national cupcake day

 
Because we all need more excuses to indulge in rich food during the holidays, today is National Cupcake Day. Yes, it's a ridiculous, invented food holiday, but we're happy to support anything that involves frosting. After all, what happens at the bakery stays at the bakery. Unless you leave a sticky trail of red velvet crumbs behind you.

After the jump you'll find a few specials at L.A.-area bakeries. Or you can celebrate on your own at one of the many bakeries listed on our cupcake map, which features our latest addition, Southern Girl Desserts.

SusieCakes: From now through Dec. 23, donate a new, unwrapped toy to any SusieCakes location (Brentwood, Calabasas, Newport Beach or Manhattan Beach) and you'll receive a free cupcake.

Sprinkles: Dec. 1-24, Sprinkles is offering limited-time holiday flavors: eggnog spice, chocolate peppermint and vanilla peppermint. They come topped with special seasonal decorations like Christmas trees, menorahs or letters that spell out "joy" and "peace."

Crumbs: Crumbs has six holiday flavors it's selling through the holiday season: candy cane, eggnog, gingerbread, peppermint hot cocoa, s'mores and white hot chocolate.

Cupcake Cars: She doesn't look old enough to drive, but Little Debbie, the face of those supermarket cupcakes, is coming to Southern California in her cupcake car as part of a sugar-fueled cross-country road trip. The Little Debbie Cupcake Cars will be in town Friday through Sunday, with stops on Friday morning at Food-4-Less in Torrance and in Wilmington. The cars will make several stops around town, and they're equipped with a device that communicates with Google Maps, so you can track their locations in real time.