What happens when we combine two of our favorite things, Champagne and cupcakes? Find out when host Brandi Milloy joins Dannielle, co-owner of Sin City Cupcakes, in the kitchen to create an exclusive POPSUGAR cupcake. Watch as we learn the secret to an ethereal cupcake batter (hint: the lightness comes from two unique ingredients), then see how to build layers of fruit flavor with a tart kiwi filling and a melon-vodka-infused frosting. Check out our video, then see the recipe below.
Treat your kids — Irish or not — to something special and sweet this St. Patrick's Day. We've rounded up 15 great ideas, including everything from Lucky Charms-laced and rainbow Rice Krispies treats to green and minty cookies, brownies, and even milk! Whether you prefer your recipes supereasy or extra-ambitious, you'll find a St. Paddy's Day treat that will please you and your little ones right here. Keep clicking to get lucky!
Hostess may have shut down last year, but that doesn't mean you can't still get your chocolate cream-filled cupcake fix!
Start by making an easy, classic chocolate cupcake that's fluffy and moist.
Build a surprise on the inside of each cupcake with a vanilla marshmallow filling using marshmallow fluff as a base. If you have any leftovers, make a fluffernutter sandwich with the marshmallow cream and peanut butter.
To fill the cupcakes, simply dive the star tip of the pastry bag into each cupcake's center. To fill each cupcake with the same amount, twist off a small section of the pastry bag (toward the tip) and only squeeze that amount (or less) into the cupcake. This little technique allows you to keep everything consistent, since you can't see how much marshmallow filling is actually in the center of each cupcake.
Take your time when icing the curlicue pattern: try to pipe the circles so that the edges touch each other.
OK, enough already! Time to dive in to discover that always-exciting cream center. See the Hostess-inspired cupcake recipe.
To celebrate our new live show, POPSUGAR LIVE!, and our new shopping site, POPSUGAR Shopping, we are bringing sweets your way! POPSUGAR will be delivering cupcakes this week in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Be on the lookout today, tomorrow, and Wednesday for our truck traveling the streets of your city.
Want a special POPSUGAR delivery? Tweet and Instagram @POPSUGAR #whatyoulove and tell us where you want our cupcake truck to stop in your city.
POPSUGAR is everything you love (including cupcakes!), all in one place.
To make your day even sweeter be sure to enter for a chance to win amazing luxury prizes here!
Pastry bags are an indispensable tool when it comes to neatly piping cupcake fillings, frosting, icing, and even pâte à choux pastry treats like gougères. That is, if you know a few simple steps that'll transform filling a pastry bag from a messy endeavor to an easy task that requires little cleanup.
To get started, you'll need a pastry bag
Bonus: the pint glass makes for a great resting place for the filled bag when not in use.
Ever wonder how professional bakers turn out perfectly portioned cookies, cupcakes, and muffins time and time again? It's not magic, nor does it require years of professional training. Rather, many rely on a simple tool: a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, otherwise known as a disher. Think of a disher as a measuring cup or spoon and silicone spatula in one handy package. All one needs to do is utilize an appropriately sized disher for the task at hand, fill it to the brim, and use it's spring-loaded metal band to scrape out the contents into a waiting muffin tin (for cupcakes and muffins) or onto a baking sheet (for cookies).
Why you should care: Not only do evenly sized baked goods look more appealing, but they'll bake up evenly as they'll all be the same size and cook at the same rate.
Our top pick: Norpro's set of small, medium, and large dishers
I'll pick a slice of cherry pie over a cupcake any day, with one exception: these lemon-curd-filled cupcakes. Pleasantly dense cream cheese pound cake flecked with lemon zest would make for a killer cake without further adornment, but velvety lemon curd is the real star here.
Thankfully (or dangerously), they're not too tricky to make, so I can whip them up with regularity. Just remember not to fill them with lemon curd more than four hours before serving as the lemon curd will start to leach into the cake, marring their otherwise lovely appearance.
Keep reading to learn how to prep them ahead of time — and, of course, for the recipe.
Well, hello there, Cupid! Valentine's Day takes on a whole new meaning once you become a mom. Sure, it's still fun to plan a little romantic something for the hubs, but a man can't really appreciate the beauty of heart-shaped or Valentine-inspired desserts like your kids can. Click through to check out these 26 sweet treats for mama to share with her special little someone this Valentine's Day.
Adorable filled cupcakes might seem like a project best left to the professionals, but let me reassure you that they're not; the requisite technique is actually quite easy to master (with a little guidance, of course). Follow along with this step-by-step guide and you'll be piping eye-catching filling into your favorite petite treats in next to no time.
What's sugar and spice and everything nice? Cupcakes! And no one knows more about our obsession with the lil confections than Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis, co-owners of Georgetown Cupcake and stars of TLC's DC Cupcakes. The sisters, who learned their kitchen skills from their grandmother ("We followed her around the kitchen and always begged to help"), have been known to bake up to 10,000 lil cakes a day, much to the delight of the patrons who line the block of their original Washington, DC store as well as their outposts in NYC, Boston Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The duo gave me a few minutes of their time to discuss their tasty desserts.
LilSugar: Cupcakes have moved from kiddie birthday party staple to a favorite of adults and kids alike. But kids aren't always willing to try new flavors. Which are most popular with kids?
Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis: Our Vanilla Birthday (vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow bobbles), Chocolate Birthday (chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow bobbles), and Milk Chocolate Birthday (vanilla cupcake with milk chocolate buttercream and rainbow bobbles) are the most popular with kids. We think it's the color rainbow bobbles!
LS: Moms are busy; what shortcuts can you recommend to making delicious, beautiful cupcakes without spending the whole day baking and decorating them?
SL and KK: Try to keep a stash of baking staples — butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, all purpose flour, baking soda/powder, salt, and cocoa powder/chocolate on hand in your kitchen at all times and you can make almost any flavor! Our recipes are very simple — we don’t use cake flour or pastry flour — just all purpose — we find that works best. Also, we're big fans of chocolate ganache icing. It's so easy — just two ingredients — chocolate chips and heavy cream. You just melt them down (two cups of chips to one cup of cream), and dip your cupcakes in and you've got a super fast and unbelievably delicious frosting.
LS: Do you ever make "healthy" cupcakes for those who want to skip some of the sugar? If so, what goes into it?
SL and KK: We have a carrot cake cupcake, which has fresh carrots and fresh apples grated in it. We skip the walnuts, to save on calories, and it's a light and delicious cupcake!
A new episode of DC Cupcakes airs on Valentine's Day, but if you're looking to create their Red Velvet, Chocolate Ganache, or Strawberry Lava Fudge cupcakes for Valentine's Day, read more
