From Every Mountainside, Let Cupcakes Ring

For those of you who follow me on twitter or Facebook, I doubt you could have escaped the fact that I am getting ready to host the first ever Paris edition of Cupcake Camp. You can check out our blog for all the details of this event but in case you have never heard of it, Cupcake Camp is a concept that was kicked off a few years ago in San Francisco by a gal named Ariel Waldman and it has slowly been spreading across the globe. The concept is simple -- we will assemble a group of cupcake lovers to meet and greet, and eat cupcakes in a fun and festive environment! Cupcake Camps have happened and are being planned in literally every corner of the world from Perth to Ireland from Bombay to Buenos Aires. And I am just pleased as punch to be a part of this cupcake celebration.


I was inspired to volunteer to host Cupcake Camp after reading a series of articles published by the organizer of Cupcake Camp New York on the blog Cupcakes Take the Cake. Cupcakes have been taking Paris by storm in recent months, and I have literally been bombarded by emails and comments on my blogs, FB page, etc. by eager cupcake amateurs who want to learn the secrets of cupcake baking and making, and by those who are just dying to taste a cupcake. It got me thinking that a Paris Cupcake Camp would be a great way to share my passion and know-how with all those cupcake fans out there. Then a few months back, I was interviewed by a recent NYU grad for an article he was writing on the cupcake craze in Paris. A devout cupcake lover and baker, Bryan was just as excited by Cupcake Camp as I was and thankfully when I asked him if he wanted to co-host with me, the answer was a resounding YES! I honestly do not know how I would have been able to pull this off without him.


So, we have assembled an amazing group of sponsors, and we have RSVPs from every major cupcake baker and bakery in Ile de France. I am just as excited about the number of cupcake baking hobbyists who have volunteered to bring cupcakes and have discovered some wonderful local cupcake blogs in the process. We have people traveling from all over France to come, heck, we even have some confirmations from the UK and even Babette at BakeSpace in LA wrote to tell me she would like to attend! So at 3 1/2 weeks out, we have already exceeded our goal of 100 attendees but we say the more the merrier! And we could certainly use some more attendees who are willing to bring cupcakes to share.


We racked our brains to come up with some fun and original contests and hope that many of you will be inspired to enter them. I am personally thinking of competing in the Summer-Inspired Cupcake and Pop Culture categories, and of course I couldn't skip the Most All-American Cupcake. There are some awesome, and I mean AWESOME prizes that have been donated by our sponsors for these contests too.


Last but not least, I should mention that we have decided to carry on the tradition of making our Cupcake Camp a fund-raiser. Thanks to my friend Corina, who designed our fantastic Cupcake Camp Paris poster, we found out about a charity started by her Haitian mother-in-law called Rebuilding Haiti Now. They have been busy raising funds and doing on-the-ground work in Haiti to help those most affected by the earthquake there earlier this year. Their focus is primarily on rebuilding homes and schools for the families who lost everything in this tragic event. All monies, minus administrative expenses, raised at Cupcake Camp will be donated to this worthwhile cause.


Heard enough? Are you ready to join us? Then get yourself over to our Facebook page and RSVP. If you plan on baking cupcakes, you will need to pre-register them with us by June 20th. Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

Cupcake Camp Paris
Sunday, 4 July
Bistrot Vivienne
4 rue des Petits Champs
75002 Paris
16H30-18H30
entry: 10 euros (good for 1 drink -- coffee, tea or soft drink -- and all the cupcakes you can eat!)

PS Excluding the poster, the pics in this post don't really have much to do with Cupcake Camp. They are just some recent orders I have worked on!