I attended Cupcake Camp Boston 2011 last night at the Armory in Somerville with my friend Stacey (of the new blog Boston Sweetie). It was a meeting of the cupcake extraordinaires from all around Boston. Amateur and professional bakers came together for this fabulous event. Here are some of the highlights:

This was one of my favorite presentations – a bouquet of cupcakes. I wish I thought of this for my wedding. I would’ve been nibbling in between vows.

One of the professional bakeries was channeling some Cold Stone with create-your-own-cupcake frosting. What a great idea!

Why shouldn’t America’s favorite cookie be on a cupcake, too?

Cuppies perfect for a Pooh Bear (or a heffalump)!

Yes, Beantown Baker has made Frito cupcakes, and they were really tasty. These chocolate and peanut butter goodies are garnished with Fritos. Excellent!

I really wanted to like these bacon cupcakes with bacon brittle and maple syrup frosting but something was just way too strange about the cake with bacon pieces – even for me. However, the maple syrup frosting was really good, albeit very sweet.

The Easter Bunny even made an appearance!

After the destruction of hundreds of visitors (many braved the rainy, cold and windy evening to get inside), this is all that was left of Stacey’s display. Someone even took her box!

These were Stacey’s very elegant lavender cupcakes with a lemon curd filling. She, of course, received LOTS of compliments!

Overall, Cupcake Camp 2011 was a great experience for an amateur baker. I met a really cool 12-year-old baker – Anthony Tata, who has his own biz called “Tata Treats.” His Boston Cream cupcake was VERY good. The downside to the event was that so many people attended and ravaged the food. As a result, many attendees who arrived late, missed out on some of the best cuppies. Also, on a trip to the ladies’ restroom – out of six stalls, not one had TP and there was no paper towelling. I had to use a napkin from one of the nearby pro bakeries as a makeshift fill-in. Plus, there weren’t lots of garbage cans to toss wrappers. So, it got a bit messy towards the end of the night. I ended up stepping in some residual cupcake, which was a bit of a bummer.

Despite the drawbacks, it was a great learning experience and I think I’ll be back next year. I have tons of new baking and decorating ideas.

Now, in case you aren’t in a sugar coma yet (I’m still recovering from mine), here’s some additional photos from the event…Enjoy!