cupcake tree

Wedding Cupcake Trees - Are They Really a Cost Savings?

By Karen S Musselman

Many couples are opting for wedding cupcake trees as a way to save money on their wedding cakes. And cupcake trees can be just as arresting as traditional wedding cakes since they can be designed on tiers just as big as a five tier wedding cake.

But let's take a look at the cost of wedding cupcakes versus traditional wedding cakes and see if they really will reduce your budget.

They Can Actually Cost About the Same and They're More Work!
Having a wedding cupcake tree instead of a traditional cake is no real savings if you start getting fancy with them. Cupcakes may cost less basically, as little as a buck or two per cupcake versus $3.25 and up per person or per slice of a traditional cake, but you certainly don't want the same kind of cupcakes you'd serve as a dessert at dinner or at a birthday party.

So now your bakery or cake designer, instead of decorating one large cake, has to miniaturize their work and decorate each cupcake individually as a separate mini wedding cake on its own, otherwise, you're looking at a few tiers worth of plain ordinary cupcakes. And even those must be frosted individually.

Then if you decide to add embellishments like fancy cupcake liners or monogrammed fondant hearts, you're really adding to the cost of the cupcakes.

Arranging a Cupcake Tree vs. Arranging a Traditional Cake
Now let's look at all of the work affected in setting up wedding cupcake trees as opposed to multi-tiered traditional wedding cakes.

A lot of little mini cakes per tier that must be placed on the tiers versus one cake per tier that sits centered on its tier. That's a lot of work, especially if you're serving 100 guests or more.

And if your baker charges for arranging the cake, you may run into some added costs with wedding cupcake trees versus traditional wedding cakes.

The most at ease way to save with cupcakes...make your own wedding cupcake trees:

· Check department stores and craft stores for cupcake stands.

· Bake your own cupcakes or buy them already frosted at the grocery store.

· Buy small decorations for the cupcakes at a discount store and match them to your wedding theme or colors

· Buy table decorations to match your wedding theme.

· Buy or bake one small cake for the top of the cupcake tree.

· Ask your bridesmaids or family members to help set the cupcakes up before the reception.

So for the best savings on wedding cupcake trees, do your price comparisons first. Check with some local bakeries, grocery store bakeries and even doing it yourself to see where the real cost savings are.

See more related articles : Birthday Cupcake

cupcake bakery

The Best Cupcake Recipe is From Magnolia Bakery
By Carmen Lee

When I was exploring for the best cupcake recipe for my daughters birthday party I thought I'd find a smattering of another editions of some text edition cupcake that I could dolly up and make pretty. I was going out of my way to even look for a recipe .it would have been far easier to grab a premix at the grocery store. But given the importance of a little girls birthday party the search went on for the best cupcake recipe. Never would I have imagined the 100's of different recipes, frosting, decorations and the craziness surrounding this baby cake phenomenon.

Which rock had I been concealing under? All of a sudden we've away from basking the humble slice of carrot cake with cream cheese icing to these amazing designer cupcakes with unimaginable flavors, designs, swirls and sprinkles and names like 'Red Velvet'.

So after a little more explore of this delectable gem I stumbled across what I guess you could call a branded or trademark cupcake called Magnolia Bakery which is located in New York. There is a huge amount of hype over this particular cupcake so what better place to start than the Magnolia Bakery vanilla cupcake recipe. This really was my beginning attempt at doing cupcakes and I'm charmed that this recipe is the one I set my bench mark with.

My vanilla cupcakes turned away light and flossy, golden and tasting perfect especially attached to with a vast swirl of butter cream frosting, oh and don't forget the sprinkles. This cupcake was delightful with the right texture, visual aspect and taste. The compliments and request for more at my daughters birthday is a testament to this little sweetheart.

There are literally hundreds of article available on baking a deluxe cupcake, I do own a couple of myself. However, I announce that none have come close to the success I have when applying the best cupcake recipe from Magnolia Bakery. It is truly worth the effort.

See the nice article about Birthday Cupcake

cupcake decorations

Floral Fancy Cupcake Decorations

By Lynette Bell

Anyone can make fancy cupcake decorations even if you are not a creative cake decorator and have absolutely no experience. Yes, it's true. You can make an attractive cupcake flower decorations even if you have never piped or molded icing or paste in your life.

How can this be?

Well, you may not be aware that are many flowers can be eaten. Crystallizing these flowers make delicate, beautiful and fancy cupcake decorations. Just a word of warning though there are some flowers which are poisonous so be careful not to kill your guests with kindness.

Here's how you crystallize your flower:

• Whip up an egg white until fluffy but not peaky
• Using a small brush, paint both sides of the flower.
• Gently dredge with caster sugar
• Leave on a rack in draft-free space to dry completely
• Decorate your cupcake, dessert or cake
• These flowers can be stored in an airtight container for many weeks.

What flowers can you use?

Violets and roses are the most common flowers used for crystallization but here are a few others: apple blossom (in small doses), carnation, cornflower, lavender, nasturtium, pansy, rosemary, squash blossom, thyme. These are only a small selection of flowers that you can use but they will probably make the most fancy cupcake decorations. And there's no need to use coloring either.

