The Burning Sensation

Two weeks ago, I and everyone else at Ogilvy received an intriguing email.  Ogilvy was to hold their own Great American Bake Sale to raise money for Share Our Strength, a national charity that works to end childhood hunger in the United States.  The more exciting part?  There was also a CUPCAKE COMPETITION!  The cupcakes would be judged and then the winner would be announced by Sandra Lee, celebrity chef from Food Network and spokesperson for Share Our Strength.

A bunch of the interns quickly formed teams, and the planning began.  Lauren, a fellow intern, volunteered the use of her kitchen to bake our cupcakes, and after that, the hard part began.  What kind of cupcakes were we to make!?  I browsed plenty of recipes online including things like s'mores cupcakes, cookie dough cupcakes, and churro cupcakes.  When we all met at Lauren's house to discuss -- Gabe introduced his big idea... Jalapeno cupcakes.  Most of us were wary of the idea at first, but we decided to give it a shot. 

When we all met again to bake the practice cupcakes, we settled on two test recipes:  Peanut Butter and Garam Masala Cupcakes with Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting, and Candied Jalapeno Cupcakes with Mango Cream Cheese Frosting.

Peanut Butter Garam Masala Cupcakes

While the Peanut Butter cupcakes were delicious, we ended up deciding to make the Jalapeno cupcakes for the competition.

Unfortunately, I couldn't be present for the baking of the actual cupcakes because my roommate Lauren, her friend Daphne and I had tickets to go see American Idiot (blog post later).  However, I did get to help decorate them the next day before the judging!  We frosted the cupcakes and garnished them with dried mango, candied jalapeno tops, and fresh mango puree.  They looked and TASTED soooo good!

Candied Jalapeno Cupcake with
Mango Cream Cheese Frosting

The perfect combination of spicy and sweet, our cupcake was definitely one of the most original flavor combinations.

Sandra Lee came to Ogilvy today to collect our donation for Share Our Strength and also announce the winners of the cupcake competition.  First she spoke about her history with poverty and told everyone about the organization.  Then she talked about the cupcakes that she had a chance to taste that morning.  Finally, she got to announcing the winners.

All of the different cupcake entries

Honorable Mention went to the S'mores Cupcake.  Our team got THIRD PLACE with our Jalapeno cupcake affectionately named "The Burning Sensation."  Second went to Death by Mudslide, and First went to Coconut Dreams.  All of the winners got a signed copy of a Sandra Lee cookbook!

Check us outttt, interns making names for ourselves at big bad Ogilvy = )