ICM:BOOze - Thirsty?

Wow, did we have a good time at IronCupcake this week. Really, how could it have been any other way when BOOze is on the menu. A mix of liquor, halloween and a heavy dose of our darling guest, Dear Ruthie. Yeah...this challenge was a anything but a drag.

In addition to beautiful Ruthie, we were lucky enough to have not one, but TWO partners. Guy Rehorst of Great Lakes Distillery was on hand serving samples of their amazing vodkas and gins. When the newest 99.1 WMYX DJ, JoJo, announced "free shots" ... you can bet the IronCupcake crowd came a running!

As a partner, Guy had to pick his favorite as his PARTNER'S PICK. He could not resist the cherry and chocolate combination of the Black Russian Cherry Bomb (#20) cupcake by the team at Stick to Your Ribs Catering. A black Russian cupcake with cherry vodka buttercream filling and a kahlua buttercream frosting. Guy presented the team with a huge basket of glassware, swag and of course liquor from Great Lakes!

We also had the pleasure of the company of John Dye; super awesome owner of Bryant's Cocktail Lounge - our other partner. The gang at Bryant's hosted a great little after-party that involved drinks full of icecream, topped with fire and blended within an inch of our lives! Yes, we had a good time.

Before the after-party got started, John also got to pick his PARTNER'S PICK. His reasoning for this choice? "Wow, I could definitely taste the Jack Daniels!" The baker responsible for the win was Jenna with her Jack O'Lantern Cupcake (#11) — pumpkin spice cake with a drizzle of Jack Daniels, topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting spiked with...yep, you guessed it...more Jack Daniels. "The perfect cupcake for when want to glow from within." Jenna pocketed a gift certificate to Bryant's, naturally.

Between cocktails, one-liners and more cocktails; Ruthie had a chance to taste every single cupcake. I find it only fitting and not at all ironic that she chose the Gold-Digger Cupcakes (#29) by Sarah and Kathy. Ruthie was woo'd by their French vanilla cupcakes infused with Goldschlager cinnamon liqueur and topped with almond frosting. Sure enough, flash something shiny in front of Ruthie and you are sure to win a prize. Theses ladies walked away with a swag bag full of RuthieWear, wine, cupcake gear and more.

The winner of my QUEEN'S PICK was real easy. Hello...there was Bailey's Irish Cream in these delicious little treats that Matthew made. His Dirty Girl Scout Cupcakes (#19) were chocolate créme de menthe cupcake with kahlua-vodka filling and an irresistible Bailey's frosting. Oh, and don't forget the Thin Mint Cookie crust! Matthew walked away with a gift certificate to Bryant's and an awesome zombie cupcake illustration by StuNamiDraws, see the photo above of John from Bryant's for a peek at the great drawing.

It was a couple of lovely buxom frauleins who took home the overall prize for BEST DISPLAY! As their entry read: "Talk about Gemütlichkeit!" (German for Cozy). Jenn's Oktoberfest Cupcake was a beer-batter pretzel base topped with savory beer cheese Oktoberfest Ale and cream cheese spread; then sprinkled with course sea salt. Ein Prosit! Jen won a $40 gift card to Water Buffalo and a bag full of Halloween cupcake goodies.

Last, but certainly not least, was our winner for overall BEST TASTE. Christina took home the prize with her Dessert Before Dinner Chocolate Martini Cupcakes (#23). The crowd was wow'd by the Black Magic cupcake whose crown was dipped into warm Irish Créme liqueur ganache and then topped with Kahlua buttercream frosting. With dessert like that, who needs dinner?!?! Christina also went home with $40 gift card to Water Buffalo and a bag full of Halloween cupcake goodies.

The gang from Shutterbox-Milwaukee was there with their great photobooth once again - capturing random moments of boozy bliss and giving away photo strips for our crowd to take home. You can also see all of the booth photos on their website where they feature a gallery of the event.

We had over 400 people in attendance on Sunday, which means a hearty donation to our friends at this month's non-profit, the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. Milwaukee - you are a city full of generous and amazing people! You have supported the fun of IronCupcake and, in the process, donated nearly $5,000 dollars, just this year to the groups making our city better every day.

I want to send out a special thanks to all of our volunteers who came out of the woodwork to help when so many of our regulars were out of town. Dan, Mike, Sheila, Jeremy, Ed and Sarah -- thanks so much for helping. Also to some my most trusted helpers, Katie, Jim and Stu for being their when I needed you most.

I also want to thank all of the amazing businesses that have embraced our event and become a vital part of it's success; including AJBombers (Angie and Joe - above), Water Buffalo, Swig Milwaukee, Streetza Pizza, Goldi's Shoe Parlor, 99.1 WMYX, Bryant's Cocktail Lounge, Milwaukee Cupcake Company, City Tins and all of our partners and non-profits from this past year. This was our BIGGEST and also our last challenge for 2010...but we will be back in 2011 with an event like we have never done before.

Stay tuned...



In the mean time, enjoy a slide show of photos from Sunday's event, complements of Jena Weiler Photography. Jena is a great photographer and artist that I have worked with for several years. She stepped in when MacDaddy Jim got called out of town and captured the event wonderfully. THANK YOU JENA, it was great to see you again!