The First Annual Cupcake Invitational

The cupcake renaissance has hit Austin with full force, and people all over the city have started to take notice. Cupcakes are showing up everywhere: topped with bows at Birthday Parties, stacked high in pastel buttercream at Baby Showers, grouped in eyebrow raising arrangements at Bachelorette Parties, and layered in elegant tiers for Weddings. And many a happy cupcake-loving Austinite has a favorite; a neighborhood joint, somewhere off the beaten path, and always fiercely defended as the Best There Is. Some of us go so far as to offer to blog for our favorites. But I digress.

So how to sort through all this subjective fandom? Leave it to the Austin office of Deloitte Consulting to take a more scientific approach.

On March 27th, on the heels of a corporate training, consultants from the office gathered in a conference room for an Austin Cupcake Invitational. Here’s how the competition went down, according to an anonymous source at the office:

We worked with 4 bakeries, Hey Cupcake, Sweet Tempered, Polkadots, and Delish. Each bakery provided us three types of cupcakes – Chocolate, Vanilla, and Baker’s Choice. Each cupcake was judged on three separate criteria – taste (10 pts), appearance (5 pts), and frosting (5 pts). To avoid predispositions to any one particular vendor, we put cupcakes from each bakery on a color coded napkin and kept the true identity a secret until the end. [ed. note: That's Sweet Tempered on the yellow, Polkadots on the blue, Hey Cupcake on the White and Delish on the Red]

So, how’d it turn out? Who’s cupcake reigned supreme?

With the highest scoring cupcake overall (peppermint with chocoloate ganache), the best Vanilla, and huge accolades through the afternoon, Sweet Tempered took a clear victory.
The final Tally:

Bakery	Chocolate	Vanilla	Baker's Choice	Average
Sweet Tempered	13.33	13.36	14.75	13.81
Polkadots	13.71	11.91	14.00	13.21
Delish	11.92	11.91	12.60	12.14
Hey Cupcake	09.43	10.29	13.25	10.99

Stumbling out of the room, each on the verge of a sugar coma, the judges declared the Cupcake Invitational Complete. They also renamed it:

The First Annual Cupcake Invitational.

We’re expecting others to wage a fierce battle for next year. And I fully expect another Sweet Tempered victory. You know why? ‘Cause they’re the Best There Is.

Liquid Assets

A really good espresso will drip out of the filter in slow, delicious drops like warm honey. It’ll be a little nutty, with a nice crema and rich carmelly texture. Mix it with milk and it’ll take on other dimensions – maybe a hint of chocolate or citrus. And the whole fantastic process that results in the latte you’re sipping out of that vintage porcelain cup at Sweet Tempered gets roasted over at Austin’s own Owl Tree Roasting.

Here’s how it goes down. A few select farmers in a few select spots on the globe grow really good coffee. And a few select roasters get a crack at making it great. Travis, over at Owl Tree has been doing this for years, though only recently on his own. The beans are blended, roasted, cooled and zipped over to lucky homes, to Progress Coffee, and, of course, to Sweet Tempered.

A spin round the flat burr grinder, a solid tamp in the portafilter, a little rotary pump action and voila what started as a little red berry on the Brazilian hill side is now a luscious espresso.

What comes next is up to you – how about a latte and a square of Sweet Tempered blondie? Or maybe a cappuccino and a chocolate-covered marshmallow? Or my personal all time fave: an espresso macchiato and a ganache filled peppermint cupcake. And there you have it: the sure fire cure for interminable afternoons.

A Mariachi Welcome for Milo

Some things just go together:

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Bluebonnets and Springtime

The 4th of July and Fireworks

Babies and Mariachi Bands

OK, maybe that last one is just an Austin thing.

For Brooke the choice was an easy one. What better way to celebrate the imminent arrival of baby Milo than with an extra-big dollop of festivity. And what’s more festive than a Mariachi band on a breezy day in the lovely trees of Garrison Park with 5 levels of Mariachi cupcakes, complete with Sombreros, Maracas, and Buttercream. Brooke's good pal Colleen gave Jennifer a call, and the rest is cupcake history.

Want to put your own unique spin on a baby shower? Check out the gallery at Sweet Tempered for inspiration, come up with your dream cake vision, and give Jennifer and Christy a shout to work out all the details. I’ve got it on good authority that, for a limited time, custom cakes over $60 get an extra 10% discount. Ole!