cupcake contest: part deux

Notice my gigantaloid t-shirt in this one. It's a men's XL. Mark had to pin the sleeves back so I could even work. I went home and set it on fire. No, just kidding. But I did throw it out.

Drumroll, please. The final piece. 4 hours, 5-8 lbs. of fondant, 20ish cupcakes, 1 batch of green buttercream, and some of my sanity later. Ta da!

This is me talking to Anne Byrn. Squeeeeeeee!

And because I couldn't have done it without the support I received, here's some more fun.

By the end I was safely back in my cupcake t-shirt. Thanks also to my work friends who came to support me, bought me a cute pink apron, and for those who voted in the contest to get me there in the first place.

And because my face in this picture cracks me up so much, I will end the contest post with this one.

cupcake contest recap

So the cupcake contest was this weekend (sponsored by the newspaper which I refuse to name so as not to give them any more free advertising.) I didn't win, for a lot of reasons, but in order to avoid an overwhelmingly negative post, I'm going to focus on the fact that I was really proud of my entry and how it came out. It felt really awesome to stand behind it and say "yes, this is mine." I even got to meet Anne Byrn, who was more than gracious and so friendly. She signed my cupcake cookbook, which was the first one I ever used. Besides having my posse of family and friends there to cheer me on, meeting her was the highlight of my day.

I have a lot of photos, courtesy of Mark, that depict the process, so I'm going to do a photo essay of sorts and let them speak for themselves. I made the pumpkin patch scene from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Everything except for the actual cupcakes was made on site - the icing and the sculptures, etc. Here is part 1.

When my Comcast modem stops freaking out about me uploading photos, there will be a part 2.

Stay tuned...

an award! squeeee!

As work, Halloween party prep, and this cupcake competition have been keeping me away from my blog, I hadn't noticed my comments or my reader for a few days and thus missed Fahrenheit 350's awards post, in which she nominated me for one of her "One Lovely Blog" awards.


I have to say I feel very lucky to have a reader who I've never met, as I mostly consider myself to be a blogger who does it to simply archive my own hobby and passion, but who reads other blogs as much as possible for inspiration and to share in a culinary community. I appreciate her for always leaving comments and being otherwise supportive in this endeavor.

So check out her blog, readers. Link's over on the left. Great recipes and a whole lot of yum. And you can tell she really cares about what she does. So become one of her followers. You won't regret it.

pumpkin desserts before it's officially winter

I've obviously got some catching up to do. I've got a list of things to cover, so bear with me as I catch up. I'm catching up on my blog reader too.

I'm probably not your typical pumpkin fan seeing that I hate nutmeg and cloves, and often both of those are used to spice pumpkin desserts. (I hate nutmeg because I am my mother's daughter and I hate cloves because I had my teeth packed with them in high school and it ruined cloves for me for life.) But I love pumpkin desserts. So thus far this season I've made two. I hope to make a third for Thanksgiving.

First up, my pumpkin ginger snap trifle. I sort of came up with this idea myself and used recipes I had on hand for the different parts. It was for a group dinner for the Pens home opener. (squee!) I layered pumpkin bars with cream cheese whipped cream and ginger snap cookies.

For the bars, we have all of the ingredients in the Magnolia pumpkin bar recipe except for nutmeg. And no Sir Sous Chef, being as this was at Mark's.

Dry ingredients. I love how soft flour is. I'm a nerd. I know.


Beat pumpkin, sugar, eggs, into gloop.


Add the dry stuff and some nuts. That's looking better now.


In a pan, and into the oven.


And while that's baking, the cream cheese whipped cream (which would be SO fantastic on cupcakes, btw. Thanks Cooks Illustrated.)


Cream cheese and confectioners sugar. Side note: when I was little I hated cream cheese, as I did most cheese. And sometime in college, I decided to be bold and try it on a bagel. We have had a torrid love affair ever since. ;-)

Whip that up with vanilla and sea salt and heavy cream. While it's going, put some ginger snaps in your trifle bowl.


Add in a layer of the cream that is now done and delicious.


Chunk up the now-cool pumpkin bars and toss them in.


Keep going til it looks like this.


Then stick your face in it. No, dish it out and eat it like a civilized human being. Then when everyone goes home, stick your face in it. :)

****Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (for Dani's wedding)****

Ah, the return of Sir Sous Chef.


Eggs and sugar. And spatula.


Eggs and pumpkin. Bloop bloop.



Dry ingredients. Meet the pumpkin mixture.



Mix it up and add a lot of chocolate.


Get that dough on a sheet with some parchment.


Aaaaaand finish. Yummmmm. Netmeg free awesomeness.