Who would have thought that “survived” would be the first word I used to describe the inaugural Cupcake Camp OC? We certainly didn’t when we took off today for our latest foodie adventure. We should have gotten a clue when we pulled up to the hotel before the event had even started and found no parking spaces yet, a steady stream of cars continuing to head into the Atrium Hotel in Irvine, CA.
We braved through it and made our way to the line. It took about 15 minutes to get into the event. Right away you could tell that the event was probably considered a huge success. The place was packed!! There were hungry c-cake people everywhere. You would think they were giving away free cupcakes the way the crowd was reacting, oh wait… they were! We heard there were about 5,200 cupcakes donated for the event. Yep, you read that right, five thousand two hundred!
Chicken and Waffles Cupcake from Sugar Tart - Awesome!
Breakfast Cake, Pancake and BACON! from My Delight Cup Cakery
Carrot Cake Cupcake from Once Upon a Cupcake
Kim and I had fun checking out the incredible variety of c-cakes. There were many of the traditional and most popular cupcakes, such as chocolate, vanilla, carrot and red velvet, but there were also folks that stepped out of the bakery box and brought some unique flavors such as chicken and waffles, hot fudge sundae and breakfast cake (think pancakes with maple syrup and bacon). We were able to get our hands on a total of seven. And I use the word “able” loosely, when it really was survival of the fittest or the most determined cupcake enthusiasts, to successfully get our hands on a cupcake or two. There were so many people packed around each table and you could tell there were some more prepared than others. They brought empty cupcake trays and chafing pans, or pretty much any large, flat- surfaced item they could find, to carry away stacks of cupcakes.
This is Just a Few of the Different C-Cakes being Judged!
Like you would expect, some were good, some were okay and some were incredible! However, by no means did we have the toughest job at the event.
Three of the Judges (from Left to Right)
That title is reserved for the judges that had to try ALL the cupcakes entered in the competition. We ran into Molly Taylor, owner of the Sweets Truck. As you know we think very highly of the goodness she puts together. Turns out, as part of her judging duty she sampled a staggering 56 cupcakes!! Another judge Elise Wallace from CupcakeActivist.com tweeted out that she ate 40 cupcakes! Wow! That is big-time dedication on both their parts. I don’t know if we could have done it, maybe we will try it someday.
All in all, it was a very fun event and the response was astounding. Next time, I hope they can secure a larger venue… but who knew there would be so many c-cake fans out there, especially in the OC?
BTW: Kim picked up one of their event T-shirts, and fittingly enough it read “I Survived” CupcakeCamp OC”.
Check out the photos from the event!
Dark Chocolate from Sweetsations Cakes
Champagne Cupcake from Cupcake Girl Creations
Red Velvet Cupcake from CheyRose Cupcakes
So Many C-cakes so Little Time!
Bringing or Taking? Hmmmmm...
Great Support and Shameless Plug!
