photo courtesy of purrfectly_kittenish

There is very little present in the foodie world more adorable than the sassy cupcake, unless of course you consider the sassy mini-cupcake. And while it is typically frowned upon for a person to devour a entire tray of neatly decorated regular cupcakes, the same cannot be said for the miniaturized version. In fact due to its bite-sized nature, people are often encouraged to eat more mini-cupcakes at an event without judgment or hassle, perhaps making mini-cupcakes one of the greatest culinary innovations of all time.

Although significantly smaller, mini-cupcakes retain an enormous amount of creative potential. You can dress up a mini-cupcake for any occasion, and they are especially well suited for children’s parties, as they are pretty enough to capture attention, yet small enough to eat with minimal mess.

But how does one make a mini-cupcake? There are several pans available on the kitchen market, designed specifically for baking mini-cupcakes, which are simply filled and throw in the oven to bake as per usual. However, if kitchen gadgets are more your style, you could invest in a Mini-Cupcake Maker, retailing for approximately $32.99. This non-stick, easy to use appliance snaps shut to bake and produces seven mini-cupcakes per baking session – ideal for a small child’s birthday party or catered affair.

photo courtesy of chriki24

You can dress up mini-cupcakes as well, by simply using some tailored to size cupcake-skirts (also known as mini-cupcake liners.) Bold or pastel colours, smiley faces, dinosaurs, stars, and many more prints are available on mini-cupcake skirts. And of course, mini-cakes are fair game for whatever impressive icing you can paint them with.

So there you have it. Sassy small bite-sized cupcakes, perfect for sweet amuse-bouches that are sure to pack a punch at your next soirée.

The Company: Located in Rockland county, NY, Carousel Cakes is a family owned business and was founded in 1975 by Martin Lefkowitz. For over 30 years they have sold cakes wholesale to over 700 restaurants! Local restaurants and gourmet grocers include Zeytinia Fine Food Marketplace in Oakland and Englewood, Aldo & Gianni Ristorante in Montvale, Valentino’s of Park Ridge, the Clinton Inn Hotel in Tenafly. Manhattan customers include Zabar’s, the private Friars Club, EJ’s Luncheonette and the American Museum of Natural History.

The Products: Carousel Cakes specializes in chocolate cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes and other fine desserts. Their cakes have been featured on tv and in many magazines, including Oprah’s O Magazine! Oprah’s favorite: the Red Velvet Cake!

Some of the top sellers include: Black and White Mousse Supreme, Brownie Cheesecake, Turtle Cheesecake, Red Velvet Cake and Coconut Snowball Cake.

Many of their products are flourless and Kosher, but not ‘Kosher for Passover’.

The Cupcakes by Carousel Shop: After many years in the wholesale business, the family decided to open a Cupcakes Shop in Ridgewood, NJ, to allow the general public to try mini versions of their delicious cakes. Cupcakes by Carousel has been featured in our Valentine’s Day Cupcake Guide.

Charity: Cupcakes by Carousel is dedicated to supporting different causes and  tries to do a cure cupcake each month. They also support education and creativity by hosting contests in honor of the National Cupcake Day. For more info, please visit their websites at CupcakesbyCarousel.com & CarouselCakes.com.

Giveaway Details:

Carousel Cakes has generously donated a Chocolate Mousse Supreme cake to one lucky winner.

This giveaway is open to US residents only.

How to enter (required): Visit  CarouselCakes.com  and then come back and leave a comment telling us the name of your favorite product!

For additional entries (leave a new comment for each additional entry):
- one additional entry if you are or become our fan on FACEBOOK;
- one additional entry if you grab our button from the sidebar and post it on your blog, please post the link;
- one additional entry if you follow us on Twitter;
- one additional entry if you send a tweet about this giveaway (once a day only); make sure to include @1happyblogger.
- one additional entry if you fave us in Technorati;
- one additional entry if you blog about this Giveaway with a link back to 100CafeStreet.com and CarouselCakes.com
- one additional entry if you follow 100CafeStreet.com via email.

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The giveaway ends on February 17, 2010 at the end of day, Pacific Standard Time. Carousel Cakes will ship the prize.

