Cupcake Hero: September WINNER!

After a very close race (the votes were evenly split and I had to find more taste-testers to break the tie!) the September Cupcake Hero has been chosen!

Drum roll please...

The winner is

Melissa's Pear-anormal Energy Cupcakes!

Congratulations, Melissa! Email your address to Clara at Iheartcuppycakes@gmail.com.

Comments from taste testers:

• One thought that the frosting on the pumpkin cupcake was not substantial enough in comparison to the cake itself.
• One said "the creamy cinnamon frosting struck a lovely balance with the texture of the pumpkin spice latte cupcake."
• Some felt that the espresso frosting overpowered the pear cupcakes, while some thought that it complemented the cupcake well.
• One said "the Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcake has a nice smooth texture, just enough pumpkin, and the frosting does not overpower."
• One liked the pieces of pear in the Pear-anormal Energy cupcake, while one said that she couldn't taste the pear.
• One said that a combination of the pumpkin cupcake with the espresso frosting might have won his vote. 

And a few comments from the baker (me):

1. The instructions for the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes did not include adding the sugars! Luckily, I realized this before pouring the batter into the pan and I then added both of the sugars (white and brown). The cupcakes still turned out wonderfully, as you can see from the above comments, but this was a serious flaw in the recipe!
2. The Pear-anormal batter was the texture of cookie dough before I added the pears! I may attempt to make cookies out of it by slightly modifying the recipe. This scared me a bit, but after the pears were added it turned into more of a dense, muffin-like batter. I only filled the liners halfway, yet some still overflowed slightly.
3. Personally, I liked the Cinnamon SMBC better by itself (I have a container of it in the fridge, calling my name) but I liked the Espresso Buttercream better on the cupcake.
4. The Pear-anormal cupcakes were not very attractive plain (they were flat, sank a bit in the middle, and browned on the top - they looked more like chunky muffins than cupcakes) but both looked beautiful with frosting, as you can see in the picture above.

Great job to both contenders! Both made me crave more of them... luckily I still have some left over!