{Gotta Have It!} Polka Dot Cupcake Liners

I have a serious problem. I can't go to Michael's and NOT buy something. The other day I was there, just looking around my favorite sections - scrapbooking, ribbons and cake decorating. I just shouldn't have gone into the cake decorating section. It gets me all the time!

There's a whole wall of cupcake liners - large, small, in lots of new fun patterns. When I came across these, I just had to have them.

Maybe it's the cute size, or maybe it was the fun array of colors,

or it could have been all those polka dots that put me over the edge.

Whatever it was, I had to have them and I had to get EVERY color they came in!

Now I have to get busy baking again.

Or maybe I'll just admire them for a while.

What is your weakness? Believe me, I have plenty more where that came from.

More on that later this week! (there's a hint in these pictures though)

{Recipe} Bacon & Egg "Cupcakes"

I don't know about you, but during the week my mornings are so hectic. Making lunches, packing bags, it's a miracle we actually get out on time. So my breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal. More specifically Multi Grain Cheerios with a sprinkling of cranberry pecan granola on top. Very exciting, I know.

The weekends however are a different story. We usually don't have anything early planned which gives us some time to have a hot breakfast. Eggs are a favorite around here but last weekend instead of the traditional bacon, eggs and toast, I wanted to change things up a bit. Yes, we still had bacon, eggs and toast, but in the form of a CUPCAKE!! It's really all about the presentation.

Here goes:

Take some sliced bread and take off the crusts.

We only have sliced wheat bread in our house but I'm sure white bread will work great. It's so doughy! I actually got this idea from watching a recent episode of $10 Dinners on the Food Network. The host, Melissa d'Arabian was making some kind of cheese and tomato tart and she used this same method with white bread. Don't know how that made me think of bacon & eggs, but somehow it did. Who knows how the mind works, right?!?

Then you want to flatten it out with a rolling pin or whatever else you may have on hand. (the side of a can will work)

See how flat it got? Crazy, huh?!?

Next you want to melt some butter and brush it on both sides of the bread. This will be the "toast" part of our breakfast.

Take a muffin tray and place the bread inside. Make sure it's flat against the bottom and sides.

Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees - you want it to brown up a bit and get crispy so when you take it out it holds it's shape.

Now personally I like scrambled eggs - I don't like a runny yoke. I would really prefer to just eat the egg whites (which many times I do) but for this I made scrambled. I didn't want it too dry and not too wet - somewhere in the middle.

For the bacon, I keep it in the freezer so it's easier to cut. I cut the bacon crosswise into little slices and then cooked it the way you normally would. Another option would be to just keep it whole and crumble it up after it cooks. Your choice.

Then, it's assembly time. Pop the bread out of the muffin tins, fill it with the eggs and top it off with your crumbled bacon.

There you have it - a new twist on your bacon, eggs & toast breakfast - made to look like cupcakes!

Hope you like it! Will you try it this weekend? Let me know if you do.

A Happy Birthday Boy

Recently my friend Pam asked if I could help her out with her little guy's 3rd birthday party. Of course I can! She wanted me to design the cupcakes and party favors. Two things I love to do!!

The party was at Chuck E. Cheese's in Harlem.

My dilemma was how I was going to deliver the cupcakes because it was a really hot day and I didn't want the icing to melt. Also, I had my little one with me so I had to coordinate her, the cupcakes and the party favors. I had 2 choices - to either ice the cupcakes when I got there, or drive in (instead of taking the subway). I actually came up with a third and even better option. I asked my sister to drive us down! That way, I wouldn't have to worry about parking and walking with the cupcakes. (and my daughter) Genius!!

For the cupcakes, I was told he likes the color red and sports balls - specifically baseballs and basketballs. So, I started designing. We also thought it would be cute to have his face on the cupcake topper so I made 2 different designs.

Sports balls...

and the others with his cute little face.

This one got both designs. It must have been the birthday boy's.

I used red icing with blue and yellow cupcake liners.

When it was time to sing the Happy Birthday song, they brought out the Chuck E. Cheese's mascot.

I think it freaked out the kids. (do you blame them?) He was politely asked to leave.

Time to blow out the candles,

and eat the cupcakes. Looks like he liked them!

Apparently, so did my daughter.

For the favors, Pam already bought some of the items but she also wanted personalized mini chocolate bars and lollipops and have them all wrapped up together in one package.

For the chocolate bars, I put his face on the front with a birthday message on the back, and the lollipops just had his face.

I designed a card to match the cupcake toppers that was used as the top of the favor bag.

Sometimes designing for boys is a bit harder than for girls but I think these came out pretty cute!

Since I've been getting requests for party designs, I thought I would add them to my Etsy Shop. What themes do you like for boys parties? Anything special for girls?

What about adults? (we like to have parties too!)

I'll let you know when they're available.

Summer Cupcake Toppers

Do you remember these cupcakes I made for Memorial Day?

Well, since this weekend is July 4th, the red, white and blue theme definitely fits the occasion. If you want to make these, go back and read this post.

Also, those cupcake toppers are free to download. This is what's you'll get...

