sweet & savory

What are the first foods that come to mind when you think of a tailgate? Hamburgers? Hot dogs? What's for dessert? Nothing sweet comes to mind when I think of tailgating before a football game. But when my friend, Deb, told me that she was making cupcakes that looked like hamburgers I began to think otherwise. I am a bit of purist—I prefer steamed veggies as opposed to grilled or fried, red ketchup instead of green, and hot fudge instead of the chemically enhanced stuff that hardens. The idea of eating a cupcake that looks like a hamburger baffled me, until I found myself standing in Deb's kitchen fascinated by her confection. One bite had me sold on this clever dessert. The sweet vanilla, chocolate and coconut flavors worked beautifully with the contrasting savory facade. She prepared over 100 hamburger-looking-cupcakes for a fraternity tailgate. Deb used vanilla and chocolate cake-mixes, frosting, shredded coconut, and food coloring for dying.


HOW TO:

Bake chocolate and vanilla cake mixes in a cupcake pan. Cut all of the baked vanilla cupcakes in half. The baked chocolate cupcakes you should cut in thirds. The chocolate cake will be the 'burger' and the vanilla cake will be the 'bun.' Use food coloring to dye vanilla frosting—yellow for mustard and red for ketchup. Dye the shredded coconut green for lettuce. Layer the burger with all of the condiments and enjoy this awesome dessert!