The Ultimate CUPCAKE CLASH!!

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I should have known when I got to the Kern Center and there were already people in line long before 7 a.m. that we were going to have a big day. Indeed we did! With more than 2100 in attendance, this was by far and away the biggest and best IronCupcake in the history of IronCupcakes. Over 60,000 cupcakes were on hand for tasting, gorging and over-doing. Swan Lake, Fire & Ice, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Naughty & Nice; Adam & Eve; Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum...our theme, Perfect Pairs, were everywhere. In just over an hour we were totally sold out!. News crews from channels 12 and 58, reporters from TCDigest and MSOE. We raised nearly $10,000 dollars for the independent radio of 91.7 WMSE. It was truly an amazing day.

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Unlike our usual challenges, we had 4 major categories: BEST PRO, BEST AMATEUR, BEST OVERALL (a pro or am can win this) and BEST ARTIST (the recipient of our Art challenge award)...plus a 5th prize for the winner of our celebrity judge's personal pick. Celebrity judge you say? Why yes...we were fortunate enough to have none other than the Charm City Cake's Duff Goldman from the Food Network program Ace of Cakes.

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As if having Duff on hand wasn't enough, we ALSO got paid a visit by Michelle & Vinny Garcia (and their 3 cupcake-loving kids) from Bleeding Heart Bakery in Chicago...

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and were graced with our comedic master of ceremonies, Milwaukee's own Dear Ruthie (shown with the super awesome Dori Zori from WMSE radio).

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In addition to the baking challenge, we also invited local artists to develop a work of art that worked along the lines of our Perfect Pairs assignment for the bakers. The ARTIST CHALLENGE was to create a piece with the theme of OPPOSITES ATTRACT. Sheila Wordell, Stu Nami and Dwellephant all jumped at the challenge but it was Dwellephant's piece that took home the prize.

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"Trust me, I'm a Baker." Twenty different bakers jumped into the amateur ring. Our BEST AMATEUR woke up the crowd with his Breakfast Pairs - Pancakes and Bacon Cupcakes along side Mimosa Cupcakes. The combination of citrus and champagne paired with maple and bacon wow'd the crowd and gave the CUPCAKE DOCTOR (Matthew Armfield) the elite prize.

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There were ten different pros represented at the challenge but INDUSTRI CAFE came with their A game. A as in Alice in Wonderland. Their TweedleDee (rose tea scented white velvet cake filled with homemade strawberry orange preserves and topped with a strawberry orange and cardamom buttercream) and TweedleDum (red velvet cake with black tea caramel and hazelnut marscapone filling; topped with vanilla bean buttercream and sea salted caramel chocolate cookie) cupcakes blew the crowd and Duff away. Melissa and Erin were awarded with not only DUFF'S PICK but as BEST PRO, too!

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The top prize for the day, BEST OVERALL CUPCAKE, was an upset for all the pros, as amateur baker Kelly Osterman and her Beer & Champagne pairs took home the top prize. While I did not get around to the bakers tables at this event, I will tell you that repeatedly I heard how amazing her Guinness cupcake was. Way to go Kelly!

To check out other winners from each category, pop over to the Too Much Metal site for a screen of the final results.

There is no way to truly verbalize all of the energy of the day, so be sure to visit James Conway's slide show at the end of this post to get a taste for yourself! As an added bonus, check out these awesome photos from competitor Scott Baitinger of Streetza Pizza (click on the link to the left).

As with all IronCupcakes, but especially this one...none of this would be possible without our tireless volunteers and the infinite generosity of our local Milwaukee businesses:




Stay tuned later this week for some behind the scenes recap, including the private bakers/volunteers reception with Duff at the Iron Horse Hotel.

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