Kids 12 and under can win a prize for best cupcake decorating at Little Pearl Cupcake's Sprinkle Station

Little Pearl Cupcake in Grand Rapids, Michigan is hosting a Sprinkle Station at their bakery through October 9th, with an Art Prize for the best decorated cupcake. Here's one example, from their Facebook page. Fun! Anyone can do this with some Halloween candy and a little imagination, too, at home or at a picnic or anywhere. Visit littlepearlcupcake.com for more information.



And these are their Halloween cake pops, available for special order:



And for those who are like "Halloween, whatever," here's their caramel apple cupcake:

Win a Cupcake Diaries back to school package with 2 books and an apron!

Our latest contest is to win a copy of 2 Cupcake Diaries books, Katie and the Cupcake Cure and Mia in the Mix by Coco Simon, about a group of middle school students who are friends who form a cupcake club and sell them at school and other events, along with a Cupcake Diaries apron. Enter at this Formstack link through September 6th. U.S. addresses only. Click here to see our writeup of the first two books, and also make sure to visit the official Cupcake Diaries site for a book trailer, excerpts and more info on these 4 cupcake lovers!







The latest Cupcake Diaries book is Emma on Thin Icing, and it just came out.







We'll have a review shortly, but here's the official summary:



When Mia asks the girls in the club to be junior bridesmaids in her mother's wedding, everyone is superexcited about the idea...especially when they find the perfect dress for the occasion! It's Emma's dream dress, except it's a little more than she expected. And with her mom now out of a job (she's been put on furlough at the library) there's not a lot of room at the Taylor's house for extras. But not wanting to disappoint her friends, Emma decides to take on a few more jobs and chores around the house to help cover the cost. Between babysitting her bratty brother, a dog-walking business, flute practice, the Cupcake Club--and oh yeah, being a typical tween girl--Emma may have bitten off more than she can chew. Can she handle it all?

Become cupcake famous: cupcake flavor contest at Main Street Cupcakes to name the Medina Cupcake!

Want to show your town spirit and have a cupcake you've designed for sale at Main Street Cupcakes in Medina, Ohio? Read on!







From their website:



Main Street Cupcakes



wants your help designing the official

Medina Cupcake

The Medina Cupcake will join our ever rising list of 245+ flavors of cupcakes!



Join our other cupcake design winners like Jennifer from Rocky River who designed a “colorful cupcake because Rocky River is a colorful place to live.” Chocolate cake filled with fudge, baked with chocolate chips and walnuts, then topped with yellow tinted vanilla buttercream, all rolled in green sugars, and garnished with Swedish fish.



And Amanda who designed the Hudson Cupcake: Vanilla cake baked with apple pie filling topped with caramel buttercream, and garnished with a touch of cinnamon because “the city of Hudson is as American apple pie!”



It's free to enter! All entries must be submitted electronically to Sarah at MainStreetCupcakes.com

*Be sure to be creative, tell us a story about why this cupcake

should be made in honor of Medina.*



Contest runs from August 16h-September 2nd



The Winner will be announced on Tuesday, September 6th.



In addition to infinite bragging rights for designing the official cupcake of Medina, the winner will also receive a

free dozen of their winning flavor!



Main Street Cupcakes has three Ohio locations: Hudson, Rocky River and Medina. See mainstreetcupcakes.com for more information.



Also, each of the three locations has daily cupcake flavors which you can find on their Facebook page; today's in Medina are:



Wedding day white - Red Velvet - Peanut butter banana bliss - Cassada - Vanilla chai - Chocolate peanut butter - Classic chocolate - Raspberry Lemonade - Classic vanilla - Orange float - Berry Berry Strawberry - Strawberry Margarita - Lemon drop - Day & Night - Chocolate Lava - Strawberry & Pink...



And the cupcake flavor of the month is Peanut Butter Banana Bliss!



Here's a few random photos from their Facebook page:











Rocky River Cupcake: Chocolate cake filled with fudge, baked with walnuts and chocolate chips, topped with yellow tinted vanilla butter cream frosting, rolled in green sugar crystal sprinkles and garnished with a sweedish fish candy. This cupcake represents the Rocky River, the trout, the beaches and the Emerald Necklace.







