Urban Woman and I really enjoyed our Saturday. The weather was great for a stroll about the city and so much happened in every direction it was almost hard to take it all in. We strolled through the farmers’ market, as always and, as I’ve mentioned, took a look around the two new stores on the square. She decided to shop in Mast, which is almost always my excuse to peal off and people-watch outside.
After the shopping, we decided to walk through Krutch Park and see what was up in Cupcake World. Presented by Scripps and benefiting Helen Ross McNabb, the second annual Cupcake in the Park event was packed. There were activities for children all around, from a carousel to an inflatable castle and a cupcake toss game. At least one girl scout troup wandered about in search of cupcakes.
And those were pretty easy to find. For five dollars you got a plastic container and a punch card which allowed the holder to select five cupcakes from the various tables. Once you’d enjoyed the offerings, each participant could vote for the best confection. A panel of judges also selected their preference. I had no idea there were so many good cupcakes in the metropolitan area. Some are chains while others are local.
In the end, The Cup (A Chain with locations in Bearden and Farragut) took top honors in both division. Also placing highly in both was Everything Iced Cupcakes, which is a local business located on Piedmont Street, which is out Western Avenue a bit from downtown. Interestingly, Magpies didn’t place and their confections are amazing. Also on the surprising front, to me, Publix had some great cupcakes. We could use a great cupcake spot downtown, don’t you think? I’m thinking the new vacancy in the Daylight Building on Union would be pretty sweet, although not so good for my health.
We bought five of the cupcakes (these were mini-cupcakes, by the way) and took them home to enjoy. We brewed a delicious pot of Three Bears coffee and settled in to some college football, which turned out to be more interesting than most of us expected. We each took a small bite from each of the cupcakes and I’m glad I didn’t have to vote. One had cheddar cheese baked in and it was delicious. Of course, I’m a sucker for chocolate and I think our chocolate cupcake came from Publix and I could definitely have eaten a dozen.
It was a much more fun event than I anticipated, to be honest. The cupcakes were good, but the displays on some of the tables were spectacular, as well. Pity the bakers who show up to this event with cupcakes and nothing more. It was a combination baking wars and design wars. And all for a good cause. Helen Ross McNabb has been doing good work for our citizens for decades and they deserve the support.
