Cups and Cakes has a truly cultish following – Kathryn E swears that “Jesus has returned in the form of a half-dollar sized Maple Bacon cupcake,” and we should rejoice and “savor the bliss of true culinary salvation.” Any time a mini-dose of baked heaven is desired, Wendella A makes her way over to That Takes the Cake for their lemon cupcake, a tongue-tingling ballet of tart and sweet.” The affective state most commonly associated with Miette’s buttercream frosted cupcake consumption is euphoria, with anecdotal evidence suggesting what one would describe as “warm fuzzies” (Steph P, 2008).

The minis from American Cupcake make Jill S regress back to “My Little Pony and rainbows and kittens and days when her gap-toothed, freckle-faced, myopic-glasses-wearing, dorky self fondly indulged a massive sweet tooth with ooey-gooey yummy cupcakes baked by mom.” The artisan cookies n’ cream cupcakes at the Chestnut Bakery keep Willhelm Y on a day-long sugar high. A sucker for the “classy version of the Hostess cupcake” at Noe Valley Bakery, Lolia S delights in its rich chocolate ganache, Bavarian cream filling and that nostalgic white scribble.

The awe-inspiring mini cupcake bar at Delessio leaves Becca W feeling both shameless and gluttonous, since her selection “didn’t survive more than a couple of blocks before being devoured.” Peter M can’t resist the “late-night, caramel-licking, chocolate love-making, sneak back into bed kind of fling” with Kara’s java cupcakes. Sexy! And finally, Winnie W is blown away by the magical things that Debbie Does Cakes can do with cupcakes – she’s your go-to gal if you’ve ever fantasized about serving up cakes that look like lingerie or nigiri sushi.

Erin McKenna of vegan bakery BabyCakes NYC bakes vegan treats.

Take some dinosaur candles and put them on a cupcake:

Find out how to decorate these adorable cupcakes for your party.

Yummy Panda

Ingredients

• Cupcake - any recipe

• Buttercream icing in white and green

• Marzipan in plain and black

• Chocolate rice

Decorating Method

1. Make the panda first. Form 2 balls using plain marzipan. One is lightly smaller than the other.
2. Put the smaller ball on top of the bigger ball. That is for the head.
3. Form the hands and legs of the panda using black marzipan.
4. Form the ears using black marzipan as well.
5. Take one piece of chocolate rice to make its mouth. Find a piece that’s slightly curved, so that the panda looks smiling.
6. Next, make the eyes. The panda eyes is three layers. From the bottom, black, plain and black. Put the panda aside.
7. Cover the cupcake in white icing. Place the panda in the middle.
8. Then, using tip #233, pipe green icing around the panda, to make it look like grass.

Tell us what you think about this idea…

Here’s what to do when you have the sudden urge for a pineapple daquiri daiquiri after last call when the bar is closed.

Get some rum (rougly a shot /1.5 oz). Try for light rum if you have it. If you have 151 or a really strong rum, just put less in. If you have spiced rum, just put in the full shot and it will have a little spice to it

Now find some pineapple juice (or about 4 chunks of pineapple if you have a blender). If you have a can of pineapple chunks, be sure it’s not the kind with corn syrup. If you only have chunks of pineapple and not enough juice and you don’t have a blender, you can put the pineapple into a ziploc bag and smoosh it by hand, then freeze it and break it up.

Totally Optional: Get half of a lime to squeeze in or slice and put on the glass if you prefer. I really don’t bother with pre-squeezed lime juice unless it’s fresh.

You may also want to add a half teaspoon of sugar. This is recommended if you used a lime.

If you have a blender, put everything in there with a cup of ice, otherwise try for crushed ice and stir or mix it in a mixer, or if you don’t have crushed ice.. then try to crush it in a bag with a hammer or just stir in your ice with your drink.

If you have a chunk of pineapple you can put it on a toothpick with a maraschino cherry and a hibiscus flower, but come on.. this is sudden urge, you probably don’t have time for all that.

There’s another technique (doesn’t really fall under “sudden urge recipes”) where you freeze pinapple juice and crush the frozen pineapple juice. You don’t need ice for this recipe. When you add the lime juice and rum it makes the frozen pineapple juice slushier. If it’s too sweet for you you can add a little club soda or Sprite or 7-up.

There are probably a billion variations of this, so feel free to comment yours.

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups of flour
• 1.5 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspooon of cocoa powder
• 1.5 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 2 of large eggs
• 1 ounce of red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar

1. The classic swirl
2. The bathing cap
3. The flower

All you need is cupcakes, icing, a ziplock bag, and a petal tip.