A Cupcake Cook-Off at the Office

Like Lady Gaga, I'm a trendsetter.

I know I take credit for lots of trends that can't necessarily be traced back to me (anyone else remember me rockin' white nail polish in winter '07??), but one thing's for sure: I have paved the way for cupcakes obsessions at my office.

When I got back from lunch today, my pal Erica called to notify me that a group of ladies on the 19th floor were holding their own Cupcake Cook-off, which was loosely, if not entirely, inspired by "The Daily Cupcake" e-mails I send...daily. Needless to say I:

1.) wasn't surprised by my ability to spark such enthusiasm in people and;

2.) got myself up there immediately!

Apparently this was a relatively last-minute cook-off in honor of a visiting coworker from our San Francisco office. (Hi, Alberto!!!) He was also selected as judge. Why I didn't get the memo remains unclear.

Nevertheless, there was a fine turnout of cupcakes, including Chocolate with mint icing and chocolate sprinkles:

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing:

Chocolate with white icing and sprinkles:

What I dubbed "Do-it-yourself-Funfetti":


Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate icing topped with a raspberry:

And the ultimate winner, Red Velvet!

The winning cupcakes were made by Huong, so I made her pose with her cupcake:

Of course, I had try just a dainty, tiny bite of the winning selection:

This is Katie and Peter. We used to work together. We still enjoy cupcakes together:

I was really pleased with the event in general and mostly that it happened all, but I was thinking about the way I might have judged this cook-off. And since you're on my blog, I figured I'd give out my awards. That, and I've been watching a lot of Toddlers & Tiaras lately, so I'm in a judging mood, what can I say?

To be fair, I only tried the red velvet and mint chocolate chip, but I've been around a few cupcakes in my day, so I got this.

Best Presentation of a Cupcake: Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting, topped with a raspberry
Best Short-on-Time-So-I'll-Come-Up-With-A-Cute-Gimmick-to-Throw-People-Off Cupcake: Do-it-yourself Funfetti
Best Appearance by a Vegetable in a Cupcake Cupcake: Carrot Cake Cupcake
Best Store Bought Cupcake: Chocolate Cupcake with white icing and sprinkles
Tastiest Cupcake: (it's a tie) Mint Chocolate and Red Velvet...but you saw that coming, didn't you?