Secret ingredient: Squash—Philly Bakers Challenge second meetup

On Sunday, I got together with a few of the ladies from our Philly Bakers Challenge group for a fall meetup. Originally planned for August, the event needed to shift to a new hostess and location, and then another location, but in the end I think it was a great success.

Though we only had 3 cupcakes to try, it was still nice to get out and chat about technique and flavors, as well as get in some Philly food gossip. I was really impressed with Emily’s swiss meringue buttercream, which was lighter than air, and the pecans on Jamie’s cupcake really brought it altogether. And I got to learn about German buttercream—how fun!

The Bakers present for the second Philly Bakers Challenge in October 2013 were:

•  Sage and brown butter graham cracker crust, ginger-butternut squash cake with brown sugar swiss meringue buttercream and more graham cracker sprinkled on top.
• Jamie of Luscious Bakery: Brown butter sage cake with a roasted pumpkin german buttercream topped with spiced pecan brittle
• Melissa T., Cupcake Smash Coordinator: Melissa didn’t have time to bake for this meetup, but she joined us and gave great feedback on what was shared.
• Mel (that’s me!): Butternut squash Chinese 5 spice cake, cinnamon pear balsamic buttercream and toasted butternut squash seeds.

As always, if you’re a baker, live in the Philly metro area and would like to participate, drop me a line and I’ll add you to the Google Group! We might try to do a holiday meetup before the end of the year.