Bakers do battle at cupcake camp

Northern Ireland's first cupcake camp is being held in Belfast

Some say buns while others say cupcakes, but rather than calling the whole thing off, budding bakers are to hold Northern Ireland's first Cupcake Camp.

The camp, which is being held at Blick Studios on Malone Road in Belfast on Saturday 15 August, is expected to attract up to 100 cupcake enthusiasts.

Organiser Ciaran Madden said some of the best bakers in NI and the USA would be pitted against each other to see who makes the best bun.

"Both bakers and consumers of the most artistic, mouth-watering cakes will come together for a day of baking, displaying, tip-swapping and, of course, devouring," he said.

"Whipped into the mix is the chance to compete with their spectacular baked creations in what is going to be hot competition."

Mr Madden said the camp was not just for professional bakers and was open to everyone, although he added that there were only 20 tickets left for the event.

'Ad-hoc'

According to the organisers, Cupcake Camp is "an ad-hoc get-together where participants bake and bring cupcakes to share and socialise".

It is based on the "Bar Camp" model where participants organise an informal conference using the internet.

Self-confessed local 'cupcake queen' Charlotte Richardson, looking forward to the event, said: "Cupcakes are certainly in fashion, so it's great to see an event of this kind being brought to Belfast.

"It's not as easy as it looks and the perfect cupcake does require a homemade touch as well as a few secret tricks, which I hope will set me apart from my fellow competitors."

The first camp dedicated to cupcakes was held in San Francisco, but the event is now held in 16 cities across North America.

So far, the biggest camp was held in Ottawa and was attended by 1,000 people.