Cupcakes took center stage on Friday night at the SXSW Music/Film/Interactive Festival during the Pastries and Pasties Burlesque Cupcake Cookoff. Austin’s cupcake heavyweights Polkadots, MadCakes, The Cupcake Bar, Toot Sweet, Holy Cacao and Delish squared off while members of Texas’ premier burlesque troupes strip-teased the night away. From the looks of the bakeries’ (and the burlesque troupes’) websites, it must have been quite a night.

Toot Sweet Cupcakes at Pastries and Pasties (picture courtesy of Tiffany Bacon)

The Great A'Tuin

Fans of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld will recognize the giant space turtle that carries the fictional flat realm and it’s supporting quadruplet of elephants through space.  What we didn’t know was that underneath the turtle was a delicious cosmic cupcake.  Thanks to Kelly’s Cakes and the Space Cupcake Throwdown for this incredible piece of dessert sculpture.

Chocolate Olive Oil & Blood Orange Cupcakes, Feb./Olive Oil Cupcake Hero!

One issue that cupcakes and cupcake lovers have to perpetually face is that our favorite tasty pastry treat isn’t exactly healthy. But what can you do? One answer that’s been floating around cupcake circles is to use olive oil in place of shortening or butter. While there’s still more than enough sugar to go around (but let’s be honest, we are working with desserts here), olive oil is great for heart health with it being all full of bad-cholesterol-removing monounsaturated fat & delicious antioxidants.

There are a lot of recipes out there, but some of the most interesting & well documented I found via I Heart Cupcakes February [Olive Oil] Cupcake Hero. It looks like there’s not much lost in translation from shortening/butter to olive oil: all the entries look and sound fantastic!

Basil Infused Olive Oil Cupcakes with White Wine

I especially like Cupcake Project’s entry, Basil-Infused Olive Oil Cupcakes with White Wine – that kind of flavor combination in a cupcake sounds intriguing.  Cupcake Project also has a recipe for Lemon & Thyme Olive Oil Cupcakes with Balsamic Vinegar Whipped Cream. I am a big fan of balsamic vinegar, and I can definitely see how the sweet tang of the balsamic would work beautifully with whipped cream.

If these semi-savory recipes don’t sound like your cup of…cupcake, I Heart Cupcake’s February Cupcake Hero gives you plenty more to choose from. Three cheers for this month’s heart-healthier Cupcake Heroes!

February isn’t just about presidential federal holidays or your valentine…it’s also about bare-knuckles cupcake smackdowns.  The East Coast brings us the Iron Cupcake Challenge on February 28th at the Tortilla Press Cantina. Open to the amateur and the baking professional, the fifth annual Iron Cupcake Challenge will center (like its namesake) around one special ingredient: chilies.  Cost to participate is $15 for adults and $7 for kids under 12, and the proceeds from this event will go towards earthquake relief in Haiti.

From the left coast we have the third annual Cupcake Challenge on February 20th at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel. Over 20 Southern California cupcakeries will go head to head for the honor of becoming the Cupcake Challenge Champion. Since it’s LA, there’s a celebrity judge panel, but members of the public in attendance at the event also get an equal vote.  20 different cupcakes to sample, $40 at the door – if you have room in your stomach, the math works out in your favor.

On February 20, 2010 Nesquik will hold their Cupcake Challenge at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, CA.  The challenge will aim to find Los Angeles’s best  traditional and nontraditional mini cupcakes.  There are over 20 cupcake cupcake bakeries participating in the challenge including Jus Minis, Baby Cakes, and Two Parts Sugar. Judges include the general public and a panel of celebrities.  If you are interested in attending tickets are available for $40.00.

For our last giveaway of 2009, I wanted to make it a really special one.  I met this wonderful Etsy artisan a few months back and now sassybellewares is one of my favorites.  I believe she truly gets us cupcake crazy people here on ATC.  Check out this cute jewelry from her shop.

I own one of Sassybellewares pendants and love that not only can you wear it as a necklace, but you can take it off the chain and use it as a pin.  So clever!    This week sassybellewares is giving away one of her “I Speak Cupcake” items.   The winner will get to pick one of the items below and choose if they want it as a bracelet or necklace/pin. 

To enter this giveaway, go to Sassy’s two Etsy shops and come back to tell us what other item(s) was your favorite in the comment area below. 

sassybellewares

sassybellebuttons

 Contest ends Sunday December 27th so enter today!

