Test Kitchen: Fruit and Spice Cupcakes

So here we are at Round Three of cupcake testing for the Cupcakery That Has Yet To Be Named. I did five flavors, focusing around the icing this time- most of these babies have a cream cheese base. Let's get to it!

The Great Pumpkin

(Pumpkin spice cake. Maple cream cheese frosting. Cinnamon. Pumpkin seeds.)

The Good: Great pumpkin flavor, lots of spice, moist cake.
The Bad: The salty pumpkin seeds ruined the taste and need to be removed. Not enough frosting.
The Verdict: Add more frosting, find a new garnish.

The Red Velvet
(Red velvet cake. Cream cheese frosting. Sprinkles.)

The Good: Great frosting, a good complement to the subtle flavors of the cake.
The Bad: Too dry. Need a recipe that stays moist.
The Verdict: Tweak red velvet recipe, take or leave garnish.

The Bananas Foster
(Banana cake. Maple cream cheese frosting. Banana slice.)

The Good: Moist, dense cake. Frosting and cake compliment each other.
The Bad: The cake didn't rise as much as I'd like, so they came out a bit short. Banana slice began to brown overnight.
The Verdict: More batter in the baking cups. Try banana chips as a garnish.

The Caramel Apple
(Cinnamon Apple Cake. Caramel brown butter frosting. Caramel drizzle.)

The Good: Cake has excellent flavor, well spiced. Great match with the frosting. Frosting has a distinct, delicious flavor.
The Bad: Caramel drizzle didn't really stay where I wanted it.
The Verdict: Find a new garnish, perhaps a caramel square or tuile of some kind.

The Happy Bunny
(Carrot cake with walnuts. Cream cheese frosting. Walnut garnish.)

The Good: Great cake - classic pairing.
The Bad: Might need a little something, maybe raisins, to fill it out. Raw walnut on top can be bitter.
The Verdict: Test with raisins. Test maple roasted walnuts for a garnish.

Thanks for going on this journey with me!

Any suggestions or critiques on presentation are welcomed!