Cute up those cupcakes

It's hard to mess up a cupcake recipe, but decorating them is a different story. Without the right tools and tips, your delicious dessert might get passed up if your piping looks like poo. And nobody wants their cupcakes dubbed as "crapcakes" at the party, do they?

Luckily, All in One Bake Shop not only offers everything you need to beautify and personalize your cakes, but also a skill class to help you learn how to use your tools. During the three-hour class, students get hands-on experience in decorating and creating cupcake characters, shapes, animals and bugs. Everybody gets to go home with nine to 12 self-decorated cupcakes and the knowledge to cute up their cakes at home!

Visit the store to sign-up for the next class or register online.

Wait...a cupcake? an ice cream cone?

This is a fun new twist on making cupcakes. Instead of relying on the boring old tins, bring some life to your cupcakes by giving them a whole new look!

Going overboard?

Here's one hefty laundry basket/booze holder/kid's bath tub. $399?! Seriously!?





















Cupcake Linen Basket, $399

Toot Sweet Cupcakes

It all started with a dream that one day there would be a cupcake bakery named Toot Sweet. Soon after, Tiffany Bacon opened up Toot Sweet Bakery with homemade cupcakes to offer to the city of Austin.

Toot Sweet is purely a web business with customers placing the orders to Tiffany herself by either email or phone calls. Orders placed before noon are made and delivered the same day anywhere in Austin. While cupcakes are the specialty, customers can also order brownies, cookies, breakfast, lunches and hot meals. While the hot meals require 12 hours notice before they can be delivered, if the reviews posted all over the website hold true, it’s well worth the wait. Toot Sweet has catered everywhere from business in the Austin area to SXSW and even all the way to Hollywood for an Oscar party.

The pictures alone are enough to tempt someone to order a dozen cupcakes that you know you’re going to punish yourself for them later. You can order from 20 unique flavors including Mint Truffle, Boston Banana Cream, and Hummingbird Cake. Aided by her six kids and her husband, Tiffany churns out homemade cupcakes filled with homemade cream and topped with homemade ice cream. It's like being right back in your mom's kitchen.

Taking a bite into a Red Velvet cupcake with vanilla crème filling and cream cheese frosting, it was like a taking a bite into your childhood back when your mom used to make cupcakes, but better. The cake itself was moist, a staple of Red Velvet done right as it had the perfect balance between crumbly and moist with the vanilla crème adding that shot of sugary goodness that doesn’t send you on a sugar overload.

Everyone has experienced that with store bought cupcakes where you take one bite and you instantly are on a sugar high and in dire need of a large glass of water. Toot Sweet’s cupcakes keep you wanting more until the very last bite. The icing is the finishing touch on an otherwise delicious cupcake. It is light enough that it won’t give you early diabetes like other icings but sugary enough that you can still enjoy licking the icing off of the top of the cupcake. From the first bite to the last crumb, you can taste the homemade quality of the cupcakes.

In my opinion, Toot Sweet Cupcakes has earned a tasty 5 cupcakes out of 5.

To order cupcakes or take a look at the variety of the menu, you can visit www.tootsweetcupcakes.com

Hey Cupcake!

Photo by Laura Taylor

Hey Cupcake! is more than just a cupcake stand. When the first shiny chrome airstream trailer opened, it was one of the first members of the now thriving trailer food community in Austin. Now, Hey Cupcake! has four trailers around town that are identical to the original treat dealer on South Congress (which was located in West campus once upon a time), as well as a store front on Burnet Road.

This company serves up their treats Texas style-bigger, that is. Each confection is easily shareable, though that doesn't mean you'll want to. Cupcakes come in seven flavors, from classy like "The Standard" (vanilla bottom, chocolate top) to "24 Carrot" (carrot cake bottom, cream cheese top).

The red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting often tops the customers' list of favorites. The cocoa in the cake hints at sweetness, allowing the sugar buzz to really come from the tangy sweet layer of frosting on top. Another flavor worth salivating for is the "Michael Jackson." Though some might find its name insensitive since the star's passing, the cupcake is merely an homage to this icon. If anything, this chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting proves that it's more than okay to be white on top and black underneath. For those wishing for a more politically correct cupcake, try Hey Cupcake's signature "Vanilla Dream," with vanilla cake, pink vanilla frosting and sprinkles.

Because refridgerating the cupcakes in the trailer would dry out the cake, each trailer is equipped with what are, essentially, large-sized storage containers to keep the cakes fresh.

All cupcakes are served with a smile and cost $2.75 individually or a dozen for $30.25. Hey Cupcake! also offers the Whipper Snapper option, an injection of homemade whipped cream into the cupcake, which is free except for fat content.

To help wash dessert down, customers may purchase coffee, milk, bottled water of Austin's own Sweet Leaf Tea. Devoted fans can support their favorite cupcake spot with Hey Cupcake! t-shirts, hats and aprons.

Cupcakes can be pre-ordered and picked up at any location or delivered. But to get the true experience, Hey Cupcakes are enjoyed best on-site, under the hot sun along with friends and strangers who share a love for one of the best local trailer treats.

Visit Hey Cupcake! online

Q&A with Cate Smithson, Hey Cupcake! employee

Cupcake City: What’s a typical day like at Hey Cupcake?

Cate: The kitchen staff gets in at about 3 or 4 in the morning and it’s their job to bake cupcakes for the day. We make them fresh every day. Then I come in at about 8 a.m., we have to get all the orders together, package them up and deliver them.

Cupcake City: How many cupcakes do you sell every day?

Cate: For the retail trailers, on a good day, I would say about 900 cupcakes. But sometimes we get bulk corporate orders. Some people order a thousand cupcakes at a time.

Cupcake City: What’s the most popular flavor?

Cate: We have seven flavors and everybody has a different opinion about which one is their favorite. I’d say the biggest seller is the red velvet, but it changes.

Cupcake City: What do you think of the cupcake culture in Austin?

Cate: I think that for there to be a cupcake culture, Austin’s definitely a good breeding ground for it just because it’s different but it’s still a trend, and if it’s going to take off anywhere, it’s going to work here. And I think it’s working well, but I still think it’s a trend.

Cupcake City: Who do you guys see as your competition?

Cate: Competition in Austin isn’t necessarily about different cupcake companies. One person we see as our competition is definitely Amy’s because their business is so successful and they started in Austin and expanded, which is something we’re looking at doing. And also, people choose one dessert for an event, they don’t choose more than one. So just because it’s not a cupcake company, it doesn’t mean they’re not still taking our business.

Locations/Hours:

5530 Burnet Road

Tues-Fri 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sat 12 to 9 p.m.

Sun 1 to 9 p.m.

Closed Mondays

1600 Block of South Congress

Tues-Sat 12 to 9 p.m.

Sun 1 to 8 p.m.

Closed Mondays

6900 Ranch Road 620 N.

Tues-Thurs 12 to 9 p.m.

Fri 12 to 10 p.m.

Sat-Sun 12 to 9 p.m.

Closed Mondays

6863 Highway 290 West

Tues-Thurs 12 to 9 p.m.

Fri 12 to 10 p.m.

Sat-Sun 12 to 9 p.m.

Closed Mondays

3595 Ranch Road 620 S.

Tues-Thurs 12 to 9 p.m.

Fri 12 to 10 p.m.

Sat-Sun 12 to 9 p.m.

Closed Mondays