Battle of the Cupcakes returns; seniors achieve sweet victory

By: Whitney Tran

Culinary Heroes hosted its seventh annual Battle of the Cupcakes on March 6, President Hanna Fei said. Nine contestants competed for prizes, including the grand prize of $50 in room G03, Fei added.

“There were five teams that competed in total: four teams of two and one team of one,” Fei said. “Teams were given one and a half hours to bake and to decorate their own batch of cupcakes.”

Contestants were then judged based on five different categories by selected teachers, Fei said. The categories consisted of most creative, best decorated, best frosting, best cake, and best of show, she explained.

“The judges were Ms. Shine, Mr. and Ms. Schletzbaum, Ms. Moore, and Mr. Fagundes,” Fei said. “Everyone got a prize for participating,” Fei added.

Seniors Ishrak Ramzan and Ryanna Lui won the grand prize of $50 for their entry named “Zanker S’mores,” Fei said. The team won most creative, best decorated, best frosting, and best of show, she added.

“We titled [our] cupcakes Zanker S’mores because we’ve been friends since second grade and we went to Zanker together,” Ramzan said. “As for why we did s’mores cupcake, I don’t think there was anything particular, we just thought it’d be fun.”

This was Ryanna’s second time competing at the Battle of the Cupcakes, Lui said. She competed last year by herself, she added.

The winner of best cake was Sophomore Jenny Beltran, Fei said. Her cake was titled “Pineapple Carrot Cupcake,” Fei added.

“This year I made spiced pineapple cupcakes,” Beltran said. “I really like baking with pineapple because it gives [the cupcake] a natural moisture.”

She was inspired to make it when she watched the holiday baking championship, Beltran said. She practiced a good handful of recipes and eventually settled on that one, practicing at least three times, she added.

“Battle of the cupcakes was a huge success this year,” Fei said. “We had a great turnout and everyone had a lot of fun.”