Americans consume over 3.5 billion pounds of chocolate per year; almost half of the total world's production. From the looks of things, a huge portion of that chocolate was consumed just last night at the IronCupcake:Milwaukee Extreme Chocolate challenge. The first of many event to be held at our new home, Moct Bar in the 5th Ward. This new space is AWESOME, hip, roomy and beautiful...and it is a good thing, because we had somewhere around 200 people in attendance. It can be hard to conceptualize what 200 people looks like, but Jim snagged some amazing photos that tell the story quite well. It was one heck of a night. Gilda's Club of S.E. Wisconsin scored a dollar from every ticket, and a nice donation was made this morning.
The challenge was to mix chocolate with another ingredient and boy did our bakers bring their A game! Chocolate and basil and garlic, chocolate and sea salt, chocolate and sweet potato, chocolate and rhubarb, chocolate and booze, chocolate and cardamom, chocolate and zucchini, chocolate and fire, chocolate and malt, chocolate and sesame matcha, chocolate and cherry, chocolate and olive oil, chocolate and mint, chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate and caramel, chocolate and beer, chocolate and orange, chocolate and raspberry jalapeno jam...and so much more. You get the idea; A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT OF CHOCOLATE, dammit!
Our partner tonight was Indulgence Chocolatiers and boy, did they let our crowd indulge! Julie brought trays and trays of chocolates for our cupcake fans to enjoy. (She even brought me a little box of salted caramel truffles that I will crack open as soon as this post is done.) As with all of our partners, Julie was allowed to choose her favorite cupcake to present the PARTNERS PICK prize. The recipient? Jenna and her Dare You Cupcakes. "Dedicated to the moment when you mail the landing and live to tell the tale." A rich chocolate cupcake topped with a sweet potato "frosting" highlighted with toasted marshmallow and maple sugar crust. Jenna took home an apron and big box of incredible chocolates for her prize.
The PRESENTATION prize, once again, went home with Erin. She is proving to be a major hurdle for everyone when it comes to a sweet display. Her entry, The Interview, was a dark chocolate cupcake soaked in Bailey's and Kahlua, Irish Cream center and a chocolate espresso buttercream ganache. She constructed a chocolate, gum paste and fondant office display for a fictitious cupcake corporation. The detail was amazing, right down to the teeny tiny little IronCupcake award that she earned from a previous challenge. Erin took home a $25 gift card from Swig Milwaukee.
When it boils down to chocolate, lets face it, who cares what it looks like so long as we get to eat it and fast! On paper, perhaps an unexpected winner, but the crowd spoke and the winning cupcake for TASTE was Natasha's Cupcake Italiano. Personally, I love basil and chocolate. I love basil and anything. But, Natasha took it all a step further with a basil-chocolate cupcake with a honey-roasted garlic cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes were then topped with either a basil chiffonade or a chocolate covered garlic clove - for the adverturesome! THIS IS WHAT IRON CUPCAKE IS ALL ABOUT!!! Bravissimo!!! Natasha took home a $25 gift card from Water Buffalo.
We had SO MANY special guests last night; I want to take a moment to thank Scott from Streetza Pizza, Joe from AJBombers, Mike from Sysco, James Conway Photography, Whitney and Julie from Orchard Street Press, Karen from MyPartyPlaces.com and of course Nebi and the gang at Moct!
Our audience got to take home some awesome raffle prizes as well; including a gift card from Blatz Liquor, an autographed copy of The Teashop Girls by Madison author Laura Schaeffer, gorgeous cupcake garland, an AJBombers gift card, a gift certificate for M's Bar and a $50 gift certificate to Moct. LOTS of prizes this month. Our goal is to only get better from here! Don't miss a slide show of the night's events, below.
The regular IronCupcake challenges will be taking a break for the holidays and will resume in January. In the mean time, there are 2 ways to get your cupcake on...
- On Friday, December 11th, from 530-10, I will be guest bartending at AJBombers. Proceeds from the evening will go to Gilda's Club of S.E. Wisconsin. Please come out and support Gilda's Club and have a brewski and peanut bomb while you are at it!
- One week later, on Friday, December 18th is A Very Velvet Holiday. The massive IronCupcakePRO/MAM After Dark event. From 5-midnight. 8 local caterers and bakeries. Art. Andy Warhol, you get the idea. An amazing time for sure. BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY.
- Mark your calendars, the January challenge will be announced right here on December 19th.
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