America has gone crazy for cupcakes. And, while not necessarily a new thing, they have certainly gone mainstream. Bakeries are popping up from coast to coast featuring nothing but a menu full of cupcakes. Entire cookbooks boast recipe after recipe of cupcake concoctions. And, even wedding cakes have evolved into, at times, a beautiful, multi-tiered display of cupcakes worthy of a nuptial celebration.

I was recently doing some social media research on consumer packaged goods (CPG’s), when I stumbled upon a cupcake decorating video that dominated the McCormick Spice YouTube channel. Of the 14 videos posted ‘1 year ago’, 13 of them ranged from 48 – 5,700 views. The 14th, a How To – Cupcake Decorating video, however, had over 350,000 views! So, as we were brainstorming fads to feature in this latest edition, I couldn’t help but keep thinking about that video that had made such a huge impact for McCormick.

There’s just something special about a cupcake. It’s petite. It’s tasty. And there’s a whole lot of potential for creatvity. And, with all that opportunity to woo our lucky taste-testers and once again vie for inter-office dominance, the Cut-Throat Cupcake Competition was born. But these cupcakes couldn’t just be a well-iced Betty Crocker special. Competitors were required to bake from scratch a recipe of their choice that included at least one fresh produce ingredient…savory or sweet – it did not matter.

Here were the entries:

Marci – Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing

Brock – The Ultimate Pineapple Explosion of Extreme Flavor Cupcakes

Megan – Clementine Cupcakes with Butter Cream Frosting

Cindy – Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Our cupcakes were arranged in our 3rd floor break room and the judging commenced, much to the delight of our fellow tenants. Bakers were judged on three areas:
1. Cupcake Flavor
2. Icing Flavor
3. Appearance

And, of course, the Grand Baker Prize was awarded. Here’s the scoring breakdown:

Congratulations to….. ME! Better luck next time Megan, Cindy and Brock. And, you can check out all the “from scratch” recipes HERE!.

Posted by The Analyst (Marci Allen)