Taking this a little further the crystallizing of small berries will also make attractive decorations. Try cranberries and redcurrants. Whether you use frosting, fondant or glace icing I tend to prefer white icing for a delicate effect for your cupcake.

I'm sure that you will agree that anyone can make fancy cupcake decorations by using edible flowers. Bring the garden to the table and surprise your guests with your fancy cupcake decorations and creations.

wedding cupcakes

Cupcake Ideas for Weddings

By Theresa Happe

The do-it-your-selfer can save tons of money and have great success using these cupcake ideas for weddings:

• You can make a beautiful cupcake tower with no cake decorating experience.
• Save on time and money.
• Mistakes don't effect a whole cake. If you're unhappy with a particular cupcake, don't use it. Make extra cupcakes for this purpose.
• If you are bringing cupcakes in to a catering hall, you save on the cake-cutting fee.
• You can offer a variety of cake flavors to your guests.
• You can make a small cupcake tower for each table and save the thousands of dollars spent on floral centerpieces.
• You can offer your guests a second helping, if you like!

The cupcake tower consists of one of more different designs on the cupcakes, displayed on stacked cake boards. Even the simplest designs are enhanced by adding votives, fresh or silk flowers, or tulle alongside the cupcakes on each tier.

In advance, you will need to decide on the design of your cupcake stand and the decorations you will put on the cupcakes.

wilton cupcake

Only 4.5 Steps Separate You from Cupcake Perfection
By Sharilyn Starling

One of the questions that is asked frequently on baking and decorating discussion forums is, "Can a home kitchen deliver bakery quality cupcakes?" People want to know if there is a way to achieve cupcake utopia without industrial ovens and $200 pans.

The answer is a resounding, "YES".

In this article, I'll share with you the baking secrets that professional bakers don't want you to know. They are so simple, they may almost seem like common sense, and that's the beauty of these methods. Anyone can make perfect cupcakes with almost no investment.

While these techniques may seem obvious, I have to admit that it took dozens of batches of trial and error to settle on these particular steps.

And while it is great to be able to write an article sharing these secrets with you, the biggest bonus I received from all of this is that now, I can make flawless cupcakes every time.

What Are the Secrets?

1. Use a shiny pan. Do not use dark pans that have non-stick coating.
2. Use cupcake liners. These offer easy removal and cleanup as well as keep the cupcake fresh longer.
3. Use a standard trigger ice cream scoop. This should fill your liners up two-thirds and three-quarters full. This will get the consistency in size everyone strives for.
4. Cook the cupcakes on the middle rack of your oven taking care not to over-bake them. Use the standard toothpick trick where you put a toothpick in the center of the cupcake. If it is done, no cake will be on the toothpick when you pull it out.
5. Really the 4.5 as this isn't really a step, it's more of another helpful hint. If you're sending the little one off to school or a loved one off to work, you can "lunch-box" proof your cupcakes. Tort (just a fancy word for slice in half) the cupcake to make a mini layer cake. Ice in between the layers then put the cupcake back together. Wrap in plastic, and viola, "lunch-box" proof cupcakes.

Like I said, nothing earth shattering, but following the above steps will allow you to make bakery quality cupcakes every time. My hope is that you will be able to enjoy great cupcakes without any of the frustration I went through trying to figure out how the bakeries do what they do.

Happy Baking.

cupcake party

Cupcake Party Planning

By Deb Rosenberg

So you've decided to a cupcake theme party. Aren't your guests lucky! Of course we know what you'll serve for dessert but what else can you do to incorporate the theme into your party.

You can set the stage for your party by sending out cupcake shaped invitations. In it request that they bring a short 'ode to the cupcake' with them to be shared at the party, such as my favorite: "small and sweet I do desire, just big enough for one. Unfortunately I eat 10 at a time and now I weigh a ton". Make sure you give them an example. And once they arrive have everyone write down their 'fantasy cupcake'. At some point in the party hand out pencil and paper to everyone and as each one is read aloud (by the host) ask your guests to write down who they think authored it. The one who guessed the most correctly wins a small prize. And also vote on which poem is the best and that person will also win a small prize.

Investing in a cupcake stand will not only showcase the party's dessert in a beautiful way - but it can also serve as your centerpiece!

At the party you can have everyone decorate a cupcake to take home with them (not necessarily the gorgeous cupcakes you have planned to serve - you want those to steal the show!). Provide unfrosted cupcakes, 2 or 3 frosting choices and LOTS of embellishments (sprinkles, nuts, candies, nuts, etc.). Don't forget to have cupcake boxes on hand so that guests can take their creations home).

If you're not sending your guests home with cupcakes, then send them home with cute cupcake party favors. These can easily be found and can include cupcake shaped bookmarks, faux cupcake photo holders, cupcake shaped candles to just name a few. You can even present the favors in a small cupcake shaped favor bag!

Wishing you delicious fun at your cupcake party!

Diva Entertains, Copyright 2009