The backend of aceweekly.com is such a fascinating place that we recently added a weekly feature where we share a few googled questions from the Ace readers, and do our best to find answers.
(Last week’s top search item was “Anthony Davis Eyebrows,” for example.)
Last summer, we did a cover story interview with James Brown (of Lexington’s Brown’s Bakery) after he competed on Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Ever since, fans have been arriving at aceweekly.com via the question, “Do they really make 1000 cupcakes on Cupcake Wars?” When the episode re-aired recently, the question began turning up in our search results with increasing frequency. Clearly: Ace readers want to know. We googled for an answer and came up with bupkis, so we went straight to the horse’s mouth: Mr. Brown himself. (You can view his video at the end of this post.)
Yes. They do make one thousand cupcakes on Cupcake Wars. Although he, sadly, did not win, the finalists do make 1000 cupcakes. What’s more, he stressed: “every one of those cupcakes has to be edible.” That means not one cupcake prepared in the competition is a styrofoam dummy — the judges have to be able to pick any one at random and it has to taste just as good as the next one (or next 900). He also said, the clocks on the timed challenges are real. If you are given 45 minutes to make a Cupcake, you have 45 real life minutes. There are no time outs or commercial breaks for the contestants.
A related search was “quick turnaround on birthday cakes in Lexington, Kentucky?” (Mr. Brown would probably be able to help with that also.)
In keeping with this week’s sugary queries, someone arrived here because they posed this search, “How many doughnuts did Krispy Kreme sell on its 75th anniversary?” We have not been able to find the answer to that, so clearly, an additional field trip is warranted, with more research.
A few health-minded readers wanted to know “Which tomatoes grow best in Lexington, Kentucky.” There is some debate about that, and we know where you might find the definitive answer: there is a Tomato Festival at the Arboretum on Sunday, August 12. Another reader was even more specific: “Fresh heirloom tomato sauce. No peel. Too watery.” We think we can help them out there. Here is Chef Tom’s recipe for Raw Tomato Sauce from a few weeks back. More than one reader posted this query, “Weird growth on tomato?” If that was News in Lexington, Kentucky this week, we somehow missed it.
“Timothy Knittel, teacher,” was perhaps a search item because he was kind enough to let us print his recipe for how to make your own bitters.
“Creamsicle Donut?” We don’t have a recipe for that. We wish we did. Those readers probably landed here thanks to Rosco Weber’s Photo of Stella Parks’ Orange Creamsicle float when she was voted “Best Decadent Desserts” by the Ace Readers in the 2011 Best of Lexington Ace Readers’ Poll. If Stella creates a Creamsicle Donut, you will definitely hear it here first.
As for “Sahara Goat Meat Centers in Lexington, Kentucky?” we would direct readers to the International Markets section of Ace’s online dining guide.
Tune in this time next week for more googly moogly answers from aceweekly.com.
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