Things I Learned From Being a Cupcake Judge at the Drink:Eat:Play Cupcake Challenge

Thanks to an invitation from Dan Silberstein of Drink:Eat:Play Events, I got to be a Cupcake Judge for the 2010 Cupcake Challenge where 24 Cupcakeries offered 40 different cupcakes to win the hearts (and votes) of all the attendees. Having done the LA Chevy Cupcake Tour last December where 4 whole cupcakes almost did me in, I definitely wasn't sure how I was going to survive 40 mini ones and in the end, I actually only sampled 38. My method was simply to take one bite, write down some comments to myself and then move on to the next one. In the process, here are some random things I learned about myself.

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I don't get the appeal of red velvet cupcakes.

I simply don't understand why people are so into red velvet cupcakes. Sure, the cake itself could be moist, which is a bonus, but there's really no distinguishable flavor to it. Usually, the only part I like about a red velvet cupcake is the cream cheese frosting and even then, I don't like it if it's too sweet. Interestingly enough, being able to try some variations of red velvet cupcakes one the same day at the Cupcake Challenge just solidified my feeling that red velvet cupcakes are just not for me. Check out some of the ones I tried below.

Jus Minis "Red Velvet Cupcake"

Big Man Bakes "Red Velvet Cupcake"

Southern Girl Desserts "Martha's Red Velvet Cupcake"

I really like floral-infused frosting on my cupcakes.

I think the only cupcakery that did something floral with their flavorings was Sugar Bliss Sweets. They brought Lavendar Vanilla and Rose Petal Cupcakes. Both of the frostings were killer. Unfortunately, the cupcakes themselves were dry. If this was a frosting challenge, they'd win with me, but the cupcakes still need a little more work.

Sugar Bliss Sweets: Rose Petal (Aromatic rose vanilla cake with
rose petal syrup, light frosting and candied rose petals)

Sugar Bliss Sweets: Lavender Vanilla (Lavender vanilla cake with
lavender and white chocolate frosting, dusted with lavender sugar)

I like my beer in a glass, not a cupcake.

Just like chocolates with liqueur fillings, the cupcakes that were beer-inspired were interesting, but just not to my personal taste. I thought the playfulness that probably came about from the creation of these cupcakes was cool, but there were other flavor combinations I liked better.

Meringue Bake Shop: Pigs on Tap (Chocolate Stout Cupcake
with Bacon Topped with Whiskey Bourbon Buttercream)

Speakeasy Sweets: Irish Bomb (Chocolate Guiness Cupcake Filled with
Irish Whiskey Chocolate Ganache topped with an Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting)

I think pumpkin cupcakes rock!

Of course, if the two pumpkin cupcakes I tried didn't taste good, I wouldn't be saying that they rocked; however, both the pumpkin cupcakes from Fairy Cakes Bakery and Blue Cupcake were very tasty! In fact, the pumpkin cupcake from Blue Cupcake was one of my favorites of the event.

Fairy Cakes Bakery: Pumpkin White Chocolate (Spiced pumpkin cupcake
embedded with white chocolate pieces, topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting)

Blue Cupcake: Pumpkin (Pumpkin Bread Filled with Spiced Pumpkin Mousse
Topped with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting and Pumpkin Seeds)

I'm not into super sweet cupcake frosting and or toppings.

I'm actually more of a savory, than a sweet person. If I was offered a bag of potato chips and a cupcake, I'd probably go for the potato chips. As such, I prefer cupcake frosting and/or toppings that aren't too much on the sugary side.

Frandise Pastries: Chewy Coconut Cupcake

Layers Cupcakes: Chocolate Coconut Cupcake

Sweet E's: (L) Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (R) Chocolate Vanilla Swirl

I think chocolate covered cupcakes are yummy.

I have to say that the first time I've ever seen chocolate dipped cupcakes were at this Cupcake Challenge and it definitely worked for me. It's almost like a gourmet version of a ding dong without the cream. I even liked a red velvet cupcake better just because of that chocolate coating.

Two Parts Sugar: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Babycakes: Hot Chocolate Cupcake

The Cake Shop: Red Velvet Cupcake

I lean more towards non-traditional cupcakes.

You can probably already tell based on what I've written so far, but here's a few other cupcakes that I also really enjoyed sampling.

