Sweet Success
Cupcake contest brings together a school and its community.
It might have been called “Cupcake Wars,” but a baking contest held at the Bay Farm School in Alameda, Calif., in February was actually the opposite—a fun event that built camaraderie, brightened the school, and brought the whole community together (including the mayor).
“Alameda is a close-knit, small town and a strong, community-based city,” says Kitty Aquino-Esparrago, the PTA’s event coordinator and vice president of programs.
Aquino-Esparrago, along with Paula Evans, the event co-coordinator and vice president of programs, had the idea for a cupcake contest based on the popular Food Network show Cupcake Wars at the beginning of the school year and immediately reached out to members of the community to get involved. The mayor and two local pastry chefs agreed to serve as judges.
“We were trying to do something a bit different but that we felt children would engage with and would apply to all age groups,” Evans says. Fifty-four children entered 46 original batches of a dozen cupcakes each that were judged on technique, creativity, and taste.
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The entry groups were divided into kindergartners and 1st graders; 2nd graders; 3rd and 4th graders; 5th graders; and 6th through 8th graders. Winners from each group received a certificate and a spray-painted “golden spoon” that said “Most Creative Cupcake,” “Best-Tasting Cupcake,” or “Best Technique.”
Three overall first-, second-, and third-place winners received a certificate and Amazon gift card. All participants got a magnet that said “I survived Cupcake Wars 2016.” Some of the winners and creative favorites included cupcakes made to look like the top of a carrot with orange frosting and sprinkled chocolate flakes to look like soil, as a play on “24-carrot” gold; “campfire delights,” chocolate cupcakes with melted marshmallows and graham crackers on top to look like s’mores; and flower pot cupcakes with lollipops in the middle to look like a flower growing out of them, displayed on a terra-cotta pot.
The event was held on a Monday so children had the opportunity to make their creations during the weekend. Students dropped off their cupcakes before school, and middle school students helped Evans and Aquino-Esparrago prepare for the judging. The judges arrived in the afternoon to evaluate the treats.
Two to three cupcakes per batch were used for judging, and the nine or 10 left over were available for purchase for a dollar at an awards ceremony that evening. During the awards ceremony and cupcake sale, the PTA also had a station with plain cupcakes for attendees to decorate.
A few parent volunteers sold cupcake tickets before the ceremony, and students were stationed at each cupcake table to collect tickets and hand out the goodies. Sales exceeded expectations; although the event was not planned as a fundraiser, the PTA made $300 that it added to the general budget for use at future events.
PTA leaders were extremely pleased with the feedback after the contest, adding that they achieved what they hoped to—building connections between families and the community.
“Even before the event, there is a lot of collaboration that can happen,” Aquino-Esparrago says. “The main intention was to bring people, friends, and family together in the kitchen.”
“We concentrated on making it a community-building program and we certainly accomplished that,” says copresident Lynn Christiansen-Esquer, adding that the “enthusiasm and buzz from all age groups, teachers, and parents was amazing.”
As for other schools that may be interested in putting on a similar cupcake contest, planners advise allowing ample time for judging, something they’re planning to extend during next year’s event.
“We heard great things from the two baker judges,” Christiansen-Esquer says. “This is near and dear to their hearts, it’s their passion, and they get to watch the kids be creative. They were blown away.”
She says the mayor had a great time, too, posting photos of the contest on her own Facebook page. Jokes Christiansen-Esquer: “Who wouldn’t want to taste cupcakes for a few hours?”
Bay Farm School PTA, Alameda, Calif.
600 students, grades K-8
Cooking Up the Cupcake Contest
Two to Three Months Before Event
- Reach out to and confirm judges for the contest.
- Decide what the prizes will be.
One Month Before Event
- Purchase all items needed for prizes, including award certificates, wooden spoons, gold paint, and magnets.
- Paint spoons for the prizes.
- Finalize wording of award certificates.
- Begin promoting event at school, including posters, mentions during morning announcements, and marketing on school website and parent e-newsletter.
- Two weeks before event, distribute entry forms; ask students to return them a week later.
Day of Event
- Students drop off cupcakes before school.
- Judges arrive in afternoon to evaluate cupcakes.
- In evening, parents, families, and friends look at and purchase cupcakes; PTA hands out certificates and prizes.
