Little did I know that when I succumbed to the cupcake cult of New York City that cupcakes have been taking over the hearts of many in great cities all over the world, including San Francisco.  This hidden empire may go by the cutely disarming name of Cupcake Camp.  This group also provides basic information allowing lone cupcake missionaries in a city near you to have a frosting topped day of fun as well.

And this is how addiction usually starts, right?  First cupcake is free…and that is what this event was all about.  Some people brought their cupcakes to share, others just came to consume (like me), and some bakers came to compete.  The house was packed, and unfortunately there was no way for one to get a bite of each kind of cupcake. So eaters employed one of two strategies (1) Stand near one of the six tables and wait for a new batch to be brought out or (2) Hop around to the shorter lines and snag a cake or two.  I was lucky enough to eat three cakes and my favorite was the pumpkin-spice-creamy-goodness from Emily Daniels of Bite Size Cakes.

Ariel Waldman, one of the event organizers, has put on this event since 2008 because she loves to spread happiness through these little cakes and she believes that, “People become cupcake enthusiasts because cupcakes are small things you can be really creative with, with little risk.”  Creativity was everywhere at this camp. Just take gluten-free cakes from Miglet’s Bakery or the Hawaiian Blue cakes baked by Kathy from the sponsor TicketFly.  Strangers at the event were eager to share some the go-to places for cupcakes in the bay such as Sprinkles, Kara’s Cupcakes, and Violet Sweet Shoppe and Sugar Beats Sweets for vegan cakes.

The event also brought together a diverse array of people including New Yorkers, Canadians, ladies with pink hair, ladies in cute dresses, people with tattoos, people with kids, photographers galore, gay guys and straight guys too! Perhaps the road to peace is through a cupcake?  I look forward to next year’s Cupcake Camp and hope there will be even more fun things for cupcake enthusiasts to do.  There should definitely be more cupcakes, and maybe some fun games?  If it means the event goes from free to $5, I would still be there and I’m sure others would be too.  Perhaps an area for children to decorate their own cupcakes? BYOF – bring your own frosting!

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