If you’re going to be in the Tampa Bay area tomorrow (August 17^th) and you’re interested in free cupcakes, then stop by the 3^rd Annual Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest. Organized by the Morean Arts Center of St. Petersburg, the money raised by the Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest is used to fund education programs run by the Morean Center, specifically their Connecting People With Art mission. There are eight judges for the two primary categories (professional and novice). The third and final category, People’s Choice, requires a one-dollar donation per vote. Sampling the cupcakes, however, is free. The winners for each category receive stunning handmade glass cupcakes as a prize.   Read the rest of this entry »

We are at it again – another giveaway and review! I am so happy at that Dressing on the Side was able to be a part of our next giveaway! They have awesome t-shirts, many of which are cupcake themed. They were kind enough to send over a t-shirt for me to test run. My favorite shirt and the one that we will be giving away is the CUPCAKES make EVERYTHING BETTER shirt.

I love the design on the shirt, the color is great and it is SUPER COMFY! Here are a few photos of my lovely friend, Leandra kindly modeling this amazing t-shirt!

To enter the giveaway head on over to Dressing on the Sides Etsy Shop and check out all of their great t-shirts- pick your favorite shirt (besides the one we are giving away) and tell us all about it in our comment section. One lucky winner will be picked at random one week from today.

Dressing on the Side’s Etsy Shop 

Join Their Mailing List

Follow Dressing on the Side on Facebook

Tweet with Dressing on the Side

Good Luck!

Will you vote for the PC3 from Serendipities Cupcakes? Dark chocolate, caramel soaked cupcake topped with crushed potato chips, a layer of chocolate ganache, and deep dark chocolate frosting?

Or the Peanut Butter Cup Oreo Cupcake from the home kitchen of a teacher from Boston?

And it’s not this simple. There are dozens of other tantalizing choices! The winning baker and decorator will win the 2012 Cupcake Crown and a $2,500 travel voucher! The Creative Cupcake Contest is hosted by Celebrations.com. Let us know whom you vote for!

This is it.  Your chance to enter Ghirardelli fame and Facebook feature.

Recipe for your success:

1 – “Like” the Ghirardelli page on Facebook.

2 – Fill in your basic information, upload your recipe, and upload your mouth-watering photograph.

3 – Win!

Perhaps we could do a group ATC entry?

I’d like to know of anyone’s opinion on baking with Ghirardelli and whether you find the chocolate richer, softer, and needing more cocoa powder to balance for spreading and shaping?  What about the Ghirardelli Intense Dark?  And the Ghirardelli white that I nibbled at while baking with it last week – do you do that too?  Are we shorting our batches or should we just write them as 10 oz broken into small bits with remaining 2 oz for the cook!

Registration for Canada’s first Iron Cupcake competition, Iron Cupcake of Toronto, is now open. The competition will take place on Sunday, September 18th from 1-3 in the 2nd floor lounge of the For the Love of Cake Bakery at 171 East Liberty Street, unit 117, in Toronto. Visitors get to sample and judge the cupcakes!

Iron Cupcake is open to everyone. The “secret ingredient” has been announced and this ingredient is … Apples! Competitors must somehow incorporate apples into their cupcakes. Points will be awarded for presentation, taste, and creativity. There is an entry fee of $15. Hurry, registration is limited!

One of our ATC readers, Lisa, has made it to the top five finals in the Jelly Belly $10,000 Cupcake Challenge with her cupcake creation titled, “Bubble Trouble.”

"Bubble Trouble"

Now Lisa’s “Bubble Trouble” cupcake needs your popular vote.

You can vote once per day per e-mail address through Sunday, July 31.

I’ve already voted for Lisa’s Bubble Trouble cupcake today and shared it with my FB friends.  Can we give Lisa the help she needs to show Jelly Belly that her adorable cupcake with jelly bean design should be selected as the winner?

Good luck Lisa from everyone at ATC!

Do you live in New York? Well, if you live anywhere near Gardiner, you are in for a treat. Literally.  The third annual Gardiner Cupcake Festival will take place on Sunday, May 15, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

It’s a cupcake-themed block party! More than a dozen professional cupcake vendors will be there, including: Moxie Cupcakes, Deisings Bakery, Wright’s Farm, and Bettie’s Cakes.

