The Brooklyn Kitchen Cupcake Cookoff, In Which I Participated, But Did Not Win

Yesterday, at 2:45pm, my friend Raphael called with news of a cupcake cookoff at Williamsburg’s Union Pool.

“Omigod I love cookoffs! I mean, I don’t even like cupcakes, but I love to compete! I love to W-I-N! I’m so totally there!”

“Well, good luck–it’s in 3 hours.”

That certainly didn’t give me a whole lot of time to scheme. Me being me, though, I just happened to have a block of Callebaut in my fridge and a coupla bags of matcha green tea powder lying around. I ran to the store for Crisco, pistachios and sour cream, and immediately started work on Choc-Pistachio Cupcakes with Green Tea-Cream Cheese Frosting.

I didn’t win. It was a mistake to powder the pistachios and mix them into the batter; it gave a denseness to the cake that brought to mind a brownie or a financier. Not bad, but not all that cupcakey, either. (Update: what I should have entered.)

Honestly, I felt sick the whole time. By the time I had finished tasting my own frosting at home, I was already sugared out. I wasn’t going to be rude, though: I gamely swapped cupcake halves with participants and smiled through the sugar spike, tasting nothing but insulin. One cupcake–pear and champagne–stood out as my best in show (faintly gritty like an underripe pear, deeply fragrant and light as a feather), but went unrecognized by both the judges and the popular vote.

I could start complaining about how people like gimmicks, but I’m kind of hungover and would rather use my energy to scavenge for a salty breakfast.

The point is, it was fun, and I had some fine cheerleaders who took me out to nearby Fiore afterwards for the most palate-cleansing endive/pancetta salad imaginable. (I’ve been having all sorts of luck lately with friends taking me to restaurants: I’m still dreaming about Sunday night’s sweetbreads at Ovelia in Astoria.)

Some photos from the cookoff:

So many entries, boxed and awaiting judgment:

The scene at Union Pool:

“Dirt” cupcakes:

The chain of associations here is really quite extraordinary. They’re rainbow velvet cupcakes, with a chocolate coin standing in for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. On the coin, of course, is our Irish president, Mr Kennedy:

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COMMENTS / 13 COMMENTS

[…] More photos from the event, recipes, and of course, tons of cupcake porn (!!!) will be coming soon. In the meantime, check out this post that went up this morning on Blondie & Brownie and Fine and Furious Life […]

Chocolate Cake w/ Salted Caramel Takes Home Top Prize at 2nd Annual Cupcake Cookoff « The Brooklyn Kitchen added this comment on May 13, 2008 at 11:16 am

I liked the pear ones, too, but I don’t see how the ginger ones took a prize; they tasted like a pumpkin pie with too much spice. Perhaps red bean would make for a better frosting flavoring; given that one person mistook the green of the tea for guacamole, the audience and judges might have found the hue a bit off-putting. You should also consider incorporating mochi–and possibly even pink berry yogurt–into a cupcake. That could revolutionize the American desert experience.

TJ

TJ Kelleher added this comment on May 13 08 at 12:56 pm

Er, dessert experience.

TJ Kelleher added this comment on May 13 08 at 12:57 pm

You need to not tell people on your girlfriend’s blog that people thought your girlfriend’s frosting looked like guacamole. Thanks.

Michele Humes added this comment on May 13 08 at 12:58 pm

Next time bake a sweetbread cupcake.

atalie added this comment on May 13 08 at 3:45 pm

I made the champagne pear. Thanks for the compliments! Funny that you thought they were like an underripe pear, since I was afraid they were one day past ripeness as I grated the three pears in the recipe (my arm was sore the next day). I had a great time and was very impressed with the strawberry rhubarb, chocolate mint, chocolate beet with pistachio and a few others. I had lots of people seek me out and say they’d heard the cupcakes were great and people came back a second time to ask for my number. I never heard an announcement that you had to request straws and I didn’t even see the Salted Caramel or a few of the other winners! Regardless, I was pleased to participate and would just love to see a wee bit more organization.

Chrysanthe added this comment on May 13 08 at 4:18 pm

I don’t think i got to try your cupcakes, but I wish I had bc I loove pistachio. And yes, all that sugar made me sick too! I woke up in the middle of the night with a stomache. But it was worth it for the fun of baking and tasting. Oh and Chrysanthe, I was the one who came back a second time to ask for your number bc I thought your champagne pear was great, I would love to see a recipe. I agree about the organization, it was so hard to remember numbers and proceed with voting.

Julia added this comment on May 14 08 at 9:21 am

The above comments are making me hungry.

atalie added this comment on May 14 08 at 4:55 pm

Sorry about the organizing. Even with ’signing people up’ we still didn’t expect that many people to show up. Once everyone got some sugar in them things got a bit crazy.

Thanks for bearing with us, things got hectic, but people had a good time, and we raised $280 for the food pantry!

Send any recipes my way!

Taylor added this comment on May 14 08 at 6:39 pm

It was a lot of fun, Taylor. Thanks for putting it together.

Atalie, play your Scrabulous move.

Michele Humes added this comment on May 15 08 at 10:12 am

Yeah, the pear & champagne ones were my favorite overall. I’m surprised they didn’t take any prizes; all sweet and light with just a tiny hint of tartness to keep the flavor lively. Perfect for a spring/summer dessert.

Greg added this comment on May 16 08 at 1:11 pm

Thanks! I did get a huge positive response from other competitors and cupcakes lovers. I think maybe I lost out on some votes bcs when I went to check how many straws I had, my box was closed and shoved on the back of the bar…maybe people couldn’t find my box?

Chrysanthe added this comment on May 22 08 at 11:09 am