And the Winner Is...

OK, sweeties. I know you've been just dying to hear the results of our totally sweet "So You Wanna Be a CakeSpy?" contest! 

To remind you, this contest is inspired by my awesome book, CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life (October 2011). And the prizes were incredible--winner receives an all expenses paid trip to Seattle to hang out and eat cake with ME!

And I want you to know why it's taken such a long time to decide.

Because first, there were hundreds of entries. And we (a committee of me, trusted baker friends, and Sasquatch Books staffers) had to narrow it down to just 30 finalists. Man, that was hard!

And then, I opened it up to readers to vote for their favorite in whatever they'd like--facebook likes, Flickr likes, comments on the site, and even in email or Twitter form. Sheesh! Were they ever difficult to count up!

And then, after they were counted up, I said "I simply cannot do this anymore! How can I decide!" and took the pressure off of myself by taking myself out of the final voting process, instead passing on the top 5 based on votes, and had the committee to the final voting for me.

The finalists were judged on creativity, craveability, and overall embodiment of the CakeSpy spirit.

And, without further delay, here are the three winners.

Grand Prize: Neapolitan Blondie Bars by Molly Allen! Per committee input: "not rainbow but multi-hued, and certainly whimsical and rich and delicious in the CakeSpy tradition." Molly wins: The Grand Prize, provided in partnership with Sasquatch Books--a trip for two to CakeSpy headquarters in Seattle and a visit to one of MY favorite bakeries for an afternoon of sweet treats. Other prizes include original signed CakeSpy artwork, CakeSpy goodies such as unicorn socks, and signed copies of CakeSpy Presents.

Prize 2: The "Veruca" by Mary P.! (finalist 28). Per committee input: "Brownie GOOD marshmallow GOOD choc Rice Crispy treat GOOD". Mary wins a copy of my book and a gift certificate to CakeSpy Shop!

Prize 3: Frau Brownies by Linda H.! Per committee input: "I think I just gained 20 pounds. In the best way possible." Linda wins a copy of the book and a gift certificate to CakeSpy Shop!

But even after taking myself out of the voting, I've decided that I simply couldn't ignore the awesome factor and am therefore assigning two more "Honarable Awesome" prizes--each will get a signed copy of the CakeSpy book, AND a pair of cupcake unicorn robot socks! These will go to:

Cookie Time! By Blondie & Brownie

Agent Oink's Funfetti Cake Balls (Finalist 19)

If you're a winner, congratulations! We'll get in contact over the weekend for your deets. Thank you to EVERYONE who entered the contest - you are all truly an inspiration and have made me feel so sweet indeed.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links

Image: The Decorated CookieRainbow Unicorn Cookies, oh my!

Le Yum: Caramel! Apple! Cupcakes!

Mmm...coffee and doughnut cupcakes!

Who do YOU think makes the best pie in NYC?

In Richmond, VA, Millie's Diner makes Peanut Butter Oreo Gelato. Must visit! 

What is Opera Cake? Learn about it here.

Who loves frosting? Um, how about everyone? A great round up here!

Thanks to Not Martha for introducing me to this sweet Cake History Pict-o-Gram.

Make these for me: Cornflakes Peanut Butter Cookies!

Something I kind of love: Pistachio cake!

Sweet memories: remember these cookies made using Jiffy Muffin mix?

Cookie dough stuffed Reese's cups? Oh yes.

Why Bake, when you can Bakewell? Take a look at these Bakewell Tarts! (thanks, Claire!)

Make your own marshmallows! here's a great recipe.

Let's Roll Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pie Stuffed Cinnamon Roll Recipe from The Miss Cupcake

CakeSpy Note: This was one of the entries from my "So You Wanna Be a CakeSpy?" Contest--that was too good not to share! Thanks to The Miss Cupcake for sharing the recipe.

Nothing brings families together like Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, or so they say. In this off the wall dessert, the cinnamon roll is just the overcoat to its delicious cake-like insides. Unwrap the cinnamon flesh and feast your eyes and heart upon a snickerdoodle stuffed whoopie pie. Maine, who has claimed the whoopie pie origin, has no rights to this delicious “prize inside” delight. Cookie, whoopie pie, cinnamon roll, Oh my! Mr. Doughboy, now would be a good time to get on that elliptical. *insert “snicker” here…teehhehehe*

Cinnamon Roll:

• 1 package cinnamon rolls, icing included

• Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies (recipe included)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a small cookie sheet.

2. Unroll cinnamon rolls. Using four cinnamon rolls per whoopie pie, place one cinnamon roll on the top of each whoopie pie, one on the bottom, and two on the sides. You will need to stretch the rolls to cover the entire whoopie pie.

3. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown and cooked through.

