Kitchen Collection Cupcake Bake Off

Let's be honest, I have a really hard time putting myself out there. Recently, I did something that I never thought I would do. A store in our outlet mall, Kitchen Collections, was having their "2nd Annual Cupcake Bake - Off" on March 24, 2012. They would have two categories: Recipe and Decoration. I thought about how much fun it would be to try to come up with something really creative, so I entered their contest. No big deal, right? That is something that people who like to bake do, right? WRONG! I never expected I would actually do it. I mulled it over for weeks, before I finally turned in my entry forms - the day they were due.

Once I had the forms in, I knew I couldn't back out. I had to figure out something. Thanks to the help of some very willing neighbors, I got my Chocolate Cinnamon cupcake recipe down, and had narrowed it down to either a Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting, or a Cinnamon frosting. I decided to use both. One for the recipe entry, and one for the decorative entry.

Recipe Entry: Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting


After much deliberation, I went with a light blue frosting with an oriental-inspired branch with a few blossoms on it. Unique, but still something trendy. The blossoms were made out of a gumpaste/ fondant mix, and the branches were formed out of a chocolate fondant. I liquified pink dusting powder and painted the middles of the flowers with it. Over-all, I was very happy with my entries.

Decorative Entry: Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and decorations

Kitchen Collections had us submit one dozen cupcakes. We were to pick one cupcake out of each entry for the judges to view and sample. Each cupcake was judged on appearance, creativity, uniqueness, and recipe.

I apparently did a better job than I thought. I was doing this to try to get myself out there a little, and try something new. I received 1st place in the decorative competition. I won a $100 gift certificate to Kitchen Collections and a cake decorating caddy and supplies.

The Winning Cupcake: (before the judges dug in.)