Description

This week I’d like to introduce you to Etsy crafter littleanu.  Her shop is full of whimsical cupcake items and I am so happy to own a few of them.  Check out some of my favorites:

These little cupcake pillows are part of a series thatlittleanu calls “The Sweet Tooth Family”.  Buyers can pick a flavor/color scheme, and she’ll cook up something special for you.  I have  a pretty pink one and it is as soft as it is cute!  The cupcakes are hand-painted on fabric  and the backing is made using recycled (& washed) T-shirts.   Here are some other beauties from her shop: 

Now you, our loyal ATC readers, have a chance to win your own cupcake pillow from littleanu.  She will let you pick ANY flavor cupcake you would like.  What a treat!  To enter this contest, please visit littleanu‘s shop and then come back to ATC.  Click on the comment area below and tell us what cupcake pillow color scheme you liked best or what flavor you think would be a great addition to her shop.   One winner will be chosen on Monday, November 23rd.   Thanks littleanu for giving away a wonderful pillow! 

And the winner is… Adrienne!
Congratulations! Please email us at [email protected] and give us your full name and email address so namethatthing can contact you.  Thanks to all who entered and commented on her wonderful items.  This contest had our biggest response to date!  Be sure to enter our next giveaway coming one week from today. Thanks again to namethatthing for the great prize!

One million cupcakes you say … Little Debbie is giving away lots of cupcakes and other prizes. If you go to the Little Debbie website you can print out a coupon for free cupcakes! Yep I said it, FREE CUPCAKES!

You can also join the Little Debbie Facebook Page and become a fan and get all the updates about Little Debbie Cupcakes!

Little debbie is also giving away other prizes. One of the other prizes they are giving away is this lovely ….. CAR!

There are only 4 of these cars made.  It looks Yummy! I wonder if they have a cupcake scented car air freshener to go with it?

One of the other items they are giving away is a free Years Supply of Cupcakes! What more could one ask for?

I think I may have to for test drive some little debbie cupcakes today! :-)

The NY Cake Convention takes place January 2-5, 2010.  Next year, why tell us so early?  The premier contest in the NY Cake Convention this year is Cake VS Cupcake with a whopping grand prize of $2,500.  The official site states:

“THE FACE OFF”    CAKE VS. CUPCAKE

• Decorated Cupcakes: Entries can be with made with actual cup cakes or Sty ro foam cup cakes dec­o rated with any sugar medium. At least twelve (12) cup cakes must be included in the dis play. Cup cake struc tures are allowed. Exhibit to fit within a base area of 46cm (18”).
• Novelty Cake: A regular shaped cake decorated in a novel fash ion with any sugar medium. Dum­mies or internal supports can be used. Exhibit to fit within a base area of 46cm (18″).
• First, second, and third place win ners in each cat e gory are then determined.
• The first place winner in each category will then be judged to determine the winner of the Cake vs. Cup cake competition.

Even if you are not a professional baker, there are SEVEN classes of competition you can enter depending on your experience levels from Youth/Teen all the way to Masters.  With the competition a mere 3 months out, it is time to put on the brainstorming caps and represent the cupcake nation!

—–

NY Cake Convention

January 2-5, 2010

Hotel Pennsylvania
401 Seventh Avenue (33rd Street)
New York, NY

Official Website
Full Contest List
Rules and Regulations

Calling on youth artists from across Los Angeles! On Saturday, September 12, 2009, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Soul Cups Cupcake and Catering Company will feature a special Back to School event at Say Cheese Café, 2800 Hyperion Avenue in Silver Lake, California.

As a special part of the event, Soul Cups is holding a “Draw Your Favorite Cupcake” contest for children ages 7-12. 
 
Cupcake and café executives and local artists will serve as the judging panel, and will choose two lucky winners. The top two youth with the best designs will each win one dozen cupcakes for their family.

•Students can drop off their designs to Say Cheese Cafe, 2800 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

•The top five designs will be showcased at the Soul Cups “Draw Your Favorite Cupcake” event and sale at Say Cheese on September 12th.

•The top five drawings will be featured in any photo opportunities. Drawings will not be returned unless a self-addressed and postage paid envelope is included.

•Again applicants MUST be ages 7-12.

•Also, on September 12th Soul Cups Cupcakes will once again sell their famous cupcakes at Say Cheese and debut two new cupcake samples:

Lemon Drop cupcake (made with fresh lemon juice and lemon filling)

Piggy Pop cupcake (savory & sweet creation; chocolate bacon)

This is one sweet event parents and children can enjoy and savor together.

In July, we featured a cupcake photo contest sponsored by Baked By Melissa, a New York City cupcake bakery.  The results are in, and the photos are stunning!  Check the cupcake photos out for yourself at BakedByMelissa.com.

Congratz to the winners including Shelby Chan who nabbed $500 and 100 Free cupcakes!

It may be a little difficult to navigate the photos.  I tried dragging and flicking the photos to the left, but that doesn’t advance the photos.  Look for a little arrow on the right hand side.  Click on that to see the next photo!

I think my favorite is the Jesus bear cupcake photo.  What is your favorite?

