Cupcakes are a preferable alternative to birthday cakes, whose constant accompaniment by off-key singing has depleted the planet’s finite supply of forced smiles. Garner genuine grins with today's Groupon: for $12, you get one dozen cupcakes from Missy's Cupcake Creations (a $24 value).

The founder and passionate baker at Missy's Cupcake Creations, which garnered first place in the sweets category at the Casa Pacifica Angels Wine & Food Festival, frosts slews of baked-to-order moist morsels in sundry original flavors and artful designs. Patrons can invest in a dozen Key Lime in the Coconut cupcakes, which are daintily seated atop shortbread crusts and foster key-lime filling's break from its traditional roll as ammunition in pie fights. The Lemon Drop Crunch cupcake packs jowls with mouthfuls of creamy lemon curd, and the Chocolate Thunder indulges chocolate addictions with a decadent fudge filling. Adorned with a tower of cream-cheese frosting, the Roll Out the Red Velvet cupcake's luscious red-velvet base—like most red-carpet affairs—is gruffly guarded by a no-nonsense bouncer.