How to Not Win A Cupcake Contest

Today I entered a cupcake contest at The Big E. I really didn't know what to expect as I have never really been to a real fair, much less one that represents multiple states! But I have been receiving a lot of compliments at work about my baked goods to I figured I'd give it a shot. The grand prize was a big ribbon and $50! I really didn't think I had much of a chance of winning but there is always that little piece of you that holds out hope until the very end when the results are announced.

I've been practicing for weeks. I got my inspiration from a cupcake baking contest with the boy. We decided to have a salted caramel cupcake bakeoff as I have never been satisfied by a salted caramel cupcake at cupcake shops. I've been baking 4+ batches (24 cupcakes each!) at a time to practice different variations of the cake and the frosting and then bringing them all into work to pawn off on my gather feedback from my coworkers. My poor coworkers have probably had their fill of salted caramel cupcakes. In fact I'm considering trashing the leftovers from the competition instead of making my coworkers suffer anymore.

Here is the final combination I came up with (recipe at the very end if you are interested).

My final entry

I thought salted caramel was somewhat original. I was wrong. There were a total of 19 entries and 5 of those were some combination of chocolate cake and caramel frosting. I was right in guessing that it would be a winning combination (I just didn't master that combination...).

The winning combination...they added caramel popcorn

Second place...they used goat cheese and goat milk

Sorry for the crappy quality of the photos...I only had my cell phone camera and I don't have cropping software on my computer (yeah...I'm too cheap to pay Microsoft for their "standard" software and too lazy to find something free to download....although I just remembered I can crop photos on my phone...my bad).

The feedback I got included:

1. Cake too dense (not a surprised, I kind of knew that going in but by the time I figured it out last night it was too late to do anything).

2. Frosting sunk into itself and the cake (no idea what this means...the frosting didn't sink at all unless they confused the filling for frosting)

3. Filling lost in cake (that explains number 2).

Here is how I filled the cupcakes:

Cored 2 plugs of cake out, filled cupcake with glaze

Put part of cake back on top so the frosting had something to sit on

All and all, I didn't win any of the big prizes. But everyone got at least a merit award which consisted of $18 in coupons for sugar (which was actually a better value than places 2-4...except they got cash and I have to spend mine on sugar)

So all in all here are the lessons I learned:

1. Use a filling that is clearly different than frosting (ie: jam, straight caramel...)

2. Don't pick the trendy cupcake flavor from the cupcake shop and try to make it better

3. Don't pick apple, pumpkin, or anything fall theme (the other 75% of the cupcakes fell into this category)

4. Add some super crazy twist (salt is not enough) to the recipe

5. If your cake isn't right, make another batch!

For anyone interested, here is the recipe I ended up with (adapted from a combination of pieces of recipes I found around):

For the Cupcakes:

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon hot water

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 & 2/3 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¾ cup sour cream

For the Filling:

1 pound light brown sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more as necessary

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 16-ounce box confectioner’s sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

For the Cupcakes:

1. Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard-size muffin pans with paper liners.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. Heat the sugar in a medium saucepan set over high heat. Cook, stirring constantly until sugar begins to melt. Add butter and mix until sugar is dissolved and butter is combined with sugar. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-low speed until the mixture is cool, about 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and then the cocoa mixture, beating until smooth.

5. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix each addition until just incorporated.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Filling:

1. In a medium, heavy saucepan, bring the brown sugar and cream to a rolling boil; boil 1 minute. 

2. Add baking soda; boil 1 more minute. 

3. Remove from heat. Add butter, but do not stir yet. Let the mixture cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

4. Beat well.

For the Frosting:

1. Melt butter in saucepan.  

2. Add brown sugar and cream.  

3. Cook over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved.  

4. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Transfer to a large bowl.

5. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat in confectioners’ sugar until smooth.  If frosting is too thick, add 1 tablespoon heavy cream at a time until consistency is right.

6. Cool before frosting cupcakes.

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