Amazing Cupcakes

We love different flavored cupcakes as party desserts! Cupcakes are the perfect size for an individual, and are easier to eat while mingling at a party than cake or pie. However, it takes a special recipe to elevate a cupcake from "kid-fare" to something truly decadent. The website MingMakesCupcakes is a great resource for recipes that take a humble cupcake to the next level. Her creations include, (from top to bottom), Number 13- Sour Cream Fig Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Number 18- Sour Cream Apricot Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting and Toasted Almonds, Number 6- Banana Cupcakes with Maple Brown Butter Frosting, and Number 32- Graham Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting. Any one of these recipes would be fantastic as dessert for a party. Enjoy!

Ideas from the Cupcake Parlour

If we lived in Australia, we'd be heading over to the Cupcake Parlour for one of these treats, for sure.  Since we don't live in Australia, we are instead drooling over these little beauties!  And, we are looking at the way they've been decorated and are gleaning ideas...

Cupcakes, while easy to bake, can cause a tad of angst for those who don't feel their frosting technique is up to standards.  (That's where looking at Martha Stewart cupcakes online can really be depressing...but remember, that lady has a staff the size of Connecticut to frost her cupcakes just so...)  We like the ideas shown in the photos above.  A little dab of frosting and then a cookie added on top.  Or, a mound of frosting with two cookie halves pressed into it so you have a butterfly.  Very smart.  Very simple.  And it means that you can have really good looking cupcakes without having to be an artist with a frosting knife!

Sorry for the hiatus...

We're so sorry that we dropped off the blogosphere here for about a week---life has been just crazy!  We hope you all have been great and that you'll keep checking back with us...even if we've been real blog slackers this week!  To give you a "tasty" little something to make up for our absence, we thought we'd share Bella Cupcake Couture with you.  Aren't these cupcake wrappers sweet?  There are a bunch of colors and designs to check out, so you'll want to head to their website to see the entire line.  Mix and match or stick with one design...so cute either way!  We think these would be great for a spring shower (bridal or baby) or even for Easter!

Chic Cupcakes

We love cupcakes! And these laser-cut cupcake wrappers from Paper Orchid only make our homemade cupcakes better. The lacy designs make each cupcake feel special. Check out the entire line by Paper Orchid and you'll find laser-cut wrappers for Halloween, baby showers, children's birthdays, Christmas, and more. How chic!

Behold, the Cupcake!

Eventually, you'll probably see plenty of posts on The Babs Blog relating to cupcakes...because they are irresistible! Here's the first "cupcake post" to grace our page. Here are two ways to present cupcakes in a unique way:
First of all, consider trimming the "usual" and "uninspired" cupcake wrapper with paper strips in fun colors. You can find pre-cut strips in the scrapbooking aisle of your favorite craft store, or you can cut your own with a regular scissors or pinking shears.
Secondly, consider displaying one cupcake on a candle holder made for a pillar candle. This comes in especially handy when you've made birthday cupcakes and someone at your party is the guest of honor. Placing a cupcake with a birthday candle on a pillar candle holder makes it rise above all the other cupcakes...and it's an unexpected way to highlight your creative cupcake skills!