*Please make sure you leave a comment for each additional entry so you get credited.
*Also, please make sure you typed in the correct email address.
*The winner will be announced via e-mail and has 2 days to get back to us or other name will be chosen.
*Incomplete entries will be disqualified & deleted.

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See if you won!

Whether you’re using a box of banana Jell-O filling for a cream pie or whipping up parfaits for dessert, the world of pudding includes much more than just the basic varieties of chocolate and vanilla. In the past, the most common way to prepare pudding was to mix ingredients with a grain product or other binding material (like flour, butter, eggs or cereal) to create a solid product. Nowadays, people boil, steam or bake creamy and thickened puddings from scratch.

A couple of ways to step outside of your pudding comfort zone include:

1) Fruit Bread Puddings

To create a new pudding, you may add tropical juices and other fruits to elevate the taste and texture of your recipes. For example, Fruity Bread Mango Pudding may contain Rubicon mango exotic juice drink paired with dried cranberries and mango.

2) Yam (or Sweet Potato) Pudding

Around the holidays, candied yams and sweet potato pie are popular desserts. You probably don’t think of yams and sweet potatoes as creating satisfying puddings, but these healthy starches offer quite a taste and consistency with common ingredients, such as butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, grated lemon peel, and slivered almonds.

3) Steamed Fruit Puddings

Boiling water is used as a method of preparing steamed puddings, where cranberries, plums and apples serve as common ingredients. Known as a popular sweet treat in England, Devon’s Georgie Porgies Puddings offers two tempting steamed fruit selections: Orange & Cointreau (an orange flavored triple sec liquor) and Cider & Apple (contains West Country cider and apples). For a holiday twist, use canned or fresh pumpkin puree to create a steamed pumpkin pudding, which tastes heavenly with a whipped cream or brandy sauce topping.

4) Latin American Rice Pudding

Take a page from Latin American and Caribbean cookbooks by preparing a rice pudding called “arroz con leche” (rice with milk). When preparing this sweet treat, the typical list of ingredients differ per country. In Chile and Mexico, the pudding contains raisins soaked in sherry wine or tequila. Colombians soak their raisins in red wine, rum or pisco – Peruvian liquor distilled from grapes. Anise seed adds a touch of licorice to the Cuban version of arroz con leche. In Peru, it is not uncommon to find shredded coconut or walnuts added to the pudding.

Need a little something sweet to brighten up your day? What better way to put a smile on any face than a batch of colourful sunflower cupcakes!

This original recipe comes from a one of a kind book entitled Hello, Cupcake written by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson and are guaranteed not to disappoint. First of all, they are cupcakes — cake you can eat on the go — brilliant!  Secondly, they are absolutely adorable and surprisingly simple to craft.

photo courtesy of Katie Stine

Here’s What You Need:

1 box of cupcake mix (flavour is entirely up to you; although vanilla is recommended)
2 cans of vanilla icing
Red M&Ms (that’s right, only the red ones, meaning the rest of the package is snacking material!)
Oreos
Green food dye
Yellow/Orange food dye
A little bit of chocolate icing

Decorating Method Part I:

Bake the cupcakes by following the instructions on the package. Try to use green cupcake skirts – more commonly known as cupcake liners – to continue the garden-like look.

1. Spoon a chunk out of the top of each cupcake and place an oreo in the space.
2. Add green food dye to one can of vanilla icing. Using a leaf icing tip, make a series of green leaves around the edge of the cupcake. (TIP: To make leaves, hold icing tube at 45 degree angle, start in the middle and as you squeeze move to the outside, rippling the icing as you go.)
3. Next add yellow food dye to the remaining can of icing. Using a fresh icing tube, paint on two layers of yellow petals, using the same method you did for the leaves, only making the petals wider and more triangular.

photo courtesy of cheftara1986

Decorating Method Part II:

1. Break out the third icing tube and introduce the chocolate! Put a tiny dollop of chocolate icing on the spot you want your ladybug to sit. Place a red M&M on top of the dollop, making sure the telling white ‘M’ logo is facing down.
2. Carefully paint on spots and lines to make your ladybug come to life.
3. Allow cupcakes to sit overnight, so that the icing well and truly sets, and enjoy the next day!

