Cupcake Couture Blog Party & An Exclusive Sugar Daze Recipe!

Last month, German-based baker, Betsy Eves, best known as Jave Cupcake, put out a call to her fellow bakers with two of my favorite words: CUPCAKE and PARTY!!!! Yup, Betsy needed bakers for a CUPCAKE PARTY! And not just any party, but a CUPCAKE COUTURE BLOG PARTY!!!



What's that you say? Cou-Ture? You gotta trill the "r" as you say that as we do here in Paris (another trill -- Parrrr -eeeee).... The Cupcake Couture Blog Party is all about creating delicious cupcakes and showcasing them in a simple, beautiful manner. Luckily we have Carrie Middlemiss of Bella Cupcake Couture to help out on that second part! I gotta admit that once I heard we would each be receiving a set of her gorgeous, unique cupcake wrappers, I was in. I have been following her company for years and love her products!

And then my package arrived....I wondered was Carrie psychic? Had she seen pictures of my store? Does she know me? Are we cupcake soul sisters? How exciting to receive a package of cheetah-printed wrappers! I literally opened the package while sitting in my store next to my zebra-print wall while wearing my snake skin trousers. How cool is that? And so I figured it only appropriate to continue on this "thème sauvage" by sharing with you for the first time ever the recipe for our Slow Cheetah cupcake.

But wait....there's more!!! As if that wasn't enough, there's a second treat in store for you -- a prize package for one lucky winner of the Cupcake Couture Blog Party! Check out these amazing prizes....

* $200 store credit to Cupcake Stand
* A prize pack from Sweets & Treats Boutique
* A set of every cupcake wrapper that was used in this party from Bella Cupcake Couture ($200 value)
* Polish Pottery Cake Stand from Poland from JavaCupcake.com ($100 value)
* Cupcake Vinyl Decals for your stand mixer from Lil’ Punkin Creations



You'll also want to check out the blog posts from the other bakers participating in this blog party for more cupcake awesomeness.....

An American Cupcake in London

Bella Cupcake Couture

Chronicles of a Foodie

Crazy for Crust

Creative Food

Cupcakes Take the Cake

Diary of a Mad Hausfrau

Eat Your Heart Out

Haniela's

Hoosier Homemade

In Katrina's Kitchen

Inside BruCrew Life

Java Cupcake

Love From the Oven

Make Bake Celebrate

Not Just a Mommy

Sugar Daze

Sugar Swings! Serve Some

The Baked Equation

The Baking Cup

The Decorated Cookie


Thanks to our amazing Prize Pack sponsors for their generous donations! Please, visit their websites to see more of their fabulous products!

Bella Cupcake Couture

Cupcake Stand

Java Cupcake

Lil' Punkin Creations

Sweets & Treats Boutique


To enter to WIN this Prize Pack, simply fill out the entry form below.

Contest opens 21 May 2013 at 7:00AM PST and closes 27 May 2013 at 23:59PM PST. One winner will be chosen and announced within 24 hours of the contest ending. Winner will be contacted via email to claim their prize.

This contest is open to residents of the USA and Europe only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


A cupcake couture blog party...a cupcake prize pack....and dozens of mouth-wateringly yummy cupcake recipes?! Seriously folks, it doesn't get much sweeter than this! Good luck and Enjoy!



Slow Cheetah Cupcakes (an original Sugar Daze recipe, name inspired by The Red Hot Chili Peppers):
For approximately 15 cupcakes:

4 ozs. softened, unsalted butter
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup crème fraiche (sour cream)
1/2 pod vanilla
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chopped bar
1/2 cup chocolate covered toffee bits, chopped


1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake baking tins with paper liners
2) Cream softened butter and sugar together until smooth. Add egg and mix until light, homogenous and pale yellow
3) In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add half of this mixture to the egg mixture and blend
4) In a measuring cup, mix milk and crème fraiche. Use a sharp knife to scrape the beans from the vanilla pod and add to mixture. Pour over the butter-sugar-flour mixure and mix again being careful not to overwork the batter
4) Add in the remaining half flour mixture, and mix
5) Lastly stir in hot water and mix until just incorporated - you don't want any large clumps of flour but again be careful not to over-mix batter
6) Add in toffe bits and chocolate, and mix slightly to incorporate throughout the batter
7) Using an ice cream scooper, fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and fill and bake in 350 degree minutes for about 12-15 minutes or until a skewer placed in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
8) Remove from oven and leave on baking rack to cool

Salted Caramel Frosting :

8 ozs. softened butter
4 cups confectioner's sugar
2-3 tablespoons salted caramel spread

Here in France we get a product called crème de caramel au beurre salé which I use for this frosting. If you can't find this locally, you can make your own. Here's a delicious recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

1) Whip butter and sugar with a hand-held beater or in your mixer until pale in color. If too liquidy, progressively add more sugar until firm enough to pipe.
2) Add in caramel and mix slightly to combine.
3) Decorate cupcakes using a pastry bag or palette knife. Then open up and say "ahhhhhh!!!!!!"

Cupcake Wrappers: Bella Cupcake Couture
Cake Stand: Habitat
Cupcake Tablecloth: Sassy Aprons