Cupcake Wars: Shutdown Week!!!

...last week at work, our building was closed for annual cleaning and maintenance. It's always a rough week because you're working and moving all day long and when you're not used to it because you sit at your desk all day long, well, I usually sleep pretty good at night. My jobs are typically painting and carpet cleaning...just don't tell my husband!

In an effort to keep up morale, I decided we should do Cupcake Wars over lunch one day. Here's the content of the original flier I sent out:

Join the fun of the Inaugural Shut-Down Week Cupcake Wars!

The rules are simple:

1.     Bring in 6 cupcakes (or 12 mini cupcakes) to be entered into the Wars.

2.     Cupcakes will be judged on decoration, creativity and taste.

3.     The theme is Shut-Down Week.

4.     What the judge says is final. No complaints on the prizes or your title will be revoked.

5.     Participate because we all want cupcakes.

6.     All cupcakes entered into the Wars must be on the conference room table on a plain white plate with a “name” for your cupcake by 11am on Wednesday, September 4.
 

We cut 5 of the cupcakes into fourths (mini cupcakes in 1/2) and you had to sample EACH cupcake. Here's the ballot:

Thank you for participating in the Inaugural Shut-Down Week Cupcake Wars. Please sample ¼ of each cupcake (already cut for you). Don’t whine, just eat. You can make notes on the back of this sheet to help you with your voting decision. You have been provided a cup; please take a drink between each cupcake to cleanse your palette. There is a pitcher of water located on the table. After you have tasted each cupcake, rank your votes in the category accordingly with 1 being the best.

Overall, there was a great turnout! We had 12 entries which is WAY more than I imagined. Here's the spread of c-cakes:

This was mine: Dust Bunny-chocolate cake and peanut butter frosting-yum! I got a few votes for taste but as you can tell, my decorations lacked. My co-worker even asked to take my non-cut one (we kept one whole for presentation) home to her daughter and that made me feel like a winner!

This is a margarita cupcake which was runner up in taste. We actually had to do two tie-breaker votes to get the winner!

How cute is this one!

Almost all the cupcakes were chocolate flavored except the margarita and this one, Squeaky Clean & Fresh and it was a lemon cupcake.

Another dust bunny one but with cotton candy on top as the dust.

Jakcee won for Taste with her Butterfinger cupcake. She's the resident baker, seriously, she makes the best chocolate chip cookies.

Rochelle won for creative with the Dust Bunny Races.

And Steve, aka Mrs. Steve (his wife) won for best decorated with the swimming pool one. Oh and don't you like the homemade trophies made from outdated trophies.

Everyone thought it was great and it definitely gave us all something to look forward to and talk about throughout the week. As for a morale booster, I think it worked! Luckily, I ran in the morning so I could indulge. Now on to think of the theme for next year because everyone's already said they want to do it again next year!