My Delight Cupcakery: Key Lime Pie Cupcake (Pound cake stuffed
with key lime pie filling, topped with a light and fluffy slightly toasted meringue icing)

Blue Cupcake: Sweeet and Salty Vanilla (Vanilla Cake Filled with
Rich Caramel Topped with Vanilla and Salted Caramel Buttercream)

Jus Minis: Caramel Banana Cupcake

Overall, it was a fun event. The most interesting part for me was watching people come in with containers and bakery boxes so that they could take cupcakes home. Now that's smart thinking. Eat what you can and take the rest of home. Considering that there were 40 different cupcakes and it cost $40 to get in, $1 a cupcake is a pretty good deal. I'm not sure if I'd make a return trip next year, but at least, I'd be prepared.

As for the winners, they are as follows:

Best Traditional
1st Place: Big Man Bakes "Red Velvet"
2nd Place: Blue Cupcake "Sweet and Salty Vanilla"
3rd Place: Southern Girl Desserts "Red Velvet"

Best Original:
1st Place: My Delight Cupcakery "Breakfast Cake"
2nd Place: Jus Minis "Caramel Banana"
3rd Place: Two Parts Sugar "Chocolate Covered Strawberry"

Best Overall:
1st Place: Jus Minis "Caramel Banana"
2nd Place: My Delight Cupcakery "Breakfast Cake"
3rd Place: Two Parts Sugar "Chocolate Covered Strawberry"

Click here to check out more Drink:Eat:Play Events!

To end, here a few more cupcake photos to whet your appetite for the 2011 Cupcake Challenge.

Polkatots: Little Penguin (Chocolate Cupcake with
Rich Vanilla Buttercream )

Hollywood Renaissance Hotel: Applewood Smoked Bacon Cupcake
(Canadian Maple Syrup Frosting, Fleur del Sel and Black Pepper)

Urban Sweets: Spiced Apple with Brown Sugar Cupcake

Cupcakes Couture

Tavern Restaurant: Salted Caramel Cupcake

Click here to see all 129 photos!

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Cupcake Class with Gourmandise Desserts

A few days ago, I hosted a really fun private cooking class in my home with Pastry Chef, Clemence Gossett, owner of Gourmandise Desserts. So what were we cooking up? Well, cupcakes of course, specifically two kinds: chocolate and vanilla bean.

Before we even started, we were all given the recipe cards so that we could follow along, then we started putting together the ingredients for the chocolate cupcake. Egg whites were cracked into the bowl with flour, sugar, other ingredients and finally the melted chocolate was added later. Once the batter was mixed, portioned scoops were used to pour them into the cupcake liners.

What was nice is that everyone participated in some form or the other, whether it was cutting the butter or melting the chocolate or putting the cupcake tin inside the oven.

While the first batch of chocolate cupcakes were baking, we started in on the vanilla bean cupcakes. Again, everyone had a chance to be hands on throughout the class. Who wouldn't want to be part of the action, especially if you can sneak a finger in the bowl for a lick. Yum!

As both cupcakes were in turn baking and cooling, Chef Gossett showed us how to make a chocolate ganache, which serves as the filling for the cupcake. The ingredients were quite simple, just cream and chocolate shavings. When mixing the ganache, we were told to stir at a slow pace so that we get a smooth consistency. Air bubbles were a big no-no.

Once the cupcakes were cooled enough, the next step was to scoop out some of the cupcake middle so that you can spoon in the ganache inside the cupcake. If you want to put other things with the ganache like cut fruit or candy or nuts, that was the time to do it. As soon as we were done with our task, we learned how to frost the cupcakes using a piper with a delicious Italian meringue.

Throughout the whole 3 hours, Chef Gossett shared a lot of tips with us like the importance of putting a cookie sheet tray under your cupcake tin while it's baking so that the bottoms of your cupcakes won't burn or if your cake recipe comes out too dry, it's okay to add an extra egg yolk next time for moisture.

I also appreciated how patience she was with all of us, even when we peppered her with a lot of questions. She answered them all with a smile. I also have to say that the chocolate cupcakes we made were so moist and delicious, that they were almost sinful.

Along with her cupcake baking classes, other classes she does include cake baking and decorating, making gingerbread houses, learning how to make homemade marshmallows, caramels and funnel cakes and so much more. Along with private classes, she also teaches at Chefmakers.

Overall, the class was a great experience. Everyone who attended really enjoyed themselves and of course, being able to bring home cupcakes that we frosted ourselves is a pretty cool achievement. I would definitely host another class with her.

As a side note, Gourmandise Desserts used to sell pastries to a variety of restaurants; however, Chef Gossett is no longer doing that. Instead, she's concentrating strictly on teaching, although she'll occasionally will do a special cake or dessert if asked.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157602974569864/

For more info, go to:
http://www.gourmandisedesserts.com/

Dots Cupcakes (City Mouse) vs. Violet's Cakes (Country Mouse)

This past Saturday, I went cupcake sampling in Pasadena, first at Dots Cupcakes followed by Violet's Cakes. After experiencing both within an hour of each other, the best analogy I could come up with to describe the whole experience was that of the City Mouse vs. the Country Mouse.

