Handmade to order, they let you “enjoy” cupcakes in a different way: on chalk boards, roll-up chalk mats, chalk board place mats or good old driveways and sidewalks.

Or, they can be used as objets d’art in kids’ rooms.

The set of six mini chalk cupcakes is available in your choice of blue, green, orange, pink, purple or yellow. They are 2 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide, just about the size as a real mini cupcake.

Each cupcake is hand piped and topped with glitter. Each set is packaged for gifting.

They’re great For party favors as well as stocking stuffers.

And there’s more of a choice than cupcakes: We love the chalk popsicles, as well as apples, tea cups and some 15 non-food designs from ballerinas, bees and butterflies to dinosaurs, lady bugs and owls.

The set of six cupcakes is $7.00 from The Chalk Shop, which sells via Etsy.com.

Beyond cupcakes, we love the popsicle chalk as well as the apples and tea cups. In the non-food arena, there are some 15 designs, from ballerinas, butterflies and flowers to circus animals, dinosaurs and owls.
  

It’s easy to follow a recipe and bake a delicious cake. Icing it beautifully is the challenge.

Pastry chefs practice long and hard until they perfect an absolutely smooth icing. And they learn some tricks along the way.

You can use the holiday season to practice, practice, practice. The people upon whom you bestow your homemade cakes will be thrilled, not critical.

A rotating cake stand and an angled spatula will be your two best friends.

Here’s a video demonstration on how to ice a cake from Clarice Lam of The Baking Bean, an online pastry business that delivers delicious desserts straight to your door.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ICING & FROSTING

The difference between frosting and icing is in the sugar:

Icing is made with confectioners’ sugar (also called icing sugar), frosting is made with granulated sugar (table sugar). The two words are often used interchangeably, but that doesn’t make it correct!

More on how to frost a cake.

Find our favorite cakes and cake recipes in our Gourmet Cakes Section.

Strawberries are our last link to that sweet summer bounty. Strawberries are grown year-round in California, where numerous varieties have been bred to accommodate the different soils and climates.*

So while we’re making seasonal pumpkin desserts, carrot cakes and apple pies, we just had to make these summery strawberry shortcake cupcakes:

Here’s a recipe for yellow cupcakes.

Here’s a video recipe for whipped cream, loaded with important professional tips.

You don’t have to use as much whipped cream frosting as shown in the photo—although it is a lovely excuse to eat whipped cream!

You can make the whipped cream a few hours in advance and cover it with plastic wrap in the fridge; if it has begun to separate, put it in a bowl and mix it back together with a wire whisk.

Frost the cupcakes right before serving. Use a piping bag for the effect shown in the photo, or a spatula for a simpler effect.

SURPRISE VARIATION

Before frosting, we used a melon baller to scoop a well in the top of the plain baked cupcakes and inserted a “surprise” whole strawberry. You can also use lemon curd or other fruit curd, but you’ll have a lemon curd cupcake instead of a strawberry shortcake cupcake.

Or, split the batch and make both!

Enjoy this last breath of summer.

Find more of our favorite cake and cupcake recipes.

WHIPPED CREAM TIPS

The perfect cake for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween. Photo courtesy The Sugar Mommas.

The Sugar Mommas, Kimberly and Jennifer, live in California, an entire country away from us. So if we want a piece of their Thanksgiving Pumpkin Spice Cake, we’ll have to make it ourselves. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to make a cake batter, and the pumpkin cream cheese icing is worth the extra step.

Switch out chocolate pumpkin and turkey decorations for chocolate pine cones and a reindeer, and you’ve got Christmas Pumpkin Spice Cake.

PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE RECIPE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and set aside.

2. WHISK the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and spices together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. MIX the sugars and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Use medium speed until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending on low speed until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and the pumpkin purée. Mix until combined and no lumps are present.

4. ADD half of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until fully incorporated. Add the second half of the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Use a spatula to fold in the 1/2 cup of nuts; mix until just combined.

5. POUR the batter into the prepared pans and spread it evenly. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

6. ICE the first cooled cake layer on a serving platter, rounded side down (upside down). Use a knife or angled spatula to spread icing over the top and sides, being generous on top as it will be the filling layer. (A rotating cake stand is a godsend for icing cakes: well worth the modest cost and storage space.) Place the next layer right side up on top of the first and complete the frosting of the top and sides.

7. GARNISH as minimally or lavishly as you like. Minimalist: nothing. Typical: crushed amaretti cookies or ginger snaps. Lavish: chocolate medallions (the Sugar Mommas made chocolate pine cones in a mold) with a chocolate turkey, pumpkin, Christmas tree or reindeer at the center.

Ingredients

 
 
Preparation

We prefer organic pumpkin purée: It tastes better. Photo courtesy Farmer’s Market.

2. TURN the mixer to low speed and add the confectioners’ sugar a little bit at a time, until fully incorporated. Beat until light and fluffy.

3. STIR in the vanilla. This recipe may be doubled if, like us, you indulge in eating the frosting while decorating the cake.

4. DECORATE the cake by sprinkling on top of the cake. If you enjoy the crunch, go crazy and add in 1 tablespoon of raw sugar for a pretty visual that tastes unique and delicious.

Watch this video on how to ice a cake.

FOOD 101: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ICING AND FROSTING

It’s a sugar technicality! Icing is made with confectioners’ sugar, frosting with granulated sugar. The consistencies are different, hence different words to identify them. Most people use the terms interchangeably; but now that you know, you can correct them!
  

Omission beer is gluten-free and delicious. Photo courtesy Omission Beer.

Gluten is found in many common cereal grains including barley and wheat—typical beer ingredients.

On a mission to make a great-tasting beer without the gluten, the Omission team used traditional beer ingredients to handcraft the brew. They also developed a proprietary process that removes all the gluten.

Unlike some earlier gluten-free beers, it contains all of the standard beer ingredients: barley, hops, water and yeast. And the aroma and taste will should please just about everyone.

 
At a recent NIBBLE editorial tasting, it was all thumbs-up for Omission Beer.

A six-pack or two would make a great gift for a gluten-averse pal.

Here’s the store locator. Learn more about Omission beer on the company website.
Brush up on your beer vocabulary in our Beer Glossary.

Find more of our favorite beers in our Beer Section.