Wonderland. A place famously characterized by Lewis Carroll as both curiously enchanting and oddly existential; a place to both lose and find yourself at the same time.
"The Looking Glass" is a raspberry cupcake with a champagne creme filling and a vanilla-lemon buttercream. Perfect for a tea party, sane or mad.
Perhaps the Cheshire Cat was onto something when he told Alice "most everyone's mad here." I always wondered if it was in asking ourselves the questions that we find the answers, or that if we are curious enough we might just stumble upon them along the way."Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don’t much care where--" said Alice. "Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
When I lived in Italy, I made it a goal to find Sicily at least once, and understand where my family came from, what they saw, who they were. I didn't want to leave. Traveling down the east coast, I noticed a sad eroding beauty. Towns that were a reminder of a place worlds apart from the mainland, a sort of port stop for the various exploring cultures of the Mediterranean.
"The Redheaded Sicilian" is a rich chocolate cupcake with a cannoli cream filling and Kahlua buttercream frosting. It's musky in its roots, creamy in the center, and finished with a good liqueur kick.
My great-grandfather was a redheaded Sicilian, a spitfire descendant of those Norman and Longobard adventurers that settled on the island hundreds of years ago. I think my cousins and I have a bit of him still in us. The fair southern Italian skin, the love of good sweets, and that inevitable reckless wanderlust... to travel the world and see where we land.
Whether you spent the summers of your youth by the ocean or in the hot city, along the boardwalk or riding bikes along a country road, there is a good chance that you also spent it pining over a fling. 
"The Summer Love" is a fluffy angelfood cupcake topped with a tart lemon buttercream and sugared summer fruits. What was it about that young love that makes us always hold it close in our hearts? Most began when the nights were hot and long and cooled out as the leaves started to change. Perhaps we never forget them because like the cupcake, no matter how light and lovely they appeared in the moment, they were the same in the end: bittersweet.
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They say Marie Antoinette was known for having lavish taste and big extravagent hairdos. Sounds like my kind of woman. But whether or not she actually said that famously snarky line, I'm certain that she would approve of these mini packages of fabulosity... along with about half a magnum of bubbly.
"The French Lady" is a double vanilla cupcake topped with a whipped Chambord buttercream...and pearls. Fit for a queen, dahling.
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Let them eat cake!
Blanca Gomez's fantastico lonely mustached cuppie has stolen my heart.
Andes, Mint Aeros, Peppermint Patties, Thin Mints: perfect examples of the coooolest choco-minty marriage of timeless flavors. Did you know that according to the International Dairy Foods Association, mint-chocolate chip is the 10th most popular ice cream flavor? Ok, bit of useless information there...bear with me!
"The Flighty Grasshopper" is a rich chocolate cupcake with a chocolate-mint ganache filling and topped with mint chocolate chip buttercream.
Fresh enough for the humid spring days we've been having lately here in Philadelphia...just sweet enough to get you through to sunny days ahead, wherever you are.
Sunday mornings. Brunch parties. Romantic drinks.
The mimosa represents a basic good in life by giving a naughty little kick in the pants to the blasé morning routine. Simply add some bubbles to your juice, and its a celebration... a little whimsical...and a great excuse for libations before 5.
The Mimosa is a vanilla cupcake filled with a luxurious light champagne custard and topped with a fresh orange buttercream frosting. Refreshingly simple, yet decadently ethereal in its nature alone.
A few bubbles go a long way, my friends.
The Philadelphia heat is rising. All I could dream of doing is passing the day in the park with a cold drink, excellent people watching, and the farmers' market on the square. Picking up some strawberries, on the walk home I'd see the kids running home, where their mothers wait on stoops with open doors and the promise of that night's dinner beckoning them in. As the sunset air starts to whirl around, I'd run off to grab a drink at a restaurant with its bay windows open to the city on a warm night.
"The S&C Dream" is spring whimsy in a fluffy strawberry cupcake. Sugar crystals and nonpareils (what dreams are made of, of course) float atop a whipped strawberry buttercream. Light, sweet, and oh so fanciful.
And for the REAL Strawberry and Cream, visit the wonderfully luxurious http://strawberryandcream.com/
Another cupcake hiatus comes to a close as Easter has come and gone and the Cupcaketologist is allowed to indulge in some decadent confections again (and her friends can benefit once more!). 
"The Salty Sweetie" is a light vanilla cupcake filled with salted caramel and topped with either chocolate ganache or vanilla buttercream. Atop is a crumble of cashews and pretzels, giving each bite a bit of moist cake, gooey caramel goodness, and a good crunch to end it all.The grill is lit, the windowboxes are fresh with lillies and pansies, and the oven is on once again. Spring has sprung for the Cupcaketologist.
The "Peanut Butter Cuppie" is a moist chocolate mini cupcake with a light fluffy peanut butter frosting (creamy and crunchy combined!). It's topped with toasted Virginia peanuts, and has a delicious nutty smell that asks that wonderful age old question.....
How do you eat a Reese's?
Sometimes in life when you put two seemingly different things together, you have the perfect combination. When this happens in food, however, the sensory experience is heightened by the fact that not only do your tastebuds feel like Columbus discovering something unexpected, but it triggers your mind to realize you are experiencing something that is a little wrong, thus making it sinfully good. In this case, by perfect combination I mean the unholy goodness that is "salty and sweet." I like to call this "trashy good."Dark chocolate and bacon in a cupcake is no different, in fact, it's almost old news in the cupcake world.... But it's just so trashy good.
The Heartattack is a 75% chocolate cupcake made with bacon drippings and minced Applewood smoked bacon. It's topped with a light chocolate ganache, rolled fondant, and a good old honey candied piece of pig. Best made in mini form. Nothing kills a party like having to administer CPR.
Chocolates and hazelnuts evoke the quintessential Italian Christmas for the Cupcaketologist. Year after year this perfect marriage of flavors finishes off the meal in one way or another, whether it be in the form of cookies, cakes, candies...or all three. There is a reason my dear old Irish roommate ate Nutella out of a jar(and I snuck some, yes, I did!)..it's just that good.
"Il Francescano di Natale" is a light chocolate cake filled with chocolate-frangelico ganache and hazelnut praline and topped in a buttercream frosting. It is then crowned with a hazelnut french macaron, and dusted with cocoa.
I'd say that definitely clears the palate after seven types of fish...
The "Poison Cakes" are good fuel for Halloween dance parties and creepy late night snacks. Black sprinkles were a bad choice. Chocolate, caramel, and resulting black lips are, however, devlishly ghoulish.
"The Looking Glass" is a raspberry cupcake with a champagne creme filling and a vanilla-lemon buttercream. Perfect for a tea party, sane or mad.
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