Jessie Oleson of Cakespy wants to draw you a cupcake on her nationwide bakery book tour!

The countdown has begun for beloved Cakespy blogger, artist, baker and author Jessie Oleson's first book: Cakespy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life. She will kick off a nationwide book tour on October 13th at her retail store, Cakespy, in at 415 E. Pine Street in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, and visit cupcake bakeries around the country, including Portland, the Bay Area, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Chicago and more. Her New York City visit coincides with my birthday, November 10th, which is also National Vanilla Cupcake Day. She'll be at Brooklyn bakery Baked on the 9th (and Butter Lane on November 9th).





From her blog post (where you can find her tour dates):

Basically, we're going to hang out, eat baked goods, and then you will buy like 30 copies of my book (Official Tour de Sweet Promise: I promise to sign and draw a unicorn, cupcake, and/or robot in each and every copy of my book you buy).

Woo-hoo! Go see her on tour, you won't be disappointed.


photo of Jessie Oleson by me, in her Cakespy store

In a word: yum! Photo via Flickr; if you want to know h ow to make your own "yum" cupcake, which is, to call it by its proper name, a chocolate chip cookie dough filled funfetti cupcake (!!), see this Cakespy post for the recipe and bake your own.

There'll be 1,144 cupcakes at CupcakeCamp DC!

Get all the details on their Facebook page. Here's the official site; you can also follow them @dc_cupcakecamp on Twitter. To organize your own or find out about other CupcakeCamps, see cupcakecamp.org.





CupcakeCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment. Every CupcakeCamp raises awareness about and funds for a charity of that city's choosing. CupcakeCampDC 2011 is benefiting DC Candlelighters Child Cancer Foundation.

Reminder: Our NYC Cupcake Crawl in Greenwich Village is this Sunday!

A reminder that this month's meetup is a NYC Cupcake Crawl - I've added photos from each bakery below their name to tempt you further! See you on Sunday! Cost is $5 per person, and you can pay at the link above. You will also have the chance to win a t-shirt from Rogue Cupcakes.

To celebrate the beginning of the fall and to welcome new bakeries in the area, we're doing a CUPCAKE CRAWL. We will visit five bakeries, starting in Soho at Little Cupcake Bake Shop and ending at Molly's Cupcakes in the Village.

We will be at Little Cupcake Bake Shop on Sunday, September 18th at 2PM for 30 minutes to get the crawl group together, and then we walk to next locations.

1st Stop: Little Cupcake Bake Shop 30 Prince St btw Elizabeth & Mott



2nd Stop: Baked By Melissa 529 Broadway btw Spring & Prince


current cupcake flavor of the month (through September 30th): milk and cookies

3rd Stop: Ivy Bakery (New bakery) 138 W. Houston St.


The Princess Bride cupcakes (these were a special one-time thing, but one of my favorites)

4th Stop: Sweet Revenge 62 Carmine St.



5th Stop: Molly's Cupcakes (New bakery) 228 Bleecker St



Bring money/debit/credit card for cupcakes and drinks. We will be giving away one prize at each location!

Follow @cupcakeblog on Twitter for updates.

50 free cupcakes for kids at today's back to school party at Seattle's Trophy Cupcakes

Very cool! Via Facebook, we learned about this fun event today hosted by Seattle bakery Trophy Cupcakes:

The beginning of the new school year is here and Trophy is throwing a party! A Back-to-School party, that is. On Wednesday, Sept. 7, from 3-5 p.m., the Trophy Party Room, located in the old school house at Wallingford Center, will be adorned in the smartest school-themed trinkets and décor. There will be lots of fun to be had including a cupcake decorating demonstration and a coloring contest and a raffle, the prizes? you guessed it, school supplies and Trophy Cupcakes! The first 50 kids who attend Trophy’s Back-to-School soiree, will receive a complementary cupcake! See you and the kids on Wednesday!

For more information about the Trophy Party Room please email party@trophycupcakes.com, or visit Trophy Cupcakes and Party online.

See trophycupcakes.com for more information.

3-5 pm today at:

Trophy Cupcakes Party Room, Wallingford Center
1815 N. 45th St.
Seattle, WA

Cupcake-a-Doodle-Do!

