3 Utah Cupcake Bakeries Face-off Today
Utah is about to have its first public, cupcake showdown. The contestants are all owners of local cupcakeries or bakeries that sell cupcakes: Leslie Fiet of Mini’s Cupcakes, Romina Rasmussen from Les Madeleines and The Sweet Tooth Fairy herself, Megan Faulkner Brown. This local cupcake war is hosted by The Deseret News Fall Home Show and begins today at 3 pm.
The competition on both taste and decoration. Each contestant, along with their selected assistant will have 45 minutes to prepare cupcakes made with a secrete ingredient that one the judges have selected. The contestants have no idea what this ingredient will just that it will most likely follow the competition’s Halloween theme.
Bakery owners are both excited and anxious to find out what the mystery ingredient is, “I’m just hoping whatever the mystery ingredient is that it’s something that I’m familiar with. I don’t consider myself a ‘chef’ just a home-schooled, passionate baker, so I hope the ingredient is something I’ve worked with before,” says Megan Faulkner Brown, owner of The Sweet Tooth Fairy bakeries that span the state from North Salt Lake to St. George.
The mystery ingredient could be anything sweet or spooky from licorice, candy corn to pumpkin. Nobody knows, except maybe judges Chef Bryan Woolley, host of KUTV cooking show and chef; Chef Tom Woodbury, Cooking with Tom; and Steve Hatch and Katie Masterson, Hatch Family Chocolates. But who knows.
According to the competition rules. Each baker is able to bring basic, pantry items like flour, sugar, butter, eggs, oil, leavening agents and their own extracts and flavorings. They will then incorporate the selected item/ingredient and make a cupcakes that will be judged on texture/crumb, originality and the incorporation of the mystery box item.
After that the contestants must design a cupcake display that is a Halloween-themed character. A maximum of 48 cupcakes and a minimum of 12 cupcakes must be used. Displays will be judged on creativity, color combination, originality and overall appearance and best use of cupcake combination.
For me, this is going to be a very interesting competition. I’ve tried dozens of cupcakes from each local bakery; all are good, if not great cupcakes. It’s going to be a very hard competition to judge since cupcakes are so subjective. I just hope the competition lends itself to a level playing field. The biggest deterrent will be the use of the mystery ingredient and following the festive Halloween theme.
I’ve got absolutely no guess as to who the winner will be, I’m just smiling from cheek to cheek that this cool event is happening. I know that the contestants agree with me.
“The most exciting part about this is that Utah is doing its own version of Cupcake Wars,” says Mini’s Cupcakes’ owner, Leslie Fiet. “We are bringing cupcakes to the forefront so it’s good for all of us cupcake shops. It’s exciting to be involved in this cupcake competition.”
The competition starts at 3pm. Hope to see you there!
Cupcake Challenge
Deseret News Fall Home Show
Time: 3-5 pm
South Town Expo Center
9575 S. State Street
Sandy, UT 84070
801-565-4490
The Tahiti Cupcake from Les Madeleines
Les Madeleines recently had a cupcake that stuck out to me. It was their Tahiti Cupcake.
Tahiti: Vanilla cupcake with passion fruit buttercream
Romina, the owner, says all her desserts are travel inspired. And having been to Tahiti, this cupcake actually brought me a little bit back.. The frosting was really unique and impressive. Light and buttery (like all her frosting..very much buttery!) but it was so fresh with the taste of passion fruit! The vanilla cupcake was the perfect pair, too!
And now I leave you with some pictures from my Tahitian cruise I took last year:
Les Madeleines: Madagascar (Vanilla) Cupcake
Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla. It sometimes comes from Madagascar.
Because of their name, Madagascar, I’m assuming these cupcakes from Les Madeleines have Madagascar vanilla in them.
more about these cupcakes from Les Madeleines site:
“Madagascar™: Vanilla cupcake with vanilla cream cheese frosting dipped in white chocolate sprinkles”
I don’t remember a whole lot about this cupcake since I haven’t tried it in more than a year. But I do remember really being impressed with the REAL white chocolate sprinkles and how they were combined with a nice cream cheese frosting.
Have you tried this cupcake? Fill us in already!
Les Madeleines
216 E 500 S
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-3204
(801) 355-2294
Web site: http://www.les-madeleines.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lesmadeleines
Become a fan of Les Madeleines on Facebook
5 Cupcake thangs to do in Utah this Weekend!
Okay, so I’ve slacked off a bit on this blog since Tuesday. Can’t help it, but I’ve been a bit sick.
If your looking for some cupcake thangs to do in Utah this weekend here are my suggestions!
