Ames Woman Wants a War, a Cupcake War

Tawnya Zerr wouldn't have considered herself a cake baking expert before bravely opening in July 2010.

Zerr said people might think she was crazy to do so.

“But it worked. I really just love food,” she said.

Since opening, she's done a lot of what she planned. She offers up to seven different varieties of cupcakes each day and 11 on Saturdays. She even came up with a beer cupcake, minus the beer mug she wanted to bake it in. There's just one challenge left.

In 2010, Food Network's Cupcake Wars asked Zerr to send them a video audition, but she didn't make the final cut. With her recipes perfected, Zerr's trying again.

Why does or doesn't Ames Cupcake Emporium deserve to be on Cupcake Wars? Tell us in comments.

When she learned that "Cupcake Wars" was preparing to tape a new season of the reality show that pits cupcake bakers against one another for a money prize, she asked her Facebook fans to send in letters to the show. And they responded, maybe a little too well.

“This worked out for you because we noticed,” a casting director messaged her, “but tell them to stop.”

Then, they asked her for a second video audition, which can be found on attached to this article or on YouTube.

Most of Zerr's story is right there in that two-minute clip.

Zerr, who majored in welding, hoped to open a vintage clothing and furniture store but went with cupcakes when she couldn't find a place in Ames that served them.

“I just really wanted a cupcake,” Zerr said.

In doing some research online she discovered, “Holy crap this is a thing.”

Cupcake shops were a growing trend on the east and west coasts, but there was no place in Ames where people could order a cupcake, sit down and relax.

Zerr offers a full menu of cupcakes and has a few favorites.

There's Caramel Coffee Toffee Crunch, S'mores, Black Forest, Cotton Candy … Zerr would go on, but Ames Cupcake Emporium Cupcake-ke-teer, Larrison Seidle, interrupted.

“There's Dirt & Worms,” Seidle said of a cupcake not named for its ingredients. There is another called Fall Harvest, which is. That is the customer's favorite. It includes a bit of squash, but tastes a lot like pumpkin.

Zerr also serves food at the bakery/diner, which has a retro feel. The shop at the corner of Main Street and Kellogg Avenue came with the black and white tile floor Zerr wanted. She's finished the look with retro furniture, including refurbished booths but still with crumbs from the last restaurant.

“They had a lot of sprinkles,” Zerr said.

Zerr's only been open 18 months, but people tell her that she's pretty successful, she said.

She wouldn't call herself rich, but she does have nine part-time employees. She hasn't made enough money for a new kitchen, but the $10,000 prize from “Cupcake Wars” could change that.

And, there's a little something else Zerr is excited about.

On the show, bakers compete in a final round in which they bake 1,000 cupcakes in two hours. The show provides an assistant and a “cute” handyman, Zerr said.

This is secretly the true reason Zerr --- 28 and happily married --- wants to be on the show, she joked.

“He is so cute,” Zerr said.

Zerr doesn't know when Cupcake Wars will make a decision. She's trying not to get her hopes up, but it's hard.

“It would be a lot of fun,” Zerr said.