What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion

I enjoy this book immensely and find the recipes to be very creative. Anyone else who whines that the recipes are cute to look at but inedible should stick to their boring cake recipe and frosting duo. I can tell you right now, they will never garner as much attention at a party as the recipes in this book do.The first recipe I tried from this book was the Easter eggs which requires molding eggs out of candy melts from plastic Easter eggs. After a frustrating hour of maybe getting one egg out of 8 to not break while unmolding I ended up with barely three and a half candy eggs and a pile of shattered attempts.The second recipe I tried was the "all cracked up" or the eggs on the back cover of the book. I dreaded doing egg molding again, but this time I came with several ideas and they worked!! So, I'm passing along my ideas so they can maybe help someone else who ran into the same problems I did.First, I filled the inside of the eggs with the candy melts and then used a brush to cover up the bare spots. A knife or spoon will not work because they scrape the sides.Don't be stingy with the candy melts. If the candy is spread too thin it will shatter. If I could see the color of the egg clearly through the candy I would add more.Using a plastic squeezable bottle I would spread an excess layer of candy melts along the inside edge of the plastic egg on one side. After it chills this layer will harden and create an overextended "lip" of candy to grip with your fingers so you have a place to grip and won't create so much pressure on the sides and shatter the candy in the eggI put the molds in the freezer simply because I was too impatient for the fridge. I'm not sure if that changed anything, but they were very hard when I took them out.Next came the unmolding which was always a challenge because even with the plastic eggs greased that candy would not come out no matter how much you tapped the top or pull from the inside of the egg. So, I tried a different approach. While still cold from the freezer I took a hair dryer and used it on the outside of the egg. It only takes seconds and you need to evenly distribute the hot air on all sides (not underside obviously) otherwise you'll melt the candy. Exerting careful pressure and gripping the "lip" you created the egg will easily slip out. If it won't, heat it up a little more.With this technique I had none break which was a certain change from my experience with the previous recipe. The end result was amazing with candy eggs that when served in the egg cartons made many guests assume that they were real eggs. I will certainly do this recipe again and I hope that these hints will help someone not give up on the "egg" recipes

After only one cupcake project I'm convinced this book is going to be useful for many fun projects over the years. Even someone like me with few artistic talents can have success making beautiful cupcakes on the first try! I also have very limited imagination but even I can see how easy it would be to modify aspects of a project based on availability of ingredients, personal tastes, or to complement specific color schemes. I've already been informed I'm to make the Stuffed Turkeys for Thanksgiving this year (will probably use Frosted Flakes instead of Grape-Nuts, and I plan to stuff with marshmallows instead of straight icing. They are soooooo cute!!!) The Customer Images don't lie...these really are do-able by your average cook, as long as you are willing to invest the time and money for ingredients (I found many items in small quantities at a local bulk food store.) This will be one cookbook I WILL use often!

I just received both books and are fascinated with the creativity of the cupcakes. Yes, I might agree some of the decorations might be overly sweet and in odd combinations, but I agree with most of the replies that unless you are a professional baker, you would have to use fondant, gum paste and all the other professional equipment to get the same results. I think the main idea is to WOW! whomever is being presented with these cupcakes, especially the kids. Just looking at the finished product would bring rave reviews. It is ingenious of the authors just to think up the various elements and ingredients just to achieve the final products.As for the cupcake itself, use you own recipe for whatever one you choose. Don't knock the authors for not making this book a "recipe" book. Besides, I am sure the cupcake recipes presented are just fine. As far as I'm concerned everything is covered even a list where to get some of the ingredients. I live in South Florida and have discovered a great source for any type of candy imaginable that the book calls for. Can't wait to get "designing" with all the holidays coming up.

I loved "Hello Cupcake!" and I couldn't wait to try the sequel. These really are "Ingeniously simple designs for every occasion," to borrow the tag-line. There are sections for April Fools, birthday, animals, party, Halloween, Holidays, and a recipe section. There are so many cute ideas, which are broken down into easy step-by-step processes with specific ingredients and instructions. No special tools are required. One of the added benefits of this book, as opposed to its predecessor, is the "EZ Cupcake" designation. Several cupcakes are marked throughout the book; these are especially simple cupcakes that are easier to make, but no less cute. I've used this book quite a bit, and I'm sure I'll continue! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys assembling cute cupcakes!