1) Sundance Film Festival – Watch a film, watch celebs and eat a cupcake from The Sweet Tooth Fairy!
The Sweet Tooth Fairy will be temporarily setting up shop within the Main Street Mall (333 Main Street) in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival.
2) 101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes – cookbook book signings!
Wendy Paul has made a very cool cupcake cookbook that will save you time, money and give you much praise! I haven’t personally made any recipes from this book yet. (I am so ready to try her rootbeer float one!) But my good friend Elise aka The Cupcake Activist has and you should read what she has to say about it here!
The book is going to give you lots of (101) ideas of how to make gourmet cupcakes, most if not all, I believe are recipes to doctor up a store-bough mix.
Go grab a copy of the book and have Wendy sign it herself!
Here’s the schedule for this weekend’s signings.
January 22 (FRI) 6-8:30 pm OREM COSTCO signing event
January 23 (SAT) 11-2 pm MURRAY COSTCO signing event
Can’t make it? Buy the book on Amazon, here!
Do you own this book? Have you made any recipes? Let me know!
3) Eat the Vegas, Baby! cupcake from Les Madeleines ..or any other cupcake or my non-cupcake favorite Kouing Aman!
One of my favorite cupcakes in Utah is this Vegas, Baby! cupcake from Les Madeleines. It’s a Vanilla Cupcake with Red Hots in the middle. (View the inside here!) Cream cheese frosting with real white chocolate sprinkles. Romina said on twitter yesterday that they have lots of cupcakes right now…so um…take your pick (cupcake menu here) and let me know which one you had. BUT if they have the Vegas, Baby! cupcake…you best take my recommendation!
4) Have a late night cupcake dessert at The Chocolate Dessert Cafe in Orem!
I know I keep mentioning this dessert cafe. But it’s because I keep falling in love with the idea of it more and more! My husband and I went last weekend after ice skating for a hot cocoa (tell them you want it with spices, like when they did Christmas in a cup!) and a mini chocolate caramel cupcake! Seriously, this is quickly moving up my little “best cupcakes in utah” list!
5) Get excited for Vanilla Cupcake Week on Utah Loves Cupcake!
Two Vanilla Cupcakes from Mini’s Cupcakes in Salt Lake City
Next week I’ll be putting a HUGE cupcake focus on the vanilla! I’ll be featuring and reviewing various vanilla cupcakes from around Utah. I’m going to attempt to pick my favorite and maybe the best vanilla cupcake in utah. (It’s going to be hard!) I’ll be sharing vanilla ingredients and tips. Most of all, I’d love to hear from you about vanilla cupcakes. (I’m talking to you at-home bakers and cupcake enthusiasts AND you professional cupcake bakers) If you have a great recipe or a review of your own…email me or comment! It’s going to be a fun week!
Shanghai Cupcakes from Les Madeleines
Shanghai (Green Tea & Jasmine) Cupcakes
I snapped a pix of these cool-looking cupcakes with my trusty cell phone. They’re the Shanghai Cupcakes from Les Madeleines. I love how Romina has chosen to pipe the frosting. By the way, I had a chance to pick up her takeout menu and it had a huge list of cupcake flavors. And listen to this: All of Les Madeleines cupcake flavors and their names are inspired by the chef’s travels. Here’s the cupcake flavor list:
* New York: Valrhona chocolate in the cupcake and icing
*Madagascar™: Vanilla cupcake with vanilla cream cheese frosting dipped in white chocolate sprinkles
Roma: Coffee cupcake with coffee buttercream
Bali™: Coconut cupcake with passion fruit buttercream
Key West: Margarita cupcake with margarita buttercream
Venice: Coffee cupcake with hazelnut buttercream
Shanghai: Green tea cupcake with green tea buttercream with a hint of jasmine
Paris: Chocolate cupcake with raspberry buttercream
Gilligan’s Island: Coconut cupcake with cream cheese
frosting dipped in coconut
Pretty in Pink™: Vanilla cupcake with raspberry buttercream
Tahiti: Vanilla cupcake with passion fruit buttercream
Rio: Chocolate cupcake with passion fruit buttercream
Sicily: Chocolate cupcake with pistachio buttercream
Jaipur: Cardamom cupcake, rose syrup and pistachio buttercream ( I want to try this one SO BADLY!!!)
Florence: Chocolate cupcake with hazelnut buttercream
Istanbul: Coffee cupcake, cardamom buttercream
Constantinople: Cardamom cupcake, coffee buttercream
Cancun: Piña colada cupcake, cream cheese frosting, coconut
Savannah™: Red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting
Treviso: Coffee cupcake with tiramisu buttercream
Sizes: Mini- $2.25 or Regular – 3.95
Special orders require a minimum of 12 regular size or 24 minis per flavor. Additional décor will incur an additional charge. Cupcakes marked with * are always available.
