ICM:COFFEE with ALTERRA COFFEE - City on a Caffeine High!!!

Milwaukee had the jitterz last night. Caffeine was corsing through the veins of nearly 80 - yeah, I said it... EIGHTY IronCupcake fans. The challenge, partnered with ALTERRA COFFEE, was a raging success! (Look at my cute Steven licking his fingers...this was his first visit to ICM and hopefully not his last!)



Cupcakes and more cupcakes, there were 13 different creations to try!



Once again, we had lots and lots and LOTS of new friends!



Above, is the inspiration for Jeff's cupcake - Alterra's Espresso Shake. A Milwaukee warm-weather favorite.

Below, the Espresso Drop Cupcake by new baker, Laura!





Above; Pat, a long-time IronCupcake fan, was a first-time baker tonight with his MokaSpressoLeche Cupcake.

Below, the Alterra Love Supreme Coconut Cream cupcake by another new baker, and our youngest, Amy. Hope you had a good time, Amy!





Above, the Czarny Diabals, by Christina. Coming back from the Rishi challenge to give it another go!

And, below, the Ready for Finals cupcakes from longtime IC'er, Liz.





Above; Our winner from last challenge, Katie, brought her spongy Frangelico Cupcake creation.
Below; the simple, yet fantastic, Mocha Ganache Cupcake by Susie.





I didn't bake tonight, but if I had...a Tiramisu Cupcake would have been my choice. Thankfully, I didn' t have to compete against Maggie's version above. It looked wonderful!

And it was great to welcome back Anne, who joined us several times last summer. She brought her Mocha Blanco Cupcake shown below.





Our partner for the night, ALTERRA COFFEE, was generous with bakers coffee and kind enough to send some awesome representatives to judge the challenge. Sylvester, the production manager of Alterra Baking Company brought his educated taste buds and crowned the two ALTERRA PARTNER PICKS. Their first place choice was Brendan's Espresso Martini Cupcake by none other than Fratello's own Brendan (above).

Their other pick was the Perfect Pair Black Jack Cupcake by one of our newest bakers, Elaine! Congrats to both of them!





And last, but certainly NOT LEAST, is our popular vote winner. With over 60 ballots cast, the winner was Melissa's Café Cubano Cupcake shown above. Melissa was joining us for the first time and brought all the caffienated whoopass she could! We look forward to seeing a lot more of Melissa soon!

Thanks again to everyone from ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS; including Ramie, Sylvester and Ricky. It was an honor to have one of Milwaukee's most iconic businesses share the fun.



The next challenge will be MONDAY, MARCH 23rd, the flavors of LATIN AMERICA.
IronCupcake:Milwaukee is partnering with the local chapters of ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS (EWB). We will be focusing on Latin American flavors; in celebration of the humanitarian work being done by EWB in various parts of Guatemala, Honduras and other Latin American countries.

Be sure to join the new IronCupcake:Milwaukee FACEBOOK group to stay on top of all things challenge related.