Eat & Drink
Cupcake Chaos at Cupcake Camp
This past Sunday Toronto hosted its first ever Cupcake Camp and it was complete chaos. Organizers weren't expecting much more than 100 people, but the event managed to draw more than 400 into the tiny space at Labspace Studio in Leslieville.
For the uninitiated, Cupcake Camp is all about bringing the cupcake enthusiast community together to enjoy delicious baked goods. The idea was originally hatched by a group of San Francisco cupcake fans who've already run two events.
Here's how it worked: a baker came out to the crowd, said a little bit about their baked good and then unleashed two dozen (which is all they were asked to bring) cupcakes on 400 people!
My fellow blogger-in-crime Elana Safronsky and I (on behalf of our day jobs at Food Network Canada) were asked to wade our way through dozens of cupcakes as pseudo-celebrity judges. The bakers came from all walks - professionals to at home hobbyists - and all they had to do to be there was sign up on the Cupcake Camp website. They entered their cupcakes to be judged, if not for notoriety, then for the possibility of a prize of a cookbook or apron.
Judging was based on the following categories: Best Flavour Combination in a Cupcake, Best Dessert-Inspired, Best Twist on a Classic and Best in Show. Take a look at the Cupcake Camp winners.
Our judging game plan was simple: sample small mouthful pieces so we don't get overwhelmed. The sugar-induced headache started just behind my right eye and quickly made its way to the back of my head, but I persevered and made it through like a champ.
Our sampling quickly turned to trying the smallest cupcake molecules - just enough to get a taste. We hydrated, we took our time, but the sugar was crippling. When I got home I had the saltiest most bacon-y pizza just to try to balance myself out.
I was following the event through Twitter (and Tweeting) on my iPhone the whole time and early on there was criticism from attendees. A lot of people indulged, but some of the less-pushy on the outer rims of the crowd shared one or two cupcakes or walked away empty handed. The ravenous crowd eventually calmed down and the event organizers got a rhythm going by the end of the day; eventually the Twitter crowd gave praise.
Cupcake Camp 2 is already in the works for later this year and all the buzz about the event has inspired some Ottawa cupcake fans to start Capital Cupcake.
Contributed by Jessica McLaughlin. Videos from RJToronto and Spotlight Toronto. Photo by Photojunkie on Flickr.
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Sugar is just another form of crack.
You need to fix the links for the negative Twitter feedback. The last "s" in "statuses" is missing in all three.
Great post though! I was there and had a fabulous time, and those are my Chocolate Rolo Cupcakes that are praised at the end of the first video! Yippee! :D
FYI, that's my hand holding that show cupcake.
Heh. I have a feeling I got away with the 'best flavour combination' award only because my cupcakes were not quite as sweet as the rest, thus giving your brain a break from the sugar and making them more memorable!
ah i forgot! :( oh how i would have been in utter bliss if i had attended.
The first negative status is from me - to me, CupcakeCampTO was a victim of its own publicity success - overwhelmed crowd meant happy bakers (to have their cupcakes disappear) although also some angst-y participants - you could feel the tension in the room when I arrived at around 2:30ish. Seemed that lots of people had a great time if they stuck it out, though, and I really do enjoy the concept of the event.
Thanks for the article and all of the coverage for our first ever CupCakeCamp Toronto event. To be 100% on the record there were lots of aspects we totally loved and a number of things we are totally going to do differently next time around.
We were blown away by the sheer number of attendees (3X what we expected) and beyond a larger venue we are also looking at revamping the overall presentation and tasting setup. Unfortunately a number of registered bakers didn't show up which only added to the chaos.
We're in the process of collecting feedback and working on a post-mortem of the event that we'll be posting over on http://cupcakecamp.ca/ later this week or over the weekend.
Thanks again to everyone who came out and we are looking forward to CupCakeCampTO 2.
Great idea even if it did feel sardiney. My faves were the key lime and cream cheese cupcakes. And as for celeb spotting, I saw filmmaker Ron Mann there. He did Grass and Go Further.
I'm one of the positive Twitter commenters above and I have to say that the beginning was a bit chaotic for sure but considering the fact that there were 3x the amount of people expected, I think it went pretty well! Also super impressed at how well all the promotion went...
I think it's great the organizers are so responsive. They did change things up during the event to make it easier for everyone to enjoy and I do think that helped a lot. It would've helped if people had been a little more communal in their thinking and a little less "I don't care if you haven't had a cupcake yet, I want my 8th!" but it just goes to show how crazy people are about the cupcake! The fact that they're actively seeking feedback to make Round 2 even better for everyone is fantastic and bodes well.
I have confidence the next one will be even better and I can't wait!
I just came in here to say that wow, that Cupid's Escorts ad is NSFW!
Just a question for a BlogTO moderator.
Why do i not receive an email letting me know that someone's responded to a comment of mine. I was just curious because there's a box below to check off.
Oh and....mmmmmmmmmm... cupcakes..
yay! C3TO was so fun and yummy!
shoutout to Sugar*Baking's lovely cuppies (i.e. the ferrero rocher with lil shoes featured above)
You should receive a notification if you have checked the box "Email Me When Someone Replies to This Comment" and you have entered a valid email. To be safe, you might want to check your spam folder.
Nope, no notification email for me either. Checked spam folder. Might have a bug.
Dan - Gotta agree with you on this. In fact, while showcasing the great baking, I thought my video montage captured the disorganization and (wonderful) chaos that the event represented.
I suspect that the next one will be in a bigger space, with better organization, and even more money raised for a worthy charity.
Absolutely, RJ. Let me be clear: my negative comment was not in any form a slight at the event. Events promoed like that in Toronto lately have been extremely successful; may just mean that for the next one the "San Francisco" model needs to be replaced with something that works better for our community. I'm still planning on going, and am happy to see the organizers looking for and taking in feedback.
We also posted a photo gallery on foodtv.ca: http://www.foodtv.ca/BLOG/archive/2009/01/29/forget-vacation-go-to-cupcake-camp.aspx
Actually, Andrea, while a plausible assumption, it is not true. Your cuppies (I'm all into the lingo now) were just, well, really yummy! And, I couldn't help but be reminded - if not flat out taste it - of green tea icecream in your frosting. And I LOVE green tea icecream. So congrats!
Is it possible to become a volunteer judge next time? Even without nothing in exchange, I'll grab the opportunity and enjoy the taste of each cupcakes. What a mouth watering food.