Cupcake Camp Seattle is a benefit for The Hope Heart Institute, a heart disease research non-profit, that is centered around the baking and eating of cupcakes.   It is also free(!) and conveniently located (for me) in Downtown Seattle, which means that the lucky readers of All Things Cupcake will get pictures, reviews, and hopefully recipes straight from the first ever Cupcake Camp in Seattle.

The event is sponsored by just about every group that is remotely related to cupcakes, including my favorite cute cupcake artist, CakeSpy (guess who made the poster :).  However, it’s Bella Cupcake Couture that gets the credit for importing the Cupcake Camp concept to the Emerald City from our foggy fellow Northwest mecca, San Fransisco.

The event runs from 11am to 2pm with cupcake tastings scheduled every 15 minutes.  Braving throwing themselves into the sugar breach are the event’s judges: Jessie Oleson aka CakeSpy, Jackie Shaffer (founder and CEO) of CakeCentral.com, Melody Biringer of CRAVE Company, Kelley Moore of Kelley Moore Creative Media, Keren Brown of FranticFoodie.com and Laura Cassidy of  Seattle Metropolitan magazine.  Luckily for all of us, there is a ‘healthiest’ prize category on top of  ‘most representative of Seattle’ and ‘unique ingredients’.

Cupcakes are versatile things. They’re tasty, portable, come in many flavors, have been known to create jobs, and also happen to be really good for fundraising.  Emma Klassen of Kelowna, BC made the right choice when she decided to make 300 gourmet cupcakes to exchange for donations to the Canadian Foundation for the Children of Haiti.

Klassen put together this Saturday’s Sweet Exchange to collect money and supplies for the Haiti Home for Children, an orphanage and school run by the CFCH. Though the orphanage’s buildings have been damaged, the children and caretakers were not hurt in the earthquake and are presently living in the orphanage’s courtyard.

While the Sweet Exchange is over,  the Haiti Home for Children still needs your help. You can send donations to the CFCH at:

The Canadian Foundation for the Children of Haiti
11400 Seafield Crescent
Richmond, B.C. Canada. V7A 3J2

(CFCH is a registered Canadian charity. CRA Business No. 89000 4591 RR0001. Donations qualify for CIDA’s matching grant program.  Tax receipts will be issued for donations over $20)