A couple of months ago, I posted five trial cupcake recipes my daughter and her friend practiced making for a fundraising Cupcake Wars they were planning on entering in April. The event was held this past weekend and what a successful learning experience it was for these 12-year-old girls! The girls not only won the Middle School Team vote, they also won the Popular Vote for the whole Cupcake Wars!
My daughter bakes all of the time, she especially enjoys decorating cupcakes with various themes. Most of the time, my husband, son and I are the ones enjoying the cupcakes. We try to have her bake cupcakes when we have an event or another family to visit, but most of the time it is just for fun! This Cupcake War was the first opportunity she ever had to actually sell her cupcakes (100% of the proceeds went to the Town’s High School Class Council to defray the cost of school events.)
In addition to achieving her goals of improving her cupcake decorating skills, I reminded her that she was also learning about teamwork, how to compromise, working on a budget and a timeline, and how to appreciate positive and negative feedback from others.
All of the cupcake ideas were inspired by various cupcake decorating posts on Pinterest (thank you!!). Her friend baked all of the cupcakes and my daughter made all of the frosting, which consisted of 12 lbs of powdered sugar ! The girls came together to decorate the cupcakes… 133 to be exact! The contest required 100 cupcakes in order to qualify. The moms helped the girls out with ordering most of the carnival themed table decor on Amazon (www.amazon.com), along with some items that we had at home and, also, from other craft stores. The moms also worked as their apprentices, a little role reversal!
After all of their hard work, they were able to share their creations with the public… and they sold out in 1 hour! They both enjoyed hearing the all of the compliments from the guests… and, in the end, they were so excited to find out that they won!
In case you are ever hosting a Carnival Themed Party or Event, here are the Carnival Cupcake Recipes the girls used:
Carnival Themed Cupcakes: POPCORN
Carnival Themed Cupcakes: SNOW CONES
Carnival Themed Cupcakes: HOT DOGS
Carnival Themed Cupcakes: ICE CREAM MILK SHAKES