There will also be an amateur cupcake contest! Four awards will be given: prettiest, most delicious, most creative, and best in show. To enter, all you need to do is drop off your cupcakes between 10:45 and 12:15. Bring 4 or more cupcakes to the Cupcake Contest Tent, which is next to the HiHo Home Market at 132 Main Street. There is also a youth division for bakers 14 and under. For more info about the cupcake contest, email robinhayes18 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Activities for all ages include: donkey rides, bounce houses, wine tasting, craft tents, and face painting.

 The festival will happen rain or shine. For more information, call 845-256-1122 or email mainstgang (at) aol (dot) com.

If you’ve been down the baked goods aisle lately, you may have noticed that Hostess Cupcakes has added Strawberry to their flavor lineup.

These pink delights are part of Hostess’ Jackpot promotion. Cupcake lovers are given a chance to win $10,000, or more than 300 daily prizes (one of which is a one year supply of Hostess Cupcakes).

If you want to play, look for a specially marked multipack, and then register the game code at www.hostesscakes.com. While you’re there, you can also vote for your favorite cupcake flavor.

Do you like Dixie Crystals sugar?  Maybe it’s time you tell them through Facebook since they currently have two exciting cupcake related contests through their Facebook page.  The first giveaway is because Dixie Crystals reached their goal of 700 “likes” on their Facebook page.  On Mother’s Day they have decided  to give away 10 of the Jessie Steele cupcake aprons pictured to the right.  The aprons retail at $34.00 so it is definitely worth becoming a fan to win this prize!  Their Facebook page simply says “stay tuned” which means you have to “like” them to find out more details to enter the contest as Mother’s Day approaches. You could also win a $500.00 gift card by uploading a picture of your homemade cupcakes to their Facebook page. The rules for entering this contest also state that you need to “like” Dixie Crystals on Facebook and upload your cupcake picture by May 15, 2011.

A while back, we brought you news of the Scharffen Berger Cupcake Adventure Contest! Well, the winners are in. The rules were that bakers had to create an original cupcake recipe that included one of several “adventure ingredients.”  Among the choices were: stout beer, ricotta, adzuki bean, fresh beet, chili pepper, and coffee beans. Talk about adventurous!

The crazy part? All three of the winners chose Stout Beer as their adventure ingredient. In fact, the first prize cupcake, the “You Make Me Wanna ‘Stout’ Cupcakes” featured Stout in four different ways: batter, filling, reduction and frosting! Now that’s adventurous!

The judging panel included Top Chef: Just Desserts guest judge and award-winning chef Elizabeth Falkner; Scharffen Berger chocolate co-founder John Scharffenberger; chocolate expert and award-winning cookbook author Alice Medrich; award-winning food blogger, photographer and art director Matt Armendariz of MattBites.com; and baking expert and blogger Angie Dudley of Bakerella.com. Cupcakes were judged on creativity, spirit of adventure, ease of preparation, appearance and flavor.

Click here for the winning recipes! And congrats to all the winners from ATC!

Do you like to decorate cupcakes?  Well, maybe you should enter the Jelly Belly Cupcake Challenge!  All you have to do is use Jelly Belly’s in your cupcake decoration and submit a photo to their website.  The winner will receive $10,000!  Click here for all the details.

  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Do you reckon you can create something like this?  A cupcake decorated in Jelly Belly Jelly Beans?

If the answer is maybe, or yes, then you need to get buying or baking.  That’s right you can buy your cupcakes, the only rule is that you need to decorate the cupcake yourself with Jelly Belly Jelly Beans or other Jelly Belly candy!  This competition is therefore great for kids and parents alike!  Best of all you’ll be in the running to win $10,000!!

You have plenty of time to create your masterpiece and load it to the Jelly Belly website. Form more information or to enter, click here!

Are you a cupcake genius who lives in the UK? Tesco Real Food is holding a contest, “The Great Christmas Cupcake Decorating Contest,” to be exact.

