Cupcake bonanzas for a Sesame Street birthday

Well, we've talked about cake toppers and we've looked at shaped cake pans. Next up is the growing trend of cupcakes rather than a regular sheet cake to celebrate a Sesame Street birthday.

Particularly for a child's party, cupcakes make for a great option. Single serving sizes, no muss, no fuss. And when you're decorating in a particular theme - like Elmo - no fighting over who gets to have the Elmo on their piece of cake.

The cupcakes here at the top were done by Datin Mary Zain, a bakery in Malaysia. I love them because you can tell it's Elmo and Oscar and Cookie Monster, but they aren't precise interpretations. It's a lot less stressful when you don't try to create something exact. Give your toddler some credit. They'll know the red cupcake is Elmo.

The other picture comes from the blog I Love Cupcakes. These feature a more precise interpretation, but also another trend I'm seeing - combining a small cake with cupcakes. Same benefit of the cupcakes, but the space of a cake for more decoration. (Check out the detail on those packages! I find other people's skill with fondant just fascinating. I just make a mess.)

I've been having a lot of fun looking for and at great Sesame Street birthday cakes. There is some really great creativity out there. I'm favoriting a lot over at flickr. Check them out if you're looking for some inspiration. I promise, there are some you can pull off.