How do you get through a room stacked with more than 2,000 cupcakes? You eat your way through!
P! News headed out to the third annual CupcakeCamp New Haven this past weekend to see what all the sweet fuss was about. P! News host Greg Nobile talked bakers and tasters alike, learning that there was strategy to devouring as many cupcakes as possible.
Piling dozens of cupcakes on their plates, more than 500 “tasters” from all over Connecticut and even some out-of-staters, packed BAR in New Haven to eat their way into europhia – and wash it all down with some fat-free chocolate milk!
While many came with a plan of attack to sample as many cupcakes as possible – the policy is that all cupcakes must be eaten on premise (no take-homes) – the event was also a fundraiser for the Closer to Free campaign for Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
CupcakeCamp co-organizers Kelli Iassogna and Jodie Orzechowski chose the Closer to Free Campaign as a beneficiary after Orzechowski was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma while she was pregnant.
In a press release before the event, Iassogna said: “Jodie spent a lot of time at Smilow, between chemotherapy treatments while pregnant and resuming treatment almost immediately after giving birth to her daughter. Her doctors and nurses were amazing, and we want to support them through CupcakeCamp."
Orzechowski was at Saturday’s event with her daughter Lola and was proud to share that she has been in remission since March 2012.
CupcakeCamp, which brought together more than 30 cupcake bakers – some professional and some amateur (see list below) – and droves of tasters, raised more than $800 for the Closer to Free Campaign.
“CupcakeCamps have been held around the world in cities like Dublin, Montreal, Toronto, Seattle and San Francisco. Some of these camps are charge admission as charity fundraisers while others remain free and open to the public,” the organizers stated.
"We wanted to keep Camp free, but want people to donate to Smilow," said Orzechowski in the press release. "My team and the hospital provided a lot of personal support last year and this is a way to thank them."
CupcakeCamp New Haven is the only one of its kind in the state. You can find more CupcakeCamps at cupcakecamp.org.
Congratulations to Taste & See Gourmet Cupcakes of Milford who won the "Taster's Choice" award for their "Merlot Cupcake," Melissa Whalen won the Amateur Best in Show contest with her "Soda Pop" cupcake and Hamden-based Cakes at Heart won the Professional Best in Show contest with their "Samoa" cupcake.
For more information about CupcakeCamp New Haven, visit cupcakecampnh.blogspot.com.
BAR (venue)
Wade's Dairy (milk provider)
The Cupcake Tower
The Button Monster
Bakers
Lucky Girl Bakery, Preston
Sweet Maria's
BURNT, Beacon Falls
Pink Cupcake Shack, Fairfield
Sweet Confection's by Amanda, Hamden-North Haven
Hardcore Sweet, Waterbury
Buttercream Cupcakes
Jova's Cupcakes, Shelton
Icing on the Cake and Event Toppings, Stratford
Curious Cupcakes CT, Middletown
Small Kitchen Big Taste, New Haven
Christen's Cake Bar
Golden Girls Cupcakes, Wilton
Becky's Sweet Bakes, Southbury
Sweet Milly's, Norwalk
Cake My Day, Southington
Cakes at Heart, Hamden
Dee's Cupcakery, Wallingford
Icing on the Cake Bakery, Stratford
Katalina's Cupcakes, New Haven
Simply Sweet, Wallingford
Sweet Pea Cakes
Sweety Cakes
Simply Irresistible Cupcakes, Old Saybrook
Taste and See, Milford
Tiny Cakes 4 U, Waterbury
Cupcaked, Derby
