It is often hard when you are out for a special dinner or at home to select one dessert, especially when they all look sooo good!  But I am pleased to say that Buttercream Bakery has come up with a solution!!

The dessert on top of a dessert!  In this case a banana split on top of a cupcake!

You can easily create these yourself and you have a few options!  One is that you can create the bananas out of fondant and sit them on top of a vanilla frosting then top with a rich chocolate ganache.  Another option is to actually use real banana (slice it in half longways, then in half again), frost your cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting then put the triangle side of your banana strip onto the cupcake (ensuring that you have trimmed it to the right length first).

Then instead of using a chocolate ganache, just melt some chocolate and while it is still warm spoon it onto the top of the cupcake!  Yum!

Actually another great idea would be to add a bit of chocolate ganache to the inside of your cupcake too, for an extra indulgent treat!

Thanks Buttercream Bakery for bringing us this idea!

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I have featured cupcake hamburgers before, but what about the cupcake sandwich!  Today I have a visual gallery of cupcake sandwiches!  Probably not the healthiest thing for the school lunch, but they sure do look interesting!

So whether you fill them with fruit, ice cream, cream cheese, frosting or fondant, why not try a cupcake sandwich?  I can’t really go past the strawberries and cream!

This cupcake and ice cream sandwich is from the Cupcake Project's blog from a few years ago when they did a round up of cupcakes and ice cream. This one in particular is from Little Ivy Cupcakes and is a massive contender for the largest cupcake sandwich.

More traditional looking this cupcake sandwich is from 'Hector's take on Rose's Heavenly Cakes', which also uses ice cream to fill it.

My final example of the cupcake sandwich is this picture. The cupcake here was designed by Chrissy but I found it on the 'I Heart Cuppy Cakes' blog as part of the September 09 Cupcake Roundup.

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My answer to this question is no.  Unfortunately they are not popular down here in Australia, but it seems to me that this cupcake could be in the magic realm of the pumpkin cake and the carrot cake, insanely good, but from the list of the ingredients you just can’t quite imagine it.

The hummingbird cupcake features bananas, cinnamon, pecans and pineapple along with your standard cupcake ingredients like sugar and eggs!  It is then topped with cream cheese frosting and pecans.

I am really keen to try these, especially as they fall in Bake or Break‘s top 10 cupcakes of all time, and that includes all the really good chocolate ones!

If you like me would like to try these, Bake or Break have a full recipe for the cakes and the frosting here on her blog.

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In Autumn many people will go blackberry picking because it is the perfect season for these juicy beautiful berries.  If you do have blackberries around your area, then grab a tupperware container or similar box and get out there and get them now while they are still fantastic.  Don’t use a bag because you will squash or damage them.  When you are out picking, select the black shiny juice laden berries and leave anything red or hard on the bush.  Bring them home, give them a gentle clean and then have a cup of tea while you select which type of cupcakes you would like to turn them into!  Alternatively you can just buy them at the supermarket!

1. Blackberry Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting

Our first selection for you to peruse is the straightforward blackberry cupcake with blackberry frosting from Confections of a Foodie Bride.  These cupcakes are blackberry from head to toe, with just a hint of lemon.

2. Gluten Free Blackberry Cupcakes

If you want to get great cupcakes but would like to skip the gluten then these cupcakes from Cannelle Vanille are perfect.  These use blackberry puree (which you can create by blending your blackberries) and yoghurt!  Mmmm I love the look of the buttercream frosting on these too, divine!

3. Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes

These cupcakes from Coconut Lime are fantastic.  They are made using fresh blackberry juice that you can make yourself and includes vanilla sugar to take the edge of the tart blackberries!

4. Blackberry Cupcakes with Key Lime Frosting

Ahh, what would one of my lists of five be without at least something a little alternative and these are certainly a little different featuring a lime frosting.  The recipe is located on Meet Me in the Kitchen, however the recipe is from Peabody, so we have them both to thank for these fun looking cupcakes.

5. Blackberry and Apple Cupcakes

Our final cupcake is not from a blog but from the BBC in Essex and is Linda Edmonds’ winning cupcake creation of Blackberry cream and Apple Cupcakes.  They sound and look so yummy and given they are award winning, they must be! The combination of blackberry and apple is very popular in pies and other baking projects but there are not a lot of recipes in cupcake form that combine these two!

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We have a quiet weekend planned this weekend, thank goodness!  Perhaps we’ll do some baking!  Coupons is also having a quiet day, so don’t forget to let us know if you have any for next week!

Today’s Friday photo comes from April Poyer of Apple Blossom Designs, who made these scrummy looking banana walnut cakes with cream cheese frosting.  Love the idea of using banana chips on top!

1. Sweets Bakeshop has their code word ‘Cupcake Happy Hour’ from 6pm to 8pm (5pm to 6pm on Sundays) free cupcake offer to visitors of their store.

2. The new cupcake on the streets of Chicago is More, taking their cupcakes mobile next month.  The scheduled start date for the rounds is mid-August, and during that first week the truck will travel to Chicago landmark sites and hand out free cupcakes! More information here!

4. Just Cupcakes in Maryland will give a free cupcake coupon to everyone who joins their mailing list.

5. Shortcuts still have one Betty Crocker Coupon for Warm Delights. It expires in September.

6. We have some Nestle Coupons for you over on the Very Best Baking website for Toll House Morsels, Refrigerated Cookie Dough and Carnation Evaporated Milk.