In one corner, you have Dots Cupcakes, which to me was the City Mouse. The storefront looks pretty sophisticated. The building is pink with a brown awning and that same color scheme is utilized for their company logo. Inside, the cupcakes are presented through these white cut-outs, which strangely enough reminded of the cells within a beehive where the honey is deposited. Perhaps something subliminal is happening? As for the interior of the cup cake shop, it was orderly. Everything was in its place.

As for the cupcakes themselves, they were quite pretty looking and when put into the box with the brown and pink polka dotted tissue paper, they made a nice presentation. I took home some for a chocolate potluck I was having that evening, but before I left, I went ahead and tried two cupcakes at the shop, or at least half of each one.

First up was the Pina Colada Cupcake. They definitely did not skimp on the coconut portion of this cupcake and that coconut was quite good, moist and with just the right amount of chewiness. According to the website, the coconut was supposed to be toasted, but that didn't seem to be the case. As for the "Pina" in this cupcake, it went AWOL, unless the pineapple flavor is supposed to be really subtle. I think that calling this a Pina Colada Cupcake was quite a misnomer and calling it a simple Coconut Cupcake would have been more accurate. Based on it being called a Pina Colada Cupcake, I was disappointed, but thinking of it as just as a Coconut Cupcake, I was able to like it better.

Following this so-called Pina Colada Cupcake, came the Red Velvet Cupcake. I was definitely more pleased with this second offering although not necessarily wowed. While I liked this cupcake better than the first, I think the cake part should have been a little sweeter, but perhaps that was done on purpose because of the cream cheese frosting. When tasting that cream cheese frosting by itself, I found that it was actually pretty sweet, but when eaten with the cupcake, everything came together fairly well.

I found that the actual cake part of both cupcakes were a little dryer than I would have liked, but at that time, it was fine. What I found interesting is that when I had the other halves of these cupcakes much later on in the evening, both of them were even drier than when I first got them. I just took a couple of small bites of each and threw them out.

From Dots Cupcakes, I made a trip down the road to Violet's Cakes and by just looking at the entrance, you already got that "Country Mouse" feeling. When entering the shop, you'll see a lot of hustle and bustle in the open kitchen behind the counter and on either side of of the shop, one table had some crafty stuff that the owner apparently was using to make something crafty and the other table had flyers and business cards on top of it.

When looking at the case, it was even more obvious that the Dots Cupcakes and Violet's Cupcakes were night and day. Violet's cupcakes were a little smaller and had that homey, just baked in the kitchen with grandma look whereas Dots Cupcakes looked like they could have been made by a Pastry Chef.

I was quite disappointed with Dots, so I wasn't sure what to expect with Violet's, but let me tell you, Violet's did not disappoint and in fact, surpassed expectations. The two that I decided to sample were the banana cupcake with dark chocolate frosting and their French Toast cupcake.

The banana cupcake had great flavor. It actually reminded me of good banana bread. Unlike Dots' Pina Colada Cupcake which seemed to be missing the "Pina", I could taste the banana in Violet's banana cupcake. Isn't that as it should be? Also, that dark chocolate frosting was so creamy, so filled with chocolate goodness, that I could have had it by itself without the cupcake.

As for the French Toast cupcake, wow, I loved it. I can't tell you that it tasted exactly like French Toast because it didn't have that eggy flavor/texture you'd might associate with this particular breakfast treat. However, you could really taste the spicing in this cupcake that could be associated with French Toast like cinnamon, allspice and/or nutmeg and when you top it off with a creamy, maple frosting, I was in cupcake heaven.

Unlike the Dots Cupcakes, I finished up both Violet's cupcakes without even a thought. Not only did both have great flavor, I also found both cupcakes to be moist unlike their drier counterparts at Dots. I also brought home cupcakes from Violet's for my chocolate potluck and actuallly had one left over. When I had that leftover cupcake the next day, it still tasted just as good and the cake was just as moist.

While Violet's may not have the City Sophistication of Dots, what they do have is dreamingly delicious cupcakes. In the end, pretty presentation will only go so far if the flavor isn't there and Violet's cupcakes definitely have that flavor.

Dots Cupcakes
400 S. Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 568-3687
http://www.dotscupcakes.com/

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594534732170/

Violet's Cakes
21 E Holly St
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 395-9821

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594534739934/