To enter, all you need to do is take a picture of your own Christmas cupcake creation, and then upload it to their site here. Two lucky winners will get to cook alongside a celebrity chef for an afternoon. Tesco will also honor ten runner-ups!

Entries will be accepted until November 29th.

Sorry kids, you have to be 18 years old to enter. (Get your mom or dad to help!)

You may remember a post I shared a few weeks ago about Scharffen Berger’s Cupcake Adventure Contest.  Original cupcake recipes can be submitted for the chance to win great prizes.   Want to know why they call this contest an adventure?   Click here  to find out!
Well, this week we are hosting a giveaway of the wonderful chocolates!  Three winners will each win a 70% and a  62% 9.7oz baking bar along with branded Scharffen Berger cupcake liners.  Such a sweet prize!  To win, simply click on the comment area below and tell us why you love chocolate.   Three winners will be chosen on Monday, November 8th.

Follow Scharffen Berger on Twitter @ScharffenBerger.

Do you love creating you own cupcake recipes? Well, get out your mixers and muffin cups and enter the Scharffen Berger Cupcake Adventure Contest!  Cupcake recipes must include their chocolate and one or more of these selected “Adventure Ingredients”:

Stout beer
(including oatmeal, chocolate, imperial or any other stout)

Yes, some of these ingredients are a bit more unusual but who doesn’t love a good challenge?   I say go for the ricotta and fresh beet!   Contest prizes include money (woo, hoo!), books, chocolate, a trip to New York and the chance to have your recipe published on Food Networks magazine!   How amazing would it be to have one of our wonderful fans win this contest?   Click here for all the contest rules and details.  Good luck!

 You should also check out the new interactive cupcake builder on the Scharffen Berger website.  You can select a base cupcake batter and virtually build a cupcake using adventure ingredients, get tips on how to use the ingredients and more.

Martha Stewart is holding her annual cupcake contest again this year.  To enter for a chance to win a copy of Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes all you have to do is agree to the contest rules and upload a photo of your cutest cupcake creation to the contest website!

There is a frenzy that is unsettling cupcake businesses around America, causing bakers to reach for the video camera instead of the whisk.  What, may you ask is upsetting the frosting on these cupcakes?

Well, a little over a week ago, the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars got busy on the phone encouraging selected bakers to consider submitting a video audition for the next round of Cupcake Wars. Lily and Erin from A Cupcake Wonderland were one such recipient and they decided to share their highly entertaining and funny video on You Tube, and of course with you!  Good luck Cupcake Wonderland.  Check it out by clicking here.

If selected, they will compete against three other bakers / bakeries in a chance for cupcake glory!

Cupcake bakers interested in a new monthly challenge can try Sweetest Kitchen’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge.  Think of Iron Chef only you’re always making cupcakes.  Each month a new ingredient will be chosen and cupcake bakers (you!) submit your cupcake creation using the ingredient.  This month is the first ever challenge and the ingredient is TEA! And there are great prizes including an electric gift card from one of my favorite sites, Bake It Pretty! Any cupcake bakers interested can enter by visiting the competition information page.

The Cake Boss (image from TLC)

Do you fill your spare time baking cakes, cooking up pastries or elaborately decorating cupcakes?  If so, you could be just what the Producers of ‘Cake Boss’ are looking for.

They want up-and-coming bakers who want to kick it into the big time.  The media release says:

“TLC and Buddy Valastro (The Cake Boss) are looking to launch the career of a promising cake decorator and baker on a new baking competition series.”

“This new baking competition series, hosted by Buddy and team will feature weekly lessons, challenges,and eliminations. 10 hopeful contenders will vie for cash and prizes. No culinary experience required!”

So if you believe you may have what it takes to out bake the competition apply now! Email [email protected] with your story and recent photos.

PS:  If you do get chosen, don’t forget to let us know so that we can all cheer you on!

Edited to say: Mia, they are looking for you, so you need to send them your story about why and how you bake, and photos of your cake creations.  If chosen you will then compete against others for cake design supremacy! :)  And thanks for your comments! Good luck!

