Risky? Check. Decadent? Double check.

Cupcake Wars! The cooking show on Bravo or A&E or maybe Lifetime completely enthralls you in a quest to make a cupcake. Sometimes it’s an Amazing Fudge Chocolate cupcake with mascarpone frosting and a quartered strawberry on top. Sometimes there’s a ganache or fromage blanc frosting. I love how the saucy cupcake chef Sandy Maaz says “ganache” as she lazes on a couch.

There’s a lot of drama in these trained cupcake chef’s quest to make one cupcake.

-Get that in the fridge, now! Less than 45 minutes! Someone yells.

-I should have ground the coffee beans! It almost broke my tooth when I bit into it! Sandy Maaz saucily says.

-1 minute left, we need the jam, we need the jam, where is the jam? (They found the jam.)

But it’s not as simple as making one cupcake, the judges throw you a curveball. This time they had to make one cupcake inspired by a Deck of Cards. So Sandy Maaz starts thinking…well, Las Vegas is risky and decadent right? (I guess, kind of) So she’ll make a Catan, which blends well with Brie. Risky? Check. Decadent? Double check.

Sandy Duke, a card player from the World Series of Poker is a judge, obviously. She says, “I like to hold my cards close to the vest…BUT…not when I’m cooking.” ZING. Sandy was trying to say she wanted to taste the cherries more, they were too close to the vest.

After the judging, host Justin Willman says some of the cupcake chefs “Bet Big” but some got a “Bum Deal” and I realize that could apply to both the cupcake challenge and the Vegas/Deck of card thing going on.

The next challenge is a doozie. The cupcake chefs have to make not one cupcake, but three! Sandy Maaz, professionally trained cupcake chef, says, “We’re going all in with all our chips.” (Sticking with the card theme I’m guessing.) “We’re doing three of a kind! Three different coconut ganache cupcakes!” (She loves saying ganache.)

And then the drama kicks in again. Sandy Maaz’s assistant yells, “These cupcakes need to cool! On a rack! For ten minutes! They gave us 45 minutes so that leaves us…that only leaves us…we have…35 minutes to bake!"  And he was right!