Comments: The first cupcake experiment!

They look absolutely delicious and what a great idea to have the testing done at work.

Posted by Katy.

This particular American loves frosting, so yeah, could be an American thing. ;)

Posted by Melissa.

Try this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/500-Cupcakes-Cupcake-Compendium-Youll/dp/1569065977/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213375609&sr=8-2

I made a big tower of cupcakes for my daughter's christening - white chocolate and raspberry, and rum and raisin. Both were absolutely delicious, not overly sweet ( I just used white chocolate/cream as a "frosting"). I'm repeating the rapberry and white chocolate ones this weekend for our NCT 1 year get together.

Posted by raker.

I've made a lot of cupcakes in my time and the ones in "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World" are the best I've ever made or eaten. I'm not a vegan either:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-1569242739-0

They have a range of cupcake recipes from basic chocolate or vanilla to really exotic like pistachio rose or margarita (with tequila and a hint of salt!)
This page has some photos:
http://www.theppk.com/vegancupcakes.html
The vegan cream cheese frosting is de-freakin-licious.

Posted by Melissa Winter Weiss.

My mouth is watering just looking at those cupcakes

Posted by Alyssa.

Yes, in America, cake, cupcakes, and cookies are frequently treated as platforms for icing. Just from looking at yours, I would skip the icing altogether. Does that make me anti-American?

Posted by Abby.

I felt inspired by your delicious-looking cupcakes and tried out the recipe myself : Here!

Posted by Kristin.

Oops, link didn't work.

http://ossianknits.typepad.com/ossianknits/2008/06/cupcakes.html

Posted by Kristin.

Ahem. Having made muffins for 40 odd years (some odder than others) I never frost muffins. Part of the allure is the texture of the top and frosting softens that. Cupcakes need frosting, muffins no.

Posted by swanknitter.

I love the idea of getting them marked although I think you are very brave to submit them to such close inspection. My sister made fairy cakes for my wedding, which people seemed to like very much, particularly later on in the evening.! We found Jane Asher's webshop to be really useful for getting decorations and loads of cases (not just for weddings!)

Posted by Victoria.

I've been meaning to say that you don't really need a cake bag thingy. A ziplock plastic bag with a corner cut off works really well too!

Posted by Kristin.