Competitive eating in Coney Island just got a bit sweeter.
Sisters Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne, stars of the hit TV show “DC Cupcakes,” are hosting a cupcake-eating contest in front of Deno’s Wonder Wheel on June 30 — four days before the world’s gustatory giants descend on the People’s Playground to participate in the previously unrivaled Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog-Eating Championship.
“It’s going to be wild,” LaMontagne, co-owner of the famed cupcakery Georgetown Cupcake, told Brooklyn Daily. “We’ve never done a cupcake-eating contest before.”
Seven professional competitive eaters from All Pro Eating, the organization sanctioning the event, will square off at 5 pm on W. 12th Street to see who can scarf down more vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting in eight minutes, event organizers said.
LaMontagne predicted that the winner will eat around 60 treats — but even that would fall short of the record set by Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, who ate a stunning 72 cupcakes in just six minutes at the Isle Waterloo World Cupcake Eating Championship in April.
That contest was sanctioned by Major League Eating, the organization that runs the annual Coney frank-fest, which is taking place at 3 pm this year instead of its regular noon start time.
Bertoletti said cupcakes are a competitive eater’s dream.
“As long as they’re soft and fresh they’re really easy to get down,” said Bertoletti, who will be competing in the Nathan’s hot dog showdown this year instead of LaMontagne’s cupcake war.
Major League Eating President George Shea welcomed the cupcake eat-off, claiming that it won’t upstage his holiday gorge-fest.
“Let a thousand flowers bloom,” Shea said. “Clearly the cupcake world is attracted to the power of the competitive eating platform.”
The cupcake contest will be filmed for an upcoming episode of “DC Cupcakes” that will air on The Learning Channel this fall.
Cupcake eating contest at Deno’s Wonder Wheel [3059 W. 12th Street in Coney Island; (718) 372–2592] on June 30 at 5 pm.
Reach reporter Daniel Bush at dbush@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-8310. Follow him at twitter.com/dan_bush.
