Cupcake Wars!

You will rarely (close to never) knock on my door and have me answer with an apron on and a dusting of flour on my face or shirt boldly proclaiming "I'm baking!" Especially not if I am smiling. Baking is awful for me.  I don't know why baking and I don't get along.  Actually I do. Baking is for all you good little girls and boys.  I guess I am too stubborn and rebellious for baking.  I don't like to follow rules. I don't like to measure.  With baking....you must follow rules, you must measure.  Problem. I like eating baked goods. Mmmmmmmmmm.....I am daydreaming about freshly baked bread and cake as we speak. Most of my life I have mainly settled for the store bought variety. Yuck. I love oreos but they do not compare to any homemade cookies in the world. When I do bake, it's a big deal, usually for a special occasion and usually extremely stressful for me.  I made these recently...

Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Muffins

I got the recipe from here. Only thing I changed was using my fresh minced ginger instead of ground.  I wasn't blown away, they were good don't get me wrong, anything filled with cream cheese is good, but to me the stress I go through needlessly worrying whether I am going to screw these up always seems to deaden the taste to me. What is it with me and baking?

So when my friend started her own cupcake business I thought it absolutely my duty to eat the occasional cupcake, I was just being a good friend after all.  Her cupcakes are PHENOMENAL! So good. If my wallet and waistline could afford it I would buy them every week.  (I hope she will bake for me in heaven because I know the calories won't count up there!)

Keri K's Cupcakes

Delicious, Colorful Cupcakes for order. Mission:To bring JOY to the world through baking

Flavors include but are not limited to:
Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Peanut Butter, Banana, Coconut, Pineapple, Lemon, Almond, Butter.

Filled cupcakes / Specialty Cupcakes include but are not limited to:
Peanut Butter Chocolate, Bananas Creme Pie, Strawberry Dream, Cherry Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Lemonade, Lemon Meringue Pie, Espresso Dream, Chocolate Covered Cherry, Cookies and Creme, Salted Carmel, Cookie Dough, Apple Pie, Key Lime Pie, Mint Chocolate Chip

 

I had her Chocolate Peanut Butter and thought I would die they were so amazing. I wish I could put that frosting on everything! 

 

 

 

 

I have had a Pineapple passion one she made when we celebrated my daughter becoming a non-diapered "Big Girl".

 

 

 

 

For Father's day we had a sampler that had those 2 flavors as well as Strawberry dream and Coconut. All seriously good!

 

But she doesn't just make cupcakes and sell them.  She has started adding specialty events:

SPRINKLE PARTIES: For ages 2-6yrs and they get to decorate 4 cupcakes each and do crafts.

 

FROSTING TECHNIQUE/MINI CUPCAKE WARS: The kids learned 3 frosting techniques and got to bring home 2 cupcakes they decorated as well as participate in the team judging portion.

 

 I think both of those events would make great birthday party ideas for various age groups!

 

She has also done weddings, graduation parties, birthday parties, showers, team parties, school parties....Cupcakes are great for any occasion really! And she even offers gluten free offerings. I have seen her make Hello Kitty cupcakes and Soccer Ball cupcakes to name a few. And if I know Keri (as one of the nicest, happiest people I know!) she will work with you to customize a flavor or decoration to get things just right for you!

So when she called me the other day and asked me to be a "celebrity" judge at her first ever Cupcake Wars competition. I laughed at the title but figured, I am definitely qualified to eat cupcakes!

All four teams did really good and were really close in score!

They had I think 25 min to think of a flavor combination and prepare 3 cupcakes

They were very harshly scored (haha, they were all so cute and yummy! It wasn't quite war!) on:

 - Technique (they had just spent an hour learning how to do the rose, swirl and squiggle frosting techniques - I guarantee these were way better than I could do!)

 - Flavor combination (they had the opportunity to flavor their filling and their frosting)

 - Creativity (based on their color choices and decoration on top). Scores were tallied and the winner was the Creamsicle (which I am demonstrating the yumminess of above)

 This flavor was created by the cupcake war team of Evelyn Schab, Brooke Bush, and Ellie Swanson at our technique party! It is a white cake with vanilla pudding filling, and frosted with an orange flavored buttercream, then sprinkled with white chocolate crumbles!

Very yummy and creative. And the best part......I got to eat them and I didn't have to bake them!

 So for your next party or chocolate craving or work meeting or anti-baking protest call Keri at (616)366-7028 or like Keri K's Cupcakes on facebook.  You won't be sorry!