Ah, I finally get a week to talk about some cookbooks! I am excited!
But first, let's talk war. Cupcake Wars, that is. I've been a big fan for years, so when I heard that Candace Nelson is coming out with a cookbook of her Sprinkles cupcakes and pastries, I couldn't wait to grab it. And I am so glad I did!
Sprinkles was the original cupcake bakery, a quiet bakery in Beverly Hills that became huge overnight by the power of Oprah. (Literally overnight. Oprah still had her daily show, and she asked Candace to come and bring cupcakes for everyone. She had to stay up all night long to get them all baked and onto the plane, but she did it, Oprah's audience got to sample her cupcakes, and the rest is history. Fans of Food Network's Cupcake Wars, does anything about that ring a bell?)
Now Sprinkles is an institution. Although the locations are still somewhat limited, there are many across the U.S. (you can see the map here), and some of those locations even have those amazing cupcake ATMs. And you can get mixes for the cupcakes. Or you can just get the cookbook and make all her most famous cupcakes at home, from scratch.
The Sprinkles Baking Book starts with her famous red velvet and continues on through vanilla, chocolate, coconut, peanut butter, strawberry, and just about any flavor you could want. She also includes vegan and gluten-free recipes as well as recipes for other desserts--cookies, pies, cakes. But of course, it's all about the cupcakes.
I'm not going to say it's a perfect cookbook. There are lots of recipes of Candace Nelson where I'd rather see more of the food, and some of the pictures of her are overly posed, making it seem a little corny. And she's happy to drop names of her friends in entertainment--Julia Roberts' and Jessica Alba's favorite treats, for example, or desserts borrowed from Michael Strahan's mom or Reese Witherspoon's grandma. I am not someone who cares about these sorts of things. I just want the cupcake recipes. Just the cupcakes. And now I have them! (insert evil laugh here)
Cupcakes!
And as a special bonus, a recipe from fellow judge on Cupcake Wars, Florian Bellanger's raspberry macaron like he sells at Mad Mac Macarons. Outside of a cupcake ATM of your very own, what more could you want?