About

My Story

Hi, I'm Stef.  I live in St. Louis, Missouri with my husband (who is the editor, photographer, and official taster for Cupcake Project) and our toddler.  Food writing wasn't always my full time job.  Here's how it started:

At dinner one night in early 2006, some good friends mentioned that they were trying to decide where to buy cupcakes for their wedding. I surprised myself and others at the table by offering to bake for them (I had never baked a cupcake before - ever!). My friends surprised me by accepting. Their wedding was Dec 31, 2007 and I had exactly nine months to learn to bake wedding-worthy cupcakes.  I baked a new cupcake for them every week and let them choose their three favorites for the big day.  In doing so, I began to go a bit cupcake crazy!


My cupcake obsession continues to grow. I completed a second wedding on Oct. 12, 2008, a third one on May 30, 2010, and a fourth one in March 26, 2011.  Even when I'm not working on a specific project, my quest to master the cupcake endures. Each week, I feature new cupcake recipes, ingredient and technique spotlights, and baking-related product giveaways.


Media Coverage of Cupcake Project

Print


Better Homes and Gardens
People Magazine
DNews (a newspaper in Rome)
American Lifestyle Magazine
ImagesAZ
Meagan Hearts Baking (a childrens' book about a girl learning to bake cupcakes)
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Sauce Magazine
FEAST Magazine

Online

Paula Deen (regular guest contributor)
Martha Stewart
Bon Appetit (Cupcakewurst) and (Chickpea Cupcakes)
Saveur
Today
CNN
Reader's Digest
PBS 
Food Network
ComedyCentral
Cracked
New York Times
Huffington Post
TLC Cake Crew

Women's Health Magazine Online
Culture Cheese Magazine
Shape 
Story of My Life
St. Louis Beacon
USA Today Technology Live 
Numerous blogs including: Serious Eats, Cupcakes Take the Cake, BlogHer, Slashfood, All Things Cupcake, Simply Recipes.

Television and Video

ABC's The Chew
FOX 2 News
KMOV's Great Day St. Louis 
Good Day Sacramento
ToastedRav

Radio

KRUU - Great Taste 


Cupcake Project Awards

At the time of this post, Cupcake Project has a rank of 9.0 on blogged.com. It is ranked 10th in the category of cooking blogs and 2nd in the category of baking and dessert blogs.

Kick Ass Award - Yes, that's a real award given out in St. Louis. You even get a trophy.

Tomato Cupcakes - Runner up in Iron Barley's Tomato Fest 2007

Baked Bean and Tomato Cupcakes - 1st Place Winner in Iron Barley's Tomato Fest 2008

King Cake Cupcakes - 3rd Prize in Iron Barley's King Cake Contest

Avocado Lime Cupcakes - Won the Quirkiest Cupcake award in the monthly Cupcake Hero contest.


What People are Saying About Cupcake Project

Kate Heddings, Senior Food Editor at Food and; Wine: "As a reminder of how creative, adorable, fun, and delicious a cupcake can be, check out some of my favorite blogspots: cupcakeblog.com and cupcakeproject.blogspot.com."

Evite: "Stef over at Cupcake Project has developed a recipe for mimosa cupcakes (that's one in the photo); pause for a sec to think about how delicious and celebratory that sounds.
While you're letting it sink in, let me describe them for you: orange-flavored cupcakes with a sweet champagne syrup drizzled on them, then topped with champagne frosting and a sprinkling of orange zest. Perfect."

The Food Channel: One of our new favorites is CupcakeProject.com, a creation of cupcake chef and food blogger, Stef. If you follow her blog you know she’s deliciously deft with words and incredibly creative with cupcakes.

Elastic Waist: "Even better than a project--and who knew that there could be something better than a project that keeps you occupied and interested and satisfied--is a project that includes cupcakes. An entire project! Revolving around creating the most perfect cupcake ever created! How cool is that? I'll tell you: it is so cool. "

Lemondrop: "What happens when a recreational baker volunteers to make cupcakes for her friends' wedding? Find out at Cupcake Project, which chronicles Stefani Pollack's weekly experiments with recipes. Two weddings and thousands of cupcakes later, Stefani has come up with genius creations such as a Ferrero Rocher-inspired recipe and the unexpected Beer Cheese Cupcakes with Bacon Cheddar Cream Cheese Frosting."

Culinary Curiosity: "Steph makes a divine cupcake inspired by the chocolate hazelnut goodness of the Ferrero Rocher."

HomeMadeS: "Better Than Sex Chocolate Cupcakes by Stef (Cupcake Project) St. Louis, Missouri I could only say: WOW!! Just look at the cupcake base, filling, frosting, and decoration! Perhaps, this can be much better than s.e.x!"

The State of Discontent:"I met this chick who writes a blog entirely about cupcakes, which of course meant I had to blogroll her immediately when I came home, because, honestly, who wouldn't want to read a blog entirely about cupcakes? Only a person with no heart or no tastebuds could resist a blog entirely about cupcakes."

St. Louis Working Mom: "My other favorite food-related blog is Stef’s Cupcake Project. If you’re a St. Louis blogger, you’ve probably discovered the most delicious looking and sounding cupcakes ever, and followed the drama as Stef developed her creations for a wedding."

Gut Check: "The Cupcake Project continues its apparent quest to drive me insane with hunger: Lavender-pear cupcakes. "

YumSugar: "Stef has surprised us all with a Corned Beef and Cabbage Cupcake. The cupcakes actually have corned beef in them and the frosting is actually a malt vinegar-cabbage frosting. I think it sounds a tiny bit revolting, but I would love to sink my teeth into one and see for myself."

What's Cooking: "I was paired with Stef from Cupcake Project and I must say that I loved what I saw on her blog. I am not a cupcake person. I had never made cupcakes in my life before and I don’t really eat them that often. However, looking through her blog I saw so many interesting recipes I liked that I promised myself to start baking cupcakes at least once a year."


Tempered Woman: This one you're just going to have to read. She actually took the time to make a mock-up of my beer cheese cupcakes. That's her picture to the right. This has got to be one of my favorite blog mentions ever - almost up there with Food and Wine.