Trail Blazer: Challenging body, mind and spirit

Call me: Ken

Decade born: 1980’s

Favorite cupcake: Trail Blazer

Making a difference: Helping kids turn obstacles to opportunities

You might think of obstacles as blockades. Ken thinks of them as hurdles -- to be vaulted over, rolled under or pushed through!

As a diver for the Navy, Ken learned to negotiate a buoyant, airless biosphere filled with peculiar and sometimes dangerous creatures. On land, he challenges a drier environment through the non-competitive running discipline, Parkour. 

A Parkour practitioner, called a Traceur, runs along a route dense with obstacles. The challenge is to efficiently traverse that environment, scaling walls, leaping gaps, swinging, flipping and always pushing forward. It takes physical and mental discipline as well as creative techniques to master the art. As you speed through trails and courses, you look for the most direct path that can be traversed safely and use well-practiced moves.

As a Parkour instructor, Ken helps kids learn and practice the art of turning obstacles into opportunities. By challenging their limits, boys and girls gain confidence not only to conquer the physical world, but also any struggle they may face.  Traceurs dare to confront personal impediments, blazing new trails into hidden potential, turning obstacles into opportunities.

That’s why the Trail Blazer cupcake is perfect for Ken. This “Choco-nilla” cake is a real original, topped with fudgy frosting, caramel and a pile of Ken’s favorite Northwest trail mix.

This is Ken’s cupcake: Innovative. Spirited. And plenty of FUN.

Make “Trail Blazer” cupcakes:

You’ll need to mix up two kinds of batter. A hearty buttermilk-vanilla cake and a rich milk chocolate one. Think full, strong flavors! Pour the heaviest one in the bottom half of the cupcake liners, then the lightest one on top. Either leave them in layers or swirl gently together.

When cool, pipe a ring of fudgy frosting around the edge. Ken likes confectioner’s icing best because it solidifies into a tough support for the other toppings.

Spoon some gooey caramel into the center, then top with a nutty trail mix.  Happy trails!