Iron Cupcake SF Challenge!

Trick or Treat!

Let’s have something sweet to eat…CUPCAKES!

Candy inspired cupcakes!  FingerSweets is bringing the all time favorite candy Almond Joy into the world of cupcakes. Tonight’s mini entry is Chocolate Coconut Almond.

The candy challenge could have gone one of two ways, using candy as an ingredient OR using the candy as inspiration to create it as cupcake.  I opted for the later and came up with a chocolate coconut cake with that signature, sticky, yummy coconut filling as the center, topped with a smooth chocolate ganache and sprinkled with toasted crushed almonds.

Let’s see how this cupcake will be received and compared to the Almond Joy candy.

Stay tuned for the results!

Iron Cupcake Coffee/Tea Challenge Results!

It was a tasty competition tonight at Leland Tea with flavors varying from coffee concoctions such as Pumpkin Spice Latte and Caramel Mocha Chino to lighter specialties such as My Chai and Lady Grey Almond.

Strong in flavor and smooth in taste, FingerSweets’ Espresso Chocolate took 2^nd place.

It’s onto Candy for the next Iron Cupcake Challenge.

Iron Cupcake SF Challenge!

Hot or Cold?

Small, Medium or Large?

Coffee or Tea?

Black, Espresso, Cappuccino, Americano, Latte, or Mocha

White, Green, Black, or Passion Fruit

Popping up this month for the next challenge is your daily fix of caffeine in cupcake form and FingerSweets went with the winning Bergamot Orange Spice last year and is now switching it up entering Espresso Chocolate.

Four test batches and still unsure of perfection this new flavor brings together the compliments of Espresso and Chocolate into one mini delight. An espresso cake with a dark chocolate ganache filling and top layer. A smooth and creamy espresso buttercream frosting. Garnished with ground espresso beans offering a burst of espresso in the initial bite.

Check back results to be revealed!

Iron Cupcake Stone Fruit Challenge Results!

It was an evening of peach, peach and peach. The entries included Brown Butter Peach, Maple Donut Peach, Peaches and Cream, and even Peachy Keen. Interspersed within these peachy minis some branched out with Pluot Almond and Dulce de Tamarindo.

Another non-peachy delight, Apricot Honey Cardamom was still well liked amongst the judges and took 2^nd place.

It’s onto Coffee and Tea for the next Iron Cupcake Challenge.

Iron Cupcake SF Challenge!

Dense fog, misty moisture, and low temperatures indicate a San Francisco summer. Step outside the city and blue skies appear, the sun shines and temperatures rise. These are the perfect conditions to enjoy stone fruits.

These pitted fruits are the next challenge ingredient for Iron Cupcake SF and tonight FingerSweets is entering the tried and true flavor, Apricot Honey Cardamom. Let’s see what the cupcake engineers will think of this Marin County Fair award winning mini. 

This summery favorite brings together apricot, honey and cardamom in a cake and cream cheese based frosting. With the addition of an apricot preserve filling and dried apricot decoration these minis have summer written all over them.

Stay tuned for the challenge results!

Iron Cupcake Alcohol Challenge Results!

It was tough competition tonight at the Iron Cupcake Challenge. There were so many tasty liquor combinations.  From Dark & Stormy (a ginger inspired mini), Hot Toddy (apple brandy infused), to an Irish Car Bomb, the FingerSweets D209 Spiced Gin had a lot to compete against. 

Happily though, the D209 Spiced Gin was well liked amongst the experts. The bakers themselves all agreed this cupcake deserved to receive the Bakers Choice Award. Thanks to all the bakers who participated and enjoyed the Distillery 209 Spiced Gin creation.

Next challenge is perfect for the season so stay tuned to see what develops with stone fruit.

Iron Cupcake SF Challenge!

FingerSweets is going into it’s 12^th Iron Cupcake Challenge tonight and we’re bringing the exclusive Distillery No. 209 Spiced Gin Cupcake to all the Leland Tea cupcake connoisseurs.

The subtle and clean taste of the D209 Spiced Gin Cupcake will expose you to another world of dessert pairings. 

Visit Spice Sherpa’s blog to view a special guest entry on how the creation of the D209 Cupcake came to be. Don’t forget to poke around Spice Sherpa's site, there's a lot of interesting and informative tidbits to find.

To be continued later tonight with the cupcake challenge results!