Oh My Cupcakes! of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, sponsored a cupcake eating contest on June 5th.  Oh My Cupcakes! is Sioux Falls’ first and only gourmet cupcakery.

Contestants were challenged to eat as many cupcakes as they could in 30 seconds.  The five winners each received a sugar buzz and a pair of tickets to see Sugarland in an upcoming concert.

Carolina Cupcakery wants to test your foodie skills in helping them create their record-breaking 150th cupcake flavor!

Carolina Cupcakery currently has 144 flavors and counting.  I couldn’t really contemplate 150 flavors of cupcake, until I visited their full menu.  It was a mouth-watering experience.  Each cupcake is sorted under a heading of chocolate, coconut, coffee, fruit/veggie, misc, nut, spice, vanilla/butter and special needs.  I have a special need for a cupcake now!

This isn’t the first time Carolina Cupcake has called on the public to be part of their cupcake design team.  Jaina’s ‘Raspberry’ cupcake was the winner of cupcake flavor 100, – a chocolate cake stuffed with raspberry mousse, drizzled with dark chocolate ganache. The photo below shows Jaina tucking into her creation and holding aloft her icing filled trophy.

Contest entries should be emailed to [email protected] and must be received before 9pm on June 9, 2010.  The contest winner will be announced on June 10, 2010, at the store’s second anniversary celebration. Click here for more information.

Hmm, I have a real craving now for the Apple Martini cupcake, it sounds divine!  Rather fitting huh?

There is only one week left to enter the 2010 Ice Cream Cupcake Challenge held by Scoopalicious and  Cupcake Project.  Daring bakers can submit their ice cream cupcake creations by May 31, 2010. Prizes for the challenge include Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker and a prize pack from OXO.

Here are the official rules:

• Dates: You can enter any time through May 31, 2010.
• How to Enter:

1. Write a post on your blog during the month of May and include a link to both this post and to the post at Scoopalicious. (If you don’t have a blog, you can still enter, but why not start one?)  Sorry, we are allowing just one entry per person this year – so make it count!  International readers are welcome to enter, but prizes can not be shipped internationally.  You will win bragging rights and you will have the opportunity to gift your prizes to any person or organization in the United States.
2. Upload a photo of your cupcake to our Flickr group.  Please upload as large a photo as possible so that we can be sure to best showcase it in the roundup.
3. Then, complete the entry form.

• Entrant Voting: All ice cream cupcake roundup entrants are required to vote for their favorite ice cream cupcake some time during the second week of June.  Entrants must pick their first, second, and third favorite ice cream cupcakes and they are not allowed to vote for their own cupcakes.  Entrants that do not vote will become ineligible to win.  (To summarize – you are being judged by your cupcake creating peers – no pressure!)  The top three cupcakes as chosen by the entrants will go on to the public vote.  All three entrant-voted winners will win OXO prize packs, but the public will determine who wins the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.  In the event of a tie, the cupcake that received the most second place votes will win.  If there is still a tie, we will look at third place votes.  If there is still a tie, we will have a quick – one day only – vote between the two tied cupcakes.
• Public Voting: Public voting will take place during the second half of June.  Anyone with a valid email address will have an opportunity to choose their favorite of the top three cupcakes.  You’ll want to vote because two voters will win the same prize pack as the semi-finalists!  In the event of a tie, we will have a quick – one day only – vote between the two tied cupcakes.

The biggest winner of last weekend’s Cupcake Camp Seattle was the Hope Heart Institute: 5,000 cupcakes donated by 70 bakers and consumed by nearly 1,000 people raised $5,276.50 for the charity in just three hours. Carrie Middlemis, owner of Cupcakes Couture and one of the organizers of the event, says, “For our first year we estimated maybe we would have about 300 people attending. We were blown away by the response and already planning to make it bigger and better.”

As for the competitive prizes, see below or Bella Cupcakes’ post on the winners. There were three competitive categories, Most Unique Ingredients, Best Seattle, and Healthiest, with a Professional and Amateur division within each category. Last but not least is the youth division’s best cupcake prize. And of course no competitive cupcake event is complete without a cupcake eating contest (you can see the video here).