7. If you are after parchment paper, check out Reynolds Parchment for their save $1.00 coupon.

If you own a cupcake business, why not increase knowledge of your cupcake or baking coupons by letting us know.  Email us at Party Cupcake Ideas or at PartySprinkles@me.com

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Last week our mid week hump day post about strange cupcake ideas was so popular that today we bring you another five!  This time it is fruity cupcakes!  All with recipes, so why not try something a *bit* different with one of these fantastic fruity cupcake ideas!

1. Pomegranate Green Tea Cupcakes – How good do these cupcakes look??  The Cupcake Blog is always experimenting and exploring with her baking and in this case played with a green tea recipe.  The full recipe is on her blog, and if you do not like the idea of pomegranate foam, then just replace with normal frosting!

2. Spiced Apple Cupcakes – This is the first time we have featured the blog Cake Batter and Bowl, but I am sure it will not be the last.  These cupcakes are a spice fiesta of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves, apple and topped with cream cheese frosting and a caramel drizzle.  Sounds too good to be true, good thing you can make it yourself!

3. Peanut Butter and Banana Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting – So do you get that our fruit recipes are not the norm?  We really are going for recipes that challenge what everyone else is doing! This recipe from Baking Bites certainly does that!  Apparently they turn out fantastic, and just in case you want it to be more peanut butter, they have provided an alternative peanut butter frosting recipe as well!

4. Honey Poached Pear Cupcakes with White Chocolate Pistachio Buttercream – Can I say anything more than that these make me drool, they look so yum and would be perfect with my morning cup of tea! This recipe comes from ecupcake and was her answer to the challenge to use pear, lemon and a selection of nuts in a cupcake form.

5. Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache – We could end in no other way but with strawberries, so when I saw these stunning looking cupcakes on Annies Eats I knew that I had found fruity cupcake heaven. My only problem would be sacrificing the Champagne required in order to make them.  You could use these cupcakes for any adult party as they are so stunning and stylish you are bound to make a statement.

Click here to see last week’s strange cupcake ideas which featured of all things a brain cupcake and Coca-Cola chocolate cupcakes. And check us out next week for five ‘yucky’ cupcakes.  The ideas that really didn’t work!

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Have you ever noticed that cupcakes get eaten much faster on party tables than any other dessert? Especially kids’ cupcakes.
Cupcakes have become very popular. The cupcake rage has reached America, Australia, England and Canada. These little one-portion cakes have charmed the nations these last few years. Shops dedicated to the small wonders have been popping up everywhere. Each has its own decorating style but all are scrumptious.
Why not have a cupcake party? A cupcake party can start a trend within your circle of friends and family. Served with coffee or tea, they are good conversation starters as they can be topped in very wacky ways. Anything can help stir your imagination for scrumptious icings and toppings.

Strawberry Dipped Chocolate: distopiandreamgirl

It could be a theme cupcake party. Bake a nice fruity batter with fresh fruit added and top with icing to make them look like fruits. It could be a good strawberry cake with a nice creamy pink vanilla icing topped with a fresh strawberry, or my favorite: dip the strawberry in semi-sweet chocolate! Yum. Try a banana cake with chocolate icing and top with a candy banana – chocolate goes so well with banana. It also goes nicely with pear. A moist chocolate cake with chocolate icing and caramelized slices of pear on top wouldn’t be bad either. Lemon meringue cupcakes: wow!

Pig Cupcake: Megpi

The next person on the list having a cupcake party can go with something completely different. Pig cupcakes. Yup, you read right. The pig is a respectful farm animal that suffered a bad reputation for many years. We now know pigs are clean, do not necessarily smell bad and boy are they ever cute! Especially little piglets. Now who doesn’t find a piglet cute? Go crazy with pink icing and candy to make eyes and snouts. Make them happy piglets with smiles or have them play in mud and splash a little chocolate icing on their cheeks! Give them friends and make cat and dog cupcakes for the animal lovers in your circle.

Cupcake Stand Picture: Clever Cupcakes

You can also make traditional cupcakes of vanilla cake and butter cream icing topped with chocolate shavings or colored sprinkles. Place them on a cupcake three-tier stand and voila! You just created easy cupcakes that look fabulous when placed elegantly on a stand. Bet your friends will ask to borrow your cupcake stand for their next party.
Have a kids’ cupcake party. Gather all the children you know, bake a nice batch of cupcakes and supply them with tons of icings of different colors and all sorts of candies and nuts so they can experiment and decorate their own cupcake. They will eat lots of toppings while they work: just a warning.
Cupcakes are fun, versatile and good to eat. They accompany kids’ parties, weddings, christenings, baby showers, Halloween parties, Christmas dinners, Easter brunch, or just plain afternoon tea with friends.
Enjoy baking them, decorating them, see where your imagination will take you with different topping ideas, let your creativity flow and of course, eat them with pleasure. Eating them with people you love will make cupcakes taste even better.

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Laura created these cute apple cupcakes for her daughter’s class on the first day of school this year. She used a simple white cake recipe and buttercream icing died hot pink and used red sprinkles. A piece of an Oreo sipster straw cookie for the stem and green fondant leaves. These are some beautiful apples. Thanks for sharing Laura!

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photo credit: stevendepolo

I wonder if these banana cupcakes taste like bananas as well? I think this is a fun idea for a Monkey or Banana theme party.

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Another favorite candy from the 80′s found it’s way onto my cupcakes last night. Strawberry and grape Nerds make for some fun crunching. Nerds candy would be a fun idea for an 80′s theme party or surprise your friends with this crunchy cupcake decoration.

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