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It's hard not to love cupcakes. They're cute, for one, and they come in pretty colors. When done just right, they're moist, creamy and redolent of the sweet innocence of a kid's birthday party. The heady, feel-good aroma of vanilla (yes, I'm partial) and sugar that tickles your nose works better than any timer to let you know they're ready to come out of the oven. And best of all, they're small, which means you don't have to feel guilty about eating one. (Provided you can stop at one, that is.) The cupcakes of today are different than the ones of my youth, though. Cupcakes have gone gourmet -- flavors like red velvet and pumpkin are replacing the old chocolate and vanilla standbys -- and cupcake bakeries are springing up all over the country.
Everyone I know has their favorite cupcake bakery, and insists that (whether they've tried it or not), it's better than yours. For me, it's Sugar Sweet Sunshine on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The first time I entered those doors, my senses were assaulted. Cupcakes in bright blue, pink and yellow hues ... the hot, sweet smells emanating from the ovens – it was like I had literally walked into Easter. The taste is perfection -- buttery but not-too-rich cake and the frosting is full of flavor and sweet without being overpowering. Despite the number of cupcakes they make and sell each day, each one has that same intense homemade flavor. When I take that first bite, I'm transported back to my grandmother's kitchen, standing on a stepstool to reach the counter and sticking my finger into the batter when she isn't looking.
The fact that Sugar Sweet Sunshine is a mere three blocks away from me is a blessing to my taste buds and a curse to my waistline. It's always worth it, though, even on the days when I forgo a nutritional breakfast for a tart lemon cupcake with rich butter cream frosting.
Did you know?
The term "cupcake" is believed to have came from the amount of ingredients used to make them -- a cup each of flour, butter and sugar.
Cupcake Recipes:
Apple-Banana Cupcakes
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
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2-13-2008 @3:02AM Nana said... When my daughter returned after graduating from law school, she brought home a new "recipe" for cupcakes....nothing but a cake mix and a can of diet soda...no oil...no eggs....no water!
She usually used diet Coke at school, but has since used diet Sprite with a white cake mix and a diet Dr. Pepper with a chocolate cake mix with amazing results. She made diet Sprite and strawberry cake mix cupcakes recently for my Girl Scout troop...the girls just loved them and were anxious to go home and give it a try for themselves...who can't make cupcakes when they're this simple?
To skirt the issue of no oil, she used foil cupcake papers at school to keep them from sticking, but I just lightly Pammed the regular ones for her and they worked perfectly.
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5-26-2007 @11:35AM XxoliveeyesxX@aol.com said... I love the little cupcakes, I love them goooood......
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5-29-2007 @10:35PM kat said... I absolutely love cupcakes! I make them all the time for the people i work for on every holiday and i decorate them to match the holiday. I use Duncan HInes white cake and add a tablespoon of almond extract to the batter. They are yummy!!
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5-29-2007 @10:39PM kat said... I absolutely love cupcakes!! I make them all the time for the people I work with on holidays. I decorate them to match the holiday. I use Duncan HInes white cake mix and add 1 tablespoon of almond extract to the batter. They are soooo yummy!
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6-03-2007 @8:20PM cidny said... We (kids and I, sometimes hubby) LOVE cupcakes and our favorite spot is the Cookie Jar in Houston, Texas - their red velvet cupcake is to die for!!!
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6-03-2007 @8:29PM cheryl said... Cupcakes are ok but my daughter makes to-die-for muffins!
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6-03-2007 @8:33PM Amber said... One of the best chidhood memories for me was when my mommie would bake late into the night before my birthday and come to my class the next day on her lunch break with cupcakes. The best part was she baked them in ice cream cones instead of traditional cupcake papers. Always made me feel so special that she would go through all that for me. (plus my cupcake cones made me the coolest in the class! That day anyway. haha)
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6-03-2007 @8:37PM Debra Kerr said... Cupcakes are wonderful my favorite cupcakes are choloate with vanilla iceing. or banana nut with cream cheese iceing. Even kids like them in there school lunch's, I think the cupcakes will be around for a long time 6/3/07 Debra Kerr
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6-04-2007 @8:00PM Donna said... I have a friend who I'm going to coin the cupcake girl. She moved next to an infamous bakery just to be close to the yummy cupcakes. BTW...She is tall, blonde and THIN...and cupcakes help her think BIG!
Donna
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6-03-2007 @8:54PM vivian said... Well cupcakes are the greatest things. My daughter is going to have a cupcake tower at her wedding reception in the fall. No cutting messes and they can be cute individually. Vanilla with red icing and Chocolate and chocolate icing. The colors for the wedding are red black and white.
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6-03-2007 @9:07PM L. said... My 76 year old mom makes the best "from scratch" cupcakes! She has been making them for at least 60 years now. They are lovely!
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6-03-2007 @9:23PM Colleen Paxton said... I dare anyone to try this cupcake receipe, I swear, they melt in your mouth, and everyone I,ve given some to take home, they always tell me later that the cupcakes never made it home! Here's the receipe: 1 box white cake mix, 1 sm box pistachio pudding, 3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 1 12oz. can 7-up, pour into 13x9in ungreased cake pan and bake until light golden brown in a 350 degree oven, cool here's frosting: I 8oz container cool whip, 1 sm box pistachio pudding 1/3 cup milk, mix the milk with the pudding then fold into cool whip, frost cooled cake. oops forgot: Beat the cake mix on high for 4 minutes, then bake!Coleen Paxton
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6-03-2007 @9:32PM Denice said... My daughter had cupcakes at her wedding with floral designs in lavender and delicate green , lovely and the wedding was held outdoors just as the sun was setting.....
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6-03-2007 @9:56PM Tina said... Some of the best memories I have of being a mom is baking cupcakes for my daughter's class when she was younger. She would get so excited when I would make the cupcakes, and she was always so proud to take them to school the next day.
We still absolutely love cupcakes! I think my favorite is the Duncan Hines butter recipe cake mix. They make absolutely wonderful cupcakes, especially topped with buttercream frosting!
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6-03-2007 @10:03PM Bobbi said... Cupcakes are the best! One serving of wonderfull cake and frosting, and no leftovers, they also make me feel like a kid again!
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6-04-2007 @1:10AM Bobbi said... Cupcakes are terrific, but then again so are cookies, which started out as a way to test cake batter.
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6-03-2007 @10:06PM sue said... i was in nyc recently and had the most outrageous chocolate cupcakes at a place called 'crumbs'. it was across the street from a thai restaraunt called 'cafatasia' which is also wonderful. it is near new york university and bet it does a great business with all the yummy goodies!!!!!! try it when you can.
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6-04-2007 @1:47AM Linda said... Just a note for all the bakers out there....use a spring loaded ice cream scoop to measure the batter for the liners in order to get all the cupcakes the same size
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6-03-2007 @10:32PM sandy wauhop said... I TOO LOVE CUPCAKES , I ALSO USE DUNCAN HINES CAKE MIX WHITE I LIKE TO ADD ALMOND FLAVORING THE BEST PART IS TO USE MIKE INPLACE OF WATER , THAY ARE VERY MOIST
sandy 6-3-07 1030pm
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6-03-2007 @10:57PM Peggy Hart said... One of the most "fun" weddings I ever went to had a four tier wedding cake ... made with several hundred CUPCAKES. I didn't feel guilty going back for a second piece of cake! ! !
Ms Peggy
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