So soon after the Sponge Bob cupcake broke the Guinness record last month, There are rumors of a new giant cupcake in the works. This new behemoth is planned to be a whopping 7,000 pounds and stand 7 feet tall.  This easily trumps the 150 lb Sponge Bob by a wide margin.

The Detroit news reports the following:

Rather than placing the cupcake into the oven, the oven will be placed upon the cupcake — by a crane.

The baking will take 24 hours.

Hylen wasn’t sure how many pounds of flour, eggs, milk and sugar will be used. The short answer: a lot. It will cost $10,000.

Maybe this record will remain standing for awhile.

Guinness World Records  certified a 150+lb cupcake made by JodiLee Knops, cakes.com pastry chef, as the world’s largest cupcake at an event at Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. The cupcake measured one foot by two feet and weighed in at 150.7lb. Filled with fudge and topped with SpongeBob yellow icing, the cake contained 1500 servings.

The giant cupcake was made as part of a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Nickelodeon character SpongeBob SquarePants held at Mall of America’s Nickelodeon Universe. The creators of the record breaking cupcake is DecoPac, which is promoted as “the world’s largest cake decoration supplier and marketer.”

If you are in the New York City area, Baked by Melissa is running a unique and fun cupcake photography contest.  Here are the rules:

Pick up some cupcakes, and grab your cameras because Baked by Melissa is holding a photography contest!

We’re looking for some creative takes on cupcake photography (with Baked by Melissa cupcakes, of course!)

Place our cupcakes in obscure locations. Photograph an interesting subject taking a bite. Or just use your imagination because anything goes!

Photos may be used in one of our new stores, in our marketing material,at one of our upcoming events, on our website, etc.

Winners will be selected, on Aug 15, 2009, and announced on Aug 30, 2009.

The prizes are well worth your time as well:

First Prize – $500 and 100 free cupcakes

Second Prize – $250 and 100 free cupcakes

Third Prize – $150 and 100 free cupcakes

7 runner ups will each receive 100 free cupcakes

Official rules at BakedByMelissa.com.

Ladies and gentlemen, behold!  The mother of all cupcakes.  Measuring 1.25 m by 1.2 m (4.1 feet by 3.9 feet) and weighing in at 150kg (330 pounds).  This cupcake was painstakingly baked and assembled with 50 hours worth of labor by Michelle Wibowo from Michellcakes.co.uk.  Although this cake is a wonder to behold, I can’t imagine it being a wonder to taste!  50 hours of assembly can ruin the moistness and texture of any cupcake.  More details about the event and opinions about the cupcake at the guardian.co.uk.

Unfortunately, it seems like this giant cupcake may not meet the Guinness World Record qualifications which require that the entire cupcake be baked in one piece.  This quote from the Guardian confirms this:

Michelle said it took her five days to complete her masterpiece. “I used easily over 50kgs of sugar. I dread to think how many calories it has.” For want of an oven large enough, she whipped up batches and batches of smaller sponges and then layered and carved them into a cupcake shape. “The decorating is the fun part. The more icing the better.”

Following on the heels of this British story, an announcement by the Mall of America that they will be displaying a 100 lb cupcake with judges from Guinesss book of world records.   A mere 1/3 of its British counterpart in weight and size, this US cupcake seems poised to officially take the record.  It has already been announced that after the showing at the Mall of America, this 100 lb cupcake, all 131,000 calories, will be shipped to a local hog farm for consumption and digestion.

I have been informed from Sarah Voigt that this plus-sized cupcake will be presented on a tower that will hold 2,500 regular cupcakes.  Additionally, 4,000 FREE cupcakes will be given away during the 10th anniversary celebration of SpongeBob Squarepants.  If I were in the area, I would make some time to check out this fun spectacle.

From the Chicagoist:

If you fancy yourself the equal of Susan’s, More or Sensational Bites, throw your hat in the ring and join the Iron Cupcake Challenge. Competitors bring their best cupcakes in for judgment and the winner takes home cupcake glory and prestige. This month’s theme is Tropical cupcakes, so bring your best coconut/banana/passionfruit/rum icing and your favorite pastry bag! Does your cupcake reign supreme?

The competition is being held at Veranda Greek American Taverna (5700 W. Irving Park Rd.) on Monday at 6 PM. If you want to get a sense of the competition, here are some pictures from the last Iron Cupcake Challenge; the theme was citrus. Whet your appetite for our upcoming review of More Cupcakes and join in!

The Iron Cupcake Chicago Challenge will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 6, at Veranda Greek American Taverna, 5700 W Irving Park Rd. Email [email protected] for more information or to register.

Looks like so much fun.  I can’t wait to see the photos of the winning cupcakes this year.  Here is the link to Flickr photos of the last Iron Cupcake event.  Some real beauties there.

