The plague, I has it

Woe is me. Here I am, afflicted with the nasty summer cold that's going around and nearly did my boss in, and I'm left with only three days to come up with my entry for Sweetest Kitchen's Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge. Since this is no ordinary cold I'm also totally wiped out physically, meaning I haven't even been able to work out for the past two days let alone come up with a cupcake masterpiece to proudly share with the world. I've got lots of great ideas floating around in my head but because my brain is so addled and my sense of taste deadened I'm having a hard time putting those ideas together.

What I thought would be THE entry turned into a cupcake fail over the weekend. Even though my photographs turned out beautifully I don't plan to post about the recipe because they were such a disappointment. Let's just say that my version of a white chocolate Cosmo cupcake is lacking something but because I can't do a proper taste test I'm unable to identify that flaw and fix it.

White chocolate Cosmo cupcake: ambitious but rubbish

I'm starting to fear that I'll have to sit this one out or resort to entering the ricotta peach cupcakes from earlier in the month even though I know I can do better. If some miracle occurs and I'm able to remain upright after making dinner tonight I'm hoping to try at least one of the following ideas:

• White chocolate chili cake with cherry filling topped with cinnamon white chocolate ganache


• Banana cupcakes with a Nutella swirl, white chocolate cream cheese filling with slices of fresh bananas, topped with a swirled combo of Nutella buttercream and white chocolate buttercream


• Spiced peach cupcakes, white chocolate cream cheese filling with caramelized fresh peaches, topped with cinnamon white chocolate ganache


• White chocolate cranberry bread pudding cupcakes with homemade toffee bits topped with, er, something. My brain fails me at the moment but this is by far my favorite idea.

Rest assured that even if I'm not well enough to make these by the deadline I'll probably give these recipes (or variations thereof) a try in the future since I've spent so much time brainstorming. Until then my kitchen may be a quarantine zone. :(