Cupcake Wars

This weekend I went into battle against some veteran cooks in a Cupcake War. It is true. You see, every year all of the ladies on the Hubs' side of the family get together, usually in the winter. In the past we have had matching pajamas and hang out in a hotel. In the morning we go and paint pottery. It's normally a fun time. This year instead of painting pottery we had a Cupcake War. You know, like the show on the Food Network.

Personally, I love cupcakes. I love baking. I love the Food Network. And I love watching Cupcake Wars. I was pretty excited when I heard that our Girls Night Out was going to be a Cupcake War. Instead of fixing the cakes while we were together (that would be a little tricky considering there wasn't really a kitchen where we were staying) we had to prepare them in advance and take them with us.

For months I thought about which kind of cake I would make. As time got closer I tried a few different batches out on our small group friends. Thanks for indulging me Small Group Friends :) I tried raspberry, banana, and pumpkin. I really wanted to try a bunch of others, but I didn't. With the help of my dear sweet and helpful friends, I went with the raspberry cupcakes. I saw the recipe while I was flipping through a cookbook I borrowed from the library and had to try it. Super simple. Super easy. Super delicious.

I was pretty nervous going into the Cupcake Wars. I mean, Hubs' mom, grandma, aunts, cousins, and sisters were all bring cupcakes. These ladies can cook. Let me tell you. I liked my cake. Hubs liked my cake. Friends liked my cake. But I just didn't know how they would hold up in the War.

I went with the raspberry cakes. Vanilla raspberry swirl cupcake with raspberry buttercream frosting and a raspberry to garnish.

my cakes.

which... I am quite pleased and proud to announce won Tastiest Cupcake award!

yay! : )  

...this award, if you ask me, is the most important one. 

I mean, if you want to enjoy a cupcake, you want it to taste good. Right? 

Right. 

Thus, Tastiest Cupcake = most important title :D

plus, I think they look pretty darn pretty too. just saying. 

Anyhow, I digress. The Competition. 

the anticipation builds!

the competition. 

the judges. 

the winners (which happened to be me and my sisters-in-law : )

SIL #1 won for decoration and SIL #2 won best over all. 

Me and the SIL after the competition! : ) 

fun. fun. fun. 

because I won? because I beat all of the aunts and moms and grandma? maybe. 

or maybe not. 

but fun. 

we were at the hubs' parents house and the pup had been running 

around all day long. He was plain tuckered out. 

Good weekend. Crazy week ahead. yikes. 

I hope you guys had a good weekend too!