Granted this is a new series and they are still working out all the kinks… but COME ON Food Network!!!  To me, it seemed as though Cupcake Wars was just like any other food competition show with cupcakes tossed in as the main attraction.  You could have substituted any novelty food in this show and it wouldn’t have made any difference.  There was nothing special about having cupcakes as the center piece of this show!  I expected spectacular challenges and even more spectacular cupcakes!  What we got were cupcakes that (no offense to any of the participants) could have been created in my home kitchen.

Now… I do understand that they had limited time to prep and bake… but as professional cupcake bakers, I just expected more.  More cupcake, more elaborate decorating, more pizazz in presentation.  For example, during the decorating challenge of the SeaWorld episode, the bakers (oh by the way, they called them cupcake makers, instead of what they are… bakers! That errked me!) needed to include an element of SeaWorld into their cupcakes.  Two of the bakers produced cupcakes with the whale from SeaWorld on top… but, they were very poorly made, elementary looking, and lacked in detail.  (I’m sorry I can’t produce pictures of these whales… I’ve searched the internet looking for pictures or video from last night’s episode, but can’t find any.  If they ever turn up, I’ll update this post.)  Now, if it were me…. I would have produced a cupcake with a whale that looked like this cupcake by New York Cupcakes in Bellevue, WA.

Another thing I didn’t really like with the show was the unreasonable expectations the bakers faced in regards to time.  The final challenge had them create 1000 cupcakes, build a display and put it all together in 2 hours.  Is that really even physically possible?? The time factor may be the biggest reason I was disappointed with the cupcakes… there wasn’t enough time to create those “WOW” cupcakes I was looking for.  *sigh*

I’m going to give the show a chance… I really am.  I will keep watching it and keep hoping that it improves.  Maybe by the time Season 2 rolls around (if there is a season 2) they’ll have gotten a clue and changed up the format.

From the Food Network Website:

It’s cupcake vs. cupcake in Food Network’s tastiest competition yet! Each week onCupcake Wars, four of the country’s top cupcake bakers face off in three elimination challenges until only one decorator remains. The sweet prize: $10,000 and the opportunity to showcase their cupcakes at the winning gig. Whether a special Ace of Cakes anniversary celebration, a star-studded magazine party or an A-list celebrity golf tournament, these Cupcakes Wars really heat up. Candace Nelson (owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes) and Florian Bellanger (chef and co-owner of online macaroon company MadMac) serve as permanent judges with a third rotating judge each week, and Justin Willman hosts.

June 13 9:00pm ET/PT  (Season Premiere) “George and Ann Lopez Charity Golf Tournament“

Sweet! (WINNER!) (Orlando, FL)

Sugar Cupcakery (Milford, OH)

Southern Girls Desserts (Los Angeles, CA)

Becker’s Bakery (Manhattan Beach, CA)

June 15 9:00pm ET/PT  ”SeaWorld Birthday Bash“

Dollhouse Bake Shoppe (WINNER!) (Santa Monica, CA)

Milk (Los Angeles, CA)

Daddy Cakes (Topeka, KS)

Sweet Bakery & Cafe (Ellicot City, MD)

June 22 at 9:00pm ET/PT ”Match Making Party”

Chef Chloe Coscarelli (Los Angeles, CA)

Crushcakes Cupcakery (Santa Barbara, CA)

Cupcake Nouveau (Coral Gables, FL)

Cups (La Jolla, CA)

June 29th, 9:00pm ET/PT “Ace of Cakes 100th Episode Celebration”

The Coffee Shop (Gilbert, AZ)

Cupcake Charlies (Mashpee, MA)

The Perfect Circle Cupcakery (Orange, CA)

Sweet E’s Bake Shop (Los Angeles, CA)

July 6th, 9:00pm ET/PT “Survival of the Fittest”

Lulu’s Cupcakes (Scotsdale, AZ)

Whodidly Cupcakes (Santa Barbara, CA)

Cupcakes & Co (Burbank, CA)

Smallcakes (Overland Park, KS)

July 20th, 9:00pm ET/PT “Cupcakes for a Cause”

