CupcakeCamp 2011 in the Somerville Patch

Hundreds of Locals Attend Cupcake Expo in Somerville Wednesday Night

• By Clara Ciminelli

On Wednesday night over 770 cupcake lovers flocked to the Center of the Arts at the Armory in Somerville for the second annual CupcakeCamp Boston. Twenty local bakeries and fifty amateur bakers from around the Greater Boston area came out to peddle their delicious wares.

Event founder Elizabeth Ginsburg put it simply: “CupcakeCamp Boston is a free and open gathering of cupcake enthusiasts,” she said. A blogger for FreeFoodBoston, Ginsburg first experienced CupcakeCamp in New York City in 2009 and decided she wanted to bring the event to Boston. Camps are held in various cities across the country, and anyone can volunteer to organize one for their community.

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It's Here!

Are you ready? The fun starts at 7pm tonight.

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Jen @ BeantownBaker.com

How long have you been baking?
10 years

What is your favorite thing to bake?
That's a tough one. I definitely go through phases. Right now I'm on a big layer cake phase, because they're complicated and "special" but I love a great brownie recipe any day of the week!

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
Hard to say... Maybe my first yeast bread just because yeast used to scare the crap out of me.

What is your favorite ingredient?
My homemade vanilla extract

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
Cooks Illustrated



Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
Beantown Baker

How long have you been blogging?
Almost 4 years

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
I think I'm known for my cupcakes (and the snapware container that I carry them in!)

Are you on Twitter? If so, what is your Twitter name?
@beantownbaker

What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes

Feel free to include any additional information about yourself, your baking, your favorite baking story, etc
My Hubby recently took a new job. I ran into his old boss the other day. His old boss said he thinks the group misses my baked goods more than they miss Hubby. I promised not to tell Hubby that story!

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Mindy Langweiler

How long have you been baking?
About 10 years

What is your favorite thing to bake?
Anything sweet!

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
Baklava...don't think I'll ever get the hang of it!

What is your favorite ingredient?
Sugar!

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
Hello, Cupcake!

Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
Sugar High



How long have you been blogging?
2 months

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
Fun cakes and cupcakes

What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Joyce (aka BCAllegra)

How long have you been baking?
Since 5th grade

What is your favorite thing to bake?
It changes from month to month - I'm currently into scones! For April, I'll obviously be trying some new cupcake recipes and I'm thinking about desserts for Easter, perhaps even a coconut cream pie?

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
I've been on a mission to conquer cheesecake in the past couple of years - an ancient oven in the past resulted in scorched exteriors and undercooked centers. Recent attempts have resulted in more of a mousse-y texture - I vow to make the firm, silken cheesecake of my dreams this year!

What is your favorite ingredient?
I love almond flavoring as a special ingredient for cookies and glazes

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
Google! It helps me discover other baking blogs . Obviously, Smitten Kitchen and The Pioneer Woman are also favorites, and locally, Beantown Baker!

Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
Boston Chomper

How long have you been blogging?
2.5 years



What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
As boring as it sounds, I think I'm really known for my cookies. I like to say I have the repertoire of a really good bake sale mom - my most requested cookies are oatmeal cranberry cookies; cranberry, pistachio and white chocolate chip cookies; ginger hermits; and chocolate chip blondies.

What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
Chocolate Black Bottom Cupcakes (old favorite)
Brown Sugar Praline Cupcakes (new recipe)

Feel free to include any additional information about yourself, your baking, your favorite baking story, etc
I've been called the half-Asian Martha Stewart by friends and family.

Actually, it's because of my Korean mother that I was inspired to bake -Simply because she is incredibly bad at it! I say this with love and without blame, realizing that she didn't grow up with American sweets.

I started baking in the fifth grade for class projects. Imagine cupcakes with pyramids on top (in actuality, red hots forming a triangle) to accompany a report on Egypt. Pitiful, I know. Despite this unauspicious start, I did progress to making Swedish nut wafer cookies (from the Fannie Farmer cookbook) for a report on - you guessed it - Sweden!

Fast forward to the present. Baking is such a big part of my life that my then-boyfriend, now-husband proposed with a cake, decorated to match my blog and with the words "Will You Marry Me?" across the top.

So that's me in a nutshell - half-Korean, avid baker, newlywed and blogger!

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Kat Keenan

How long have you been baking?
3 Years

What is your favorite thing to bake?
Any type of cake with fondant- I make homemade fondant from a recipe that I found online, which uses a bag of marshmallows instead of the gelatin... so the fondant tastes as good as the cake!

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
Baklava- a Mediterranean pastry made of layers of filo pastry dough filled with chocolate, butter, and chopped nuts, or syrup and honey. This recipe was tricky because you had to make sure none of the layer of filo dough ripped... but it ended up turning out great

What is your favorite ingredient?
banana


What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
Hello Cupcakes!

Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
Kat Eats Cake

How long have you been blogging?
only 3 weeks

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
Cake pops!!!
Little bit size cake balls rolled up, covered in chocolate, and placed on a stick YUM

What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
Chocolate Oreo cupcakes- filled with a creamy marshmallow filling
Decorated with Oreo sunflowers

Feel free to include any additional information about yourself, your baking, your favorite baking story, etc
Im a 16 year old amateur baker:
Here is another one of my creations- "Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes"
Chocolate chip cookie dough cake, filled with egg-free cookie dough, topped with brown sugar frosting, and a giant chocolate chip cookie

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Nina Colon

How long have you been baking?
1 Year

What is your favorite thing to bake?
Apple Crisp, It's so delicious and comforting and makes the entire house smell absolutely amazing.

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
Crusts, something about the delicate nature of the butter and flour and trying not to have everything stick but also not too dry is a bit challenging but so amazingly worth it when you get it right.