Les Madeleines
216 E 500 S
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-3204
(801) 355-2294
Web site: http://www.les-madeleines.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lesmadeleines
Become a fan of Les Madeleines on Facebook
Pretty in Pink Cupcake from Les Madeleines
Last Friday, on my way home from the airport, I made a special trip to Les Madeleines. I know this blog is about cupcakes, but I would be lying if I told you I went their just for Cupcakes. In fact, I went there for the sole purpose of their specialty the Kouing Aman. It’s the best pastry I’ve had in my life. With that said, Les Madeleine does sell cupcakes and I do like them. In fact, I think they were one of the first to have cupcakes here in Utah (Besides Mrs. Backer’s Pastry Shoppe).
I was happy to try their Pretty in Pink flavor. It’s a vanilla cupcake with a raspberry buttercream. It was very good.
When Romina makes a buttercream, she doesn’t mess around. It is in fact a BUTTERcream frosting. No doubt.
I can never decide how I want to photograph the cupcakes I get to enjoy. So here are a few shots of this pretty little cupcake.
I bought the mini and got it to go. I loved how it was placed in a little chinese takeout box.
I love the lighting on this one. the raspberry frosting was delicious. granted very buttery. but delicious, romina uses butter from vermont. i think it’s like a super high percentage of butterfat content. sweet, right!
i loved this pretty plate.
anyway, i grabbed a takeout menu and noticed that they updated (to my knowledge) all their cupcake flavors. they have fabulous names and are all inspired by the chefs travels. i really want to try the one with cardomom. i can’t remember it’s name.
head over to Les Madeleines for a cupcake…and get 6 KOUIN AMANS too!
Les Madeleines
216 E 500 S
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-3204
(801) 355-2294
Best of the Beehive 2009
Many Utah Cupcakes made Salt Lake City Magazine’s Best of the Beehive 2009!
Check it out!
Best Oddball Cupcake
› Cotton Candy Cupcake from ABCupcake, 801-809-4678, abcupcakes.com (no storefront). Are you serious?
Best Icing
› Les Madeleines, 216 E. 500 South, SLC, 801-355-2294. French buttercream made by an expert.
Best All-around cupcake
› Cakes de Fleur, by order only, 3340 S. 300 West, 801-474-CAKE. When you’re very serious about your cupcakes.
Best Chocolate cupcake
› Chocoholic Cupcake from Mini’s, 14 E. 800 South, SLC, 801-363-0608. Thick fudgy frosting on brownie-like cake.
April Cupcake Class at Les Madeleines
The gourmet patisserie cafe, Les Madeleines, will offer a cupcake class in April! I’m such a fan of the cream cheese frosting and their red hot cupcake among many other things. How awesome would it be to take a class from the Romina! Interested? Check out the details:
Les Madeleines – CUPCAKE CLASS
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2009
Time: 4:15 pm – 6:30 pm
Cost: $50 per adult student. Children 12-18 $35.
Class Description: CUPCAKES — Come learn how to make light and fluffy cupcakes and buttercream and cream cheese frosting. See how easy it is to make variations on a basic recipe for these bite-sized classics. We’ll also learn a few different decorating techniques. Sign up online!
Address: 216 E 500 S, Salt Lake City
Classes include recipes; demonstration and some hands-on instruction; samples of everything we make.
RED HOT: Vegas Baby Cupcake!
This is currently my favorite cupcake at Les Madeleines. It’s their Vegas Baby - a classic vanilla cupcake with red hots in the middle. The frosting is a cream cheese ( I believe) with real white chocolate sprinkles. Isn’t it such a festive Valentine’s cupcake?
Utah Loves Cupcakes Valentine Gift Guide
Unless you are a super awesome planner–you haven’t purchased your Valentine’s Gift! No fret, Utah Loves Cupcakes is here to help!
So…if you live in Utah…and..want to buy cupcakes in Utah…and…you are kind enough to give cupcakes as Valentine’s gifts then check this out:
Cupcake Chic (Springville)
Order special valentine cupcakes in flavors like red velvet, strawberry vanilla, choco vanilla, choco coconut! Cupcake Chic is offering a variety of size for your liking and budget:
Box of 12 – $25
Box of 6 – $13
Box of 4 – $9
Box of 2 – $5.50
Get your order in by Friday at noon. The Cupcakes will be at all locations through the weekend and Brambles Boutique in Provo (their newest location) will have the cupcakes packaged in pink gift boxes now through Saturday. Delivery available, local cost is $5 (Payson – Orem) and $10-$15 long distance, depending on location.
