Batter battles

And the winner is! On the left...

My daughter just won a Cupcake Wars event.
Not the television high-stress kind of event but a anxiety-producing event just the same.
She had spent all day — in between handling kids and lunch and dinner and carpool and minor disasters — creating these mouth-watering Lemon Raspberry cupcakes that looked like little lemonade cups with pink and white straws in them.
They were delicious and one of the 15 different kinds of cupcakes offered to the roomful of homemaker judges at a recent Relief Society affair.
Everybody brought their best and offered samples to the room.
It was a high stakes moment.
We all voted for the best presentation, the best-tasting and the best overall cupcake.
Kari was worried that hers didn't hold up to the others in the display although she had carefully shopped and measured and baked. She worked diligently to make sure the flavors in her cupcakes were from real and fresh ingredients. She tracked the balance.
(And this is with four kids and a puppy underfoot.)
They looked just fine but there were some creative competitors.
One looked just a bunch of tiny hamburgers with sugar cookie French Fries and raspberry and cherry Slurpees.

Cupcakes and fries!

Several featured strawberries and frothy icing.
Another was a floral display of lilac frosting and blackberries.
Some resembled Boston Creme pies and an other featured a glazed German Chocolate icing.
We all walked around sizing up the goodies and ultimately getting to try each one.

The competition

My daughter fretted a little but told me her 7-year-old had told her not to worry overmuch.
"They're good! I think you'll get a participation prize, mom!" she said.