Austin, mark your calendars for Cupcake-a-Doodle-Do: The Great Cupcake Challenge!



Saturday, October 22nd, Noon-5 pm

Central Market North

4001 North Lamar

Austin, Texas



Theatre Action Project (TAP) and Central Market present the “Cupcake-a-Doodle-Do: The Great Cupcake Challenge” on Saturday, October 22 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 4001 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78756. The event features family fun activities and crafts or all ages, and bragging rights for the Best Cup Cake in Austin.



Competing bakeries are eager to put their cupcakes to test while also supporting Theatre Action Project. TAP teaches young people critical life lessons through the power of theatre and the creative arts, including film, music, theatre, painting murals, and more. TAP serves 16,000 young people a year, PreK-12th grade, through a variety of in school, after school, summer camp, and evening based programs. TAP focuses on topics such as: bullying, diversity, dating violence, low self-esteem, eating healthy, literacy, and the environment.



This fundraiser will support TAP’s continued effort to reach more youth and empower them to create social change within the Austin community.



Suggested Donation of $5

Tour de Cupcake brings cupcakes and bikes together in San Francisco

Bikers and cupcake lovers, get ready for San Francisco's Tour de Cupcake on October 9th!







From their site:



The TDC is a choose-your-own-adventure style race where riders receive time deductions for eating cupcakes along the way! You pick the route! All ages and bicycle types are welcome in this scavenger hunt style alleycat race. The TDC is a fundraising event presented by and for the Bike Kitchen a 501c3 non-profit.

Announcing our Cupcake Cruise to Bermuda, August 19-26, 2012

Yes, it's true, we're organizing a Cupcake Cruise to Bermuda and hope you can join us! We are still booking speakers, but we can tell you will have Hello, Cupcake! and What's New, Cupcake? New York Times bestselling authors Karen Tack and Alan Richardson on board to show you how to decorate cupcakes into all sorts of adorable shapes, and much more programming!



To be notified when tickets go on sale, sign up at www.cupcakecruise.com. Many thanks to Jessie Oleson of Cakespy for the cruise's beautiful logo (below). Note: All programming is dependent upon attendance and is subject to change. Please sign up to be notified of further details and ticket purchasing.



If you have any questions (or suggestions), you can email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com and put "Cruise" in the subject line, but the best way to stay updated is to sign up at cupcakecruise.com.

Cupcake Love-In lineup announced, October 30 in Scottsdale, Arizona

The lineup for October 30th's Cupcake Love-In in Phoenix, Arizona has been announced; see their site for details. You can also follow them on Facebook and @cupcakelovein on Twitter. The event will raise money for CASS, Central Arizona Shelter Services. Questions? Contact the organizers at email: info at cupcakelovein.com or 480-363-2859 or 602-376-9021.



Some details from their blog:

Returning Cupcake Love-in participants include winners of the cupcake competitions- Arcadia Farms- Best Classic Cupcake, Barb’s Bakery- People’s Choice, Cupcake Café- Best Savory Cupcake, Modern Steak-Most Outrageous Cupcake and Tammie Coe- Best Frosting. There were so many great entries, but these bakers took the cupcake, so to speak! What will they dream up this year? The competition will be fun and fierce!

Additional veterans of the 2010 Cupcake Love-in include Bloom, Bourbon Steak, Butter & Me, Cruelty Free Cupcakes, La Dolce Pesca, Liberty Market, Nothing Bundt Cakes-Scottsdale, Olive & Ivy, Posh, SweetArt Bakery and Tracy Dempsey Originals.

We are excited to introduce our community of Cupcake Love-in fans and supporters to the many new bakers, chefs and restaurants joining us this year. Given how many of our cupcake baking friends responded with a “yes, count us in!”, it seems that our love affair with that sweet little frosted cake is here to stay! We welcome our new Cupcake Love-in participants- Arrogant Butcher, Churn, Cookies from Home, Cowboy Ciao, Cupcakes by Design, D’licious Dishes, Fez on Central, NCounter, Pink Velvet Cakery, Santa Barbara Catering Company, Simply Sweets, Slade Grove Creative Gourmet, The Spotted Donkey Cantina Switch, TLC Bakery, Top it Cupcakes, Treehouse Bakery, Two Spoons Desserts, Urban Cookies and Whole Foods Bakery, Whoopie Pie Baking Company and 24 Carrots.

