Local Cupcake Wars experience!

 Welcome back lovelies!

I hope you all are having an amazing day and are staying safe! In this blog I am going to share my cupcake wars experience at my mom’s work! I did it for 3 years, lost the first two but made my comeback on the third. Let’s get started!

Now I am going to be honest, I don’t quite remember what three years this consisted of. I am going to take a rough guess and say 2011-2014ish, give or take a year. I remember my mom coming home and telling me that her work was going to put on cupcake wars. I was ecstatic!! I was always a good kid in school, always went, maintained good grades, and just obeyed all the rules, so when I found out the event was going to be on a school day during school time I got a little worried I wouldn’t be able to participate anymore. My parents made a deal with me, I could miss this one day for the event if I continue to keep doing good. They described it as not skipping school but as a reward for always going to school. I was so happy that they were going to let me do this! I knew I wanted to come up with an awesome idea. 

This was the first year they had cupcake wars so the rules were kind of confusing. This was more of the trial and error period. We were getting graded on our display of the cupcakes but little me wasn’t sure if that meant the display to showcase your cupcakes or turn your cupcakes into a display. I took it as turning my cupcakes into a display. Since it was being held at the Hospital I decided to make their logo out of cupcakes. I dyed the frosting different colors to match and lined them up in the shape of the logo. I went with a new cupcake recipe that I had never tried before...rookie mistake. It came down to the day before the competition and that is when I decided to test the new recipe. I went with a flavor my sister suggested to me previously, cookie dough. I looked up recipes for it and it simply said to let the cupcakes halfway bake then put a ball of raw cookie dough in the center then let the cupcakes continue to bake. Well since I waited till the last minute, it was too late to do any other ideas once I realized my original plan was not working out. I kept with it and just had my fingers crossed. 

The day of the competition arrived and I, along with the other competitors, showed up early to set up. That was where I realized that the display situation was to set up a display to show off your cupcakes. I continued to set up my cupcakes and made them into the shape of the logo. For it being the wrong type of display, it turned out pretty nice. I wish I had a picture of it but unfortunately I can not find one. The competition was pretty straight forward, we had a handful of judges, they went around and tasted each cupcake, then got together and graded all of them. They were grading on taste, creativity, and display. I was for sure the youngest one there. Most of the others were employees at the hospital or frequent visitors that were older and had WAY more experience in baking than I. I didn’t win the first year, but that was ok because I was for sure going to have a better understanding for next year. The one thing I really wanted to win for was the mixer and you get to be a judge in the next year competition.

Next year I stepped up my game a little. I decided to make non-alcoholic margarita cupcakes. It was a lime cupcake, lime buttercream, I rimmed the frosting in green sanding sugar to represent “salt”, and placed them in a margarita glass with a gummy lime on the rim of the glass. It was definitely a case of “looked better in the moment.” When I go back and look at it now, there are so many changes I would have done, and made it look a lot cleaner. It was pretty sloppy I will admit, but it was pretty good for a self-taught 13 year old baker. I’ve added it onto my current menu, but that is because I’ve fixed all the little issues. I didn’t win the second year either, but I was READY for the third year. I already knew what I wanted to do!

When the third year finally came, I already had my plan. I laid in bed one night and wanted to come up with something really gourmet and decadent. I thought of the flavor s’mores. I knew there were a ton of different ways I could play with those flavors and they were flavors that all went so nicely with each other. I came up with a graham cracker crust, chocolate cake, marshmallow filling, toasted marshmallow buttercream, chocolate drizzle, and topped with a graham cracker piece. The flavor became such a hit that I for sure added it to my current menu. I’ve adjusted it a little since then but it’s still the same idea. I’ve cleaned it up and made it look more fancy. I knew for my display I wanted it to look like a campfire. I gathered stones, twigs, and leaves (don’t worry I disinfected all of them.) I took a brown pillowcase to represent dirt, set my stones up in a circle to represent the fire pit, put my red/yellow leaves in the center to look like fire, and put marshmallows on the twigs to look like I was toasting marshmallows. It was really cute!

I felt really confident this year! My parents, grandparents, and sister all showed up to support me. I had to leave the room while they were testing everyone's flavors, but my mom came and got me when the results were being released. I was so nervous and just kept staring at the person announcing the winner. While she was speaking she looked at me and nodded. Right then and there I felt a huge amount of happiness and relief come over me! I started crying and hugging my family. They were so proud of me and I was so happy to have their support on this exciting day. Totally worth missing a day of school and having to play catch up the next! I got to get a picture next to my new mixer and shake all the judges hands! One of the judges was the mayor at the time but I can’t remember his name. I think it was Kevin something ;) That whole day was just surreal! I almost forgot to mention that after the competition they would sell the remaining cupcakes and the money would go to charity. The winners cupcakes would be sold for a dollar more. They were gone once they went on sale! I was so happy they were a hit. Not only to make me feel like a good baker but because it was helping the chosen charity at the time. We stayed till all the cupcakes were done selling and then headed home with that fancy new mixer!

It’s a good thing I won the third year because little did I know it was the last one for the Hospital cupcake wars. I was so disappointed I didn’t get to be a judge, but I was just happy to compete and finally win one! I still use that mixer to this day and it’s been through so much with me and has grown with me. Numerous birthdays, baby showers, a wedding, holidays, and experimenting new flavors! It will be by my side till the day it gives out, you can believe that! I am so happy to have that experience because it has shown me new techniques, challenges, ideas, and that I want to pursue baking as a living! 10/10 would recommend and would do it again! I hope you all enjoyed the story of me growing as a baker and the ups and downs! I love sharing my experiences with you guys! As always I hope you all continue having a wonderful day and I will talk to you next blog!

Xoxo, Cupcakes & Canines

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