I had a fabulous time at the 1st Annual DC Cupcake Contest in October. It was a great evening of meeting cupcake fans, sharing my favorite flavors and generally enjoying the cupcake craze in the city.
Jenni from Blonde's I-View organized the event for the young professionals group at the Washington Club, but it was also open to the public for a small admission charge which gave you access to the display samples and more cupcake samples than any one person should consume in an evening. Whew! Several local food bloggers judged the three categories:
#1 Chocolate and Vanilla -- #2 Vanilla and Chocolate -- #3 Wildcard.
These guys are heading off to the judging room.
The Honeybee Bakeshop submissions included:
#1 C/V: Classic chocolate with my favorite vanilla buttercream
#2 V/C: Vanilla cake with milk chocolate frosting (like creamy hot chocolate)
#3 Wine & Cheese: Red wine and dark chocolate cupcake with goat cheese frosting and pine nuts
It was so much fun to talk to people as they stopped at the table and really see the excitement as they tasted the mini cupcakes from the display. Since most of my baked goods go off to parties without me, it was fun to reconnect with the pure sugar-rush that folks were enjoying.
The wine & cheese cupcakes were definitely a hit and we had several repeat samplers and a lot of word of mouth buzz. I ran out of the samples and ended up using my remaining goat cheese frosting on plain chocolate cupcakes, and then handing it out plain as frosting shots because people wanted to grab a taste. Jay even offered to pipe some directly into a guest's mouth-- and for a minute, I thought they were going to say yes! Flattering, but ewwwww!! All in all, those are definitely going into the cupcake rotation. Sometimes its good to have a wildcard challenge that gets the creativity in motion.
All I know is that I COULD NOT have gotten this done without a lot of help from "the Hive".
Amy for the "architure" of the tablescape
Andrea for allowing me to commandeer the kitchen and ice about a bazillion tiny cupcakes
Erin for putting a rush on getting the website up
Jay for braving the craft store to buy supplies
Suzanne for preparing the signage and color theme
And to everyone who came out to the contest with friends and co-workers.
I am so thankful to each of you for your support and friendship!
Oh!!! I almost forgot a very important announcement. The contest winner in the professional category was Sharon from Nostalgia Cupcakes , a newly opened shop in Annapolis. Go there immediately and buy a cupcake. The caramel filled chocolate fudge is particularly yummy.
And if you want to try the Honeybee Bakeshop Wine and Cheese for yourself, they are available for order by the dozen.
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