Christmas Flavours Wednesday #1: Candy Cane Cupcakes!

Well the gingerbread man got away in one piece because you guys want some candy cane cupcakes tomorrow! Check back tomorrow to see how they turned out! Thanks for the votes. New poll on Thursday.

Results:
Candy cane cupcakes: 19
Gingerbread cupcakes:9

Tastes of Christmas: Week 1 Poll!

To start off our Christmas cupcakes celebrations, you can vote for cupcakes inspired by two popular Christmas staples: Gingerbread Cookies or Candy Canes. Which of these Christmas flavours do you want to see made into a cupcake next week?

Voting Ends Tuesday at 5pm.

Christmas Flavours Month at CCW!

November Wednesdays are over, and Christmas is approaching fast. Cupcake Wednesday is preparing for Christmas by celebrating Christmas flavours all December long! Do you have a particular flavour that reminds you of the holiday season? Let me know below and we will try to put it up in the December polls! Tomorrow's first Christmas inspired poll goes up Thursday!

Wednesday November 24th: Banana Pecan Cupcakes With Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

This week I decided to try a Martha Stewart Banana and Caramel recipe. The cupcakes themselves were easy to make and turned out really nice, however the caramel frosting tested my patience. It took three attempts before I decided to move onto another type of frosting for this particular cupcake. Basically I don't have a candy thermometer and kept burning the caramel in the first recipes. This was not fun to try to clean up!! I replaced the Martha Stewart caramel frosting with a caramel cream cheese frosting that was a lot easier and actually super tasty!

Wednesday's Winner: Go Banana, Go Go Banana!

This Wednesday's winner is.... BANANA! So many options as to what do with these cupcakes... check back tomorrow to see how they turned out. Thanks again for voting. Thursday will have a whole new poll!

Results:
Banana: 17
Apple: 13

New Poll!

This weeks poll you can choose between Apples or Banana. Simple fruits that are used in some of the most delicious desserts. Interested to see what you guys vote for!

Poll ends Tuesday at 5:00 PM

Wednesday November 17th: Lime Cupcakes with Lime Filling and Toasted Coconut Meringue Frosting Topped With Shredded Coconut and Lime Zest

photo by wvs

So this week's lime cupcakes were a nice change from the heavier cupcakes we have had in the past couple weeks. The cupcakes will be a hit with anyone who enjoys lime and are pretty simple to make as well. I did not use self rising flour, but instead tried to recreate my own with baking soda, regular flour and salt. I did not use enough baking soda so the cake part came out a lot denser than intended. Some tasters commented they enjoyed the denser cake with the fluffy meringue, others would have preferred the cupcakes to be fluffier, so I guess you can never win them all!

photo by wvs

Wednesday's Winner: Lime Cupcakes!

You guys have battled it out, but you lime supporters came out with a one vote victory! I have my music on repeat (playing this), and am ready to tackle baking some lime cupcakes. I am excited about a new purchase: I got today a kitchen blow torch and can't wait to use it. I plan to incorporate it with this weeks cupcake baking! Check back tomorrow to see how they turned out (and whether my house is still standing). Thanks for voting, a new poll will be up Thursday!

Results:
Lime Cupcakes: 16
Lemon Cupcakes: 15

New Poll! Lemon Vs Lime

Sour vs Tangy. You decide. This can go either way again. Lemon was suggested in my "Suggest a Flavour" section, and I think a fair competition would be lime. Is it bad that I want lime to win just so I can play that "put the lime in the coconut" song as I bake next Wednesday? Either way, both cupcakes are going to be a refreshing change from the heavy cupcakes you guys have been voting for. I think my tummy needs a break from heavy, and a sour or tangy aftertaste is just the change we've needed!

Voting closes Tuesday at 5:00 PM.

Wednesday November 10th: Coffee Butter Walnut Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting

photo by wvs

This week's coffee cupcakes turned out pretty good. The only thing I would change was the icing. I ran out of icing sugar and so the frosting was too runny to make 'attractive' cupcakes. Other than that they came out good and were a hit among everyone (even the non-coffee drinkers in the group). It was a extremely easy recipe as I cheated with a box mix, but who doesn't like cutting a few corners sometimes?

photo by wvs

Wednesday's Winner: Coffee Cupcakes!

Looks like we're making coffee cupcakes this Wednesday! It was a close competition but coffee beat out iced tea cupcakes by just a few votes. Thanks again to everyone who voted! Check back tomorrow for the cupcakes and the recipe. New poll will be announced Thursday!

Results:
Coffee Cupcakes: 17
Iced Tea Cupcakes: 14

New Poll!

Well my friends, it's Thursday and that means that a new voting poll is up! This week we will see how many of you are coffee drinkers and how many are tea drinkers. Coffee cupcakes were suggested this week in my "Suggest a Flavour" section. These coffee cupcakes aren't going up against just any tea flavoured cupcakes, oh no, they are getting pinned against the best tea there is: Iced tea. So what will it be? Coffee cupcakes or Iced Tea cupcakes?

Poll closes on Tuesday at 5:00pm.

Wednesday November 3rd: Chocolate Cupcakes Filled With Mint-Chocolate Ganache and Topped with Mint Buttercream Frosting



photo by wvs


This Wednesday's recipe comes from http://cupcakeblog.com/. The cupcakes looked and sounded amazing, and the recipe seemed simple enough. The website is by one woman who creates all these cupcakes herself. The chocolate batter turned out extremely thick which I was not prepared for, and I'm not sure I filled the cupcake trays full enough because they rose and then fell when I took them out of the oven. The majority of my cupcakes turned out like brownies. Regardless, they were still very edible. The ganache was easy to make but the recipe called for me to add chopped mint as one of the last steps, and while I thought it was weird I did it. I ended up picking through it while I filled the cupcakes because some of the pieces were too large. I assumed people didnt want to discover a piece of grassy mint in their cupcake while eating it. The butter cream icing was easy and delicious. I added some green food colouring so that I didn't need anything more to garnish the cupcake with to make it look chocolate/minty. Overall I would say that these "two-bite brownie chocolate mint cupcakes" came out somewhat successfully.

photo by wvs

And Wednesday's Winner is.... Peppermint Chocolate!

Well, it seems that the Pineapple Coconut cupcakes wasn't much competition for the Peppermint Chocolate cupcakes because they were dominated in votes from the very beginning. Let's hope next weeks voting provides more of a debate. Thanks to everyone who voted! A new poll will be put up on Thursday. Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see how the Peppermint Chocolate cupcakes turned out and for the recipe!

Results:
Peppermint Chocolate: 23
Pineapple Coconut: 6

The Taster's Review: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Baked into a Vanilla Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Taster of the Week: Jessica Nourse of It's My Blog of Nourse

 "They took Reese's peanut butter cups to a new level. If I could eat them at every meal for the rest of my life I would."

Taster's Rating: 9.5/10

Cupcake Wednesday's Rating: 8.2/10