Tag Archives: Cupcakes

National Vanilla Cupcake Day

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So today is National Vanilla Cupcake Day…celebrated each year on November 10.  Now, if you follow my blog, (and I hope you do), you know that I love cupcakes and have featured a few other cupcake shops before.  However, in honor of this “holiday”, today I would like to introduce you to  The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery, Raleigh’s first and finest cupcake boutique and bakery.  I had the pleasure of living in Raleigh for 5 years and can I say, there are many great cupcake shops in this city, but no one makes a yummier vanilla cupcake than this place.  We always pop in and get some cupcakes on all our visits back to Raleigh.  When you first walk in, you are usually greeted by 12-15 different cupcake varieties with fun names like “What’s Up Doc?” (carrot cake with cinnamon cream cheese icing), “Mint Condition” (chocolate cake with mint buttercream), and “Cookie Monster” (vanilla cake with Oreo buttercream).  They also feature flavors of the week.  My favorite was always “Pretty in Pink” (fresh strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream), but my entire family’s favorite was always the “Plain Jane” (simple vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream).

The Plain Jane...so yummy!

The Plain Jane…so yummy!

The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery believes in small batch baking and providing top quality sweets with no shortcuts. Oh and their open kitchen concept allows visitors to watch the staff at work (my daughter always got a kick out of that). Whether piping away on a tray of freshly baked cupcakes, or mixing up a homemade batch of cookies, the shop is both a delight for the young and old.

Oh and if cupcakes are not your thing, you can also feast on their homemade brownies, truffles, cookies, breakfast muffins, and marshmallows. And I should mention that they also make the prettiest custom cakes and cupcakes around, for all types of occasions, look at these beauties:

Jersey-CC Minnie-Cake whale-cake

So when you visit Raleigh, make sure you stop by this adorable little cupcake shop. I guarantee you will be back for more!

The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery in Raleigh , NC

The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery in Raleigh , NC

The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery
104 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh
 919.821.4223
http://www.thecupcakeshopperaleigh.com

Have you been to The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery?  If so, I’d love to hear what you liked most.

My Signature

Buttercream…Takes the Cake

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The cupcake craze in the past few years has exploded, and in my family we have a bit of OCD (Obsessive Cupcake Disorder). It doesn’t help that almost everywhere you look, there’s a new cupcake shop opening up.  Here in Miami, we have quite a few, but to me there is nothing as delicious as the cupcakes found at Buttercream Cupcakes & Coffee. I’ve mentioned them before in some of my other blog posts, but today I am dedicating an entire post just to them. The tiny shop, owned by wife and husband team Kristine Graulich and Jose Cuellar, situated on the residential side of Sunset Drive, is small but cozy. There’s a little table inside if you’d like to escape the heat and humidity, and also a few tables set up outside.  We love the aroma of warm cupcakes, the moment you open the front door.  And then it hits you…which one should I choose?

So hard to choose...

Such a variety to choose from…

Be warned, you will not find any crazy, exotic flavors or fillings in these cupcakes.  If that’s what you’re looking for, then this is not the place for you.  Here the cake is basically always chocolate or vanilla, topped with various flavors of buttercream frosting, such as guava, pistachio (hubby’s favorite), vanilla (my original favorite), strawberry (my current favorite), red velvet or chocolate.  The Oreo, featuring giant chunks of Oreo cookies in the frosting, is by far my daughter’s favorite.  But these cupcakes don’t need any frills, they are perfect the way they are. Buttercream cupcakes are store-baked each day using the finest dairy, flour and sugar ingredients which is why they are so moist. They also offer additional flavors on a rotating schedule, such as orange and lime, to keep things interesting. Here are all of our favorite flavors:

My favorite flavors!

Favorite flavors!

But if you can’t decide, they offer a sampler box of mini cupcakes comprised of their most popular flavors.

Mini cupcakes...Photo courtesy of Buttercream Cupackes

Mini cupcakes…Photo courtesy of Buttercream Cupcakes

They also make cakes for special occasions, which are just as delicious as their cupcakes.  Take a look at the beautiful cake they made for my friend’s baby shower:

Beautiful baby shower cake...

Beautiful baby shower cake…

So the next time you find yourself in Coral Gables, make sure you stop in and try one of these heavenly cupcakes, you won’t regret it!

 Buttercream Cupcakes & Coffee
1411 Sunset Drive
Coral Gables
(305) 669-8181

http://www.buttercreamcupcakes.com

Have you tried Buttercream cupcakes?  If you have, I’d love to hear which one is your favorite?

My Signature

Baked by Melissa

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Is there a way of enjoying six cupcakes in one sitting, and not feeling guilty about it? The answer is yes, if you’ve just eaten them at one of the Baked by Melissa cupcake shops in NYC. These tiny, bite-sized cupcakes come in the most delicious and unique flavors from traditional red velvet and s’mores, to the more offbeat PB&J and tie-dye.

Some of our favorite flavors!

Last summer, my daughter and I spent a week in NYC, and we had the luck of having a Baked by Melissa location directly across the street from our hotel in Times Square. Let me tell you, it’s very difficult to decide which ones to try, as there is such an assortment and they’re so small, that you want to try all of them!  Needless to say we visited the shop a few times…my daughter’s favorites were the cookie dough and cookies and cream. They also have a mini of the month which switches throughout the year, it was watermelon when we visited, and I loved it! BTW, if you’re into watermelon cupcakes you need to read this post.

Nighttime visit for tiny cupcakes!

Baked by Melissa has several locations in New York and also ships nationwide. So, even if you’re not in Manhattan, you can still enjoy the cutest, tastiest cupcakes around. Their website also has a “cupcake creator” that allows you to customize your own cupcake flavor, which is available for purchase (when you buy at least 300). But what a great idea for wedding or Sweet 16 party favors, or even a large school event?

The cupcakes start at $1 each, but go down in price as you order more. Baked by Melissa now has over 10 locations, mainly in New York City, with its most recent ones at JFK Airport and the Garden State Plaza Mall in New Jersey. I highly recommend a stop by one of their shops the next time you’re visiting NYC.

Have you ever experienced cupcakes from Baked by Melissa? If so, what flavor is your favorite?!061e8ae4d336b9efc980a28fef75f93b

Watermelon Cupcakes

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I love the seasonal section in Target, especially when we’re entering spring and summer.  It’s always full of patio furniture, beach toys, aisles upon aisles of suntan lotions, and season specific items, such as…Watermelon Cupcake mix.  The first time I tried a watermelon cupcake was at Baked by Melissa, my favorite cupcake shop in the world (in NYC of course).  I’ve never again seen or tasted a watermelon cupcake in any of my local cupcake shops in Miami, so when I saw the Betty Crocker Watermelon Cupcake Mix (and also green watermelon flavored frosting), well I just had to try it!  Sold exclusively at Target, they are available for a limited time and will provide the perfect treat after a picnic lunch or barbeque this summer. Luckily, my daughter announced that she had to participate in a bake sale at her school the next day, so I thought, why not try these cupcakes (after all, we don’t want 24 of them in our house)! The only item I added that was not included in the box, were mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels on the top to make them look like seeds. They came out really cute and they tasted delicious!  My daughter said they were a hit at school too.  For the next bake sale I think we’ll try the Pink Lemonade cake mix or the Key Lime cupcake mix, both available at Target…

Yummy Betty Crocker Watermelon Cupcakes

Yummy Betty Crocker Watermelon Cupcakes