(most pictures courtesy of Barbie Hull Photography)

PROFESSIONAL DIVISION:
Most Unique Ingredients
1st: NY Cupcakes / Limoncello with Raspberry drizzle.
2nd: Rocket Queens /”War Pig” Chocolate cake, smoky chipotle, bacon; topped with white chocolate buttercream and candied bacon.
Honorable mention: Kimm of Spitfire- Kimm-chi (Korean pickled cabbage) with grated carrot, zucchini and ginger frosting. Sweetened with agave nectar.

I guess first and second prize must’ve tasted really good, because I don’t think that those are particularly unique ingredients, though I admit I may be jaded by the flavor proliferation of the Seattle cupcakery scene .  I still say that if you’re giving prizes for the weirdest stuff you can put in a cupcake and still be edible, kim-chi definitely takes first prize.

Best Seattle:
1st: : Bella Cupcakes / Pacific NW Sustainable Granola NY (left)
2nd: NY Cupcakes /Orca Whales and salmon (middle)
Honorable Mention: Rocket Queen Cupcakes / Unhappy Hipster – my favorite! (right)

Healthiest:
1st: Immortal Bakery / Banana with Honey and Cinnamon
2nd: Kimm of Spitfire / Vegan delight Banana-Orama (not pictured)

AMATEUR DIVISION
Most Unique Ingredient
1st: Tina Campbell / Strawberry Pop Rock (right)
2nd: Ronnie Porter and Nicole Lucas / The TCB Velvet Elvis (not pictured)
A banana, chocolate chip cupcake with peanut butter frosting and a slice of bacon on top. A treat the King would have surely loved.
Honorable Mention: Anisha Hathiramani, Rootbeer Float (right)

Best Seattle:
1st: Ani and Amber Butler / Uptight Seattleite (left)
2nd: Melynda O’Brien Captivating Creations/ Ferry, Orca, Seattle scene (middle)
Honorable Mention: Vicki Bushnell / Destination Seattle (right)

Healthiest:

1st: Teigan Walker / Red Goat- Chocolate beet cake with goats cheese frosting and candied beet. (left)

2nd: Jana Bailey-Bailey-Hessler (The Cake Diva) / Vegan Chocolate Mocha (right)

Personally, I think that the Red Goat should’ve gotten an special prize for unique ingredient too – I can’t say that I’ve ever seen goat cheese and beets in a cupcake before.

YOUTH
Best Tasting/Design Kids
1st Choice: ? Unknown, Space Needle with Whale; (left)
2nd Choice Tie between Jazzmyn (middle) & Tycie Engberg (right)

I was particularly impressed by the youth category…kids in grade school did better cupcake decorating than I ever could. I salute the next generation of cupcake makers!

image courtesy of No One Puts Cupcake in the Corner

I was cruising the cupcake blogosphere when I noticed that not only is No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner a good blog with a hilarious title, it is also the host of the cupcake challenges Iron Cupcake Milwaukee and Iron Cupcake: Earth. IC Milwaukee, I expected, seeing as the blog is brought to us by the Milwaukee Cupcake Queen. But Iron Cupcake: Earth? Holy crap. That is like the World Cup of Cupcakes.

Nobody Puts Cupcake in a Corner just announced the IC:E Passion/February winner, Stephanie of the Keckie’s World blog’s Lavender Love Cupcakes. In the words of the champion herself:

If you’re in the mood for a very adult cupcake, this is definitely it! The flavors in this one are mature, subtle, and layered. The cupcakes have a distinct fruity olive oil undertone, which is lighted by lemon and sweetened by the blackberries. The lavender gives the entire cupcake a lightly floral aromatic quality. There is a hint of salt to add the the complexity of the final flavor. These are some serious cupcakes!

That sounds like a fine fancy cupcake. Also, flowers plus cupcakes plus olive oil equals good for your heart!

If you want to throw down the gauntlet with cupcake bakers from around the globe, you too can join the Iron Cupcake: Earth Challenge. Just email the Milwaukee Cupcake Queen your information (first and last name, city/state/country and blog web address) and keep an eye on the Iron Cupcake: Earth blog for announcements about upcoming challenges.