They would be great as cupcake toppers or tags. Double duty - love that!! Print it out on white glossy photo paper or white cardstock. If you want it to have the scalloped edges, you will need a 3 inch scallop circle punch. If you use it, send me the pictures. I would love to see your creations!

click to download - Red, White & Blue Cupcake Toppers/Tags

If you missed yesterday's post, go back and read it - Patriotic cake balls.

Another fun dessert!

Cupcake Gown

After winning the Creative Cupcake contest this week, my friends have been sending me interesting pictures and articles about cupcakes. There was one picture that really stood out from the rest - this cupcake gown...


All I can say is WOW!! So amazing! I did some research and it turns out it was from a photography exhibit in Australia. The photographer's name is Anton Perry. I love when fashion, food AND photography come together! Very creative!!

This was sent to me by my friends George and Claire. They were big supporters of mine during the contest. Now that I won, they want me to bake cupcakes for their staff in each of their offices.

What would have happened if I lost?!?

The Results Are In...

The Creative Cupcake Contest hosted by Thoughtfully Simple is finally over and the winner was selected today. The judges were Tori from Thoughtfully Simple, Amy Atlas from Amy Atlas Events and Kimberly from The TomKat Studio.

The winner was announced on the Thoughtfully Simple Facebook fan page. This is what they said:

We have a Creative Cupcake WINNER! From the top 3 cupcakes, Kimberley Kerkezi Stoegbauer , Amy Atlas Events and myself unanimously selected this Bowling Cupcake as the winner. Congrats Stacey Natal! You have one $100 to get "your bake-on" and custom cupcake toppers from The TomKat Studio !

Can you believe it?!? I won!! I'm so excited!! Thanks so much to everyone that voted for me! You're the best!!

Made It To The Top 3!!

As many of you know, I entered some of my cupcakes in a contest hosted by Thoughtfully Simple. Voting went on for a couple of weeks and ended yesterday. I am soooo happy to say that Total City Girl cupcakes made it to the top 3!!!

The judges - Thoughtfully Simple, Amy Atlas and The Tomkat Studio will be making the final decision today and announcing the winner tomorrow.

Just wanted to give a huge thanks to everyone that helped me get this far! I couldn't have done it without you!


I'll let you know the results tomorrow!

Cupcake Contest - Vote For Total City Girl!!

If you've managed to hang in there for a while and have been reading this blog, you've heard me talk about some of the cupcakes I've made. I LOVE making cakes and cupcakes!!

Well, last night as I was reading some of my favorite blogs, I came across a contest over on the Thoughtfully Simple blog. Can you guess what it is?? I guess the title of my post gives it away.

They are looking for the most Creative Cupcake!

You can enter three cupcakes so these are the ones I've chosen:

Bowling Party Cupcakes

Teacher Love Cupcakes

and last but not least, my Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Cupcakes.

The voting goes on until June 27th and you can vote every day, once per day. So, I'm asking for your help!! Please head on over to this link and vote for Total City Girl!! If you can pass it on to everyone you know, that would be helpful also! You can mention it on Facebook and if you're on twitter, you can tweet the link.

I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Red, White & Blue Cupcakes + Free Printables

With Memorial Day Weekend quickly coming up in just a few days and marking the unofficial start of summer, I wanted to give you some entertaining ideas in case you were having friends over to celebrate. I wanted to start off with everyone's favorite - dessert of course!

My little one is off from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we got to spend some time yesterday whipping up these fun and festive cupcakes. I do have to warn you though - if you have really strong feelings against food coloring, you may want to stop reading now.

Can't say I didn't warn you!

Normally I bake from scratch including the cake and the icing, but for this little project I just made it easy and used both a box mix and a ready made frosting.

I was inspired to make these because the other day when I was in Target, I found all these fun red, white and blue toppings...

How could you not be inspired?!?

So, I started off with a WHITE cake mix. Use whatever brand you prefer. I even made it with only egg whites to make sure I kept the white color pure.

Besides the toppings being red, white and blue, I wanted the inside of the cupcake to be colorful as well. This is where the food coloring comes to play. If you are that adamant about it, you can always skip this step and keep the cupcakes white. Your choice.

Follow the directions on the box and then separate the batter into 3 equal parts. I used gel food coloring to get the red and the blue you see here.

I found these patriotic cupcake liners at Michael's.

Pop them in the pan and then start with the blue batter. I used about a tablespoonful.

Next came the white. You just want to make sure there's no blue peeking through.

Then finish up with the red.

Bake it in the oven, again following the directions on the box and then when it's ready you have these lovely red mounds.

But when you cut it open, you have this...

So cool, right?!?

Next it's time to decorate.

My little one really got into this part.

Great Job!

I made 4 different versions - each one just slightly different. I wanted the edges to have the special decorations - sprinkles

If you look close you'll see they even have little stars in there...

non-parells,

and colored sanding sugar.

Then each center was topped with a swirl of white icing.

So festive!

But wait, they would look so much better with cupcake toppers...

Now that's a celebration!

I designed these on my computer and used a 3 inch scalloped edge punch to cut them out and attach to a pick. I prefer the 3 inch to the 2 inch size. I think it makes more of a statement. FUN!!!

Let me know if you end up trying these or any other fun desserts for the upcoming holiday. If you'd like to use the same cupcake toppers I used here, you can dowload the PDF for free!! Just click here.

Enjoy!