CupcakeCamp Washington DC scheduled for September 24th

CupcakeCamp DC 2011 has been scheduled for September 24th. Registration is now open; click here to register. You can also follow them on Facebook and @dc_cucpakecamp on Twitter.



The event will benefit DC Candlelighters. From their site:

DC Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit support group for families with children diagnosed with cancer in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (including Northern Virginia and Maryland ) and consists of volunteer parents who have had a child with cancer, and others who have an interest and a passion for childhood cancer issues. We believe no family should have to face the uncertain world of cancer alone, and therefore we provide emotional and educational support to families. We are affiliated with the National Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation.

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.”

Cupcakes & Cocktails benefit Sunday, July 24th in San Diego

Via Patch.com:

Bob James Jr., founding president of La Jolla New Generations Rotary Club, says that the group chose to support research for Dercum’s disease because a fellow Rotarian is currently battling it.

“We know that it is a very under-diagnosed disease and that research into its cure is extremely underfunded,” James says. "We were hoping to give hope to our fellow Rotarian and for all others who suffer from Dercum’s disease.”

Dercum's disease, also known as Adiposis Dolorosa, is an extremely rare disorder characterized by multiple, painful growths consisting of fatty tissue that can range in size from a grain of rice to a softball. It can cause many symptoms including muscle and joint pain, as well as palpitations, gastrointestinal problems, fatigue and sleep disorders. The exact cause of Dercum's disease is unknown.

The official site is sandiegocupcake.com and there's more info on Facebook. Sprinkles Cupcakes is a sponsor.



July 24th : 1pm-4pm : Del Mar Powerhouse 1658 Coast Boulevard Del Mar, CA
Description
Tickets: $40.00
VIP: $80.00 (contact us for more info)
Includes entry, music, 2 drink tickets & cupcakes

Location:
...Del Mar Powerhouse
1658 Coast Boulevard
Del Mar, CA

Cupcakes & Cocktails is being hosted by the La Jolla New Generations Rotary Club to raise money for Dercum's Disease research.

For more information email info at sandiegocupcake.com

CupcakeCamp Baltimore scheduled for September 24

A heads up about CupcakeCamp Baltimore, coming up September 24th. You can register on Eventbrite and keep up with them on Facebook and @cccupcakecamp on Twitter.



Baltimore's First Cupcake Camp will be held at the Blue Hill Tavern on Sept 24, 2011 from noon to 3.

The event is free, but you must have a ticket in order to enter the event.

About

CupcakeCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment.

Tonight You Can Eat This: Chocolate-Raspberry Martini Cupcake Shots

Jenn from Intoxicating Confections is making these Chocolate-Raspberry Martini Cupcake Shots tonight for Cupcakes, Cocktails and Charms. Here's the recipe.


Here's the recipe for Chocolate-Raspberry Martini Cupcake Shots!

Ingredients:Yields approximately 3 dozen mini cupcakes
1 1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla-flavored Svedka Vodka
1 cup milk
Chocolate truffles (cut into pieces to drop into cupcakes)

1/2 cup butter, softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons Raspberry-flavored Svedka Vodka
2 drops red food coloring
Cocoa powder to dust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini cupcake baking pans with cups.
Add dry ingredients to a bowl (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, salt). Set aside.
Mix butter and sugar in mixer.
Add eggs, one at a time until blended.
Add vodka and milk to mixture.
Add dry mixture to wet. Mix until combined.
Fill baking cups 1/2 way; drop one truffle into the middle of batter.
Bake for 15-16 min or until cake bounces back with touched.
Cool on racks before frosting.

Frosting:
In mixer, blend butter and powdered sugar.
Add vodka slowly until blended smooth.
Add drops of red coloring and blend to combine.
Frost cupcakes.
Dust with cocoa powder.

