Cupcake Palace

Although I'm not really one for buying cookbooks, I do try to stay informed on the in vogue cookbooks and food trends. There are not many as rabid as the cupcake and cupcake shop trend, which you don't even have to be a slightly informed foodie to notice. Keeping up with the world's cupcake news could be a full-time job, e.g., check out this write-up and this one and one more of the Brooklyn Kitchen’s Cupcake Cook-Off. I can't wait to try baking the winning cupcake, the A-Rod Chocolate/Peanut Butter/Marshmallow Cupcake.

I expect to soon see a group of bloggers baking their way through this addition to the pool, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. Martha is a one-name superstar like Cher or Madonna, a rock star in the culinary world. I find some of Martha's recipes to be lacking, but I could never fault her on the perfect presentation executed in her magazines, books, and TV shows.  Decorating ideas in her cupcake book are creative and numerous. See a sampling of her slightly precious ideas here. I bought Martha's latest book to give to my new foodie friend, Shelley, for her birthday. But before I wrapped it, I shamelessly posed it amongst my own cupcakes.

I took two varieties of cupcakes to her birthday party: Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream (dyed blue) and Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. I had this goofy idea that if arranged correctly, they could look like the flag, which they kind of did - well actually, they didn't at all. One problem was not being able to get white star-shaped sprinkles, and another was not wanting to leave some Red Velvet Cupcakes unfrosted for the red stripes. Who wants a cupcake without frosting?




At the party, that baby blue frosting turned everyone's mouth blue. I can't imagine how much coloring it would have taken to make the frosting navy. Back to Martha, her Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe is my go-to for vanilla frosting. Actually, you can add any of a range of flavors and colors. Get Martha's Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe here.

I used almost a whole bottle of red coloring for the Red Velvet Cupcakes. I used the famous Magnolia Red Velvet recipe, but subbed cream cheese frosting for the vanilla.

photo by Peter Brown