One of the reasons I absolutely love cooking for the weekly cook-offs at my favorite bar is because its always a challenge to come up with creative, delicious baked goodies for each theme. Don't get me wrong, I love winning and I'm a pretty bad loser--I love seeing my golden spoon trophies on the mantle. But truly the best part of it all is sharing yummy made with love creations with perfect strangers and bonding over a glorious Saints win.

This particular savory/sweet cupcake creation is thanks to a seafood themed cook-off. The savory/meaty themes are always a welcome challenge. They really get me thinking and I love surprising people since I almost exclusively bring in desserts. This particular recipe is related to the Magical BBQ Pulled Pork cupcake in that I use the same sweet cornbread muffin base. With a few modifications, they turn into these yummy crawfish boil inspired cupcakes: a sweet cornbread muffin, with corn and boil seasoning, creamy mashed potato frosting and a saucy crawfish étouffée topper. These are best served warm, immediately after assembly so if you need to, you can make all the parts ahead of time and assemble just before you need them.

Cornmeal Cupcakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
4 oz. frozen sweet corn

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cupcake cups with liners (I used taller tulip baking cups* to catch any of the crawfish sauce).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, sugar and wine until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, Old Bay and corn; whisk gently to combine.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

*A quick note on tulip shaped parchment cups: be careful and try to avoid spills on the taller edges of the cups. Wipe any batter drips before you bake them, or the drips of batter above the cupcake will burn and can easily flake onto your finished cupcake when you're moving them around.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes
1.5 lbs. red potatoes
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp whole milk
4 Tbsp (2 oz.) cream cheese
salt
Old Bay Seasoning

Instructions:
1. Peel and slice potatoes. Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Season with salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and then reduce to medium to maintain a rolling boil. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork. Remove from heat and drain the water.
2. Add butter, milk and cream cheese to potatoes and mash until creamy and smooth. Season to taste with salt and Old Bay. 

Crawfish Étouffée
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
 1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 lb. peeled crawfish tails
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
3 tablespoons chopped green onions

Instructions:
In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, melt the butter and add the onions and bell peppers. Sauté about 10 minutes until the vegetables are wilted. Add the crawfish and garlic and reduce heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the flour in the water and add to the crawfish. Season to taste and stir until it thickens. Add green onions. 


To assemble, place potatoes in a large ziploc and snip the corner (large enough to easily pipe). Pipe a ring of mashed potatoes around the edge of the cupcake, creating a small well or hole for the crawfish étouffée. Spoon the hot crawfish mixture on top and enjoy!