Photos by Brenna Grier and Jessica Zook
A cupcake banquet drew sweet tooths from across the Valley to Bragg’s Pie Factory Sunday to indulge in an array of frosting and unusual cakes.
CupcakeCamp is a community potluck – with cupcakes being served exclusively. The event brought together professional and hobby bakers with cupcake connoisseurs to taste unique flavors, including corn dog and lasagna.
Event organizer Terry Tang said she was pleased with the turn out, which included people from as far as Glendale. The event was free so as to promote a non-exclusive atmosphere, Tang said.
The cupcakes were presented on a first-come, first-served basis and a schedule was posted with different flavors that were released every 15 minutes. The staggering prevented all the cupcakes from being eaten before the event was over.
“The idea is to rotate flavors in different time slots so it’s not madness,” Tang said.
Tang wanted to do the event with cupcakes because she has “always had a fixation on cupcakes. They’re more fun to decorate.”
People drank water, milk and soy milk along with the cupcakes, while solving a large group puzzle and playing an old-fashioned Pac-Man game.
A similar event in San Francisco inspired the first CupcakeCamp in November 2010.
“I thought it would be fun to bring a quirky concept to Phoenix,” Tang said.
Some people were drawn to the event from their love for cupcakes and baking. Phoenix resident Jamie Starner enjoyed spending time with nice people and tasting the cupcakes. Her favorite flavor was the Irish Car Bomb.
Lana Okamura, owner of the Loaded Cupcake, provided the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes and enjoyed interacting with the community.
“It’s nice to see the reform in the area and to see the community getting back to these kinds of event,” she said.
Okamura’s business creates around 14 cupcake flavors with 7 or 8 of them based on an alcoholic drink.
“I love Irish Car Bombs and that was the main theme I wanted to go with for this company. Hence the Loaded Cupcake,” Okamura said.
Tang isn’t planning to make CupcakeCamp an annual event, only if the opportunity to use a venue similar to Bragg’s Pie Factory presents itself again.
“It would be great if it became a known event,” Tang said. “The thing about these kinds of events – they’re only as good as the community that contributes to it.”
Contact the reporter at jessica.zook@asu.edu
