What do you think?
Rate this book
Cupcakes!
What's short and sweet and cute as a button? Cupcakes! And everyone loves 'em! Trusted favorites at picnics, potlucks, and bake sales, cupcakes go equally well at relaxed and informal gatherings or at elegant parties. Here are 50 scrumptious ways to bring smiles and those nostalgic memories back faster than a kid can lick the batter off a beater. Try a Cinnamon Sugar Puff Cupcakethey go from mixing bowl to oven to one happy taker in less than an hour. Who needs a peanut butter cup when there's a peanut butter cupcake in the house? Ethereal Lemon Angel Cupcakes soar even higher when served with some fresh seasonal fruit. With tips and techniques for perfect cupcake-making, basic "head-start" recipes, and gorgeous photographs, it's time to get out the baking pans and join the cupcake craze. These diminutive cakes may be small but they stand tall in the world of sweets.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
34 people are currently reading
1138 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 5, 2011
Initially a 3-star rating on par with Death By Chocolate Cakes. But I've since gone thru it a second and third time and darn it all, I've got a list of 16 recipes I'd like to try. That's pretty impressive for a recipe book. So far I've tested out the two basic cake recipes (Easy Mix Yellow and Chocolate Sour Cream) and three frosting recipes (Butterscotch Buttercream, White, and Chocolate Buttercream). The two cake recipes were surprisingly yummy (the yellow one did NOT taste like cornbread, hooray!) but they both fell and became disappointingly concave. The taste was so good, I'm willing to try again, especially the yellow. Perhaps more flour? All three frosting recipes have been outstanding. The butterscotch was very sweet at first but seemed to mellow a bit on day 2. The white was a medium-soft consistency, rather fluffy at room temp and went very well with the yellow cake. The chocolate frosting was so soft, so creamy and so smooth. Not overly sweet, it was a nice complement to the rich chocolate cupcake. I probably wouldn't attempt to pipe this frosting, not even just a simple swirl a la the book cover. But it was so soft and easy to spread with a spatula, like a slightly cooled ganache. Has a lot of butter in it, so I expect it hardens quite a bit in the fridge. Anyway, good job so far Klivans, you get bumped up to 4 stars.
February 4, 2014
I want color photos of ALL the delicious suggestions.
I appreciated her helpful hints and chat about what butter and oil she uses, same with cream, eggs, flavorings, spices, flour, leavening agents, and sugars. (I'm not mentioning the drills I skipped -- but there's more here for the more committed enthusiasts).
She uses two basic recipes for many of her creations -- easy-mix yellow and chocolate sour cream. I tried the chocolate sour cream recipe, but either my baking powder was too old (as per her notes regarding leavening agents) or she does not factor in high altitude baking. Or, it could have been my fault as she suggested filling the cups with 1/4 cup of batter and I used 1/2 cup of batter. At any rate, we salvaged my fiasco by scraping out the sadly collapsed crusty chocolaty mess onto scoops of ice cream and sprinkling on some sugar-roasted peanuts. Yummy. And I didn't have to bother about the frosting!
I appreciated her helpful hints and chat about what butter and oil she uses, same with cream, eggs, flavorings, spices, flour, leavening agents, and sugars. (I'm not mentioning the drills I skipped -- but there's more here for the more committed enthusiasts).
She uses two basic recipes for many of her creations -- easy-mix yellow and chocolate sour cream. I tried the chocolate sour cream recipe, but either my baking powder was too old (as per her notes regarding leavening agents) or she does not factor in high altitude baking. Or, it could have been my fault as she suggested filling the cups with 1/4 cup of batter and I used 1/2 cup of batter. At any rate, we salvaged my fiasco by scraping out the sadly collapsed crusty chocolaty mess onto scoops of ice cream and sprinkling on some sugar-roasted peanuts. Yummy. And I didn't have to bother about the frosting!
Read
April 27, 2008I first had to see who published this...of course! Chronicle!! When I worked for Collectors Press in Tigard they always copied whatever Chronicle and Taschen were doing and totally rode their coat tails instead of coming up with their own original ideas...ok, enough ranting.
I love cupcakes. It is that simple. They are the perfect size, way more fun to eat than a slice of cake, and self-contained in their own little wrapper.
The thing I like about these recipes is that they are in a card deck!! You just have the plastic coated card on your kitchen counter instead of an entire cookbook you have to worry about getting all mangled and getting eggs and flour on. Cool idea for one of my favorite things to eat! yeah~~
I love cupcakes. It is that simple. They are the perfect size, way more fun to eat than a slice of cake, and self-contained in their own little wrapper.
The thing I like about these recipes is that they are in a card deck!! You just have the plastic coated card on your kitchen counter instead of an entire cookbook you have to worry about getting all mangled and getting eggs and flour on. Cool idea for one of my favorite things to eat! yeah~~
February 12, 2011
I have received this book as my birthday gift along with a batch of cupcakes made from one of the recipes! It was a (bad pun alert) sweet birthday gift for sure! Since then, I've made quite a bit of cupcakes from the book and it has addressed a lot of the basics. Unfortunately, I think I've kind of outgrown the book rather quickly as I've found myself tweaking Klivans' recipes as well as exploring recipes from other sources.
