And these are the chocolate banana cupcakes that I bought from New York City custom cupcake company Treat...also delicious! The chocolate on top was a thin layer of very rich chocolate and the banana cake was kindof like a banana muffin, in a good way, dense and delicious.

And while I'm here...me and Treat owner Harley with the custom cupcakes with my face, and another closeup. I can justify this not as narcissism but as a recommendation of somewhere to get custom image cupcakes; I had actually asked around local bakeries a while ago and hadn't found anyone in Manhattan willing to do it (I believe Ivy Bakery in Brooklyn does offer this). So yes, check out Treat if you want your face (or logo, or your dog's face, or whatever) on a cupcake.

These mint chocolate cupcakes by Sugar Siren Cakes in Queensland, Australia look so good I don't even know what to say. I want them. All of them!

photos via Sugar Siren on Flickr

The cake was my Midnight Delight (a moist dark chocolate mud cake) which I paired with a pale green peppermint Swiss meringue buttercream that was generously studded with chunks of top quality Lindt dark mint chocolate.

For the crowning glory each cupcake was then topped with a perfect whole square of Lindt dark mint chocolate & the final indulgent touch was a lavish drizzle of rich home made chocolate sauce.



You can also find them on Facebookand they can be reached at sugarsirencakes at gmail.com

After seeing the work of new New York custom dessert company Treat, I had a feeling that they'd be able to make my image in cupcake form, and they did! Based on a drawing of me by our cupcake-loving friend Molly Crabapple, Treat made these cupcakes:

How incredibly cool is that? And they were glittery. This is me about to eat it - I must admit that biting my own head off was a little odd. I was given a choice of these flavors for the cake: chocolate, vanilla, chocolate hazelnut, chocolate mint, mayan chocolate (has a bit of heat), dulce de leche, pink champagne, chocolate merlot, red velvet. I chose mint chocolate and got a rich chocolate cake with a delicious mint frosting. The dozen logo cupcakes were $5 each ($60) and then the chocolate banana were $4 each ($48) - a very special treat indeed, from Treat.



Taking the plunge:



I also bought some of their chocolate banana cupcakes (photos TK). Delicious! There was a rich, dark chocolate frosting on top and the bottom tasted like a banana muffin (in a good way).

Find out more about Treat on their website as well as Twitter and Facebook.

And for those attending our 5-year Cupcakes Take the Cake anniversary party on December 3rd at Roger Smith Hotel in Manhattan, Harley from Treat will be in attendance, with cupcakes. And yes, it booked up fast, but do get on the waiting list and also join our NYC Meetup Group because we have a lot of cupcake fun planned for 2010.

CakeWalk is a weekly column by Mary Ann Porch dedicated to every baker who has ever struggled to achieve the right consistency with their icing, unsuccessfully searched for the perfect cupcake topper or just wants to learn something new. Because with a few helpful tips, cupcakes are a cakewalk.

I have something I need to admit. This is really hard to say, but here it goes: I’m a food pusher. I come from a family of food pushers. You know the type – every time you’re in one’s presence and food is involved, they keep offering you seconds and thirds. “Just one more bite” turns into “It’s okay to unbutton the top button on your jeans if it means you’ll eat another slice.” So, with the holiday season kicking into full gear next week and lots of food/family on the menu, I thought it would be worth talking about the sweeteners we’ll all be forced to consume while enjoying our favorite sweet treats and appeasing the food pushers in our lives.

AllRecipes.com has a fantastic blog post on sugar alternatives. They’ve broken sweeteners into two categories - natural and artificial:

All refined sugars--brown sugar, white sugar, "raw" sugars such as demerara or turbinado--are equal from a nutritive standpoint. Brown sugars simply contain a higher molasses content. Refined sugar is 99 percent pure sucrose, a simple carbohydrate.

Other sugars, such as honey, taste sweeter on the tongue than granulated sugar. You can therefore use less honey to sweeten a batch of muffins than you would sugar. Maple syrup tastes less sweet than sugar, but its unique flavor is prized in baked goods and desserts.

Natural Sweeteners
Honey consists of several components: fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose. It is 25 to 50% sweeter than sugar, and has a distinctive flavor. The flavors and colors of honey can vary depending upon the bees' diet--buckwheat honey, for example, is darker and stronger than clover honey. Baked goods made with honey are moist and dense, and tend to brown faster than those made with granulated sugar. Use ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon honey in place of 1 cup sugar, and reduce the other liquid ingredients by 2 tablespoons. Unless the recipe includes sour cream or buttermilk, add a pinch of baking soda to neutralize the acidity.

Maple syrup is made from the sap of sugar maple trees, and is a combination of sucrose and glucose. The sap is boiled down into a sweet, delectable syrup. Grade A maple syrup is golden brown and has a delicate flavor. Grade B is thicker, darker, and is better for baking because it has a stronger flavor--and it costs less. Although maple syrup is only 60% as sweet as sugar, use ¾ cup for every cup of white sugar and decrease the amount of liquid by 3 tablespoons to compensate for its liquid state.

Molasses is a byproduct of refined sugar production. It is made up of sucrose, glucose and fructose, and also contains small amounts of B vitamins, calcium and iron. Molasses imparts a dark color and strong flavor to baked foods, but is not as sweet as sugar. When substituting molasses for sugar, use 1 1/3 cups molasses for 1 cup sugar, and reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 5 tablespoons. Molasses is also more acidic than sugar; add ½ teaspoon baking soda for each cup of molasses used. Replace no more than half the sugar called for in a recipe with molasses.

Corn syrup is known as an "invert sugar;" it is useful in cooking and candy-making because, unlike other sugars, it does not crystallize. Corn is treated with enzymes to break down starch into glucose and maltose. Corn syrup is less sweet than sugar, and does not add flavor like molasses or honey. "Golden Syrup," common in the United Kingdom, is a refinery syrup made from sugar. It is used in place of corn syrup. Some cooks believe sugar syrups have a livelier flavor than corn syrups and add more character to dishes such as pecan pie.

Artificial Sweeteners
These sweeteners have been approved by the FDA and are available for home use. While they provide a sweet taste, artificial sweeteners lack the browning, tenderizing and moisture-retaining properties of granulated sugar. Sucralose is the one sweetener than can be substituted cup-for-cup for granulated sugar in baking.

Saccharine is 200 to 700 times sweeter than sugar. It can be used in baked goods. However, the manufacturer recommends substituting it for only half of the sugar in a recipe. Substitute 6 (1-gram) packets for each ¼ cup sugar. It is sold under the name Sweet and Low®.

Aspartame is 160 to 220 times sweeter than granulated sugar. This sweetener is heat-sensitive: it loses its sweetening power when heated, and cannot be used for cookies or cakes. The manufacturer does recommend trying it in no-bake pies and in puddings after they have been removed from the heat. Substitute 6 (1-gram) packets for each ¼ cup of sugar. It is sold under the names Equal® and NutraSweet®.

Acesulfame potassium is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is heat-stable, so it can be used in baking and cooking. Use acesulfame K in combination with granulated sugar when baking. Substitute 6 (1-gram) packets for each ¼ cup sugar. It is sold under the brand names Sunette® and Sweet One®.

Sucralose is made from sugar, but is not metabolized by the body like sugar. It is 600 times sweeter than granulated sugar. Granular sucralose is the form used when baking. Substitute 1 cup granular sucralose for each cup of sugar called for in the recipe. Recipes made with this product tend to bake faster than usual, so check for doneness sooner than the recipe specifies. It is sold under the Splenda® brand name.

With this in mind, I’d love for you to share your cupcake recipes that use something other than plain old white or brown sugar. Leave them in the comments section!


Mary Ann is the founder of the New York City chapter of CupcakeCamp NYC, an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment. She is also the founder of Puff and Choux, a blog dedicated to the pastry and dessert arts. You can contact her at mary_ann_porch@hotmail.com with any questions, ideas or just to chit chat. You can also follow her on Twitter at @MaryAPorch.

Terry at Bent Objects posted this party image invite he made for OXO International. The cupcakes are "getting ready to party." Very cool. I love to see cupcakes making mischief.