– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young – - That does not belong in a cupcake

– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young –

I still remember the first time I ever tasted a cupcake. I forget why it was I had one, maybe a baby shower, but I know it was in Hayward. The very concept of a minicake was so exciting to my three-year-old self and it even had its own little wrapping (paper).

Once I had that first bite, I was hooked. Not only is it still a novelty to me, but they just seem to taste better than regular slices of cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love cake and thoroughly enjoy eating it, but cupcakes are special.

Ever since, I’ve been wild for them, but never had them often growing up, as we didn’t buy cakes or cupcakes, since they were too expensive. I learned how to make my own, with gifts of cupcake papers, but they never tasted quite right. I think it’s just the fun of getting something already made that makes them extra good.

Now that I can buy them, I never do. Such is the life of an adult, I guess. I had to get “my fix” in other ways.

From 2009-18, Food Network aired Cupcake Wars, a reality show competition, where bakers with cupcake shops vied for $10,000 and bragging rights on the hour-long show. After the first episode, I was again hooked, and all the magic and charm of cupcakes came racing back.

However, these weren’t your ordinary cupcakes. The bakers had to complete a themed challenge, say for a pre-party for the Kentucky Derby, so the cupcakes had to match that theme. That meant horseshoes, roses and fancy hats as decorations atop the cupcakes. Inside, well, it could get real interesting.

A must-use ingredient could be mint, bourbon or lemon grass (get it, grass, because horses eat grass), which isn’t too bad and with the right combination, can be tasty. That’s if those were the ingredients. Sometimes, the ingredients were waaay out there for a cupcake.

Salmon, hot peppers, cheese, sweet corn, cilantro, you name it, it was on the to-use table. Thankfully, the contestants only needed to choose one ingredient, so maybe they would take the sweet corn, pair it with the cilantro and make a savory cupcake.

Sorry, savory and cupcake don’t go in the same sentence.

Some would get really adventurous and use the salmon, along with a maple glaze, goat cheese frosting or something like that. If it worked, great, if not, well, there was the door.

Two well-known and professional bakers would then judge the finished product, along with a third guest judge, usually someone high up in the planning of whatever themed event the contestants were baking for. So, the bakers had 30 minutes, in the first round, to create their concoctions and it takes at least 20 minutes for a cupcake to bake.

It always puzzled me (and still does, now that I’m rewatching the series on a streaming platform) how they knew it takes 20 minutes, but they’d start on the dang frosting first. Get the cake batter in the oven and work on the frosting while that’s baking, duh!

Of course, the cupcakes would either be underdone or they’d be so hot, the frosting would slide right off. Then, of course, there would be the competitors who slapped half a fresh strawberry on the top and called it a decoration. Nope, not gonna fly.

The one judge was very strict on what he considered a good cupcake and would just tear the bakers apart, if he thought they hadn’t done just what they should have. Perhaps the harshest critique he had for a few of them was, “These cupcakes – I could find on a gas station shelf.”

Ouch! Predictably, those cupcakes would send the baker home, even over the ones who had no frosting on the top or whose cupcake was underdone.

While I love learning new techniques and seeing how close I come to matching the judges comments, I’m afraid I will take the gas station cupcakes any day. They may be normal to those snooty bakers, but to me, they’re magical little wonders, that make me very happy.

Unless they have sprinkles, then I’m out.