Sunday Brunch: Thankful for Cupcakes

16 December 2012

The Holiday Season has arrived again this year and at the Walt Disney World it always means festive decorations, holiday parties, but most of all-holiday cupcakes! I know - how many cupcakes can this resort crank out? The possibilities seem endless as there's always something new to celebrate and a cupcake to match the occasion. So brush your sweet tooth and get ready to read all about some of this year's holiday cupcakes!

Thanksgiving sometimes seems to be skipped over at the Walt Disney World resort as the immediate transformation from Halloween to Christmas leaves little room to give thanks for cupcakes. Luckily the hotel resorts managed to have a few Thanksgiving treats.

At the Contemporary Resort's Contempo Cafe last October, I came across an autumnal cupcake that really brought the many flavors of the season. The Spiced Apple Cupcake is a 'gingerbread cake infused with Apple-Cranberry filling and iced with Maple Buttercream.' The Maple Buttercream had a strong maple aroma, but little maple flavor, probably because it was overpowered by the sweetness of the buttercream. Though, finally I was happy to have found a cupcake that had a good balance of spice with just the right amount of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, with the latter two having the most presence. The filling was great, but I would've preferred more cranberry. With the sweet spices of Christmas, the fresh apples from harvest time, and the tart cranberry found at many Thanksgiving dinner tables, this cupcake manages to house the end of the year season in every bite.

The Polynesian Resort had some Thanksgiving themed cupcakes, while visually fun and festive, the cupcake itself was underwhelming, just standard vanilla and chocolate. The creative designs' thematic appeal (which I learned from the Guest Service manager were brought to you by Pintrest) do make up for the lack of creativity in flavor.

The Pilgrims hat is a chocolate wafer cookie with a peanut butter cup!

The horn of plenty cornucopia is cleverly designed with a Bugle and fruit shaped candies, though I doubt the pilgrims had bananas at the first Thanksgiving

Main Street Bakery had a few interesting cupcakes so far this year. The first I came across were these traditional red and green holiday cupcakes. Rather plain in flavor choices (I didn't get one to try), but still fun.

This evening was also the day New Fantasyland had its Grand Reveal, so a special cupcake was made in honor of the day in Disney history. I'm still not quite sure what the bakers were going for with these abstract designs, but I thought they could also pass for New Year's Eve cupcakes as well.

The Polynesian Resort made up for the lackluster in the previous holiday's cupcake flavors with three specialty cupcakes for the season. The first was a mint chocolate cupcake with mint infused buttercream and a chocolate cupcake. The mint flavor was at an appropriate level that you didn't feel like you just brushed your teeth. The overall cupcake was satisfactory, but this cupcake's design was the most fun out of the three.

The North Pole is a peppermint stick!

The second is a gingerbread cupcake. It was pretty late in the evening when my friends and I ventured for these cupcakes, and the lateness was apparent in this cupcake. The little gingerbread man garnish was a bit stale and the cupcake was quite dry, which could be attributed to the drying properties of the ginger and spices, but most likely because it had been sitting waiting to be eaten for quite some time. The frosting seemed to be cinnamon or nutmeg infused cream and was the best part of the cupcake.

The third cupcake was by far the best: Pumpkin Cupcake with Candied Pecans. This treat was a perfectly pumpkin spiced cupcake with a delicious nutmeg buttercream and candied pecans. So sweet and nutty, nothing more can describe the most fall flavored of the cupcakes. This cupcake was everything you love about Fall themed desserts and more.

With the holiday season upon us, there is still much to see at the Walt Disney World resort. Stay tuned next week and after Christmas as we continue to explore the delicious magic of the resort this season.