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

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142 in Books
• Published on: 2010-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780547241814
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

Too Cute for Words
What I found the most striking about What’s New Cupcake is the photography by Alan Richardson. The pictures are so vibrant and colorful that they almost seem to jump off the pages. This is a good-sized book, at about 9″ x 10″, so they are also nice sized and detailed photos. The cover photo with the “Rubber Duckies” cupcakes is too cute for words.

What’s New Cupcake starts out like a craft book with a list of needed materials and tools. Nothing unusual is needed and most are items that would be already on hand, except for the variety of colorful candies. The instructions for decorating the cupcakes are clear and the Karen Tack’s designs are fun and very decorative.

The first chapter, April Fools Play, has cupcakes that look like something entirely different. How about cupcakes that look like a sub sandwich or a banana split? There are sections with ideas for all of the major holidays and party ideas for children and grown-ups.

Just a couple of examples of the design titles are:

Busy Bees (a honeycomb of cupcakes)
Mum’s the Word (beautiful flower cupcakes)
Fur Balls and String Monsters (You have to see it!)
Shower Heads (baby faces)
Knit One, Frost Two (knitting needles and yarn – my personal favorite)

Along with the decorating instructions there are quick dressed up cake mix recipes for cupcakes, frosting, and sugar cookies.

Just as awesome as the original!
If you liked Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make then you’ll love this book.
Everything you need to decorate will be candies that you are familiar with (it never asks you to use fondant).
My favorite idea is “Chinese Takeout,” where the cupcakes are decorated to look like Vegetable Fried Rice, Pork Lo Mein, and of course, a Fortune Cookie. (This is in the “April Fools” section of the book.)
The first one I will probably make could be “Gingerbread Village,” where the cupcakes are decorated to look like Gingerbread houses – for my brother-in-law’s housewarming party.
One feature that this book has that “Hello Cupcake” didn’t have, is the “EZ” stamp on the more simpler recipes.
As with “Hello Cupcake,” this is mainly a how-to-decorate cupcake idea book, and not a recipe book for different flavors of cupcake batters, etc. Although it does have some recipes for different flavors of cupcakes that you can make, it is mainly a decorating book. The pictures are beautiful.
Along with “Hello Cupcake,” these are two of my favorite recipe books.

Cupcake, it’s not just a noun anymore…
“Cupcaking,” it seems, has joined the ranks of verbs like “scrapbooking.” Where once a cupcake was a tasty treat, now it’s an arts and crafts project. I must admit that I came to this book with a misconception. I thought the point was to create something good to eat. It is not. What’s New, Cupcake is a triumph of style over substance. To eat the creations in this book is not only beside the point, it’s bordering on sacrilege.

Clearly, I am an old-fashioned baker, or at least one cut from a different cloth. “Recipes” from cake mixes and the use of twinkies and mini-donuts as additional construction elements are anathema to me. Now that my biases have been disclosed, I will admit this: The photographs of the projects in this book are AMAZING. The finished projects are gorgeous–more akin to sculptures than snacks. For the, er, baker who aspires to such feats, this book should be equal parts instructive and inspirational.

For Luddites like myself, who are as interested in the edibility of their cupcakes as the attractiveness, there is definitely useful information. I advise using real recipes as a starting place. But there is much that can be learned about types and manners of icing and frosting, how to achieve textures, creative ways to use candies and other decorative elements, and more. It may encourage you to a more ambitious level of creativity.

This is a book for an extreme cupcaker. Perhaps there are far more of you out there than I realize. For you, this book may well be the bible of cupcaking. For the more moderate cupcakers like myself, take what you can from the book and then ooh and aah over the pretty pictures.

Amazon.com Review
Product Description
The endlessly imaginative duo who turned cupcaking into a national pastime is back, with utterly new, eye-popping creations anyone can make. Create a race-car cupcake, a robot cupcake, or ravishing jewelry cupcakes for a birthday party. Surprise the family with Chinese takeout dinner cupcakes on April Fool’s or serve up a goofy chocolate moose. Captivate Mom with a bouquet of long-stemmed rose cupcakes and build sand castle cupcakes with the kids. All you need are candies from the corner store and cake mix and canned frosting.

So what is new, Cupcake?

Dozens of “EZ” projects that use just a few ingredients–perfect for kids and parties.
• More pictures, brighter colors, bolder designs.
• More faux-food creations–so real you won’t believe they’re cupcakes!
• More comical critters and the cutest pets ever!
• More irresistible party centerpieces to celebrate hobbies, from golf to knitting.
• More spectacular holiday cupcakes: Valentine’s, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

You’ll end up with cupcakes so striking that you won’t want to eat them–but so delicious you’ll have no choice!

Recipe Excerpts from What’s New, Cupcake?

An Apple for the Teacher Cupcakes

Playing Koi Cupcakes

From Publishers Weekly
The authors of Hello, Cupcake are back, this time with the promise of simpler recipes. Relying on doctored, store-bought cake mixes and the option of canned frostings, recipe time is used primarily for assembling and decorating cupcakes that take the form of animals, food items, and holiday-inspired scenes. The TOC may leave readers guessing recipe selections with chapter names such as I Thought You Ordered Chocolate Moose and The House that Boo Built, but the unconventional names embody the playful spirit of this title. Basic techniques, including filling cupcake liners and frosting cupcakes, are explained, and recipes are formatted into clear, easy-to-understand numbered steps accompanied by full-color photos. Kids and adults alike will find joy in the many artful creations, including a pizza supported by cupcakes and topped with fruit pepperoni; a banana split with cupcakes in the form of ice cream scoops, and Chinese takeout complete with Tootsie Roll broccoli florets. This is an innovative title that doesn’t hold back. (Apr.)
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