The First Cupcakes of Fall & Learning from Failure

Who's been looking forward to seeing the Fall-Inspired cupcakes of the 2012 Fall Cupcake Challenge? Don't lie - I know you want a sneak peek of some of my kitchen's most recent creations!

The Apple Cider Cupcakes...

A delicious cinnamon-apple flavored cake, with the moisture and flavor of apple cider that bursts in your mouth, and a wonderful caramel glaze to top this perfect fall treat! (Ok, I will admit that the caramel glaze was supposed to be a frosting, but it didn't form into anything "frosting-like" and I had to settle for the glaze, which, I was told "is a keeper," but I still believe needs a little work. Maybe we'll have a glaze versus frosting taste off to decide what the best topping would be for this cake)

The cake most of you only dreamt about...

You've got that right! That is a delicious red candy atop some apple filled mini-cupcakes. Your favorite fall treat from childhood just became a cupcake - ON A STICK! 

Now, the cake featured in this picture wasn't the best choice for the beautiful candy topping, but with new recipes comes new experiences and definitely learning opportunities. The good news - candy topping on a cupcake may be the new wave of the future - as long as you pick the right cake flavor.

This fall has been a bounty of learning opportunities for Kate's Cakes. From the formation of frosting, to the sinking of a candy topping if you regret to put your cupcakes in the refrigerator overnight, I have learned many things to continue bringing high quality product to my friends and customers. Admitting defeat is the first opportunity to learn and grow from it - and I admit, my first two cupcakes of the challenge were not my best, but there's 18 more flavors to come!