The results are out from the Londonist Cupcake Throwdown.  Faircake Bakeries takes first prize with a magnificent domination of the judging categories with its limoncello and white chocolate cupcake.  The rules for the throwdown were quite different from other contests, prizing natural colors and balance of flavors.

Faircake Bakeries was nice enough to share the winning cupcake recipe with the general public as well.   You guys know what I will be doing this weekend.

The Cupcake Cram took place this weekend in Boulder Colorado.  Two contestants tied with 34 cupcakes eaten in 10 minutes.  A 3 cupcake overtime was declared, and professional eater Dale Boone emerged the winner.

This event seems to be an official event conducted by the World League of Competitive Eating.  I would love to see world hotdog eating champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who ate 66 hotdogs and bun in 13 minutes, attack the cupcake record.

Long touted as one of America’s healthiest and fittest cities, Boulder on Saturday will instead play host to a World League of Competitive Eating-sanctioned face-stuffing extravaganza: the inaugural Cupcake Cram at Tee & Cakes, 1932 14th St.

Four local eaters will face off against 24-time world champ Dale “Mouth of the South” Boone to see who can inhale the most cupcakes in 10 minutes.

The funny Colorado Daily article states that the cupcake shop will be preparing 200 cupcakes for the event.  By my calculations, that means 40 cupcakes per contestant.  Since this is a 10 minute event, this comes out to cupcake every 15 seconds.  Impressive and scary at the same time.

Now if they had a cupcake Enjoyment championship, I could have a chance to compete.  I have no problem enjoying a cupcake slowly.

With May in full swing and Mother’s day behind us Summer is coming and with that is a bounty of fun! So here at Sweet Cuppin Cakes we wanted in on all that fun.
Starting we have hooked  up with another clever crafting cupcakkie for Our Talented Cupcakkie Crafters  end of our store, where we feature several cupcakkies you already know like Cakespy, Bake and Destroy, The Glass Chef, Gigi Minor, Chic Baby Rose and  Sugar & Meringue. We will continue to feature these special artists  in our shoppe so you can easily access special treats.  Emily at Sugar & Meringue is one special lass to get to know through her blog and awesome creations. 

How fun are these for a baby shower or a baby party or just to be real retro and cute in a scrapbook project. Emily takes great care handcrafting these and the finished project is awesome! We will give you a package of 50 liners with your purchase from Sweet Cuppin Cakes.  Now for some more fun, if you have a design that you would like to see as a topper, send it on to me at [email protected] Subject ATC SCC Summer Contest #1 We will send out a notice when we have enough designs that will be enough to choose from. I look forward to hearing from you. The winner will receive a bounty of cupcake toppers and liners.
<3
Lyns

This week, I truly envy our NY readers.  There are so many cupcake events to attend;  the latest being this Brooklyn Kitchen Blog cupcake contest.

Brooklyn NY Cupcake Cook-off? Wha?

Exactly. We are hosting the Third Annual Cupcake Cook-off at Union Pool, 484 Union Avenue, Monday May 11 from 7-9 PM. The cupcakes will be judged by our panel of cupcake judges, and winners will be announced.

Do I bake on-site?

No. All cupcakes must arrive baked, frosted, staged and assembled.

How many cupcakes?

Truly a question for the ages. We recommend that you bring as many cupcakes as you can possibly carry. We will require 6 cupcakes for judging, and the rest you will distribute to the ravenous crowd to win favor in the Popular Vote.

More details about prizes and how to enter the contest can be found at The Brooklyn Kitchen Blog.  If any of our readers attends, please take some photos to share with ATC.  Thanks!

Just got word of a recent contest up in our northerly neighbor Canada.  Cupcake Camp Ottawa is a cupcake contest that involved 3400 cupcakes, almost 100 bakers, 30 volunteers, and nearly 500 tasters we reached our goal of $2000 for Woman Alive!!

Some amazing photos of the event captured by Anna Hakim Photography.

Contest results below:

Best in Show ~ “Red Velvet Purse” by Michelle Morrison!!

Best Chocolate ~ “Before 9 Minipops” by L’Oven!!

Best Decorated ~ The “Oreo Sunrise” by Kristen LaFrance!!

Most Unique ~ “Irish Car Bomb” by Anne Patenaude!!

Honourable Mention for tastiness ~ “Lemony Lemon” by Colleen Forer!!

In a flurry of chocolate cream and crumby debris, the yoga teacher crammed her last cupcake – No. 17 – winning the contest, and defeating her closest competitor by just one of the sweet treats.

Ivy Bakery held its first cupcake-eating contest outside of the shop on 87th St. in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The five competitors were given five minutes to inhale as many chocolate cupcakes as possible. The winner took home $75 and dubious bragging rights.

More about this event at the NY Daily News.