5th Annual Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest

 

Yesterday I went with my friend Raena to the Great St. Pete Cupcake Contest at the Morean Arts Center.  I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’d never attended before, but 1700 people had RSVP’d on facebook, so we got there early just in case.  Lucky we did, because there was a line down the block before it even started. 

While in line, they sold tickets for $1 each to vote for the “People’s Choice” cupcake.  I expected that meant each cupcake cost $1 – but when we got inside, it turned out that you could sample as many as you wanted for free! Then you voted on your favorites. 

Over 60 bakers participated in the contest – some amateurs and some professional bakers.  The whole gallery was packed with people – and there were so many varieties that it was impossible to try them all.  There were quite a few featuring bacon (I especially liked the Maple with Bourbon Buttercream).  I was impressed by the range of flavors and innovative presentations. 

And here were the winning flavors:

Novice Category:
1st Place: Lemon Blueberry Lavender - Michelle Saxton
2nd Place: Bottom of the 9th Bacon with Caramel Buttercream - Sarah Perkins
3rd Place: Banana Nutella - Jennifer Jacobs

Professional Category:
1st Place: Hopcakes - Lori Schmidt
2nd Place: Strawberry Coulis and Lemon Curd - Michelle Garner
3rd Place: Cannoli Cupcakes- Lori Schmidt

People’s Choice:
1st Place: Jennifer Jacob's Banana Nutella
2nd Place: Michelle Saxton's Lemon Blueberry Lavender