Quarter-Final 4: Moustachio VS Haute Cupcakes
You guys. You have no idea how productive I'm being. I'm writing this HOURS AFTER THE ROUND. Mere hours. You have no idea.
Spoiler alert: this round was REALLY close.
Make sure to check out our Introduction to Cupcake War page for the rules and other rounds!
The Judges:
Noor Nooruddin: Pumped. So pumped.
Ali Haji: Cancelling Burger War.
Moh'd Sami: Not only was he sucked into this, but he liked it. He liked it. He gets it.
Aziz Mansoori: WE SUCKED HIM IN TOO! A much needed philosophical perspective into cupcakes.
The Cupcakes
Moustachio Cupcakes
Cupcakes being judged:
Oreo Madness & Nutella Frappé
Haute Cupcakes
Cupcakes being judged:
Oreo & French Toast
WOOHOO WEIRD FLAVORS.
Moustachio Cupcakes:
Oreo Madness
Flavor Ratings (out of 10):
Noor: 6
Ali: 7.5
Sami: 8
Aziz: 6.5
Average: 7/10
Not a bad start to the round at all. Personally, I'm a bit irked by the fact that every cupcake in the world seems to have cream cheese frosting. Fuck off with all your cheese. Where's the buttercream? Where's the vanilla? Where's the chocolate? Where's the diversity?
But that's an argument for another day; I digress. SO not a bad start at all. Generally a good cupcake that would be consumed again. The cake was a BIT dry but not enough to make an impact (only when you're focusing really hard on judging a cupcake). Two of us really liked the frosting, and we all agreed that the elements worked together. OH and there was a layer of Oreo surprise inside the cupcake, and the piece of Oreo on top was nice and soft, so it wasn't a contradicting crunch when biting into the cupcake. Yay.
Nutella Frappé
Flavor Ratings (out of 10):
Noor: 4.5
Ali: 4
Sami: 3
Aziz: 4.5
Average: 4/10
So this, sadly, didn't go as well as the Oreo Madness. I guess the shock came in for most of us when we were hit with the taste of coffee. This isn't Moustachio's fault, because the description for this cupcake clearly stated that the frosting is Irish Coffee. Still it was overpowering, even though the coffee wasn't so bad for most of us (except Sami, who got really angry). What brought the score down was the fact that we couldn't taste any Nutella, so the chocolate cake didn't differ much from the the chocolate cake used for Oreo Madness.
Haute Cupcakes
Oreo
Flavor Ratings (out of 10):
Noor: 7
Ali: 5
Sami: 6
Aziz: 6.5
Average:6.125/10
Also not a bad start for Haute Cupcakes. A very different Oreo cupcake from Moustachio's Oreo Madness, so it's refreshing to see that you can take a flavor and interpret it in different ways. That being said, the frosting was cream cheese anyway. I don't know why I bother to point these things out, it's just a personal disappointment. I love cheese on my pizza. Keep it away from my cake - unless you can make the cheesiness COMPLETELY disappear.
Sorry, I digressed again. In the same direction as last time, but still. It's a struggle.
The frosting on this cupcake was a hint cheesier than Moustachio's Oreo, which brought it down a bit. The cake was admittedly dry, but to be honest, two of us liked it that way. It felt like CAKE, you know? But still, it was dry and I'm not going to lie. Some of us enjoyed it while others weren't as impressed as they were with the competitor's Oreo.
French Toast
Flavor Ratings (out of 10):
Noor: 5.5
Ali: 8
Sami: 5.5
Aziz: 4
Average: 5.75/10
You're not going to give me shit for choosing weird flavors. Anyway, guess what the frosting was?
When biting into this cupcake, you're hit with the really intense taste from the frosting, both in terms of flavor and density. I found that wiping away most of the frosting made the cupcake more enjoyable. Altogether, it was an interesting cupcake (in a good way), even though it teetered into the "tad too sweet" side. It didn't really taste like French Toast, which I don't know if is a good thing or a bad thing. There's a tiny piece of French Toast on top of the cupcake, which is delightful to eat with the cupcake. Clearly, Ali Haji loved it.
Extra Point Winners:
Presentation (+3): This came down to the middle, with two of us preferring Moustachio's homemade fluffy-looking frosting, and the other two opting for the bigger and more colorful Haute cupcakes.
Accessibility (+3): 3/4 gave these points to Haute Cupcakes, on account of their Seef area location and the fact that you don't have to order the cupcakes one-to-two days ahead of time like with home business Moustachio. I gave it to Moustachio Cupcakes because of the delivery element; I'd much rather minimize my driving time and avoid awful parking (like in front of Haute Cupcakes). I also don't mind ordering cupcakes two days in advanced so it works for me as long as I get that wonderful delivery perk.
Menu (+2): This was a tough done. Undoubtedly, Haute Cupcakes offers a gigantic variety of cupcake flavors, significantly more than Moustachio. The problem is, Haute doesn't actually have a menu. It's not written down anywhere, there's no list ANYWHERE. You have to physically go to the location to figure out what cupcakes are available. Sounds shady. Just write it down. It's fine. I'll still come to the location because there's no delivery option. Anyway half of us gave it to Haute Cupcakes for the variety of cupcakes, but it wasn't an easy decision to make. The other half opted for Moustachio for having a list of cupcake flavors with descriptions and prices for all.
Value for Money (+2):This also went down halfway. Haute Cupcakes offer each cupcake for BD1.2, and a dozen for BD12. Moustachio's dozen is BD6. The problem is, with Haute Cupcakes, you have the option of buying just one cupcake, or if you wanted to buy a dozen, it could be a dozen of different-flavored cupcakes. With Moustachio, as most home-businesses go, your dozen is half the price, but you only get one flavor, and you don't get to buy one cupcake at a time. So it depended on personality types. Two of us opted for the freedom of choosing at Haute Cupcakes when you're just craving a cupcake. The other two of us went for Moustachio because we'd usually buy cupcakes for parties or get togethers, so 6BD for a dozen of one flavor is just fine.
Totals
Congratulations: HAUTE CUPCAKES
TL;DR A very very close call on this round. Both shops offered solid quality cupcakes, but always one tricky one alongside a very good one. Haute Cupcakes got by with a very slight advantage from the extra points. That being said, Moustachio Cupcakes is the best home business in Bahrain Cupcake War. And my personal choice if I need to order cupcakes for a party or a get-together.
Photography by: Ali Haji (Check out his Instagram @AliHajiPhotography)
Moustachio Cupcakes: @MoustachioCupcakes
Haute Cupcakes: @HauteCupcakesBH
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