At last, Montreal will have its first CupcakeCamp. Montreal bakers here is your chance to show off your baking talents. CupcakeCamp Montreal has 3 contest categories: professional bakers, amateur bakers and kids (less than 16 years old). Even the bad cupcake makers can participate. A fourth category is the Failcake contest designed for slackers and evil creative geniuses with horrible, horrible taste.

The event will raise money for Kids Help Phone. A donation of $10 at the door will get your choice of 3 cupcakes and a coffee. You are free to give more. Spread the word by letting everyone knows that you are attending CupcakeCamp Montreal on Facebook and Twitter (via@twtvite). If you wish to sponsor the event, it is not too late.

The event will take place at Bitoque Restaurant from 2 to 5 pm on November 22, 2009. Since it is on a Sunday afternoon, it is easy to come with your family and friends. I hope to see you at the first CupcakeCamp Montreal. And do not be shy to come to say hello. I will be there with my husband.

+ CupcakeCamp Montreal

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When Juanita Koo saw on Twitter that I was going to Toronto, she decided to give me a sweet treat. She sent me 6 cupcakes that she decorated with the 2 logos of the KimVallee.com brand. It is fun to arrive after a day of meetings to your hotel room and see those waiting for you.

I tasted her chocolate sour cream and her strawberry vanilla cakes. Both were excellent. I was pleased that they taste as good as they look. The size are her cupcakes is just perfect; not too small, not too big. Plus, she does not put too much icing and her icing is not too sweet.

I like the tiny potholders and oven mitts she crafted for the Calphalon Culinary Center in Toronto.

If you are in the Toronto area, do not hesitate to contact Juanita of Sweet Things. She does cakes and cupcakes. I am glad that her business since to be doing fine.  For more inspirations, you can have a peek at her adorable baby cakes.

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I found those at Amazon.com, and if you are hurry, you should receive them before Halloween. Using a special container is one of my time-saving tips. Plus, if you are new to cupcake decorations, it saves you the trouble of fighting for hours to produce an awesome look.

+ Paper Orchid Ghosts Cupcake Wrapper Black $13 USD for 12 – also available as white cupcake wrappers
+ This is the best buy: Wilton Haunted Manor Cupcake Wrapping Kit $8.95 USD for 12  die-cut fence wrappers with 24 pix, 12 of each design.

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If you feel like baking for Halloween, have a look at those superb creations that are sure to bring Ahhhh! from kids and grown ups.

The talented Bakerella did:

+ The Spider Cookies with Trix and a Betty Crocker Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix
+ The Spider Brownies with licorice wheels and raspberry and blackberry gumdrops

If you rush in time or just starting doing cupcake decorations, try the Spider Cupcakes by Paris Pastry. They are not complicated to make. Use black or brown paper wrappers for a scarier look.

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The idea of a spiced apple cake studded with granny smith apple topped with buttery caramel cream cheese frosting is very tempting. This Halloween flavor with the ghost and Boo decorations will be available every day up to Halloween.

By the way, Sprinkles Cupcakes joined last June the cupcake truck trend that we see emerging across the United States. If you live or visit the Los Angeles area, you may wish to follow the movements of the Sprinklesmobile on Twitter. The Sprinklesmobile is also available for private events.

+ photos: Andrea Lenardin for Sprinkles Cupcakes

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The first two ideas are something you can do yourself. I imagined the Owl cupcakes from a Back-to-school party. It is so easy to do that you can ask your kids to help you. I got that idea from Real Simple. On chocolate icing, you use 2 Oreo halves (cream-side up) and 2 Junior Mints to make the eyes. Add a Runts banana for the beak.

Jewellery making parties are popular with little and grown up girls. Use candies to decorate cupcakes. You do not have to stop at floral patterns either. Get an assortment of sprinkles and sugars and let your creativity flow.

The Professional

My favourite cupcake maker in Montreal, Michelle of Clever Cupcakes did the last two ideas. For a little boy, she created this amazing circus theme cupcakes. They are Vegan chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting topped with handmade fondant circus characters and circus tents.

For a Pink Princess birthday theme, Michelle handcrafted fondant pieces inspired by The Princess and The Frog tale. Michelle said on Flickr that she was inspired from another of my favourite cupcake maker, Blue Cupcake.

PHOTO CREDITS:
+ Owl cupcakes by Real Simple – photo by Alan Richardson
+ Decorate with Candy by Real Simple – photo by Ngoc Minh Ngo
+ Vegan Circus Cupcakes by Clever Cupcakes

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No need to get fancy fondant cupcakes to make a lasting impression. You can go a long way with figures, stamps and creativity.

How This Mom Did It

Look at the impressive party realized by swishersweets80. I applauded that this mother got her supplies from several stores. Therefore, the result is not too matching. She nicely decorated the cupcake stands simply using red, blue and green gift wraps. Her stands could be used for a circus theme. They become Mario stands when she added the accessories. Video games, especially the ones from Japan,  are great because you can find a whole range of branded items that you can use as party decorations.

For favors, you can find soda drinks, candy boxes and figures at video games stores. Her favor bar included Rainbow Colored Barber Poles, Mario Bros. Band-Aids found at Urban Outfitters, Red and Green Caps and Fake Mustaches purchased at OrientalTrading.com, Coinboxes filled with Chocolate Coins and Gum Coins, and Mario Themed Mini-Stamps found at Amazon.com.

