Throw a Theme Party – Cupcake Challenge
When throwing a theme party, one of the biggest challenges is coming up with a good theme. You want it to be unique, yet easy to work with and enjoyable for all your guests. For those of you in the party mood and looking for ideas, here’s one to consider – how about throwing a cupcake challenge party? Interested? Of course you are! Here’s what the party involves.
Outline of the Cupcake Challenge Theme Party
The great thing about a cupcake challenge party is that it comes with a reason to celebrate. After all, who wouldn’t want to rush to a house full of delicious cupcakes that are as sweet on the tongue as they are on the eye? Depending on the time available and the cooking skills of your guests, you can choose to go various ways with this theme.
The ‘Ultimate Cupcake Challenge’ Party
If you have a group of friends who enjoy baking, they would probably enjoy a real cupcake challenge. Let them know in advance that you’re throwing a cupcake challenge party and explain the rules. You can let them bring cupcakes of any kind made from scratch or add a criterion such as having all the cupcakes include at least one type of vegetable, or having them judged on presentation as well as taste. You can also create categories such as amateur and professional to keep the competition fair. For this kind of party, you don’t have to limit your guest list to friends who can bake. Just ask each participant to bring a dozen of their cupcakes and allow your other friends to attend the party as tasters. Make sure to have at least two judges assigned for the challenge, and to give exciting prizes to the winner.
The ‘You Can Bake’ Cupcake Challenge
Not everyone is fortunate enough to have friends who love baking. However, this doesn’t mean they can’t throw a cupcake challenge theme party. You can make the challenge a lot simpler by varying the rules. Before your party begins, bake four batches of twelve cupcakes, each of a different flavour. Set up a decorating table with various toppings and supplies that your guests can use to decorate the cupcakes. Allow for creative freedom by including ingredients like cream cheese, butter and confectioners’ sugar for them to create their own frostings. Have another table with stands and other supplies they can use to present their cupcakes. When your guests arrive, you can divide them into teams and explain the rules of the cupcake challenge. You can go the ‘Cupcake Wars’ way and have three different rounds: in the first, cupcakes are judged solely on taste, in the second they are judged on presentation as well as taste and in the final round they arrange the remaining cupcakes to make a grand party centerpiece. Fans of the ‘Cupcake Wars’ TV-show would love to be a part of such an event.
Another option, one that involves less preparation time, is to allow each team to bake their own batch of twelve cupcakes using a recipe of their choice. They can then use these cupcakes for the challenges assigned to them.
Tips for throwing a Cupcake Challenge Theme Party
- Don’t bother cooking for a cupcake challenge party as you have enough of it going on throughout the event. Instead, serve simple food like sandwiches, hotdogs or take away pizza for your guests. If you’re only having finger food, go for items like cheese and crackers or popcorn.
- For decorations, you can use the same few colors for your cupcake liners as well as streamers and balloons.
- Give aprons to each of your guests before they begin working in the kitchen. You can allow them to personalize their aprons before they get started on the cupcakes. These aprons make for great take away gifts once the party is over.
- Ensure you have enough of all the necessary ingredients for your guests.
- When setting up the work stations, ensure everyone has enough space to move around and work on the cupcakes.
A cupcake challenge party is great fun whether it’s for a birthday bash or just to entertain your friends. Use these tips to throw a truly memorable one at home.