"Caramel Toffee Cheesecake." Cheesecake and Toffee Cake, frosted with Caramel buttercream, and garnished with toffee crumbles and a chocolate drizzle.

Win one of three copies of children's book You Are My Cupcake

Our latest contest, which you can enter on Formstack, is to win an adorable new children's board book, You Are My Cupcake by Joyce Wan. US addresses only. Deadline is Friday, August 12th, 5 pm EST. We will email the winners for their addresses.

You can also buy You Are My Cupcake from Amazon.



Here's what Publishers Weekly said about it:

"You are my cupcake... My sticky little gumdrop... My mushy little sweet pea," coos this plucky board book featuring terms of endearment based on cutely personified foods. Embossed for a satisfying tactile effect, Wan's digitized characters, reminiscent of Japanese animation, have chocolate-brown eyes and rosy cheeks. "Baby, I could just eat you up!" concludes the adoring final spread. All that's left of the cupcake is its smiling, green liner. Presumably, no actual cupcakes were harmed in the making of this crowd-pleasing plum. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)”

Sunday in Austin: one day only special cupcake flavors at Sugadeaux Guest Bake at Sugar Mama's

From Australia's Sugadeaux Cupcakes comes this special annual limited edition cupcake event, this Sunday!

Plus your chance to win a $50 Sugar Mama's Bake Shop gift card! The 8-course cupcake tasting sold out too fast for us to get a post up, though more info and a link are below (another reminder to follow your favorite cupcake bakeries on Twitter and Facebook!) but this event is open to the public and we encourage you to check it out (and if you do and want to write about it for us, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com). In this case, follow them @sugarmamas and @Sugadeaux and find out more about Sugadeaux on their website.





Full details about the Guest Bake are on Facebook and below.

Sunday, July 31, 11 am - 4 pm
Sugar Mama's Bakeshop
1905 S 1st St
Austin, TX
512-448-3727

Come on down to Sugar Mama's Bakeshop where we'll be guest baking for the day! We're featuring two brand new Sugadeaux cupcake flavours (one classic Aussie, one Texan inspired) alongside the awesome Sugar Mama's menu, plus everyone who makes a purchase gets a bonus Aussie treat.

Jess will be working the counter all day, so come on in and say howdy!

Google Places will also be handing out free swag from 12-2.30, and giving you the chance to win a $50 Sugar Mama's gift card!

And from CultureMap Austin (typos theirs), info on "Dessert for Dinner," the 8-course cupcake tasting, which sold out in three days:

The two soon set about launching an event Pryles had dreamed up weeks before, a “cupcake residency” so to speak, where the two ladies could try out flavors new and old on fans. Now three years running, “Dessert for Dinner” is an eight-course cupcake tasting, with four flavors each prepared by Sugar Mama’s and Sugadeux. At $18 per ticket, today’s tasting sold out in three days.

“Before we went to press really, Olivia and I just got online and started Tweeting it, and it immediately went crazy,” Pryles says. It’s no wonder: Both Sugar Mama’s and Sugadeux will be debuting two brand new flavors, and Pryles has a particularly Texas twist.

“Texas Pink Grapefruit, which is made with a grapefruit curd, from local grapefruits,” explains Pryles. “I’m also making a Sweet Tea cupcake, which is so very Southern, and reminds me of my adopted Texas.”

Win a copy of cupcake cookbook Sparkle Cupcakes

More from this new cupcake cookbook next week, including two recipes, one for the salted caramel cupcakes seen below, but for now: a contest! Win a copy of Sparkle Cupcakes: The Little Black Book, the cookbook by Kathryn Sutton; to enter, go to Formstack and fill out the form there by July 18th. That is the ONLY way to enter (not as a comment here). US addresses only (sorry). You can also buy it on Amazon if you just can't wait!



More about the book:

Cupcakes make every occasion a celebration. The Little Black Book captures some of the celebrations that have been marked with a Sparkle cupcake or many. In this book, Sparkle Cupcakery shares its secret recipes- from rich red velvet Valentine’s day cupcakes to wedding day cupcakes- there’s even cupcakes for men and pupcakes for the pooch! Complete with step-by-step instructions on baking and decorating, you’ll be sparkling in no time!


salted caramel cupcakes from Sparkle Cupcakes.

Find out more about Sparkle Cupcakery on their website and Facebook page.