Games

You can play Mario games on the Wii. I suggest Mario Kart Wii with a Wii wheel or WarioWare: Smooth Moves which is a bunch of mini-games. You can play Mario Kart with the standard Wii controllers. A Wii wheel cost about $10. For an extra $30, everyone can drive with its own Wii wheel controller. Or you can ask a few friends to bring their Nintendo DS so you can host a tournament of Mario Kart.

This theme is not just for children. I know that my husband would like it for his birthday party. Remember the old arcade theme I did for him last year.

MORE:
+ photos by swishersweets80 on Flickr – rights reserved
+ learn how to make your own cupcake stands

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I am writing this post in response to a reader’s question. Jessica B. wanted to know where to get this type of cupcake stand.

I usually ask my cupcake baker to make it. This way, I am sure that the colors are coordinated with the cupcakes. But if you do it yourself, you could start from your party decor and provide a sample of your stand paper and ribbons to the cupcake baker.

These are not hard to do if you have some crafting experience. Cakejournal published a step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own cupcake stand. You can be as imaginative as you want. Look at the bold stands produced by Mandotts on Flickr. She is a talented woman with a flair for cupcake and cake decorations.

These stands are for one use only.

PHOTO CREDITS:
+ Cupcake Stand Tutorial by Cakejournal
+ Custom Cupcake Stands by Mandotts

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Everyone loves the sight of a gorgeous cakes. There are so much a part of any celebration. Thanks to #followfriday on Twitter, I discovered one more talented cake designer today. Lori Hutchinson is a Canadian who bakes from Collingwood, Ontario.

Besides her cake design, it is the styling of her cake photos that caught my attention. These were taken at a photo shoot with Erika and Ryan of Rowell Photography. Since her cake shop is called The Caketress, I feel the shots captured that essence.

Cupcake wraps add elegance. There are almost a must for a chic party. I also like when Lori puts her cupcakes inside traditional tea cups. These stitches are hand painted. She created that red and blue cake for an event organized by the Blue Mountain Foundation of the Arts.

MORE:
+ The Caketress
+ Photo credits: Rowell Photography – some shots may be from other photographers.
+ Follow me on Twitter

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It is not the first time I featured the work of Julie Desmeules of Blue Cupcake. What can I say, she never stopped to amazed me. I wish I was a guest at those parties. For grown ups, have a look at one of her Cupcake Wedding Tower and the Bon Voyage! cupcake she did for herself before going to vacation.

For Kids Birthdays

Julie excelled at sculpting animals in fondant. This Noah’s Ark Cupcake Tower was designed for the first birthday of a little boy called Noah. Two by two go the hippos, elephants, turtles, lions, and many more! For each specie, she crafted a male and female version.  This is an easy theme on which to build a birthday kid party.

A 3-year old girl has her Cinderella princess party. She requested a glittery coach on the cake. You have to be close to see the glittery powder on the coach.

Now Available Daily at Lot 44 Coffee

Since last Monday, July 20, 2009,  her daily baked classic flavor cupcakes such as red velvet, chocolate, coconut and vanilla are sold at Lot 44 Coffee in downtown Los Angeles. There will be many seasonal flavors as well. She served the very popular strawberry cupcakes at the event. I wish her all the best with this new venture.

+ Blue Cupcake

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As a follow up to yesterday’s garden and jungle creatures pancake molds at Williams-Sonoma, I found these no-fuss designer cupcake kits. You will get the upscale look with the satisfaction that you did it yourself. Sadly, they are from an Australian brand called Sweetiepie Cakes.

They currently produce 16 themes from baby showers, kids birthdays, bridal showers, weddings, women have tea partys and more. The kits are not cheap but each kit contains more than the typical cupcake kit.  You get the vanilla cupcake mix, ready-to-use icing, shaped decorations, cupcake wrappers, 2 paper cases for baking, a mini spatula, a round cutter for sugarpaste icing. You only need to supply the kitchen tools and the perishable ingredients.

If the cupcakes are for a hostess gift, you can get Kraft cupcake boxes for 6 with a cute gift wrap tag. Or you can print your own gift tag and use a string to secure the box. They also sell two styles of gift box for individual cupcakes.

SOURCING:
+ Sweetiepie Cupcake Kit S42.95 AUD

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In case you did not heard, the latest cookbook from Martha Stewart will be released next Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009. You will find inside Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes 175 ideas and recipes for cupcakes, frostings, fillings, and toppings. There are no second guess of what it should look like since every recipe is accompanied with a picture.

Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes is designed to have something from every level of bakers. You are sure to find inspiring cupcake decorations to fit every occasion. The cookbook covers classic recipes such as devil’s food cupcakes, sweet surprises like peanut butter and jelly cupcakes, elegant treats like tiny cherry-almond tea cakes up to festive showstoppers topped with piped buttercream blossoms or meringue bouquets.

For cookie lovers, Martha with her team of editors at Martha Stewart Living released a popular book on cookies last year. With recipes organized by texture, Martha Stewart’s Cookies covers a wide array of sweet surprises, including the traditional chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies, rum raisin shortbread, peppermint meringue sandwiches with chocolate filling, and lime melt away cookies. Amongst the 175 cookie recipes are the beloved Anzac cookies.

For a not too sweet version, try the recipe by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks. Heidi says that Anzac cookies are very easy to bake. Anzacs are made from oats, coconut, and flour coming together in a butter-kissed dough. Canadian Family featured a classic Anzac biscuit recipe.

SOURCING:
+ Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone’s Favorite Treat $15.68 USD
+ Martha Stewart’s Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share $16.47 USD
+ image: Anzac Biscuits on Canadian Family
+ image: Anzac Cookies on 101 Cookbooks

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