EIGHT THOUSAND CUPCAKES. Can you stand it? These are the lovely and talented ladies that are responsible for filling the arches of Santiago Calatrava's Bris de Soleil at the Milwaukee Art Museum with thousands of bite size nibbles of deliciousness! So what if Milwaukee doesn't have a traditional cupcake shop; these gals are making sure that we have access to all that we need when it comes to cupcakey goodness.


Danielle Eyre, on the right with volunteer Katie, is the founder of Blue Moon Cupcake Company. Danielle has been a hard-core IronCupcake:Milwaukee competitor all summer and has recently launched her own catering business from her home. Watch the slide show to see some of her adorable iceberg themed sugar paste characters.



Speaking of awesome sugarpaste characters, on the left is Erin Salerno with Karen Smith, half of the team that came with Cake Lady Designs out of Bayview. Erin is notorious for her spot-on re-creations...time around it was vintage Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer goodies that flanked their beautiful cupcakes.



Erica Elia of Classy Girl Cupcakes brought a plethora of sweets to tempt every tastebud. Another new catering venture, Classy Girl was also recently featured on the Fox6 Wake-Up news!



Long time friend of IronCupcake:Milwaukee, and now out on her own is Ashley Weber of Miss Cupcake. She has been working the downtown even circuit and her Champagne & Pear Cupcakes that she presented at the PRO challenge show exactly why this city has been gobbling up her goodies!



It was awesome to meet Tawanda Frasier of Gourmet Delights in Milwaukee. She is the sweetest thing and I sure hope that she will be a long time friend of IronCupcake. Her Peanut Butter and Chocolate cupcakes smelled so good, it was all I could do to not scoop up a handful before the event even started!



One of the few talented storefronts in the Milwaukee area, Delicately Delicious from Cedarburg is run by Jennifer Goldbeck. She presented a selection of the classics, Vanilla and Chocolate, but don't be fooled. Simple can be the best when it is done properly!



Another IronCupcake:Milwaukee veteran turned entrepeneur, Emily Silverson of Chez Cupcake (with volunteer, Sheila) brought some addicting Blackberry treats that were surrounded with a lavender light show to highlight the adorable treats.



Megan from Regina's Bay Bakery came in early and stunned us all with their elegant display of what was quite possibly the richest, most decadent, chocolate creations that have ever entered the IronCupcake realm.

As you can see, Milwaukee DOES have some true sweetness. Stay tuned for more blog posts this week including an introduction to our artists, our donors, the event at large and then the winners. PLUS, a delayed post about the AJBomber's bartending gig, my visit to Graham Elliot in Chicago; as well as my trip to California.

photography © 2009, James Conway, JamesConwayPhotography.com