The Ultimate Cupcake Contest

When I was a teenager I became involved with The Children's Inn at NIH. I taught arts and crafts every Thursday. For all of you that are not familiar with The Children's Inn, here's a little bit about them:

The Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health is a residential "place like home" for sick children and their families. Children come from across the country and around the world to stay together with their families in The Inn’s healing environment while receiving groundbreaking medical treatments at the NIH, the world’s leading biomedical research center. While the NIH takes care of the child’s medical needs, The Inn tends to the child’s heart, soul and spirit.

Volunteering at this wonderful organization was an amazing experience. I learned a great deal from the hundreds of children that stayed there. When I moved back here from Los Angeles, I decided I wanted to continue to volunteer there. However, my life wasn't as routine anymore and I just couldn't guarantee anything. So I decided to do the next best thing. I approached The Children's Inn with The Ultimate Cupcake Contest. I figured I could use my cupcakes to make a difference. They loved the idea and we created a fabulous contest for the kids.

The way it will work is similar to the Ben and Jerry's flavor contest. Children at the Inn will submit a form describing and designing their ultimate cupcake. From the cake flavor all the way to the toppings, the children will be able to create their own masterpieces. Once the cupcake submissions have been received, Couture Cupcakes will review them and select 3 winners. We will take two weeks to create the 3 flavors and they will be named after their creators. The cupcakes will be made available to the public as part of the Couture Cupcakes' menu. Proceeds from the sale of these 3 cupcakes will go directly to The Children's Inn. But the crowning moment will be a tasting at The Children's Inn where the children and families will vote on which cupcake is truly The Ultimate Cupcake.

I'm sure everyone is as curious as I am on what these kids will come up with. So I will be posting some of the ideas throughout the next month.