Cupcake creations

Above images from clevercupcakes via flickr

I have been on a cupcake bent lately. If you're wondering what cupcakes have to do with beauty, look at those top two pictures again. How delightful are those creations? Even if you insist on sticking to your diet, how can you not smile at the beauty there? 

I made cupcakes last weekend - vanilla, with buttercream frosting for both human and canine consumption - and while they didn't look anywhere near as pretty as the ones above, they were delicious and they did bring a smile to quite a few faces. And that's a beautiful thing in my book.

If you're interested, Martha has a great new cookbook out called (appropriately enough for this post) "Cupcakes." I blow hot and cold on Martha, but this is a definite win for her. It has lots of recipes a regular person can actually make, along with a few more daring ones, and there's plenty of ideas/instructions/templates on how to make gorgeous creations in the realm of what's shown above. Next on my list are the Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes and the Red Velvet Cupcakes.  And maybe I'll even try my hand at those icing creations... after all, anything in the name of bringing more beauty into the world, right?