I entered a local cupcake decorating contest here with one of the radio stations in town. This was the posting I got...
If you'd like to enter, it's FREE and we'll give some quality plugs for all entries! Submit TWO identical cupcakes to our ... Read Moremorning show. We'll post the pics on line, and get a celeb judge in studio.

Marks for creativity⦠taste⦠originality⦠and presentation! Entries will be accepted in studio the morning of Friday October 24th, before 8:30. Be sure to include your business card so we can give you the appropriate amount of radio love!
Which is fine. I've been legal and baking for 2 1/2 years now. I just found out the the judge is a Blue Seal Chef from a really nice hotel resort and now I'm freaking out. I was just going to use b/c but now I'm not sure if that will be good enough for a blue seal chef...... Any ideas?

Blue seal chef? I don't know what that is but it sounds like IMBC is calling your name on this one!! Such a sophisticated-tasting icing but still pipeable if you are planninig on decorating in that manner.

Either that or something really lovely with fondant, Michele Foster's fondant is supposed to be the BEST and I see some of the most beautiful fondant cupcakes here on cc, they always look so upscale and classy.

I wish you all the luck in the world and I am sending lots of positive thoughts your way. I concur with ceshell and I tend to use SMBC filling in all my cupcakes except for the chocolate ones where the filling is chocolate ganache. I then top them off with fondant decorations. That way people get the best of both worlds.

Just because they are a Blue Seal chef doesn't mean that they expect Five Star level gateaux from a radio station contest or that they will snub any entry made with regular buttercream.

In taste contests like this, it's best to stick with what you know you can make really well, not experiment with new things. If you have an awesome standard buttercream recipe, then use it! Do what you want to do, and not worry about the judge.

The second you try to do what you think the judge is gonna expect/prefer and stress over living up to imagined, built up expectations...well, you've lost. A judge can instantly tell when someone is trying too hard, and it generally works against you rather than for you.


Follow your heart, have fun, and remove "contest" from the equation.

Yeah maybe a ganache laced with Baileys or Grand Marnier or something like that!