Welcome to Philly Bakers Challenge

[Melissa Ward]

Hi everyone!

So some of you may have seen this welcome message before if you stopped by the Google Group, but I wanted to push it out to you all so we can start chatting.

While preparing for this year's Cupcake Smash, an idea came to be that it would be fun to get together semi-regularly and challenge ourselves with some friendly, casual pseudo-baking competitions.

My idea: A secret ingredient (and maybe a theme) is selected. Everyone bakes cupcakes (maybe minis?) with the ingredient and brings them to the meetup. We all try them, talking about the flavors, creative ideas behind the cupcakes, etc. Then we vote for our favorite. The winner then gets to select that the secret ingredient (and possible theme) will be for the next meetup.

Obviously, a lot of us are focused on the Smash, so I was thinking our first meetup could be in May or June. I'd love to host it at my house.

So what do you think? Interested? Suggestions?

[Aarti Mahtani Raman]

hey all!

it's Aarti here from AMR Catering!

(Peanut Butter & Candied Bacon Cupcake Craziness at this year's Cupcake Smash - snagged 3rd place pro)

I LOVE this idea. Being solo with my catering company, I really miss the comradery with fellow bakers. COUNT ME IN!

xo,

aarti

--

Aarti Mahtani Raman

Caterer, AMR Catering

www.amrcatering.com

www.facebook.com/AMRCatering

Follow Me on Twitter: @AMRCatering

Phone: 732-910-5012

Email: aa...@amrcatering.com

[audreybauer326]

I also love this idea!! Def. count me in!
Love, Audrey (Batter Up!)

[Emily Watts]

I'm in! I love this idea. Are you going to throw out some days you may want to have it in May/June? I just know my weekends are filling up fast. I'd be down for weeknight gatherings as well.

Emily (Watts for Dessert)

[Melissa Ward]

Welcome ladies! So glad to have you joining us!

Emily, GREAT question. I was thinking June (May is NUTS for me) and the only weekend that is no good for me is June 15-16. Weekends might be easier, but I'd be fine with a week night.

I was thinking for this first meetup that I'd host at my house. I live in a townhouse in Haddon Township, a 1/2 mile from the Westmont PATCO station. It's a 20 minute drive from Center City, right across the Ben, and we have PLENTY of parking available. 

I planned on having drinks and some light, non-sweet snacks on hand. Going forward, we could have different hosts, or we can always have it at my place (just a quick note though, I have 2 cats. They're super sweet, but don't want to torture anyone with allergies).

--
Cupcake Friday Project — A one-woman test kitchen meets nano-bakery

[Cupcakes For Causes]

I'm in! I can also host down the road...lots of space at my house.

If we could settle on a June date now...that would be great. I'm flexible at the moment.

[Audrey Bauer]

The only weekend I can't do is the first weekend in June. And I'm good with week nights too. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Aarti Mahtani Raman]

i can pop a claritin for the cat allergy and i'll be good to go (thanks for the heads up)

as for june, i'm tentatively booked for every saturday that month - but i can do a sunday if that works? otherwise, i'm down for a weeknight. =)

[Melissa Ward]

All right, I'd like to have a few more people, who were sent invites, sign in before we make a definitive date selection, but how about we make the call by this Friday? I will have a running list of what isn't good for people and we can nail down the date.

[Emily Watts]

My Saturdays are all full too. I am available some Sundays though- 6/2, 6/8, 6/16 and 6/30. 

[ercolinoj]

I'm late to the chat here, but thank you for the invite -- such a great idea!

My schedule is mess in the summer, but I will try my darndest. Most Saturdays and Tuesdays in June are bad for me. FYI, a good tool for checking availability is MeetingWizard. You can poll potential dates and see which would have the most attendees.

Hope everyone is recovering from Smash! Looking forward to a new challenge. :)
 - Jess (that's forking good)

[Melissa Ward]

Thanks Jess! Meeting Wizard sounds great. I'll set that up by tonight so folks can plug in their info and we can get this off the ground.

[Jamie Landers]

Oh, yes, I'm late to the game too, but I'm totally in.  My open dates are all over the map without any real consistency-so this Meeting Wizard app sounds perfect!

Can't wait to get together with everyone!

Jamie

[Melissa Ward]

All right, so this morning I set us up with MeetingWizard. I'm leaning towards going with the date that has the majority of us available.

Now, what to expect from the meetup:

I'll select an ingredient and a theme for us all to bake with. While presentation (the decoration of the cupcakes) is important, I think the flavor is even moreso. Tasty over pretty :)

Everyone should bake at least a dozen mini cupcakes and bring them to share. Now we can do this one of two ways:

1. Do a seated tasting of all cupcakes, talking about flavor, cake moisture, texture, etc. 

2. Taste the cupcakes in a more casual setting while moving around and chatting, but have each baker score and comment on each cupcakes on cards, which are then handed back to the bakers of each cupcake at the end of the evening.

I think either can work—the goal is constructive criticism, support, and challenging ourselves to experiment with flavors. 

Thoughts?

[Cupcakes For Causes]

I feel option #2 would work best...keeping things casual.

Also, I know you planned on having lite refreshments...let me know if you would like me to contribute. I am swimming in booze left over from all these events. I could mix up a sangria!

-M