IRON CUPCAKE: Cheese

IRON CUPCAKE:CHEESE, it's the CHEESIEST! No Velveeta allowed. Tonight’s competition was hands down the best showing to date. Where last week, the loser was crystal clear - mine was a pure failure in comparison to the other cupcakes. This week, there was a winner declared, but the others were so darn good as well. The real winner tonight was all of us for getting to taste such an incredible variety!
Although he was a bit timid in the beginning, Brendan surprised us tonight with his unique Apricot and Blue Cheese cupcake based on a flavor experience he had while in France. He slid the blue cheese and frosting topped cake under the broiler for a split second to give the topping a slight melt and then garnished with an Apricot Brandy drizzle. It could have been the cake, or perhaps it was a shot of bribery in the form of an exquisite Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervas – a decadent dessert wine; regardless, Brendan’s creation was our #2 cupcake tonight.
Chef Jeff, AGAIN, out did himself. This time, not one cupcake, not two, but three – 1, 2, THREE cupcakes! He knew I would do two after he did last week – one upping me once again. His first creation was a surprisingly sweet, mind-bending Loaded Baked Potato cupcake (above), complete with green onion frosting and served in a hollowed out baked potato half. Ingenious.
Jeff's second entry; a classic Tiramisu cupcake (above). While it was the tastiest dessert of the night, it was debatable as to whether it qualified as an actual cupcake.
Jeff’s third entry was a Brie cupcake based on a classic cheese plate, complete with an apple frosting and a reduction of Balsamic smear. I could eat Brie and that smear for days….mmmmmmm.
For me, my first was a Canolli cupcake - pistachio cake filled with classic amaretto canolli filling and topped with more filling whipped with heavy cream. I sprinkled with the top crushed pistachio, plopped a candied cherry in the center and then garnished with a butter waffle cookie from Trader Joe's. Yum!
I am humble when I say that my Honey, Brie and Fig cupcake (above) was the winner tonight. The cake portion of the recipe was based on Chockylit’s Ricotta Raspberry Almond Cupcakes. I replaced the almond paste with a half quantity of raw honey and added some extra flour to help the texture of the batter. I put a small scoop of brie, fig and honey in the middle before baking. I then topped it off with a relatively savory “frosting” of brie, cream cheese, butter and some more raw honey. Last, but not least, I garnished with some caramelized salty almonds. I am proud of this cupcake, it’s a keeper for the future cookbook that is growing in my head. Thanks to our “judges” for choosing my creation.
We also made a couple of new cupcake fans tonight. I didn't even get their names, but they liked the cupcakes a lot and will hopefully be back in two weeks for IRON CUPCAKE: CURRY.

Last, but definitely not least…Chef Jeff, you are a great guy. There are more and more bits about you that you reveal every time I see you. Relax and take care of that awesome person; you are SO WORTH IT. OK, enough of the gooey nice stuff.

Mark your calendars:
IRON CUPCAKE: CURRY
Monday, June 30
5:30 p.m.