And the winners are…

Saturday, October 18, 2008

First for the throwdown – chocolate cupcake style. AND on National Chocolate Cupcake Day! How fitting. I made a half batch of the chocolate cake (I got 15 cupcakes) out of Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss. The recipe is definitely “fussier” than my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. This one has sour cream and coffee in it. Neither of which are staples in my kitchen. I paired it with the Brown Sugar frosting because I was intrigued by that idea…

The batter came together quite nicely. It does take 3 bowls and like I mentioned, has some ingredients that I had to send hubby out to grab for me… It does have some great flavor combinations going on. It’s got almond extract as well as vanilla and includes coffee. Both almond and coffee go great with chocolate. The batter was quite thick and very tasty. Hubby really enjoyed licking the beater 🙂 And this frosting is AMAZING. We both agreed, it’s one of the best I’ve ever made. Think of a caramel Swiss-meringue buttercream. It paired perfectly with the chocolate cupcake.

Now to the Throw-down results. I’m basing this on 3 categories: Overall Taste, Ease of making, Moistness

Overall Taste – hands down goes to the Confetti cupcake. It is amazing.

Ease of making – definitely goes to my go-to cupcake. So much easier and I always have everything on hand.

Moistness – this is a tie. Both of these recipes yield very moist cupcakes. It’s because of the oil in one and sour cream in the other.

So it’s a TIE!?! I’ll definitely keep my go-to chocolate cupcake for when I just want to whip something up. It’s quick and easy and the results are great. But when I want to go the extra mile, I’ll make the Confetti cupcakes. It does take more effort, but the results are worth it. I’m not going to post the recipe here, but definitely I definitely recommend checking out Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss.

Now on to the GIVEAWAY!! I almost forgot about it after these amazing cupcakes. Thanks to everyone who participated! Using Random.org, I chose 5 random numbers from 1-79 and the lucky winners are…

Megan – who’s email begins with mybakingadventures
Chrissy – who’s email begins with chrissyblogs
Grifam93 – who’s email begins with aseminara
Jared – who’s email begins with jared
MoonFreckle – who’s email begins with angelaj

Congratulations to the winners!

Thanks to everyone who participated. If you won, send me an email at beantownbaker[at]gmail[dot]com with your address and your book will be at your house in no time. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I already have!

Cupcakes, Dessert

3 comments »

23 Responses to “Banana Split Cupcake”

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stephchows — September 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Great cupcake hero entry!!! yum!
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oneordinaryday — September 15, 2009 at 2:04 pm

You’re right – it’s a freaking cute cupcake! I especially love that frosting and how you got it to look like a scoop of ice cream. Nicely done!
This is my first CH and I can’t wait till the voting begins! : )
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Amanda — September 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Wow, what a yummy looking cupcake! Great idea!
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oneparticularkitchen — September 15, 2009 at 4:14 pm

This is ADORABLE!! I love it!
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Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm

Gorgeous cupcake, Jen! I love how the cherry stands out. How do you get that black background if you don’t mind me asking? I’m pretty new to this food photography thing 8)
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Amy Kingman — September 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm

Yummmm!!!!!
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Jen — September 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Xiaolu – It’s actually just my black table. I’ve also had luck using a plain black piece of construction paper (most of my backgrounds are the 12×12 scrap-booking papers) or a black towel to get the background all black.

Here is an example using paper, and one using a towel.
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Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Thanks! That’s really helpful.
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Joanna — September 15, 2009 at 8:28 pm

Yum! Great idea 🙂
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Stephanie Wagner — September 15, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Awesome idea!
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bcallegra — September 16, 2009 at 2:04 am

Very creative and it looks great!
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The Novice Chef — September 16, 2009 at 3:15 am

What a cute idea! I love it!! And I know my nieces would be in love!
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nutmegnanny — September 16, 2009 at 3:33 am

Great idea…they look delicious!
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jesstyler — September 16, 2009 at 4:08 am

holy deliciousness! I NEED one of those! 🙂
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Kerstin — September 16, 2009 at 4:48 am

How creative, I love them! So cute and tasty with that cherry on top!
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Ingrid — September 16, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Very cute looking! I like your idea.
~ingrid
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lifeoftheparty — September 16, 2009 at 7:25 pm

These cupcakes are pure genius… you’ve definitely got my vote!
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Jigginjessica — September 17, 2009 at 12:34 am

Cute idea! What a great entry!
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thegreatpantryraid — September 17, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Wow – super cute! A lot of work, I’m sure, but such a big payoff! Great job!
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Kami — September 17, 2009 at 8:32 pm

So stinkin’ cute!
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Caroline — September 19, 2009 at 6:23 am

Very cute, indeed and loving the pineapple in the frosting. I can just imagine how delicious this would taste. What a great idea.
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Keiara Wells — September 19, 2009 at 5:57 pm

MMM, it looks fantastic! I’ll have to try this one 🙂 xox
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Sweet and Savory — October 15, 2009 at 5:55 am

These cupcakes are precious besides, I am sure, being delicious. What a great idea.