Cupcake Camp Seattle is only a few days away and we’re soooo excited! It is a cupcake lovers dream day every year. There are thousands of cupcakes to choose from and sample on the day of and all for a great cause; a fundraiser for the Hope Heart Institute.

One cupcake shop is a must to sample and that is our fabulous Champagne Sponsor and Cupcake Eating Competion Sponsor; Trophy Cupcakes! They’re well-known for being a premiere cupcake bakery and providing gorgeous cupcakes, vintage party supplies and the finest beverages and espresso.

We thought you might like to know a bit more about the owner, Jennifer Shea and the inspiration and passion behind the award-winning Trophy Cupcakes <http://www.trophycupcakes.com> . Check out the interview questions we asked and Jennifer’s answers below. What a sweet story!

1. What inspired you to open up your own cupcake shop?

I have been baking since I was little. I was really into 4-H and Home Economics when I was a kid. I won a blue ribbon for my grandmother’s Pumpkin Roll when I was 8 at the County Fair! I never even imagined baking being a career though…until I was in NYC with some girlfriends in 1996 and walked into a sweet shop that was predominantly cupcakes…and I was done! I just knew at that moment that I wanted to open a cupcake shop in Seattle, no matter what. It took 10 years to realize the dream…but I did it. My husband and I opened Trophy in 2007.

2. What has been your favorite cupcake moment since you opened? Being on the Martha Stewart show was by far the pinnacle “dream come true” moment for me…but, I just love that almost everyday our customers are including Trophy Cupcakes in the most special moments of their lives. We have had first dates in our shops that turn into Trophy Weddings, a couple actually got married in our Wallingford shop! We also have little ones routinely experiencing their very 1st taste of sugar on their 1st birthday in our shops. It’s the sweetest thing ever to see parents singing happy birthday to their wide-eyed little kid, blowing out the candle and letting them dig into a Trophy Cupcake.

3. What “Trophy” awards or recognitions have you received for your cupcakes since you opened your store?

I am happy to say a lot!  We have won the People’s Choice Award for “Best Cupcake Shop” in Seattle Magazine three years in a row, 2012 being the most recent. I was just named #21 in “The 70 Power Players of the Seattle Food World”…a huge honor from Seattle Magazine.  We have also won “Best Cupcake” in Seattle Weekly, Parent Map and Seattle Metropolitan Magazine over the years, and “Best Bakery” and “Best Dessert” on City Search a couple of times…the list goes on, I’m blushing…and so thankful for our fans!

4. You currently have three locations (Wallingford, University Village and Bellevue) but we also know you recently opened up a pop up shop in Pacific Place, please tell us more about it? We opened our cupcake pop up shop in Pacific Place during the holidays and it’s so popular we are keeping it open for the time being, yay! The kiosk is on the 3rd floor at the end of the Nordstrom Bridge, right by Williams Sonoma. The pop up shop has a handpicked selection of our most popular cupcake flavors as well as our most popular party supplies and greeting cards.  Downtown customers have the option of choosing Order Specialist and picking up their order form the kiosk…sweet, simple and convenient!

5. What are you most excited about for the upcoming Cupcake Camp Seattle this year? I just love seeing what everyone else has baked up. It’s super fun to be in a room with hundreds of other cupcake geeks…freaking out about buttercream, sprinkles and who has the best cakes. I also love seeing what the amateur and kid bakers bring for the contests, everyone is so fun and creative!

6. What flavors you will be sampling at your booth?  We will have our April Seasonal Special, Lemon Meringue Pie in classic cupcake size and Salted Caramel, Hummingbird and Snickerdoodle minis.  YUM!

7. What is the most unique cupcake you’ve created? Hmmm…good question, probably our cupcakes that have crusts in the bottom of the cake. When I created our Chocolate Graham Cracker with Toasted Marshmallow Cupcake for Martha Stewart, I wanted to do something really different, so I baked a little graham cracker crust in the bottom of the cupcake liner and poured the cake batter on top of it. I had never seen or heard of anyone else doing this and, wow, it turned out so delicious. The extra layer of texture and yumminess take the cupcake to a whole new level. We now have all kinds of cupcake flavors that have a “crust”. Blueberry Pie has traditional pie crust under the cake, Thin Mint has a chocolate cookie crust, Strawberry Cheesecake and Lemon Meringue Pie have a graham cracker crust…and we are always testing more.

Want some tips on how to decorate cupcakes Trophy-style, check out this video: HERE