Cupcake War - Semi Finals: Maya Delices VS Haute Cupcakes
I'M DONE TALKING ABOUT MY PRODUCTIVITY LEVEL. YOU EITHER TAKE ALL OF ME OR NONE OF ME.
Make sure to check out our Introduction to Cupcake War page for the rules and other rounds!
Changes in Judging Criteria (Taken from Semi-Final 1)
So since we're in the semi-finals now, we decided to do away with the regular judging criteria, which had scores for flavor followed by scores for price, accessibility, value for money, and menu diversity. We figured that, by now, it's all about flavor and only flavor.
The Judges:
We decided to post another open-call and get a total of 8 judges to judge the round! Just like last time, the differences in taste were insane. Still, there was a clear winner at the end of the round.
Noor Nooruddin: I'm done describing people.
Ali Haji: No, legit, I'm done.
Reem Aseeri: Mojo but like la I'm done.
Bader Shirawi: No.
Aziz Mansoori: Shut up.
Deema AlMoayyed: SHH.
Rami Jamal: DONESIES.
Wafa Al-Alawi: What the fuck did I JUST say?
The Cupcakes
Maya Delices
Cupcakes being judged:
Chocolate & Pistachio
Haute Cupcakes
Cupcakes being judged:
Chocolate Love & Apple Pie
Yes I know, two chocolate rounds in a row, but what am I supposed to do, argue with the random number generator?
Maya Delices:
Chocolate
Flavor Ratings (out of 25):
Noor: 13
Ali: 8
Reem: 13
Bader: 10
Aziz: 10.5
Deema: 12.5
Rami: 6
Wafa: 13.75
Average: 10.84 / 25
Extremely underwhelming start for Maya (can something be extremely underwhelming? CONTRADICTIONS?) The mehness exudes from both the cake and frosting, unfortunately, as neither stood out flavorwise. Still, most of us disliked it, but I don't think we hated it as much as Ali Haji and Rami did...
Pistachio
Flavor Ratings (out of 25):
Noor: 17
Ali: 18
Reem: 20
Bader: 18
Aziz: 18
Deema: 17.5
Rami: 7.5
Wafa: 14
Average: 16.25 / 25
A turnaround for Maya! As the scores reflect, this one fared a lot better than its colleague (except for Rami, maybe). The cupcake had a much better overall flavor, reminding some of us of a really good basboosa. Personally, I'm not into pistachio, basboosa, or generally Middle Eastern flavors (I know I know, 3aib...), but I could still recognize that this was a solid cupcake, and I think the best rendition of a pistachio cupcake that we've had so far. Except for Rami. Rami didn't go for it. A question did come up though: if it tastes like basboosa, can we still score it highly if it doesn't technically taste like a pistachio cupcake? This isn't the first time where the actual taste of a cupcake didn't reflect its name. A philosophical dilemma for another day, perhaps.
Haute Cupcakes
Chocolate Love
Flavor Ratings (out of 25):
Noor: 16
Ali: 16
Reem: 18
Bader: 16
Aziz: 14.5
Deema: 18.5
Rami: 6 (shocker, Rami is the lowest scorer again...)
Wafa: 9.5
Average: 14.3 / 25
UGH speaking of philosophical dilemmas. This Chocolate Love is essentially a Nutella Love cupcake. The frosting was Nutella, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The cake itself didn't stand out, and would have been underwhelming on its own. The Nutella frosting was lazy, but did it taste good? Obviously. It obviously tasted good. I feel so dirty for rewarding laziness. I'm a dirty dirty Nutella girl. It's not even technically chocolate...
Apple Pie
Flavor Ratings (out of 25):
Noor: 17.5
Ali: 20
Reem: 18
Bader: 4 (tell us how you really feel, Badoor...)
Aziz: 17.5
Deema: 17.5
Rami: 17.5 (well, that's a huge jump from his other scores...)
Wafa: 14.75
Average: 15.8 / 25
HOO speaking of controversies, though. This one. This one was a pickle. Some (Ali Haji) described this cupcake as "a cloud in my mouth," while others had to quietly take out their bite from their mouth because of the apple bits in the center of the cupcake, and the strangely overwhelming flavor of bananas in this Apple Pie... Overall, most of us very much enjoyed the cupcake, as it tasted like a nice rendition of an uncommon cupcake flavor. Uncommon cupcake flavors have often failed during Cupcake War, so it was a strangely pleasant surprise, even Rami liked it. But Badoor, on the other hand...
Totals
Congratulations: HAUTE CUPCAKES
TL;DR While the second cupcakes (Pistachio V Apple Pie) were EXTREMELY close, actually tipping in Maya's favor, it's the big Chocolate that weighed heavily on Maya's score, with an underwhelming cupcake. Haute Cupcakes' Nutella frosting, although admittedly lazy for frosting choice, bumped the cupcake boutique up significantly for a landslide win.
Photography by: Ali Haji (Check out his Instagram @AliHajiPhotography)
Follow @Shda3wa on Instagram too!
Maya Delices: @MayaDelices
Haute Cupcakes: @HauteCupcakesBH
CHOOOOFAW!
Thanks for reading!
