Yes. I signed up. My brother in a serendipitous moment happened to come across Appartment 613’s entry on Capital Cupcake Camp, sent the link to me , and I thought… well, it couldn’t hurt….! Not because I’m over comitted or anything, never mind that I had been staying up to the wee hours for the entire previous week baking for PoloforLearning .nah. I can find a GF Vegan cupcake, no sweat.
It was touch and go, and the final product wasn’t too bad- I did it. The vegan gluten free vanilla cupcake wasn’t perfect (previous batches were awesome), I’d cooked it just a touch too long and used brown rice flour instead of white (Loblaws ran out! ARGH). Its very filling. But, all things considered, I am SO glad I did it!
Capital Cupcake Camp 2.0 was an incredible experience. There were cupcakes everywhere- over 100 bakers, and hundreds of people crowding in so fast for cupcakes that after 45 minutes, they were all gone! The variety was endless. Clouds of sugar and the beautiful host, China Doll from Shanghai Restaurant … Much fun. Best of all- I got to display alongside Isobel’s Cupcakes, my absolute cupcakey hero. The crazy thing about the event- I was the only Gluten Free entry! Holy jumpin. Next year, I so have to get going on my recipes and crank them up- the competing flavour combinations were impressive.
A funny note- there were only 4 judges. And they each had to sample over 100 cupcakes. It looked like they were going to puke cupcake by the end of the day. I both found it kinda funny but kinda felt bad for them lol.
I also wish that there was some kind of quick guide given out to attendees- a list of the bakers and their contact info (for those who wish to list it ) in case people wanted to order from them. I personally wanted to know who baked what- tried to get as many names as I could but it was just too time consuming. Next year, next year.
Here’s a list of the sponsors of the event:
- Atria
- Jennifer Lee Promotions
- Media Style Studio
- Housters & Co
- Ottawa Start
- The Flour Shoppe
- Ten Thousand Villages
- VSP Printing
- FoodiePrints
And here are some of the pro bakers that brought their beauties- I didn’t get everyone, but this will give you an idea… (check the Flickr photostream to see who brought which cuppie!)
- Aunty Loo’s Bakeshop (vegan goodies, and some gluten free too!) Facebook
- Harmony Bakeshop (regular and gluten free baking and mixes) (info@harmonybakeshop.ca)
- Little Cakes (info@littlecakes.ca) Facebook
- Cheeky Cakes (info@cheekycakes.ca) Facebook
- The Village Cake Lady (check her blog entry on the event!) Facebook
- A Different Kind of Bakery (kristina@adifferentkindofbakery.com)
- The Cakery– Designer Cakes
- Isobel’s Cupcakes (cupcakes1@bellnet.ca) Facebook
- Geek Sweets (check her blog entry on the event!)
I hyperlinked each image to my Flickr photostream, so if you want a bigger version of the image, or want to know what the name of the cupcake is or who brought it, click away.
Also, I tried as best as I could to get the names of each of the makers of the cuppies I took pictures of… but I didn’t get everyone. Let me know if I make any errors…. the names of each cupcake are on the flickr image, so click the thumbnail for info.
And more cuppies!
The end! If you missed it this year, you must must must go next year!
Hiya Pickles!
You know, after doing this event, I’ve met a few GF bakers, and I’m trying to convince them all to come out next year- I think it would be a terrific opportunity to make cupcakes accessible to everyone :) THank you so much for your compliment… its super encouraging… Next year, I’m bringing my A-game with these cuppies! And some more GF bakers with me!
I’m so glad to hear there was a gf baker there! I was kicking myself for not hearing about it sooner. I’ve already noted to keep an eye out for it next year.
BTW great pics from the event. Your cupcake looks delish :D
Hi Shakira and Colleen-
Super to hear from you! You know what? I’ll get that recipe tweaked and perfect, and I will totally, totally let you know. I’d do it in a second :D
Hi Alea!
It was nice to meet you and your smiling face at Cupcake Camp. Thanks for posting photos of our Cherry and Gingerbread cupcakes!!
Let us know when we can start sending customers your way for GF orders :)
Shakira & Colleen
thanks so much Dino! Anytime you wanna brainstorm on food you just give me a shout, I’m always game :)
oh gosh! Lynne thank you so very much :) I’m kind of secretly uber-thrilled to hear from you! I am trying to convince other GF bakers to come out next year and bring their A-game… goodness knows next year my cupcake is going to rock bigtime :)
i have no. idea. how on earth you guys managed to eat all that cupcake. whew. i remember thinking… heey i bet they figured this was going to be fun and then saw the mountain of cupcakes and theeeen thought..ohhh man. what did we get into. :)
love your blog! looking forward to reading lots more :)
Seriously! I only cook/bake vegan and GF, so it is awesome to have a place to come for inspiration. :) Plus, I love that you use flax in your baking – so do I! Finally, someone who can relate!
Wishing you lots of success in the kitchen!
Dino
great post! as one of the judges I will admit that I ended up with cupcake heartburn :0)
My recommendation for next year is more judges – and divide them among each category.
FYI – your cupcake was really pretty :0) we all thought so (especially Kady).
can’t wait for next year!
Dino!
So great to hear from you- i LOVE your blog- i’m actully really flattered you like this little blog i have… thank you so much- it really means alot tome :)
Hi there!
I just stumbled on your blog, hoping to find out whether there had been any gluten-free cupcakes at cupcake camp. I’m glad to see you were there to represent us GF folks! Awesome! And, your cakes do look absolutely beautiful! I wish I could have tasted them. :)
This blog is fab – I will be keeping up with it.
Take care,
Dino