Community members had a chance to taste a variety of mini cupcakes at the Cupcake War, Tuesday evening, and vote for their favorite one. At the Stafford Pavilion, next to the Liberty County Recreation Department, each baker presented 300 decorated, mini cupcakes for the event. Selected judges gave points based on creativity, taste and originality. After the initial judging, the public sampled cupcakes for the People’s Choice vote.
Spring was the theme for the event and bakers decorated cupcakes with flowers, butterflies, bright colors and lady bugs. Cupcake flavors included lemon buttercream, red velvet with pecans, lemon white chocolate, cherry limeade, coconut, and pineapple.
Christina Schneider, a novice to baking said that doing this event was something new for her. “I’ve always had a dream of baking but I’ve never gone out and done it before. This is my first time doing anything like this. I’m nervous and excited for it, but it’s something to challenge me,” she said. Schneider incorporated springtime by basing her flavors on one of her favorite pastimes. “When I think of spring, I think of going to Sonics to get a cherry limeade. So I made a cherry limeade cupcake. To go along with the limeade, I wanted something citrus and lighter to compliment it, so I went with lemon.”
Baker Olajuwon Bynoe, owner of Cake South, presented his cupcakes with mentor Raven Dennis, also known as Cake Man Raven. Dennis is called “The celebrity baker to the stars” and has made cakes for Oprah Winfrey, Whoopie Goldberg, Mary J. Blige, rapper Common, Maya Angelou and other celebrities. He attended the event to show support for his former mentee.
Community member David Etshokin attended the event with his children. He said, “It’s pretty interesting, I’ve never been to anything like this before. I think it’s pretty cool to come here and try all the cupcakes. I’m sure the kids will want to try something like this (baking cupcakes) and maybe my wife. ”
Cupcake War was hosted by the Hinesville Area Arts Council, which serves to promote art and culture in the community. Kasey Bozeman, 4-H, youth development agent and member of the Arts Council, said that the Cupcake War was a chance to show baking as a form of art and an opportunity for bakers to express themselves.