Cupcakes are a preferable alternative to fruitcakes, whose constant accompaniment by off-key caroling has depleted the planet’s finite supply of forced smiles. Garner genuine grins with today’s Groupon for gourmet cupcakes at DreamScape Desserts in Comstock Park. Choose between the following options:

• For $20, you get four dozen gourmet mini cupcakes in two flavors (up to a $40 value).<p>
• For $25, you get two dozen regular cupcakes in two flavors (up to a $50 value).<p>

At her in-home bakery, Julie Couturier whips up more than 15 flavors of cup-size and miniature treats topped with puffs of flavored frostings. After perusing the menu, sink sweet teeth into two flavors of cupcakes that huddle inside boxes and bear flavors of such recipes as cookies and cream, red velvet, and lemon. More adventurous taste buds seek excitement within nibbles of peanut-butter-and-jelly, root-beer-float, and sea-salt-caramel cupcakes, which meld together salty and sweet like love songs penned by a sailor. Guests may order regular or mini cupcakes in any two flavors of their choice, and a 72-hour notice is required for all orders.