Super delicious birthday cookies

Over at The Awl a few weeks ago, Jolie Kerr told us how to make margarita cupcakes with tequila shooter toppers! Those are pictured below, and apparently, very popular. She writes:

The recipe for margarita cupcakes is built around a white cake mix with a whole bunch of add-ins. Normally I wouldn’t advocate for the use of boxed cake mixes because, really, how hard is it to mix together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt? That’s pretty much what a cake mix is, but also are you really going to trust that the fine folks at Betty Crocker aren’t cutting their cake mixes with laxatives and baby powder? Right, do it yourself, if only to ensure that your cake mix is as pure as possible and the DEA isn’t going to bang down your door to confiscate your Sachertorte.

For the sake of this recipe though, it’s fine to use a boxed mix and here’s why: This is not the simplest cake to make. It's not hard, it's just got a number of steps and also? We’re hardly talking about fine pastry here. We’re going to shoot tequila off the tops of these cupcakes, so I think we can all agree to relax our standards a bit.



And Village Voice food blog Fork in the Road lets us know about a New York margarita cupcake coming up from Robicelli's:

Robicelli's will be hawking its latest cocktail cupcake -- or caketail -- creations at Joe the Art of Coffee locations February 21 and 22 in honor of National Margarita Day.

Robicelli's Partida Margarita Cupcake is a lime cake infused with Partida Blanco tequila and lime butter cream, and garnished with candied lime zest and Maldon flake sea salt. The Angry Mango Cupcake is made with chili-spiked Partida Reposado tequila and topped with mango butter cream and a sweet-salty jalapeño slice.

See robicellis.com for more information and to keep up with their innovative new flavors.

I was trying to think of something to say about these cupcakes to convey exactly how amazing they look to me, and how much I'd love it if someone made me these, but I can't, so the photos, via Hoosier Homemade for their Cupcake Tuesday feature, and the first in a pie (!) series, will have to suffice. Get the recipe from Hoosier Homemade, and be sure to bookmark them for their ongoing deliciousness. Here's the first instruction:

I started with a Chocolate Chip Cupcake, filled and frosted it with Homemade Hot Fudge, topped with Vanilla Ice Cream and another drizzle of Hot Fudge!! Unbelievably good!

Aren't these rosebud cupcakes perfect for Valentine's Day? You can find out how to make them from our friend and food blogger Diary of a Mad Hausfrau, who can also be found on Facebook. Via Flickr.

At least once a week, I see an article or blog post proclaiming that something is "the new cupcake." It's ridiculous, and kindof dumb, because why does something have to be "the new" anything, other than to draw traffic and make up crazy food trends?

Also, cupcakes are not in competition with other baked goods. Lots of us like them all! So to prove that all our desserts can get along, here are five photos of cupcakes with other desserts on top of them! And, incidentally, a lot of these desserts (hi macaroon and whoopie pie!) happen to be ones that are constantly pitted against the cupcake.


mini coconut macaroon cupcakes by obliviousfire on Flickr:
"White mud and raspberry cupcakes with raspberry-cream cheese frosting and mini coconut macaroons"


a mini whoopie pie on top of a cupcake by baking blogger The Lone Baker via Flickr, inspired by this painting


two kinds of cookies in one, plus a Valentine's Day theme! These are by the wonderful Etsy custom cupcake maker death by cupcake via Flickr

And with these you get a bonus, because they are actually filled cupcakes:




mini donut on a cupcake - I took this at Frosting Bake Shop in Walnut Creek, California, it's their Homer Simpson cupcake!


mini pumpkin pie on a cupcake, by blogger The Frosted Cake N Cookie, via Flickr: "pumpkin spice cupcake with cinnamon cream cheese icing. fondant pumpkin pie slice."

From the blog Happy Homemade Cupcakes come some pink flower cupcake bouquets for Valentine's Day.

Little hearts and conversation heart red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's Day by Saucy's Sprinkles - go there for more!





This was the cupcake I wanted to show you, cause I love the juxtaposition of a tiny heart atop a snowy cupcake, but I couldn't download it from Flickr - do check it out!

Blogger EatPlayLove breaks down what you need to know to make easy chocolate frosting! She writes - and be sure to visit her blog for the recipe!

Once you make buttercream at home, there's really no reason to ever buy canned. I could make a 1,001 comparisons, but really homemade is the way to go. There is no chemical aftertaste, it spreads like butter, it has real ingredients, and it tastes divine. If you really need a shortcut, used boxed cake mix instead. Homemade frosting takes about 5 minutes. You don't need fancy ingredients either, this recipe uses 5 ingredients.

Blogger A Pocket Full of Buttons had me at "whipped peanut butter filling." I love peanut butter and these cake mix cupcakes with a twist look pretty easy to make - visit her blog for the recipe for her French Vanilla Cupcake with Whipped Peanut Butter Filling and Chocolaty Nutella Frosting!

The site Sweetopia has an extensive tutorial posted about how to make these key to your heart cupcakes using gold leaf! There are tweezers (!!) and paintbrushes involved. I love how much effort went into these - it shows. They are beautiful and would make a gorgeous Valentine's Day cupcake gift. Do check it out. You can also find Sweetopia on Facebook and @sweetopia on Twitter.

These gluten-free and vegan espresso cupcakes are by blogger Gluten Free by Babs (check back on her blog soon for the recipe), via Flickr. Happy Super Bowl Sunday!