Cupcake Camp 2010

This was my first time participating/attending at Cupcake Camp at City Hall. 

I was impressed with the turn out and happy with all of the wonderful people I had the chance to meet. Like Paula from "The Vanilla Bean Baker," whom I have to thank for getting me started on blogging and also for joining twitter. 


The cupcakes were sold at an amazing rate, raising $6,000 for two charities.

I entered into the pro competition with a new recipe created just for this event. The recipe was inspired by the decorations I had in mind. The first thing I knew was that they were going to be covered with little fondant pumpkins, fall fondant leaves and tons of gold dust. After having worked on getting those done I laid in bed thinking of something that would match my fall theme,while being creative at the same time. And then it came to me, I'd never had chocolate pumpkin before, so that's what decided to try. After a day in the kitchen and a few try outs (which the kids and hubby very much approved of) came the final product...

Dark chocolate pumpkin cupcakes filled with a spiced cream filling, covered in a dark chocolate pumpkin spice icing.

Deciding which category to enter these into for the competition was a difficult choice, I leaned towards "best decorated", but then decided that since I did take the time to ensure that they tasted as good as looked, I would go for all or nothing, so I entered my little fall cupcake with it's number 87 stuck in the center into the "Best Overall" competition. 

                                         (This picture was taken prior to all entries being entered)

For the remaining hours to come I kept contemplating whether or not I chose the best category, but I am so happy to say that I made the right choice. There were great cupcakes out there that day, but my little number 87 was deemed with the honor of "best overall"! I can't explain how great it was to hear that number being called out. 

You often wonder in competitive fields such as this one if you have what it takes to make it, this was a great message to let me know that I can succeed if I put my heart into it.

Looking forward to next year's competition. And I will be bringing more than 24 cupcakes next time!

I'd also like to send a big thank you to Capri for her all of help,she's always been a wonderful assistant that I can count on. And of course to my husband Adam for taking care of the children, cleaning my mess and being such a strong support.