Don't get me wrong! I still think this is a very solid and informative cupcake cook book for any beginners, and I still use it as a guide when I need to whip up a quick batch of cakes for any last minute notice. Yep, the ice cream cone cupcakes were fun!
Don't get me wrong! I still think this is a very solid and informative cupcake cook book for any beginners, and I still use it as a guide when I need to whip up a quick batch of cakes for any last minute notice. Yep, the ice cream cone cupcakes were fun!
July 27, 2007
This is an excellent cookbook focused just on the art of making cupcakes. Since 2006 I have made about half of the recipes in the book which my friends, co-workers, and fourth grade students have loved. The author gives a great introduction with great insight on ingredients, materials, and baking advice. The photos are also amazing. I would highly recommend this book. I had more than one person tell me they ate the best cupcake of their life!
March 21, 2013
"Cupcakes!" by Elinor Klivans was a very promising book. I mean, just look at the picture on the cover. This looks like a book that is devoted to the taste of the cupcake more than the look of what goes on top. There are a lot of books out there that are all about the decoration, but for me, it's all about the taste. The recipes in this book are sound, near as I can tell. As I've said before, I don't often make the recipes in the cookbooks that I read, I just like to read them for the low-fat version of indulgence. That being said, this book did annoy me just a bit.
I get that a cookbook has to speak to several levels of cook, but the recipes were all basically variations on each other, after reading the introduction and the first one or two recipes, I started to feel as though the author thought the people reading her book were all idiots. Even a novice cook will know how to remove cupcakes from a pan.
The other thing that I wish there were more of in this book were pictures. Cooking is very visual to me. Sure, I can imagine what the recipe is supposed to look like, but a picture makes it just that much better. Sadly, there were very few pictures in this book. The ones that were there looked a bit flat. The frosting looked sticky and unappetizing and quite often too sweet.
Honestly, this wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't that great either. I know there are other cupcake books out there, maybe next time I'll grab one that is more inspiring to me.
I get that a cookbook has to speak to several levels of cook, but the recipes were all basically variations on each other, after reading the introduction and the first one or two recipes, I started to feel as though the author thought the people reading her book were all idiots. Even a novice cook will know how to remove cupcakes from a pan.
The other thing that I wish there were more of in this book were pictures. Cooking is very visual to me. Sure, I can imagine what the recipe is supposed to look like, but a picture makes it just that much better. Sadly, there were very few pictures in this book. The ones that were there looked a bit flat. The frosting looked sticky and unappetizing and quite often too sweet.
Honestly, this wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't that great either. I know there are other cupcake books out there, maybe next time I'll grab one that is more inspiring to me.
October 30, 2008
I have become quite addicted to cooking and baking. My partner gave me this book because he loved my love of cupcakes. He brought me fancy cupcakes during the wooing stages and I think this book sealed the deal.
I like it because it's all about the joy of cupcakes seems to distance itself from the cupcake hipster trend. The recipes are easy, interesting and most importantly tasty.
This book is a little like pr0n for me.
I like it because it's all about the joy of cupcakes seems to distance itself from the cupcake hipster trend. The recipes are easy, interesting and most importantly tasty.
This book is a little like pr0n for me.
August 14, 2018
I was looking for a picture book. Found it.
July 14, 2009
i have this book out from the library. it is great. some of the cupcakes that i have made from it stick to the paper cupcake cups, but the chocolate glaze and topping are aMAZING! i've renewed this book twice from the library. i will have to take it back soon.
February 6, 2008
My favorite cupcakes so far are the figgy gooey brown sugary ones... I've made a few others and they've been average to kinda chalky and gross. But a great book for inspiration, nonethless.
March 26, 2008
The book cover tells - all .. excellent recipes and gorgeous frostings .. I think I'll bake 3 or 4 recipes in a day if Ihave enough audience to eat 'em ;o)
March 26, 2008
my favorite cookbook these days!
June 19, 2008
I am very excited to read this book! hopefully i can learn alot and it may possibly help me get out of corporate america!
July 19, 2008
I alreday have bookmarked quite a few recipes to try out. Everything looks beautiful and delicious. Another great addition to my cookbook collection. (A birthday present!- 7/20008.)
September 9, 2008
I have a collection of cupcake books and this is my favorite. There are some interesting cupcakes in this book. The chocolate ganache is wonderful!
September 26, 2008
I have this, and I love it. The basic recipes are fabulous, and the peanut-butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache are to die for. Scrumptious.
November 19, 2008
pumpkin-ginger cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. yessirree.
December 31, 2008
secret cupcake recipe revealed!
April 7, 2010
I bought this for my daughter. she loves making cupcakes. It has some good and different cupcakes in it.
September 25, 2010
Wow. I honestly feel that Martha Stewart's CUPCAKES borrows HEAVILY from this book!!!! It has a nice, folsky appeal.
November 30, 2010
So many good recipes, my only regret is that I didn't get to make them all.
June 25, 2012
Good cupcake recipes!
November 7, 2012
beautiful designs! looks so tempting to bake these cupcakes. :)
May 13, 2013
i want reading the book
March 11, 2008
I'm enjoying trying out these yummy recipes
December 4, 2015
Best cupcakes!
December 6, 2016
I loved it, has everything
February 9, 2017
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14383052
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14383052
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews