IronCupcake:Milwaukee
In April of 2008, blogger Sandy Ploy, aka the Milwaukee Cupcake Queen, of NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and Chef Jeff Reinke (formerly of Fratellos Waterfront, currently at Molly Cool's) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, discovered their mutual predilection for using some rather obscure ingredients in their cupcakes. Jeff had a history with steeped cigarettes; Sandy had a history with bacon; and they had both wandered down the chili-pepper path in the past. They challenged one another to a cupcake bake-off; the ingredient of choice, Wasabi. And, thus, IRON CUPCAKE was born. Since that time, there have been more than 20 competitions, hundreds of cupcakes and thousands of eaters have turned this IronCupcake:Milwaukee into a wave of popularity in the Metro Milwaukee area.

IronCupcake:Earth
Many readers of NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER expressed their disappointment in not being in Milwaukee and, therefore, unable to participate. With that, IRON CUPCAKE:Earth was born. The ultimate in world-wide bake offs. Once a month, a challenge flavor or ingredient is announced. Bloggers develop their own recipe, photograph them as they are being created and post their findings on their own personal blogs. At the end of the month, cupcake photos and summaries will are posted to NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, where the entire blogosphere is then asked to vote for the cupcake which best represents the challenge ingredient.
The first challenge – chili pepper – was announced on August 1, 2008. Since that time, more than 325 bakers from 23 countries have joined the fun. The independent artists of ETSY.COM and corporate donors including Cupcake Courier, Fiesta Products, Jessie Steele Aprons, “Hello, Cupcake!” authors Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, and Taste of Home Books came on board to be monthly prize providers for the first year of this exciting competition.

IronCupcake:Local
In the fall of 2008, again to answer the calls of readers, the IronCupcake:Local concept was introduced. Patterned after the original Milwaukee challenges, bakers in other cities were invited to launch local challenges in their own cities. There are now active challenges in San Francisco and Anacortes, WA. In addition, challenges are currently launching in Chicago, Las Vegas, Mid-Coast, ME and London.

Contact Information:

Sandy Ploy
Milwaukee Cupcake Queen
Founder, Iron Cupcake Earth
mkecupcakequeen@wi.rr.com

Sandy Ploy and Iron Cupcake is currently seeking corporate partnerships to further expand the concept.

The cupcake with crossed whisk and spatula and the term IRON CUPCAKE, as well as the concept of the Iron Cupcake competition are trademarked by Sandy Ploy with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Local challenges are hosted by a local bakers in each city. Sandy Ploy, Jeff Reinke and the Iron Cupcake challenges at large are not responsible for activities that occur or the well-being of the participants at the local challenges. All bakers, judges and attendees participate at their own risk, with no consequence to the original founder or concept. Please cupcake responsibly.