Walk Away (Iron Cupcake Earth: Music)

What do you do, when you know something’s bad for you, and you still can’t let go.

With Iron Cupcake Earth’s triumphant return comes this month’s challenge—music. What on Earth does music have to do with cupcakes? To me, everything. I can’t live without music, and I certainly can’t bake without it. It’s an integral part of my routine. My pink chef’s coat and my iPod—they’re like socks and shoes. They’re made to be worn together. Music puts me into a zone where I block the entire world out and just feel. It helps me focus on what I’m doing, and inspires me to create something beautiful and delicious when I bake. Before long, I find myself singing at the top of my lungs, pouring my heart and soul into the song, and whatever I’m baking. I feel like I’m adding a little touch of magic to my baked goods through music. Call it my secret ingredient. So this music challenge should be a piece of cake! (No pun intended.) But once I started actually thinking about it, the harder it seemed. How was I going to come up with just one song to base a cupcake off of? Sure there were tons of choices, but I didn’t want to go with something obvious and easy. That’s not my style. This challenge meant something to me. And I had to have an entry that meant something to me too. After listening to more than half of the songs on my iPod, I finally found one perfect song. A song that speaks to me. A song I truly understand. It’s a song called Walk Away.

I was naïve
Your love was like candy
Artificially sweet
I was deceived by the wrapping
Got caught in your web
And I learned how to bleed
I was prey in your bed
And devoured completely

Walk Away is the story of a torturous love affair—one that cuts you like a knife and leaves you to bleed, yet no matter how much you suffer, you’ll always be back for more. It’s a love that runs deep within you, pulling at every fiber of your being, stretching you until you’re almost bursting at the seams, and no matter how hard you fight you’ll never be rid of it, because without it you’d be incomplete. Although you know you should just walk away, you can’t. Even if you could manage to, you’d just come right back. It’s a drug that you can’t live without.

Now I’ve been licking my wounds
But the venom seeps deeper
We both can seduce
But darling you hold me prisoner

I almost feel as if this song was written about me; my dark, torrid love affair that tears at my heart and eats away at my soul. It’s an addiction I’m powerless against it. I’m lost, deep within my longing, hoping for just one more moment with you, beloved cupcakes. I know you’re wrong and bad for me, but I can’t help the way I feel. I’d much rather stay home and bake a delicious batch of you than go to the gym and work out. You keep me up at night, and wake me up early in the morning, my mind teeming with ideas of how best to declare my never ending love for you. But what have you ever given me in return, cupcakes? Other than an expanding waistline and a closet full of clothes that are getting tighter each day? You’re bad for me. But I can’t let go. I can’t walk away from you. I’ve tried, and it’s only led me right back here. Week after week, month after month, you’re all I think about, cupcakes.

I’m about to break
I can’t stop this ache
I’m addicted to your allure
And I’m fiendin’ for a cure
Every step I take
Leads to one mistake
I keep going right back
To the one thing that I need...

I can’t mend
This torn state I’m in
Getting nothing in return
What did I do to deserve
The pain of this slow burn
And everywhere I turn
I keep going right back
To the one thing that I need to walk away from

Especially you, Chocolate Stout and Irish Cream. You’re a combination that has haunted me for months, toying with my emotions. You cut me deep with your disastrous failure on St. Patrick’s Day, ripping my heart out after so much preparation. But you redeemed yourself at the first Cupcake Camp Columbus. Timmura (Mara Bakes) brought you into my life to show me how glorious you could truly be. And Chloe from work too. You were so moist and delectable in her Guinness Cake. But you remained just out of my reach. Flirting with my taste buds just enough to keep me wanting more and more, but never allowing me true satisfaction of having you for my own.


Every time I try to grasp for air
I get smothered in despair, it’s never over, over
Seems I’ll never wake from this nightmare,
I let out a silent prayer
That it be over, over

Inside I’m screaming
Begging, pleading no more

Until now. That’s right, Chocolate Stout and Irish Cream Cupcake. We meet face to face at last. You’re all I thought about when I started planning for this challenge. Other cupcakes vied for my attention, but you were the only one for me. You were the one idea I couldn’t shake. You had a hold on me that no amount of fighting would release. I was left with no choice but to give in completely to your sweet temptation. And you’re exactly as I remember you. Perfectly moist, and oh so delicious. You tease me with every bite. I want nothing more than to devour you completely, sharing you with no one else. You’ll hurt me, make me suffer immensely, but without a doubt, I know I’ll just keep going right back to you—the one thing I need to walk away from.

And it hurts my soul
Cause I can’t let go
All these walls are caving in
I can’t stop my suffering
I hate to show that I’ve lost control
Cause I keep going right back
To the one thing that I need to walk away from

Song by Christina Aguilera from the album, Stripped, 2002
Written by Christina Aguilera, Scott Storch, and Matt Morris
Hear it here!

This was created for Iron Cupcake Earth. (Voting for this round has closed now. Thanks for voting! Check out the cool stuff they have for the winners this year!

Our Generous IronCupcake:Earth Prize Providers:

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne

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The recipe comes from Timmura at Mara Bakes. Check her out. She's awesome!