Meatloaf, chicken/waffle/bacon, vegetable and macaroni and cheese cupcakes were on the menu at Harvest Bistro at Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek!

These savory cupcakes were actually on the menu at Cupcake Lovers Weekend July 9 (I didn't see it in time or I'd have posted it) at Harvest Bistro at Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek last weekend! Wow wow wow...if they do it again I totally want to go. Descriptions via Bonnet Creek Blog.


This fun creation (above) is made of ground beef and pork, topped with a cream potato frosting, English peas and a roasted tomato BBQ sauce.


This is a vanilla waffle “cupcake” base, topped with a creamy maple bacon frosting and popcorn fried chicken.


This amazing treat is made from roasted asparagus, mushrooms, tomato and spinach, all baked in an egg custard and topped with tomato cream.


This take on traditional mac and cheese starts with macaroni baked in a velvety creamy cheese sauce and piped with a mascarpone cheese and chive frosting.

CupcakeCamp Santa Barbara is July 24th!

I love that this is a big cupcake event with a cause: to benefit Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation! Get details and register at cupcakecampsantabarbara.com. Poster below by the fabulous Jessie Oleson of Cakespy!

Cupcakes for Cancer
proudly presents ...
Cupcake Camp Santa Barbara 2011!

WHEN: Sunday, July 24 2011 1-4
WHERE: Fess Parker Resort Santa Barbara
WHY: Because who doesn't LOVE Cupcakes?


CUPCAKE CAMP SANTA BARBARA is expecting 500 to 800 attendees: families, brides to be, wedding and party planners-both professional and amateur and of course ... cupcake LOVERS!
So here is your chance to show off your Cupcakes and/or your business!
AND be a part of making a SWEET difference in a child's life with cancer!
**Bring a gently used blanket to the HOPE in a Blanket table this yr & receive extra ticket for cupcake tasting!


TO PARTICIPATE:
There are many different ways to participate in CUPCAKE CAMP

* bake cupcakes to donate for the tasting (see: bakers)
* come to eat cupcakes and enjoy the cupcake activities (see: activities)
* help raise money for a good cause - suggested donation: $10
* be a sponsor (see: sponsorship packages)


No big hearted cupcake lover will be turned away. CUPCAKE CAMP SANTA BARBARA is all about sharing and celebrating cupcakes, community and creativity. Charity never tasted sweeter!


GETTING MARRIED?
This is a perfect opportunity to sample from a selection of cupcake bakers from the Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas- all at one stylish venue! Consider it the biggest "CAKE" tasting event of all time! Bring your family and friends to find the perfect cupcake vendor for your special day!

Event Activities include:

* Cupcake Tasting

* Cupcake baking competition (Professionals/Amateurs/ Youth)
* Old Fashioned Cake Auction
* Whodelicious Party Room Fashion Parade *NEW this yr!
* Betsy Johnston Party Dress Fashion Show
* Enter our "Cute as a Cupcake" Fashion Runway Parade
* Cupcake Craft Boutique
* Whole Foods serving ice cold hormone free milk!
* Raffles

Meet Sprinkles Cupcakes co-founder and Cupcake Wars judge Candace Nelson July 13, 14, 15 at Washington, DC bakery and at Congress!

Washington, DC: This week is your chance to meet Candace Nelson, Cupcake Wars (airs tonight with a Tony Award bakeoff!) judge and co-founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, which opened recently in Georgetown!



And a very special event on July 15:



To celebrate Sprinkles Cupcakes new Georgetown bakery, founder Candace Nelson is bringing a cupcake showdown to The Hill to benefit military families at Fisher House.

Sprinkles First Annual Congressional Cupcake Wars will be held on Thursday, July 14 from 5-7pm in Raybuyn Foyer. Seven teams will compete to create their very own stars and stripes-themed cupcakes and participate in a variety of tasty challenge.

Visit Sprinkles.com and @sprinkles on Twitter and Sprinkles' Facebook page for the latest news.

And for those in other cities where there's a Sprinkles, they are selling key lime cupcakes through September 5th!



And a heads up: from July 15-31, they'll be selling summer cherry and salty caramel cupcakes!