Cupcake Wars Part 3: The Final Countdown

Dear Employees of my Awesome Boyfriend's Kick-Ass Company,

I have to say a huge thank you to all of your support and participation as test subjects for my many baking endeavors. I know it must be hard on all of you when Evan brings in boxes of cupcakes for your approval and commentary, but I appreciate you persevering for the benefit of my culinary skills. Today's feat was particularly challenging and I know that asking you to decide between the epic Cookie Dough Cupcake and the tasty Chocolate Guinness Extra Stout/Irish Cream Cupcake was not going to be a simple one, but I knew you were up for the challenge. You did not disappoint. For that, I applaud you! I will remember you for future baking challenges and hope that you will continue to entertain my need for approval by devouring my delightful treats and offering comments and suggestions.

You are truly heroic.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Shelly

Ah, now that we've got that out of the way...

It is time for the results of the epic Cupcake War: Cookie Dough vs. Chocolate Stout/Irish Cream. Evan so kindly hauled 5 boxes of cupcakes into his company's kitchen today. I had them all laid out on plates and they looked so very pretty, but that just wasn't practical. I mean, there was no way that they would survive such a very dreary, drizzly day and a ride in Evan's car, so we packed them into their tupperware boxes and he delivered them in 36 beautiful pieces.

I had my thoughts about which cupcake would reign supreme, of course. I assumed that, since everyone loves cookie dough and not everyone is as wild about beer as my dear boyfriend, the Cookie Dough Cupcake would come out on top.

At first, the reviews were mixed.

I received word from my dear friend, Casey (who happens to work at Evan's company), that they were a big hit. In fact, her exact words were: Loved your cupcakes this am!! Guinness/Bailey's Cupcakes=Breakfast of champions!!!

One of the other employees said: The cookie dough was completely amazing! I didn't try the stout but the cookie dough rocked!

Once I talked to Evan, however, there was a clear favorite. The Chocolate Stout/Irish Cream cupcake flew out of the kitchen while the Cookie Dough cupcake was slow and steady throughout the morning. I hesitate to call either on the "winner" but, if we're going by initial interest alone, The Chocolate Stout came out on top. I think curiosity killed the cookie dough.

I tried to get "artsy" here and give you a shot
of the Chocolate Stout in front and the
Cookie Dough in back, but it didn't turn out like I expected.
But you get it, right?

I look forward to hosting more of these challenges in the future and hope to have more conclusive results for you all. I have to say that I feel like it was a win-win situation for both cupcakes though because they taught me something new and made me think out of my Betty Crocker box. Thanks, rainy days and boredom, for inspiring me to do something I've never done before.

Oh sugar sugar!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of watching some of my best friends' little boy, Little N, for a few days while they went out of town for a work convention. 2 year old boys are so much fun and so sweet, but definitely require a lot of activity. We did just about everything: Chuck E. Cheese, running through the sprinklers and playing outside with sweet Cali. But you don't think I wouldn't put some sort of craft/art/cooking project, do you?

Of course not! Now, I didn't really want to do something that would allow Little N to make a huge mess and possibly ruin something in his parents' house, so painting was out. I also didn't want anything that required a whole lot of planning, but I did want something that would peak his interest and get him excited! What do little boys like more than anything (other than The Wiggles, that is)? COOKIES!

Big box of cookie cutters...
$9.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond

We went out and got some sugar cookie dough, cookie cutters, chocolate frosting and sprinkles! I rolled the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper and let Little N pick out his cookie cutters. I won't lie and say I let him do it all by himself. I'm too much of a control freak for that. I let him do a couple and then sent him off to play for a few minutes while those cooked. While they were in the oven, I rolled and cut most of the rest.

Little N chose this one for mom and dad...
Apparently he thought they spent their whole vacay on the plane. 

When they were out and cooled, I let Little N help me put some frosting and sprinkles on top of the cookies. He was so proud. I wish I'd taken some pictures of the final product because no one in the world will believe the insane amount of sprinkles that were on some of these cookies. It would have made a large man have a sugar high that could last for days.

With the left over dough and sprinkles, I had a great idea. I rolled it into balls and let Little N roll them around in bowls of sprinkles. They turned out really cute, but he didn't like these as much as his crazy sugar-coated sugar cookies.

All I can say is YUM! 

All in all, I have to say this was the highlight of my weekend with this little guy! I had so much fun, I almost wanted to tell his parents to go away for another few days so we could do more fun stuff! :) Almost...