CupcakeCampColumbus, will return to the North Market on Sunday, October 10 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Dispatch Kitchen. Organizers Carmen Owens of Surly Girl Saloon and Mary Martineau of the North Market will have ovens around Columbus blazing as participants create cupcakes to be judged by our city’s bakers, movers and shakers.

Approximately fifty different flavors of cupcakes created strictly by local amateur bakers will be featured. This round’s classifications include:

Best Halloween: Decorated with monsters, creepy crawlies or black and orange icing, show us your spookiest cupcakes in honor of America’s favorite hair-raising holiday.

Best Use of Bacon: As far as carnivores are concerned, everything’s a bit better with bacon, and cupcakes are no exception. So bake up some cakes with bacon bits and pork parts. Haven’t you heard, bacon is the new black? Prove it!

Best Use of Godiva Liqueur and/or Bulleit Bourbon: Bring on the booze! Spike your cupcakes with a shot or two of Bulleit Bourbon or use Godiva flavors like Caramel, Cappuccino or Chocolate in your frosting. Or go crazy and slip some hooch in everything, including the cherry on top!

Best North Market Inspired: The North Market features a little of everything and so should these cupcakes. Cupcakes inspired by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream flavors were popular in the last round. How about using one of our ethnic eateries for inspiration? With Thai, Vietnamese, Mediterranean, Belgian, Indian, Italian and even Polish cuisine on market there’s a world of inspiration here!

Best Surly Girl Saloon Inspired: At Surly Girl Saloon, sassy lasses drink cleverly concocted cocktails with names like Six Shooter, Surly “Sass”parilla and Surly Temples. We think those make for some nice inspiration for cupcake recipes too. Reinvent your fave Surly libation, or show us what a pirate ship-meets-bordello cupcake looks like in your imagination.

Best Vegan: No animal products permitted. Bring us the tastiest cupcake you can create without using milk, eggs, butter or any other animal product.

Best Cupcake Attire: Do you love cupcakes, but can’t bake to save your life? This time around, we’ve even got a category for you! All CupcakeCampColumbus participants are encouraged to wear their snazziest, kookiest, prettiest or most over-the-top cupcake fashions…just dress to impress since prizes will be awarded based on audience participation.

Local celebrities, bakers and other experts will be on hand to judge each category and fabulous prizes will be awarded to the winners. Applications for cupcake bakers are now available. To register to be a cupcake baker please email mmartineau@northmarket.com.

If you’re not a baker, but you are an avid cupcake eater and you would like to attend, there will be two tiers of tickets available with the proceeds benefiting the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. A limited number of VIP tickets (25 total) costing $20 will be available on Monday, September 13. VIP ticket-holders will receive reserved seating, first dibs on a limited number of cupcakes during the judging portion of the event (before regular ticket-holders are allowed to select) and a quartet of cupcakes to take home. Regular tickets costing $10 (75 total) will be available on Monday, September 20. Tickets can be purchased online here>.  Tickets are limited and the event has sold out each time so get yours early!

CupcakeCampColumbus is sponsored by Surly Girl Saloon, North Market, Bulleit Bourbon, Godiva Liquer, CrimsonCup Coffee and Snowville Creamery. Judges and prize sponsors include 3 Babes and a Baker, Made by AmyD, Bakery Gingham, CMHGourmand.com, ColumbusFoodAdventures.com, ColumbusFoodie.com, The Greener Grocer, The Hills Market, Little Alouette, Market Blooms, Mozart’s North Market Bakery, Our Cupcakery, Pattycake Bakery, Sassafras Bakery, Spinelli’s Deli, Studio 35, Sugar Inc., Wholly Craft and Wild Goose Creative.

CupcakeCampColumbus IV will take place on Sunday, October 10 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Dispatch Kitchen of the North Market. Admission is free for registered cupcake bakers, but space is limited. Only 100 total tickets are available to the general public. Keep up with the ongoing details of CupcakeCampColumbus on the event website or visit www.NorthMarket.com.

CupcakeCampColumbus, will return to the North Market on Sunday, March 14 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Dispatch Kitchen and “this time it’s frostable.” Organizers Carmen Owens of Surly Girl Saloon, Kiesha Jenkins-Duffy of the blog 52 Weeks of Baking and the North Market’s Mary Martineau are offering a festive Saint Patrick’s Day and spring-themed celebration of cupcakes.

Approximately forty different flavors of cupcakes created strictly by local amateur bakers will be featured. This round’s classifications include:

Best St. Patrick’s Day Cupcake: It’s just three days before “the wearing of the green” and your cupcake should pay tribute to this fanciful day of Irish frivolity. Give us green icing, shamrocks or leprechauns, but leave the orange at home!

Best Use of Bailey’s Irish Cream or Bushmills Irish Whiskey: We’re guilty of another Irish-themed category here, but for this one we want you to incorporate some fine Irish libations. You can choose to include Bailey’s Irish Cream or Bushmills Irish Whiskey into your recipe or, heck, go hog-wild and use both!

Best North Market-Inspired: The North Market features a little of everything and so should these cupcakes. Cupcakes inspired by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream flavors were popular in the last round. How about using one of our ethnic eateries for inspiration? With Thai, Vietnamese, Mediterranean, Belgian, Indian, Italian and even Polish cuisine on market there’s a world of inspiration here!

Best Spring-themed: The crocuses will bear their delicate little heads any day now and we’re sure the brilliant gold forsythia will bloom shortly. In the meantime, bake up a batch of cupcakes that reflect the rebirth of our greenery from the cold winter.

Best Vegan: No animal products permitted. Bring us the tastiest cupcake you can create without using milk, eggs, butter or any other animal product.

Local celebrities, bakers and other experts will be on hand to judge each category and fabulous prizes will be awarded to the winners. Applications for cupcake bakers and tickets for cupcake eaters are now available. To register to be a cupcake baker visit the CupCakeCampColumbus website. BAKER REGISTRATION FILLED. If you’re not a baker, but you are an avid cupcake eater and you would like to attend, tickets are $10 with the proceeds benefiting the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. TICKETS SOLD OUT.

 Tickets are limited and the event has sold out each time so get yours early!

Finally, if you’re all about quantity over quality, perhaps you’d like to enter the Cupcake Crush. In this contest the first intrepid eater to finish a set amount of mini cupcakes provided by the Surly Girl Saloon will take home a special award. Registration for the Cupcake Crush will take place on the day of the event.

CupcakeCampColumbus is sponsored by Surly Girl Saloon, 52 Weeks of Baking, North Market, CrimsonCup Coffee, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Bushmills Irish Whiskey and Snowville Creamery. Judges and prize sponsors include AmyD, The Hills Market, Market Blooms, Pattycake Bakery, Sassafrass bakery, Spinelli’s Deli, Wholly Craft. The event will take place on Sunday, March 14 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Dispatch Kitchen of the North Market. Admission is free for registered cupcake bakers, but space is limited. Only 100 tickets are available for $10 each to the general public. Keep up with the ongoing details of CupcakeCampColumbus on the website or visit or on the North Market events page.