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 »

20 Responses to “Daring Bakers take on the Yule Log”

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Beth G. — December 22, 2007 at 7:58 pm

Looks great!! I love the history info too 🙂 Congrats you did an awesome job!
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Gigi — December 22, 2007 at 8:28 pm

Love the history info and your buttercream looks so silky. Nicely done!
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MrsPresley — December 23, 2007 at 12:18 am

good job! rolls like the yule log and the pumpkin roll really aren’t too hard to make, but they’re great to bring to get togethers b/c everyone loves them 🙂
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Claire — December 23, 2007 at 2:26 am

Congrats on your first “real” yule log. I wasn’t crazy about the buttercream either, though I did like the coffee flavor!
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marias23 — December 23, 2007 at 2:27 am

Yum! Very nice, creamy-looking buttercream. Looks delish! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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SMJ — December 23, 2007 at 3:04 am

I went for raspberry inside too – and agree that chocolate frosting would be tastier. Good job!
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Lis — December 23, 2007 at 3:59 am

You did an awesome job, Jen!

Your log turned out so pretty – as did the mushrooms!

Way to go!

xoxo
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Hilda — December 23, 2007 at 2:57 pm

Your log looks wonderful, so silky creamy. Happy Holidays!
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~Amber~ — December 23, 2007 at 4:19 pm

Your log looks awesome. Congratulations on completing the challenge.
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Meryl — December 24, 2007 at 2:58 am

Very pretty! I thought this one was harder than the “Buche” I made in French class too.
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Lunch Buckets — December 24, 2007 at 5:35 am

I love your texturing – nice log!
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Peabody — December 24, 2007 at 9:24 am

Job well done. I made it with chocolate buttercream and I think it would have gone lovely with raspberry.
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Cheryl — December 24, 2007 at 6:39 pm

I love the idea of the raspberry filling with the coffee buttercream. That must have tasted incredible.
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Dolores — December 26, 2007 at 6:01 am

As worldly as I thought I was at the time, I never could have attempted anything this complex in high school. You did a great job with your… it looks luscious!

I hope you had a joyous holiday, and that 2008 brings you health and happiness, laughter and love.
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Julius — December 26, 2007 at 7:04 am

Great bûche de Noël and I loved reading your post.

Happy Holidays!

Julius from Occasional Baker
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Tartelette — December 27, 2007 at 6:11 pm

You aced this challenge like a pro! It looks gorgeous!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
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Deborah — December 28, 2007 at 1:04 am

Your filling looks and sounds delicious! I went with chocolate for the outside, and loved it. Great job!
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Rosa's Yummy Yums — December 28, 2007 at 3:39 pm

A very pretty log! Well done!

Cheers,

Rosa
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Jen Yu — December 31, 2007 at 1:23 am

Nice work there. I love the combination of raspberry and chocolate – mmmm! Congrats on your challenge and happy new year 🙂

jen at use real butter
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Quellia — January 5, 2008 at 3:43 am

Oooh I love the idea of the raspberry in the log!