Cinnabon Cupcakes and a Sweet Giveaway

It’s with great delight I’m writing this post to share with you some exciting news!  Cinnabon, known for their World Famous Cinnamon Rolls, are adding cupcakes to their product offerings.  Their tagline is, “Cinnabon cupcakes – Anything else is just a CupFake^™”.  Last Wednesday I had the privilege of spending an entire day with several other bloggers from around the country ( twitter handles: @seriouseats @cupcakeblog @mommygoggles @blacktating @mommymandy @mommyperks @gastronomyblog gigachef.com), Cinnabon Corporate, and Jerilyn Brusseau – Cinnabon’s “CinnaMom.”

Jerilyn Brusseau - Cinnabon Creator

Twenty-five years ago Jerilyn Brusseau created the original recipe for Cinnabon’s world famous cinnamon rolls and has done it again by creating four new cupcakes for the company – Cinnacake Classic, Chocolate Passion, Vanilla Bliss, and 24-Carrot Cake.

Jerilyn is an amazing and inspiring woman.  Spending the day with her was a gift in itself.  She has a passion for people and food.  When people bite into her treats she wants them to feel loved, nourished, and cared for.  This explains why Cinnabon decided to partner with her again on their latest cupcake project.

Upon arriving at Jerilyn’s house, we were greeted with aprons, spatulas, and cupcakes.  The first thing we did was sample each of the new flavors Cinnabon has already started selling in their stores.  Erin Zimmer (SeriousEats.com) and I came up with a game plan to share each type of cupcake and tasting notes.

Erin Zimmer - Serious Eats

The first cupcake I tasted was the Cinnacake Classic.  My immediate reaction was, “This taste just like a Cinnabon – how did they do that?!”  The cake is a combination of vanilla cake marbled with cinnamon topped off with cream cheese frosting with a cinnamon caramel swirl.  I have never had a cupcake like this before and liked it.  If you like Cinnabon or cinnamon rolls you’ll love this cupcake!

Next I tried the 24-Carrot Cake.  I was very impressed with the moist texture and flavor of this cake.  It tasted very similar to my own carrot cake recipe with shredded carrots and bits of pineapple.  I have no doubt carrot cake lovers will enjoy this cupcake.

The last two cupcakes I tried were the Vanilla Bliss and Chocolate Passion.  Living in Seattle I’ve been spoiled with a couple local cupcake boutiques and was unsure how Cinnabon’s Vanilla Bliss would compare.  Immediately after the first bite I was pleasantly surprised by how much I adored this classic cupcake.  Because of my cake business background I couldn’t help but dissect each aspect of the cake and frosting.  The vanilla cake itself is a true butter cake.  In other words, it’s made with real butter that can be tasted right away.  Secondly, the frosting is American buttercream made with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.  I am a traditionalist and I always love vanilla cake with American frosting, and the Vanilla Bliss did not disappoint.  In fact I believe their Vanilla Bliss cupcake will be a fierce competitor with the local boutique cupcake shops.

All in all, my favorite two cupcakes were the Vanilla Bliss and 24-Carrot Cake with Cinnacake closely behind.  Would I order a Cinnabon cupcake over my favorite cupcake shops?  Absolutely!  Particularly the Vanilla Bliss.

Image provided by Cinnabon

Although all Cinnabon stores in the US do not carry the cupcakes yet, soon each one will as they are currently being launch and released  by geographical market.  I’m told Seattle should be selling cupcakes by the end of this month.  Cinnabon encourages customers to call their local store to check on the status and availability of cupcakes.  Cupcakes will be baked fresh daily and each store will bake approximately 6 dozen daily to start.  Customers who require larger orders are encouraged to call the store in advance so they can bake accordingly.  Cupcakes will be priced slightly lower than boutique cupcake stores and should be very competitive in the cupcake market.

Deborah-Cinnabon and Nichelle-Cupcake Takes The Cake

After enjoying our fill of cupcakes, we were split into three teams to make and bake one of Jerilyn’s favorite recipes: coconut cupcakes. I was on the green team with Nichelle (Cupcake Takes The Cake), Mandy (Mommy Mandy), and Deborah Rowley (Vice President of Cinnabon Operations). who was our fierce “Don’t mess with us, or I will eat you for lunch” leader. Although each team was not competing with one another,  Deborah just spiced it up and made it seem as if we were.  I believe the whole group loved the additional energy and fun she added to our day; she’s awesome!
While we waited for our cupcakes to cool, Jerilyn took our group on a tour of her barn.  It is there we learned about Jerilyn’s humanitarian efforts in Vietnam.  Her brother was a pilot in the Air Force during the Vietnam war and died when his plane was shot down.  One day she was sitting around a table with her family and decided they wanted to do something to help in the healing process between Vietnam and the United States.  As she puts it, “Many families lost loved ones”.  As a result, her family started “Peace Trees Vietnam”, a non-profit organization committed to clearing landmines.  Since the inception of Peace Trees Vietnam, the organization has also help build 100 homes for families effected by the war and has cleared landmines in areas which had not been clear when they arrived in 1995.  Peace Trees Vietnam is also in the process  of helping families grow and harvest cacao beans.  Soon the world will enjoy Vietnamese cocoa.

After our tour we headed back to the house to decorate our cupcakes.  Each person enjoyed experimenting with different tips, sprinkles, candy, shredded coconut, fruit, and edible flower garnishes.  I ate the sour cherry balls by the handfuls.

Elita - Soul Parents/Blacktating | Cathy - Gastronomy Blog | Shara - Mommy Perks

Here is a cupcake I decorated

As we wrapped up our day each person had their cupcakes boxed up in the cutest take-home boxes which Cinnabon will be using in their stores.

We finished our evening with a wonderful dinner, ferry ride, and parting good-byes.  I came away being impressed by Cinnamon’s values and management team.  I was very thankful for the inspiration Jerilyn Brusseau imparted to our group with her joyful and generous spirit.  Lastly I’m thankful for all the new friends I made.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who entered our sweet Cinnabon gift cards giveaway.  The winners are:

Twitter prize: @finntannermom

Comment prize: Aileen Chang

To celebrate the launch of Cinnabon’s Cupcakes, Cinnabon and Savory Sweet Life are giving away two $20 gift cards.  All you have to do is leave a comment with your favorite type of cupcake.  For the Twitter contest, tweet about this giveaway “Win a $20 @cinnaboninc gift card @savorysweetlife for CUPCAKES! http://bit.ly/cYd5b3 #giveaway “.  I’ll choose 1 random winner from the comments here and 1 random winner from Twitter by Friday morning 9am PST.  The contest is open to those with US mailing addresses only.  I’ll announce the winners by updating this post, via Twitter (@savorysweetlife), and Savory Sweet Life’s Facebook Fan Page.  Good luck everyone!

Tagged as: Cinnabon, giveaway

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