Beware of other reviews! Notice that many are only excited to *begin* trying recipes, very few actually have tried them.
I saw this book at Barnes & Noble and had been baking cupcakes for the local farmer's markets. This seemed like a wonderful idea... 500 cupcake recipes, interesting flavors, many seemed like they'd be wonderful.
However, when I got home with the book, I noticed that nearly every recipe excluded milk, water, buttermilk, etc. There were not enough liquids to make the mix into a (cup)cake batter. Instead, it was the consistency of a cookie dough, much too thick for your basic cake batter. Nonetheless, I persisted, thinking that the author knew what they were writing about. The cupcakes (2 different types) turned out so dry that you had to have a drink or you'd choke on them.
Honestly, I think most readers of this "compendium" would agree that the basic vanilla recipe has been altered in many ways. It is obvious that the flawed vanilla recipe was copied and pasted into every other recipe, but the original was flawed, and thus so were all the rest. Please don't buy this book. I am rarely displeased in a purchase and I actually ended up taking this book back to B&N. Instead, try 125 Best Cupcake Recipes or Crazy About Cupcakes. I've tried about 10 total recipes from both and all have worked out beautifully with repeat customers at the farmer's markets. Happy Baking!