, as cupcake toppers!) were from a special order for Story Stomp, whose official description is: "Story Stomp is an event for families with children up to age 12 that fuses the imaginative worlds of reading, music, and dance." I love that they took the theme of reading and ran with it: reading rainbows, book worms, wise owls, between the lions and lucky ladybugs!

Their full list of cupcake flavors can be found here. I'll share just a few of their top shelf specialty flavors: blueberry pie, caramel peanut candy bar, chocolate salted caramel, coffee toffee, key lime pie, maple walnut, mocha madness, peachy keen, raspberry lime rickey, strawberry cheesecake. JannaBee's is based in Malden, Massachusetts, and can be reached at jannabees at aol.com or 339-224-8785.








check out the whiskers on these lions!


I know this isn't a cupcake, but it's a ladybug pretzel! Come on, can you resist its cuteness?

Piñata cupcakes filled with candy!

What fun: cupcakes filled with candy that pours out of them when you bite in or break them open. Love it! These are by Brandon Cakes in Kailua, Hawaii, via their Facebook page. Their flavor of the month is cherry lemonade, and you can find out more at brandoncakes.com. The others aren't piñata cupcakes, but I thought they were cute too (though, sorry, not as cute). Contact Brandon Cakes at 808-780-3505 (call or text) or email sales at brandoncakes.com to place an order.

10 outrageous chocolate chip cupcakes for National Chocolate Chip Day!

Yes, it's another food holiday, a fun one: National Chocolate Chip Day! Now, today is May 15th, and last year we told you that August 4th was National Chocolate Chip Day. I'm going by the authority that is this American Food and Drink Days website (according to them, August 4th is National Lasagne Day), but I could be wrong. I also don't think it would be the end of the world if there were two chocolate chip days. I'm the kind of person who will pick out chocolate chips from my ice cream, and is of the mindset that the more chocolate chips, the merrier. So in honor of this very important holiday, here are 10 quite out of the ordinary chocolate chip cupcakes that I think will make you see the tiny but powerful chocolate chip just a wee bit differently.


Caramel chocolate pretzel cupcake cones with chocolate chips in the frosting by Love From The Oven


"I Mint What I Said and I Said What I Mint" Mint-Chocolate Chip Cupcake flavored with Creme de Menthe, Chocolate by Hey Cupcake! - cupcakedd via Flickr




s'mores cupcakes with chocolate chips, Teddy Grahams and a marshmallow on top by Beautiful Cakes via Flickr


pumpkin chip cupcake by Blue Castle Cupcake in Virginia Beach, Virginia, via Flickr


peanut butter chocolate chip cupcakes by Food Snots


Last but not least, the always fun, always creative Shannonmarie of raw food blog Rawdorable made these chocolate chimp protein pancake cupcakes and blogged the recipe at Colourful Palate





Baked Alaska mint chocolate ice cream filled cupcakes by Jeanne Benedict, who has the recipe (how good do these look??)


ice cream cone cupcakes by Chocolate & Carrots


a chocolate chip cupcake post would not be complete without a chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake! This one is by Sugar Monkey Sweets who adapted a recipe by blogger Annie of Annie's Eats, who just celebrated her five-year blogiversary and tweaked her popular chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake recipe for you!

And last but not least, a twofer: mint chocolate chip cupcakes in ice cream cone cupcake form and regular cupcakes, by KristaCakes!







And another treat: a mint chocolate chip cupcake candle, for sale on Etsy by kokocandles.

Cookies and cream devil's food cupcakes with mini Oreo on top and big Oreo baked in the bottom plus recipe link

What an Oreo-tastic cupcake, with cookies and cream frosting, a mini Oreo on top and that pretty surprise when you bite inside of another whole Oreo! Yum! Get the recipe from blogger To Bake or Not to Bake, who advises, "If you like Cookies and Cream ice cream, you will flip for these. ."

Filled cupcake cookbook Bake It in a Cupcake! is coming to a bookstore near you in October

Congratulations to Megan Seling of the fabulous filled cupcake blog Bake It in a Cake for her cookbook deal! Bake It in a Cupcake: 50 Treats with a Surprise Inside is available for pre-order will be out in October from Andrews McMeel. We'll share more information about it as soon as we can, but what's below should be enough to entice you. (I know this cover is different than the one on the publisher's site, which I believe is an older version. This cover is the one on Amazon and, as far as I know, the final version. Plus I think a heart baked inside a cupcake is one of the cutest things ever!)



Here's the publisher's official description:

Bake It in a Cupcake takes the cupcake craze to the next level with 50 recipes for all kinds of sweet and savory treats baked inside cupcakes. These whimsical creations are presented in a bright, colorful format that looks as good as the cupcakes taste. All of Bake It in a Cupcake's creations are mouthwatering and fairly simple to make, even for those without baking experience. The fabulous recipes are accompanied by easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, with beautiful color photographs. While traditional cupcakes are still wildly popular, Bake It in a Cupcake takes the classic treat beyond complicated decorating techniques. As the saying goes, it's what's on the inside that counts.

The recipes are organized by chapter by what is inside, whether that's another baked good like a mini pie or lemon square, or different kinds of your favorite candy. Recipes include Lemon Bar Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Raspberry Frosting, Cherry Pie Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting, Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Brownie Bites with Salted Caramel Frosting, and Egg-Filled Croissant Cups with Swiss Cheese and Chives. There is something in this cookbook for everyone's taste, kid and adult alike.

Below are some double rainbow cupcakes she recently posted by a reader named Daniela.

Salted caramel filled cupcakes with recipe link

These salted caramel brown sugar cupcakes look wonderful! Get the recipe at In the Pink and Green (via her friend schue love, who raved about them).

Brooklyn blackout chocolate pudding cupcakes in Manhattan

Empire Cake, located in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood at 112 8th Avenue, where Lulu's Cake Boutique used to be, is selling this Brooklyn Blackout cupcake ($2.75), a chocolate cupcake filled with chocolate pudding. I stopped in yesterday and was intrigued by it. The liquidy pudding inside is delicious and sweet, while the chocolate frosting is a darker and less sweet chocolate, and all of it, including the chocolate cake, go wonderfully together. Highly recommended!