Karen Tack - Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make

Hello, Cupcake!

Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALAN RICHARDSON

RECIPES AND FOOD STYLING BY KAREN TACK

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
Boston New York

For Chris, Erik, and Liam,
the sprinkles on my cupcakes
K.T.

For Larry
and his tremendous devotion to dessert
A.R.

Visit our website: www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com.

Copyright 2008 by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson All rights reserved For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

All trademarks in this book are the property of their respective owners.

Book design by Anne Chalmers Typeface: Helvetica Neue

Printed in the United States of America DOW 15

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Richardson, Alan, date.
Hello, cupcake! / Karen Tack and Alan Richardson;
text and photographs by Alan Richardson;
recipes and food styling by Karen Tack,
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-618-82925-5 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-618-82925-3 (alk. paper)
1. Cupcakes. 2. Cake decorating. I. Tack, Karen.
II. Title.
TX771.R52 2008
641.8'653dc22 2007040029

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We didn't get this cupcake crazy on our own. We want to thank the many editors and art directors who collaborated with us over the years and contributed their own zany ideas. Whether working with you as a team or separately, we've picked up a lot of inspiration from all of you. A special thanks to Doug Turshen for first stimulating our cupcake imagination and also to Susan Westmoreland, Babs Chernetz, Frank Melodia, Marisol Vera, Ruth Reichl, Richard Ferretti, Erika Oliveira, Romulo Yanes, Sally Lee, Clare Lissaman, Linda Fears, Shelley Wolson, Kate Keating, Diane Lam-phron, Jackie Plant, Fraya Berg, Karmen Lizzul, Betsy Jordan, Stephanie Saible, Wendy Smolen, Rena Coyle, Tom Eckerle, Cheryl Slocum, Jan Hazard, Jane Chestnut, and Brad Pallas for making sure our cupcakes never lost their creative edge.

We've called on many friends to look at projects and give us a thumbs-up (or down). Special thanks to Allison and Rebecca Kural, Sarah Morris (future cupcaker extraordinaire), Jennifer Hess and Louise Rooney (our biggest fans), Richard and Sherry Zucker (our in-house marketing team), Carol Schwartz (our groupie), and Chris Raymond and Lynne Palazzi (our hometown publishing touchstones). Friends, school chums, and families in Riverside, Connecticut: thanks for taking care of all those extra cupcakes we had lying around.

Our friend Carol Prager has been cheering, advising, counseling, and nurturing this project for a great many years, and we're sure she's glad it's finally finished.

Without Ellie Ritt and Roy Galaday backing us with their amazing creativity, we'd be lost. Thanks to both of you for all your help.

Karen's mother-in-law, Barbara Tack, is a talented artist, and we're proud of the beautiful painting she made of our family tree (see ). We hope she approves of our rendition of her (on the tree's lower-left-hand limb). As for the rest of our families, thanks for putting up with all the candy and cupcakes around the house. We want you to know how much we appreciate all of the support and love. Karen's older son, Erik, constantly graded our efforts. Thanks for giving us more A's than C's. Karen's husband, Chris, is a man of extreme patience and turned our mania into his passion. Even when the Tack home overflowed with old cupcakes, Chris took it all in stride and offered advice, encouragement, and a beer. Karen's younger son, Liam, doesn't really like cupcakes, but he was always available when we needed to dispose of an extra gummy bear. Alan's partner, Larry Frascella, was the best family editor we could want. He offered insight and astute comments on the writing and photos and kept us on our toes every step of the way. Laura Mecca and the kids, Sarah, Anna, Lawrence, Stephanie, and Thomas, tested and tasted their way through a good many of our projects and proved that Long Island kids make great cupcakers. Karen's parents, Joan and Bill McCoy, and siblings Kirk and Kim shaped her candy-colored vision and taught her to never say no to a cupcake. Alan's family in Mississippi has been a constant reminder that things (including cupcakes) are always sweeter down South.

Rux Martin has been a great friend and editor, and we love her for it. Her entire team at Houghton Mifflin has been terrific, and we want to thank Michaela Sullivan for our striking cover and Anne Chalmers for the beautiful design of our book.

Martha Kaplan must be the best agent on earth; she loved every project we showed to her. Thanks, Martha.

A big shout-out to the cookie and candy companies that have been busy creating all of the wonderful goodies that make cupcaking so much fun. Keep it coming.

And last but not least, to our cupcake mascotsBunny, Karen's wheaten terrier, and Lucky, Alan's silver schnauzer. Through it all, you guys kept the floors clean.

CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Cupcaking Techniques 9

April Fool's 22

Party Animals 42

Happy Birthday, Cupcake! 88

Hostess with the Mostest 122

Nightmare Before Thanksgiving 162

Holiday on Icing 186

Cupcakes and Frostings 216

Sources 229

Meet the Buttinskys

WITH JUST A HANDFUL OF CANDIES , a can of frosting, a ziplock bag, and some cupcake batter, you are on your way to having fun with those pesky Buttinskys next door, planting a garden of spring vegetables so sweet even the kids will eat them, or turning your next pool party into a shark attack. When the mailman tires of your snarling dog, meet him at the end of the drive with a terrier cupcake before he goes postal. If your son brings home a D in biology, send him to school with a platter of insect cupcakes to show he's ready to get down to business. Want to see the inside of your new neighbor's house? Send her a bouquet of sunflower cupcakes to break the ice.

Make our cupcakes for a holiday or a special event, and they'll provide the entertainment. Play an April Fool's trick on the family with a cupcake TV dinner. At the neighborhood Halloween party, hand out alien cupcakes oozing with neon frosting and sitting in their own spaceships. When you want a little more sophistication, our black and white cupcakes are refined enough to serve with champagne.