What is your favorite ingredient?
Butter!

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
I love The Silver palate cookbook.

Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
Kitty Cupcakes

How long have you been blogging?
About three months or so.

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
Chocolate Croissants. Once I've mastered them, that is. ;)

What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
I'm bringing traditional cucpakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes, Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, and Chocolate Peanutbutter Cupcakes.

Meet the Amateur Bakers - josiebean

How long have you been baking?
all my life :)

What is your favorite thing to bake?
cupcakes! of course. but also regular cakes, cookies, brownies, and the occasional pie.

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
homemade apple pie. not the actual filling, but just that damn crust. when i finally put it all together it came out amazing, though. hard work does pay off!

What is your favorite ingredient?
alcohol!

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
Google is a wonderful haven of new recipes

Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
what's on the scene, josiebean?

How long have you been blogging?
on and off for like, 3 years?



What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
i'm honestly not the best baker, and to be truthful i wouldn't even call myself the biggest cupcake fan (i know, huge gasp). however i do love the way cupcakes look and all the creative spins you can put in making them. thus, my love for making baked goods and trying out new recipes for cupcakes would probably be my forte.

Are you on Twitter? If so, what is your Twitter name?
@josieboston

What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
probably my Kahlua cupcakes with a Kahlua infused chocolate ganache and/or my devil's food cupcakes with a hidden Reese's pb cup inside and homemade pb frosting.

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Tata Treats

How long have you been baking?
3 years

What is your favorite thing to bake?
Cupcakes of course! I also love to make pasta.

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
Well once I made this really hard Italian pasta meal with my family it was a lot of fun!

What is your favorite ingredient?
Chocolate

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
The Hello Cupcake Series

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
CUPCAKES :)



What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
My famous Boston Creme Cupcake

Feel free to include any additional information about yourself, your baking, your favorite baking story, etc
I run a small local cupcake business in the Boston suburbs. I'm 11 (turning 12 the day after cupcake camp) and I have always loved baking pastries. My grandmother is a cake decorator and has always been an inspiration to me. My family has helped me every step of the way. My future will definitely be in baking. My business is called Tata Treats (my last name is Tata) and I can't wait to come to Cupcake Camp.

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Cara

How long have you been baking?
As long as I've been eating

What is your favorite thing to bake?
Regular ol' chocolate chip cookies. Can't beat the dough! Unless you add oatmeal, of course. I'll go with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
Probably the chocolate cupcakes with champagne buttercream I made for a friend's engagement party. Sounds easy enough, but I'm very picky about my chocolate cake and wanted to get it just right. (There's a lot of not-very-good chocolate cake out there.) If you asked my husband, he'd say the Bailey's chocolate mousse cake we made for St. Patrick's Day one year. This was before we owned a stand mixer, and the poor guy went through a tough workout whipping that mousse!

What is your favorite ingredient?
chocolate

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
Epicurious and Eating Well

Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
Cara's Cravings

How long have you been blogging?
4 years

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
The brownies I make for Passover, which are made with almond meal instead of flour - they're incredibly rich and delicious. Not only the best Passover brownie ever, but quite possibly the best of any brownie, ever!

Are you on Twitter? If so, what is your Twitter name?
@carascravings


What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
Bailey's Mint Chocolate Chip (mini) Cupcakes

Feel free to include any additional information about yourself, your baking, your favorite baking story, etc
Fitness and healthy food are staples in my life, and most of the recipes on my blog are original, healthy recipes utilizing wholesome, clean ingredients and bold flavor combinations. I love to eat, and it's my mission to show the word that eating healthfully doesn't need to be boring! But, I also have a huge sweet tooth - probably the biggest one you'll ever meet. When I bake, I don't mind going all out with real sugar, butter, etc - but I only do it on special occasions, when I have the opportunity to share with others. This is why I'm happy to be participating in Cupcake Camp.

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Sara N

How long have you been baking?
6 years

What is your favorite thing to bake?
Anything with the word "cake" in it. Cupcakes and cake are my specialty.

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
I do a lot of amateur cake decorating and made the Shrieking Shack from the third Harry Potter book for a friend's birthday. While the actual cake was simple, the detail that went into making the cake look like a creepy building was a challenge! But the hard work paid off. I submitted a photo of the cake to the WB to be printed on a Harry Potter mug and they loved the image so much, they're showcasing it in the Harry Potter museum on set in LA!

What is your favorite ingredient?
High quality vanilla extract

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
SmittenKitchen.com

Do you have a blog? If so what is the URL?
Chomp Zone

How long have you been blogging?
A few months

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
I'm definitely the "cake girl."

Are you on Twitter? If so, what is your Twitter name?
@saranoonan


What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
"Hamburger cupcakes (don't worry, they're meat free!). This is a combo of vanilla cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes stacked in burger form. Complete with frosting condiments.

Meet the Amateur Bakers - Michelle

How long have you been baking?
5 years

What is your favorite thing to bake?
I love to bake cookies, especially decorated sugar cookies, and my favorite, the chunky Lola cookie from Flour.

What is the most challenging thing you've ever baked?
Doughnuts, hands down. I was always afraid of frying anything, and by making doughnuts, I conquered my fear.

What is your favorite ingredient?
Vanilla Extract

What is your favorite cookbook or recipe resource?
Organic and Chic: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets That Taste as Good as They Look

Do you have a blog?
Savory Favorites

How long have you been blogging?
About 1 year

What is the one baked good you're know for or would like to be known for?
I am definitely known for baking cupcakes, though no specific kind. My friends at work are always asking what I will bring in next to share, but are always asking for cupcakes.

Are you on Twitter? If so, what is your Twitter name?
@michellet11

What will you be baking for Cupcake Camp?
Pancake cupcakes with Maple Bacon Frosting