Suite 106 Cupcakery (Rancho Cucamonga, CA)

Kara’s Cupcakes (San Francisco, CA)

Ivey Cake (Franklin, TN)

For Heavens Cakes (Thousand Oaks, CA)

July 27th, 9:00 pm ET/PT “Film Festival Face-Off”

Sweet Arleen’s (Westlake Village, CA)

Red Velvet Stefanie (Los Angeles, CA)

Bee Sweet Bakery Cupcakes (New Orleans, LA)

Mr. Cupcakes (Clifton, NJ)

August 3rd, 9:00pn ET/PT “Classic Cupcake Challenge”

Molly’s Cupcakes (Chicago, IL)

La Provence Patisserie Cafe (Beverly Hills, CA)

Cupcakes (Scotsdale, AZ)

Jazzy Cakes (Sherman Oaks, CA)

The recipe comes from the Betty Crocker Cookie Book (circa 1963)  that has been in my family for as long as I’ve been alive.  I’ve used this book so many times that it’s got recipe revisions written in the margins, butter stains and cookie dough crusted on every page.  I LOVE IT!! This is one book that will definitely be kept in the family and used forever!  You really can’t go wrong with a Betty Crocker recipe!

ETHEL’S SUGAR COOKIES

¾ cup shortening (part butter or margarine)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp lemon flavoring or 1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cups Gold Medal Flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavoring thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together; blend in. Chill at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough ¼ inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut with 3” cookie cutter.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until cookies are a delicate golden color.  Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

For the icing, I kinda cheated a little bit.  I bought a tub of white whipped Betty Crocker frosting and doctored it up a bit at home.

SUGAR COOKIE ICING

1 tub of Betty Crocker white frosting

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp buttermilk

1. Empty the tub of frosting into the bowl of your electric mixer and beat until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla and mix just to incorporate.
3. Slowly, add the buttermilk until you get a very smooth and much thinner consistency.  You may not need all the milk.
4. In heavy weight zip-loc bags, spoon in frosting into one corner.
5. Cut corner tip to size of desired hole.
6. Pipe frosting onto cookies in whatever designs you like!

Please visit this site, javacupcake.com, from now on and subscribe to my RSS feed there to continue getting notifications of new posts!

Thank you to everyone who has shown me such loyalty and support!! And thank you in advance for your patience as I continue to work out all the kinks in this move!

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Betsy at betsy@javacupcake.com.

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I thought I’d put a call out to all of my fabulous cupcake & coffee friends to see if you’d like to help out with the giveaway!! Of course, I’ll give you full credit and props for your addition to the giveaway on my blog with links and I’ll Tweet about you on Twitter!!

If you’re interested in helping me celebrate my Boggerversary with this giveaway, please email me at betsy@javacucpake.com for details!

Thank you to everyone for your continued love and support of Java Cupcake!!

*Update* As more people hop on board to contribute, I’ll post them here!
1. Java Cupcake
2. Feeling Smitten
3. Oh So Sweet Treats
4. Cake Spy

The Winner is…

Lanette aka soSensational!!!!

Winning Comment:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/soSensational
Blog: http://sosensational.blogspot.com/

Congratulations!!!

To Claim Your Prize:
Email me at betsy@javacupcake.com
Please include:
Name
Mailing Address

Your goodies will arrive to you by the end of the month!!!
Thank you!

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated in this giveaway. It was a lot of fun!!! Collaborating with these three women has been such a privilege!

]]> http://javacupcake.com/2009/05/the-winner-is/feed/ 4 http://javacupcake.com/2009/03/attention-button-error/ http://javacupcake.com/2009/03/attention-button-error/#comments Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:14:00 +0000 JavaCupcake http://javacupcake.com/2009/03/attention-button-error/ Yesterday it came to my attention that the link for my button was not working. After a little investigation I found the problem.

Go to this part of the code:

a href=”http//www.javacupcake.com”

You’ll notice there is a : missing after the http… please add that to your code so that the button works!!

Thank you so much for your continued love and support!!! It’s so greatly appreciated!!

I’ll post pictures and maybe even video of the process later this weekend!!!