DC Cupcake Contest Yields Lots O' Creativity

The winner: a Chinatown-inspired lo mein cupcake.

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of judging Hello Cupcake's Design Your DC cupcake challenge. Hello Cupcake asked local bakers to create a cupcake that reflects their city inspiration, and lo and behold, there wasn't a single monument in sight.

Instead, contestants pulled out the creative stops with a DC sex scandal cupcake (which illustrated Larry Craig's wide stance quite effectively), Bo Obama digging in Michelle Obama's vegetable garden and several Ben's Chili Bowl designs.

The grand prize winner, inspired by Chinatown, was a clever cupcake loaded with frosting noodles to represent a bowl of lo mein.

Vote for your favorite on Facebook. The fan fave gets a KitchenAid mixer.

A few of my favorites:

The wide-stance, sex scandal cupcake.

The zoo-meets-Metro lines (plus purple!)-meets gay pride elephant, wearing cherry blossoms on its ear.

A fondant feat: a very mini Ben's Chili Bowl scene.

The winner in the best use of fondant category lays out the Metro map.

The best political statement winner: Yay, DC Statehood cupcake!

Nom, nom, Obama motif.

The famous Awakening statue returns to the District!

Bo digs up Michelle Obama's vegetable garden — the winner in the best use of theme category.

Comments

Olga @ MangoTomato said…
I'm so glad I did not enter the contest!!! I surely would not have measured up. My favorite is the Metro cupcake.

You must have had a ton of sweet fun :)
6/07/2010 9:51 PM
Clint Bush said…
The only bad part about this post is I want to eat one. Other than that, these are a lot of fun. Ben's and Larry Craig's are awesome.
6/07/2010 10:14 PM
nicole said…
whew! i'm glad i didn't enter the contest! i like the statehood one and the metro one the best ^_^

the chinatown one REALLY looks like noodles! i'm impressed~
6/07/2010 10:53 PM
Unknown said…
Please vote for my Ben's Chili Bowl Cupcake!

http://tiny.cc/benscupcake

Thank you!
6/08/2010 6:50 AM
Rene said…
Some of us have a second chance to win big! Go to KitchenAids fan site and "Like" it! Then you can vote for one of 7 finalists! While they are all worthy entries, I think you should vote for the Zoo inspired cupcake!
6/08/2010 10:17 AM
Anonymous said…
I really liked the lo mein cupcake, but I have to say it is not very appetizing to look at. Lo Mein and cupcake don't go together.
6/08/2010 10:27 AM
Amanda said…
There was a most likely to be eaten category as well, since many of these, uh, didn't look all that edible. =)
6/08/2010 11:14 AM
Cara Lee said…
Thanks for juding the contest! It was alot of fun and I did no expect to win AT all... I'm still in awe!!! Thank you for being one of the judges who made my day - or should I say my week or even my year ;-)


~Cara

http://caralee83.blogspot.com
6/08/2010 3:35 PM
Ali said…
You totally win for picking up on the "nom" reference :)

Thanks for taking the time to look at all of the sugary creations. Definitely worth the time and energy spent shaping the Metro stops.
6/09/2010 12:49 AM
dating diva said…
These are so cute! I love the Metro map one =)

-Delilah
6/09/2010 8:21 PM
Amanda said…
You're so welcome, Cara! It was my pleasure to see all the cute and clever entries. Congrats on your win!
6/09/2010 10:28 PM
The Bethesda Foodie said…
Wow! That lo mein cupcake is incredible! ...I would love judge a cupcake contest :)
6/25/2010 1:04 PM
Laura (youngDCliving) said…
This is so neat! What talented bakers, I'm really impressed.
6/30/2010 2:33 PM
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