To see exactly how these beautiful cheery cupcakes are made, check out Karen Tack’s interview on “GMA Now.”

As you know, a few days ago we published Valentine’s Day Cupcake Guide – Part 1. Now, it’s time for Part 2! Hope you like our choices!

Tart Bakery

Tart Bakery, located in Dallas, Texas was founded in November, 2004 by Executive Pastry Chef Kristen Massad, who trained at the French Culinary Institute of New York.

Kristen felt that Dallas could use a vintage bakery (everything is made completely from scratch with all-natural ingredients) with a modern touch.

Kristen’s business has grown significantly and Tart now ships goodies across the country.

Website: tartbakerydallas.com

Kara’s Cupcakes

Kara’s Cupcakes is the vision of executive pastry chef, Kara Lind.

For Valentine’s Day, Kara’s Cupcakes is offering the “Sweet Package”: a selection of four “lovely” cupcakes that will make you swoon. Presented in a custom white box adorned with Kara’s Cupcakes signature wrapping. The perfect gift for your sweetie!

Price: $15 per box

Location: Kara’s Cupcakes has five locations around the San Francisco Bay Area. More info on their website at karascupcakes.com

Dean & DeLuca

 Dean & DeLuca will be featuring the following cupcake treats for Valentine’s Day:

Melt My Heart Cupcakes: These cupcakes are filled with chewy chocolate caramel, which is sublime when gently warmed. The cupcakes are made from scratch in small batches. Made exclusively for Dean & DeLuca by Two Hearts Bakery in San Francisco. Nine cupcakes $55

Valentine Mini Cupcake Chocolates (in the image): Knipschildt Chocolatier in New York City created these chocolate confections to look just like miniature cupcakes. Three different ganache fillings: Champagne, strawberry, and passion fruit. Set of 9 $45

Website: www.deandeluca.com.

Cupcakes by Carousel

Cupcakes by Carousel is a new shop in Ridgewood, NJ.

Their Red Velvet is Oprah’s favorite in a cupcake form. They donate $1.00 per cupcake and red velvet cake with heart to the american heart association in the month of February.

Their Red Velvet cupcakes have cream cheese icing and sugar heart; their Chocolate and Vanilla cupcakes are decorated with rich buttercream topped with valentine picks or sugar hearts.

Price: $29.00 per dozen

Website: www.cupcakesbycarousel.com

Cakes for Occasions

Cakes for Occasions specializes in creating the finest gourmet cakes, cupcakes and sinfully delicious pastries. Owner Kelly Delaney and her creations have been featured in a wide range of media, including NBC’s Today Show and FOX25 Morning News in Boston.

Cakes for Occasions just came out with a heart-shaped box filled with a bakers dozen (13) mini cupcakes. The assortment of chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet cupcakes are all coated with chocolate. The delectable treats are packaged in a heart-shaped box and sell for $17.

Location: Danvers, Massachusetts. Website: www.cakes4occasions.com

The American Pie Council (APC) is excited to roll out National Pie Day this January 23.

photo courtesy of ralph and jenny

This year, the APC is encouraging pie lovers to show their “pie-triotism” by sharing a pie with a hero in their life. Whether it’s baking or buying a pie for a member of the military or their family, the local fireman, teacher or your parent, the gift of pie is a sincere gesture of kindness. APC members are also offering coupons on to make buying or making a pie more affordable, as well as offering their own special pie day activities. For details, go to www.piecouncil.org or friend them on Facebook.

The act of sharing America’s quintessential dessert brings with it an extraordinary heritage. In many homes family recipes go back for decades and, quite often, special kitchen utensils have been passed down over generations. As with family reunions and special get-togethers, what takes place in the kitchen also brings families together as children and parents and husbands and wives experience the pleasure of working together and creating something special for someone else.

This year’s championships are April 23-25 at the Omni Championsgate Hotel in Celebration, Fla. Commercial, Professional, Amateur and Junior Chef pie makers will compete throughout the weekend. The Great American Pie Festival sponsored by Crisco® is held in conjunction with the championships, April 24 and 25 at Lakeside Park in Celebration and is free and open to the public.