Hiya, Cupcake!

 

When my sister offered to bake the cake for Bee’s fourth birthday party a few weeks ago, I happily accepted. I told her to confer with her niece over the cake’s specifications, and that whatever they came up with would be fine with me.

I didn’t hear anything about the cake leading up to the day of the party, but when my sister walked through the door, I definitely expected to see her carting something pink, heavily decorated with sparkles and sprinkles, and exclaiming all sorts of  princess-y tackiness loveliness.

Imagine my delight when I saw these:

I was astounded. My sister has created some beautiful desserts before, but I could not believe these gorgeous little masterpieces would be the centerpiece of my daughter’s birthday table. Clearly, I had not given Bee (or my sister) enough credit for deciding on carrot-cake cupcakes with cream-cheese icing. And butterflies. Chocolate butterflies. Hand-piped by my little sis, who btw, is in the middle of final exams. (She has almost completed her second degree and will be a licensed massage therapist! I have the best sisters in the world.) I was pleased and proud to display the cupcakes, which tasted as good as they looked.

Still on a cupcake high this week, I was totally stoked when I found an advance copy of Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes, fresh from Random House Canada’s office, in my mailbox!

Gorgeously presented, full of lush photographs and Martha’s signature no-questions-left-unanswered directions, Cupcakes is a full 175 recipes of, well, cupcakes. Frosted, filled, fruity or festive, there is a cupcake recipe for every taste and every occasion.

To me, the ‘cupcake’ designation seemed a bit stretched. Zucchini-Nut Cupcakes aren’t cupcakes; they’re muffins with some added sugar. And Chocolate-chip Cookie Cupcakes are just chocolate-chip cookies baked in a muffin tin.

Wow, who knew I was such a cupcake purist?

Anyway, because I am a woman of contradictions, if the loose boundaries of what defined a cupcake kind of irked me, it was not so much that I felt like the omission of a section on savoury cupcakes was missing (Rhubarb-cornmeal cupcakes seemed to be the closest it gets). I would have liked to have seen appetizer or brunch cupcake suggestions, even if the recipes were just quiche cooked in a muffin tin. Anyway, I suppose I don’t need a recipe to make quichecakes, and it is nice to think that I came up with something before Martha did.

But I digress. The point is, there really are some mouth-watering, creative and original recipes throughout Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes, and I look forward to getting cracking on a few of them. Unless, perhaps my sweet tooth would be better served by passing this book on to my sister…

Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; 352 pages; Clarkson Potter. On sale June 2, 2009.

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Comments

[Beck]

Good review!

I'm reading that now, too. Like the Martha Cookies book, I found it more of an interesting selection of recipes than a thorough exploration of the topic. The topic of cupcakes.

Holy crap, look at your sister's cupcakes! Those are astonishing.

[No Mother Earth]

Truly lovely cupcakes! I'm wondering if either of my boys would like butterfly cupcakes for their birthdays?? Hmm, perhaps I could do bugs instead.

[Lisa b]

Oh now I need butterfly cupcakes.
Can your sister teach me how to make those?

[alejna]

Mmmm...cupcakes! Those are gorgeous.

And yeah, where are the savory cupcakes? Where's the rosemary cupcake frosted with sundried tomato cream cheese recipe?

[petitegourmand]

those are so sweet!
and you'll have to hook me up re: RMT sister
she bakes AND she can give a good massage...I wish I had a sister like that
lucky you!

[Rebecca]

Hey all

If you want amazing cup cakes, I was at a party a week ago and tasted the best treats ever, from cupcakes to cookies to chocolates. My friend had her party catered by Gourment Biscotti and treats. Let me tell you the best stuff ever. She has great prices and loves to creat new things especialy for your event.

www.gourmentbiscottiandtreats.webs.com
bella0@rogers.com