Mini’s Gourmet Cupcakes (SLC)
Here’s what they offer:
A box of six cupcakes in these flavors:
Cherry chocolate (Dark chocolate cake, cherry inside, chocolate ganache, and chocolate dipped cherry), valentine decorations (vanilla and chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting), and straberry and cream(Fresh strawberry cake, fresh cream topping, chocolate dipped strawberry on top)
Now it get’s better. Mini’s offers a packaged deal that includes the six cupcakes plus a Valentine’s floral arrangement from Roots. Flowers and Cupcakes! …now we are talking! Cost is $49.99
if you just want the box of six cupcakes, the price is $15
Mini’s will deliver on Friday, February 13 to any downtown location. (Standard delivery charge applies) You can also pick up your orders Friday or Saturday. Remember though, everything must be pre-ordered! So call them now!
So Cupcake (SLC)
Be so tasty for your Valentine, don’t forget to place an order by Thursday, February 12th, to receive a 10% discount.
On February 14th, Artichockes and Company will be at So Cupcake offering special flower arrangements to go with your cupcake order! So Cupcake Mini Dozens will also be available at their store on Valentine’s Day!
Linger Floral Artistry is also offering a Valentine’s Day Special of any of their floral arrangements with a dozen Mini So Cupcakes. Order Here.
The Chocolate (Lehi)
Valentine’s Cupcakes – 1.69 each or $19/dozen
Dear Lizzie (Highland)
Pre-order their pretty cupcakes decked out in Valentines colors two days in advance and recieve a 14% discount.
Primrose Retreat (Spanish Fork)
Six Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes in a decorative box for $20. Or how about a treat with a bonus? Treat the younger Valentines in your life to a pink hot chocolate and a pink cupcake while they get a manicure. The package costs $10.
The Sweet Tooth Fairy (Provo)
Cupcakes for $2.25 each, include a personalized message to the cupcakes and get them for $3 each
Flour Girls and Dough Boys (American Fork)
Give your sweetie a giant cupcake in a gift box for $3.29 each
Dippidee (American Fork)
Say “I love you” with a dozen roses–cupcake style. Each cupcake $3.49, minimum order of 6 cupcakes
Cutsie Cakes (Layton)
Davis/Weber County peeps place orders by Friday morning at 10 am for Saturday delivery with free delivery for a minimum order of a dozen cupcakes at $26/dozen. Call directly at 801-560-1285 or email amberlynn[at]cutsiecakes.com
Yeah, this is a new cupcakery…more info coming!
Les Madeleines (Salt Lake City)
Order the special Vegas Baby Cupcake – a vanilla cupcake with red hots in the middle! Prce: $2.25. Call now to place your Valentine’s order.
Diva’s Cupcakes and Coffee (Salt Lake City)
Regular cupcake flavors adorned in Valentine’s colors and sprinkles. Order by Friday at 1 p.m.
If there are some other cupcakeries/bakeries that I missed…by all means leave a comment!
SugarRush (Sandy)
Order a special Valentine’s Box with regualr size chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, rolled in red and chocolate sprinkles, with hearts, hugs and kisses. All boxed up in a red satin ribbon. Box of 12 – $25 or Box of 6 – $15. Order before February 13.
Happy Valentine’s Cupcake Giving!
Let’s Talk Sprinkles
the madagascar cupcake at les madeleines, originally uploaded by becky of project domestication.
les madeleines in slc uses real chocolate for their sprinkles… nothing artificial.
i could totally tell the difference.
other bakeries use the artifical stuff.
do you care?
do you have a preference?
About
hi. my name is becky.
i love utah and i love cupcakes.
it really is just that simple.
this blog is a place where utah and cupcakes come together.
i scope out all the latest cupcake news in utah. visit utah cupcakeries. review cupcake bakeries and cupcake-related items. i post cupcake recipes and ideas from other utah cupcake enthusiasts. i also travel to eat cupcakes and tell you about my adventures.
i hope you will join me in this journey. i can’t tell you how much i love to support local, how much i love eating quality cupcakes, meeting fun and interesting bakery owners and seeing their stores succeed and um…having fun!
cupcakes are here to stay! they are a tradition and not a trend!
join our flickr group, email me the latest on your cupcake baking and cupcake seeking adventures…we are bound to have a great time.
I also blog at Project Domestication — where you can see my personal baking adventures!
-becky
***For more about my story and love of cupcakes, read my guest blog post on Cupcakes Take The Cake!***
I contribute to the Sweet Life!
Chocolate Caramel Cupcake
Vanilla Cupcake Week
