Why I will never be a Cupcake Wars contestant

The kids and I love watching Cupcake Wars. We love seeing the beautiful cupcakes, imagining how all those creative flavors must taste .... and we love seeing the contestants crash and burn when cupcakes don't rise or when they run out of time.  No, that's not really true.  We don't delight in contestants' misfortunes, we sympathize with them, and we love that they're human.  We actually have the utmost respect for them, because how many people do you know who can bake and decorate a batch of cupcakes in 30 minutes?


I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it.  Actually, I know I couldn't do it.  This morning I made some pretty cool Mickey Mouse cupcakes for the boys' class bake sale (it was the perfect opportunity to use my new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cupcake liners, and a great way to practice for my upcoming Disney Side party).  At first glance, it seems pretty easy:

Simple Mickey Mouse Cupcakes

1) Bake cupcakes.
2) While cupcakes are baking/cooling, make frosting. You can tint the frosting if you want.
3) Cool cupcakes.
4) Frost cupcakes.
5) Place frosted cupcakes in fridge to cool (the frosting needs to be firm-ish, otherwise it will smoosh down when you press the mini oreos into it).
6) After 5-10 minutes, press 2 mini Oreo cookies into the frosting (for Mickey's ears) and 2 yellow M&M candies (for Mickey's buttons).

It took me about THREE HOURS to make and decorate two dozen cupcakes.  Granted, I don't have a lightning-fast oven.  Granted, I only have 1 mixer and a few spatulas, so I'm continually washing and drying. Granted, the Cupcake Wars contestants don't have to scrape off frosting from the cupcake the first 3 or 4 times because it looks awful and you forgot to practice on a square of parchment paper.  But those guys eat, sleep, and breathe cupcakes.  Most of us don't bake cupcakes every day -- so it's nice to see that even Cupcake Wars contestants make the same silly mistakes that we do.

I may not be Cupcake Wars material.  But I still felt like a winner when I saw all the kids at the bake sale ooh and ahh over the Mickey cupcakes.  Even though those dozen cupcakes earned less than $10 for the class overnight field trip fund, I felt as happy as the Cupcake Wars contestants do when they win $10,000.  Okay, maybe not quite as happy.  But it's always a good feeling when people appreciate your hard work.