About 2 weeks ago I announced a brand new cupcake competition, the Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge, that I would be hosting. It came after the great Iron Cupcake: Earth challenges ended, of which I was sad to learn. I felt that there needed to be a cupcake competition out there because so many of you love cupcakes and would enjoy the chance to create a new and exciting cupcake each month. Without much hesitation, I decided to start my own monthly cupcake competition. Since announcing the competition I have received great feedback and am expecting some amazing entries! Now, let’s get on with it…
The first ever Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge ingredient for July 2010:
TEA!
Put the kettle on, brew your favorite tea and get inspired!
The winner of July’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:
- Bake It Pretty; a $5 electronic gift card
- Beanilla; Tahitian vanilla fleur de sel & 3 organic Indonesian vanilla beans
- Rishi Tea; the new Tsuki teapot & 2 tins of tea
- Soapylove Glycerin Soap Design; a Soapy Pop
- Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25
Thank you to all our prize sponsors!
To introduce you to our prize sponsors…
Bake It Pretty, the cutest online shop for all your baking needs, will be donating a $5 electronic gift card every month for the winner of this competition.
At Beanilla you can find 8 different types of Grade A whole vanilla beans (Grade A is the highest possible quality grade for vanilla) and a wide variety of other vanilla products. Beanilla will be donating some of their unique vanilla products every month for the winner of this competition; July’s winner will receive a package of:
* Tahitian vanilla fleur de sel
Fleur de Sel (“Flower of Salt” in French) is hand-harvested sea salt that is formed at the surface of salt beds and collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt. Rich in minerals with superior flavor qualities, Fleur de Sel is one of the most expensive salts in the world. Our Fleur de Sel is collected off of the coast of Brittany (France) and is combined with premium ground vanilla beans of Tahiti and Papua New Guinea. Vanilla Fleur de Sel is exquisite with seafood and poultry and is naturally harmonious with sweet and sour dishes. Vanilla Fleur de Sel is also great for making vanilla bean caramels, Foie Gras and it even makes the best margarita rimmer around!!
* and a glass vial of 3 organic Indonesian vanilla beans
Our 100% Certified Organic Indonesian Vanilla Beans are sweet with a unique woody flavor. The flavor is perfect for richer deserts and recipes that call for chocolate, caramel, or other deep flavors. They are very plump, pliable and have a flavor similar to our Indian vanilla variety. These vanilla beans are Australian Certified Organic (ACO), which means that you can ensure that these vanilla beans were produced in harmony with nature, keeping harmful chemicals out of our land, water and air.
Rishi Tea sells a variety of tempting loose leaf teas and gorgeous teaware. Because TEA is the Mystery Box ingredient this month for the competition, Rishi Tea will be donating 2 tins of tea and the new
* Tsuki teapot
We named this beautiful teapot Tsuki, meaning “moon” in Japanese, because of its round shape and iridescent quality. Its crème color reveals brown specks that naturally form during the firing process, making each teapot completely unique. Inspired by master Tokoname artist Yamadera-san, this light teapot made of natural clay and natural ash glaze is functional with all teas. The Obi Ami (stainless steel mesh screen) covers the inside wall of the teapot, filtering out very small tealeaves and herb particles, while the teapot’s specially molded spout makes for easing pouring.
Soapylove Glycerin Soap Design is an Etsy shop that sells beautiful hand-made popsicle-style soaps called Soapy Pops. Soapylove will be donating one Soapy Pop to the winner of this competition for this month only.
Some of you may be familiar with Sweet Cuppin Cakes, as this online shop was a prize sponsor for Iron Cupcake: Earth. Sweet Cuppin Cakes will be donating a $25 prize pack of baking-related goodies every month to the winner of this competition.
How to enter:
- Only one entry per person.
- You have until the 20th of the month to bake a cupcake based on the Mystery Box ingredient, TEA. Post your baking story, photos and recipes on your blog (posting your recipe is optional).
- Provide a link to the Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge information page somewhere in your post.
- Provide links to the prize sponsors for this month in your post by copying and pasting the code below into the HTML of your post (you may edit and style the code, as long as the links to the prize sponsors remain intact):
<strong>The winner of July’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:</strong>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.bakeitpretty.com">Bake It Pretty</a>; $5 electronic gift card</strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.beanilla.com">Beanilla</a>; <a href="http://www.beanilla.com/vanilla-fleur-salt-p-95.html">Tahitian vanilla fleur de sel</a> & <a href="http://www.beanilla.com/indonesian-vanilla-beans-organic-p-115.html">3 organic Indonesian vanilla beans</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.rishi-tea.com/">Rishi Tea</a>; the new <a href="http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/tsuki-teapot.html">Tsuki tea pot</a> and 2 tins of tea</strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/soapylove">Soapylove Glycerin Soap Design</a>; a <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/soapylove?section_id=5007102">Soapy Pop</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.acupcakery.com">Sweet Cuppin Cakes</a>; a prize pack worth $25</strong></li>
</ul>
<strong>Thank you to all our prize sponsors!</strong>
- After you have done all the above, email me at mysterybox@sweetestkitchen.com, subject line “Mystery Box – Tea”, with the following information – be sure these details are correct as I will be using them on the voting page/poll:
* Your name or nickname
* Link to your entry post
* Name and description of your cupcake
* An attachment with one photo (or two if showing the inside) of your cupcake
- Read the Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge information page for full details. If you have previously read the information page, please take the time to re-read it, as the voting procedure has been changed quite a bit.
That’s it! Be sure to come back after the 21st of the month to see all the entries and vote for your favorite in the first ever Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge! Thank you so much for your participation!
* High Tea photo used with permission from Hayley Johnson.
