Maybe what they say is true!?! Vegan Cupcakes really ARE going to take over the world! Tonight's local Iron Cupcake:Milwaukee produced the MOST successful competition yet! Considering we were all a little intimidated by a cooking technique that most of us were not familiar with, these cupcakes were by far and away the BEST cupcakes we have had at a challenge. They were DE-FREAKIN-LICIOUS!



We had SO MANY people tonight! I was surprised and thrilled by the huge attendance - over 25 judges and that does not include any of the Fratello's employees! We even had a visit from new Iron Cupcake:Earth baker, Susie's Homemade...I think we will see her baking for the wine challenge! Another fun meeting tonight was Chef Jeff's sister! He is on vacation this week, but she was in the bar with some friends and stopped by to introduce herself!



On the left is Josh, the right his wife. He found IC through Food Buzz and came down from West Bend to bring on the Rage Against the Cuisine...his friends' version of a sort of Iron Chef. A formidable opponent that I KNOW we will see more of in the future. Welcome Josh!



Josh dove into the Iron Cupcake realm with great passion. Above is his entry, the Vegan AND Gluten Free Banana Split Cupcake. Props to Josh, he was the only baker to tackle both the vegan and gluten free elements. Clearly, we have an overachiever in our midst. :-)



Ann was back to defend her BBQ title with this beautiful Rosewater, Ginger and Lemon Curd cupcake. Vegan and delicate and creative! I would eat this again in a heartbeat!



This is my Vegan Chocolate and Clementine cupcake. I was inspired by Vegan Cupcake Take Over the World and I must say - I was both baffled and thrilled at the results. I have no idea WHY these cupcakes worked so well, but I do know that I am impressed with the results.



In an homage to his mother, who follows a gluten-free diet, Brendan presented his Black Tie Affair cupcake which incorporated chocolate, coconut, caramel and marshmallow. Mmmmm. Brownie-like and yummy!



This is Dan's Maple Walnut cupcake. It was amazing. Absolutely incredible actually. He took it, verbatim, again, from the book Vegan Cupcake Take Over the World and it worked perfectly. Dan has been to a few of the previous challenges, but was inspired by the idea of incorporating organic and vegan ingredients into a cupcake, so he decided to give it a whirl. It is a good thing, because Dan was our winner tonight! Yeah Dan!



This is our winner on the left and Christina and Jeremy to his right. It was their first visit to ICM, but hopefully they will be back!

Our next challenge is one week from tonight - Iron Cupcake Milwaukee, challenge WINE!
See ya there!