Called “the cake whisperer” by Gourmet, KAREN TACK is a cooking teacher and food stylist. Her work can be seen on the covers of Gourmet, Bon Appétit, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Martha Stewart Living, Parents, Real Simple, Nick Jr., and many others.

Fellow creator ALAN RICHARDSON has photographed dozens of best-selling cookbooks, and his work appears in many leading food and women’s magazines. He is the coauthor of The Breath of a Wok, which won two coveted awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

WHAT'S NEW, CUPCAKE?

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT

Contents

Chapter One

French fries from pound cake, a banana with crunch, foot-longs with spice drops and taffy for lunch. Lo mein with fruit chews may sound gourmet, but think twice before eating-it's April Fool's Day. These cupcakes are the perfect foil for birthdays, holidays, sleepovers, or any time you need a laugh.

Side of Fries 24

Hold the Anchovies 26

Faux Foot-Long 29

All Cracked Up 33

Chinese Takeout 36

Banana Split 41

The Coals Are Ready 45

Bake-Sale Pies 49

CHINESE TAKEOUT

House Special: Pork Lo Mein and Vegetarian Fried Rice. The kids will love this broccoli: green fruit chews with green frosting and nonpareils on a pile of lo mein noodles made of frosting squeezed from a ziplock bag. Serve fried rice on the side: puffed rice cereal tossed with fruit chews and jelly beans. And don't forget the caramel fortune cookies.

Makes 1 take-out order, 12 cupcakes, 24 mini cupcakes

LO MEIN

6 vanilla cupcakes baked in white paper liners

6-8 green fruit chews (Jolly Rancher, Laffy Taffy)

3 pink fruit chews (Jolly Rancher, Starburst, Laffy Taffy)

1 1/2 cups canned vanilla frosting Green and yellow food coloring

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey's)

1/2 cup dark green sprinkles (see Sources)

1 strand green licorice twist (Twizzlers Rainbow Twists), thinly sliced diagonally

Large Chinese food take-out containers (optional; see Sources)

1. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. For the broccoli stems, make a lengthwise slit halfway down the center of each green fruit chew and open slightly. Place the stems on the prepared cookie sheet. Microwave the pink fruit chews for 2 to 3 seconds to soften. Press the pink fruit chews together and roll out into a 2-by-3-inch rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. For the pork slivers, cut the flattened fruit chew rectangle crosswise into 1/8-inch-wide strips.

2. Tint 1/2 cup of the vanilla frosting bright green with the green food coloring, spoon the frosting into a ziplock bag, press out the excess air, and seal. Tint 2 teaspoons of the remaining vanilla frosting with 1/2 teaspoon of the cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon water and mix to make a smooth brown paste. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting light brown with 1 drop of yellow food coloring and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder. Spread the darker brown paste down the side of a ziplock bag and then fill in with the light brown frosting. Press out the excess air and seal.

3. Place the green sprinkles in a small bowl. Snip a small (1/8-inch) corner from the bag with the green frosting. For the broccoli florets, pipe mounds of frosting on the tips of the split ends of the green fruit chews on the cookie sheet. Holding the broccoli by the stem, press the frosted end lightly into the sprinkles to cover completely; return to the cookie sheet (see the photo above).

4. Snip a small (1/8-inch) corner from the bag with the brown frosting. To make the lo mein noodles, pipe the frosting in an irregular pattern all over the cupcakes, piling it high and letting it hang over the edges (the darker brown frosting will look like soy sauce). Arrange the pink fruit chew pork slivers randomly on top of the cupcakes. Add one or two pieces of broccoli on top. For scallions, scatter a few green licorice slices on top of the cupcakes.

5. To get the full effect, carefully place the cupcakes in the Chinese take-out containers, if using.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from WHAT'S NEW, CUPCAKE?by Karen Tack Alan Richardson Copyright © 2010 by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Excerpted by permission.
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