4. Warm icing, pour over cinnamon rolls. Serve immediately

Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies (Makes about 12 whoopie pies)

Whoopie Shell:

• 1 Vanilla Cake Mix (I use Pillsbury)

• Water, oil, and eggs called for on the back of the box

• 1 cup flour

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough:

• ½ cup vegetable shortening

• 1 egg

• ¾ cup granulated sugar

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp. cream of tartar

• ½ tsp. baking soda

• ¼ tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/3 cup sugar

Filling:

• 2 egg whites

• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

• 1 1/2 cup vegetable shortening

• 1/4 cup flour

• 2 Tbsp. milk

• 5 cups 10x sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Prepare cookie dough by creaming shortening, egg, and sugar. In a small bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to egg mixture. Place cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Roll into small 1-inch balls, cover in sugar mixture, and slightly flatten. Place on cookie sheets about 2-3 inches apart.

3. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Add flour and cinnamon until combined and smooth. Place dough on cookie sheets (on top of each cookie dough ball) by using a large cookie scoop or two spoons.

4. Bake for 16-18 minutes or firm to the touch and lightly golden brown. Cool for 1-2 minutes and transfer to cooling racks.

5. While baking, prepare filling. Combine egg whites, vanilla, shortening, flour, milk and half of the sugar. Once combined, add the rest of the sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes.

6. Pipe or spread filling between two shells.

7. Serve immediately or cover each whoopie pie with plastic wrap.

Sweet Super Bowl: Sweet Cupcakes of Boston offers a Baked Buffet

Um, so...I don't watch football, but I love it when cupcakes do! Here are what may be the cutest Super Bowl cupcakes ever, from SWEET in Boston. Here's the 411 on obtaining this sweet spread for yourself if you live in the area:

To cheer on the New England Patriots as they advance to Super Bowl XLVI, Boston’s favorite cupcake shop, Sweet, introduces The Owner’s Sweet cupcake package, a custom-designed football field of cupcakes ready to “wow” any Super Bowl party. The Owner’s Sweet includes:

• 73 team player full-size cupcakes hand-dipped in Patriots sprinkles and topped with edible hand-cut fondant jerseys each numbered in frosting with every number on the Patriot roster
• 1 coach full-size cupcake topped with signature Belichick “hoodie”
• 1 football full-size cupcake
• 1 football field printed tablecloth 

The Owner’s Sweet cupcake package is available for order January 23-February 3, 2012 online (sweetcupcakes.com), via email (orders@sweetcupcakes.com) or by phone (617.247.2253).

Orders for The Owner’s Sweet are required 48-hours in advance of pick up or delivery time. Cupcake flavors are an assortment of vanilla, chocolate and red velvet. The Owner’s Sweet, 75 custom-made cupcakes and tablecloth, retails for $300.

Just Doughnut: Doughnut Soup Recipe for Serious Eats

Why eat from "soup to nuts" when you can get all the important stuff in one delicious bowl of Doughnut Soup?

This creamy, dreamy dish is the ultimate in doughnut decadence. It starts by caramelizing glazed doughnuts in a buttery bath, then mixing it with milk and heating the mixture until the flavors merge beautifully in a hot, sweet, very creamy broth. It's my easy-to-prepare take on a dessert served at Chicago'sMoto, a restaurant revered in the world of molecular gastronomy.

Note: Of course, while not mandatory, it's far more adorable when garnished with mini doughnuts before serving.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Cake Byte: Cupcake Royale Brings Back the Deathcake Royale!

Image: Cupcake RoyaleIt's that time of year again. That beautiful time of year when Cupcake Royale brings the Deathcake Royale back to the masses, for a limited time only.

As they put it:

DEATHCAKE IS HERE - Seattle's most lovingly lethal cupcake is back – reformulated in a sharable babysize.

In a laboratory explosion of sheer genius, the Cupcake Royale scientists created the cult fave Deathcake Royale: Theo Chocolate decadence fused with Stumptown Espresso Ganache and accessorized with a pinch of fleur de sel.

Personally, while I loved the scale of the big version, the smaller version is still crazy delicious, and probably better for your health. I'll just eat three to make up for the dainty size, ok?

For more, visit the Cupcake Royale website!

Sweetness by the Pound: A Pound Cake Recipe from Street Treats

CakeSpy Note: Street Treats, a mobile dessert truck in Seattle, recently sent this interesting story and recipe via their newsletter--very fun to see the process behind their recipe development! This was written by the Street Treats team:

We are often asked: How do you find recipes? We are constantly coming up with ideas and testing. We search for recipes from a variety of sources. We make those recipes as written. Then, 99.9% of the time, we make many modifications to the original recipe to decide on the perfect taste.

Recently, we had some of our wholesale clients asking for quick breads or pound cake. I found this pound cake recipe from my grandmother. My grandmother was a great cook! I can still smell her cooking as I write this. She had a real sweet tooth, like myself.

 Nana's pound cake recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 t lemon rind *optional
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 cup margarine *butter is best
• 8 oz pineapple or mandarin yogurt or sour cream
• 3 eggs

Procedure

Combine all ingredients blend on low speed, then on medium speed for three minutes.  Pour into 12 cup bundt pan or tube pan. 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes.

For more information about Street Treats or to follow them around Seattle, visit their website!

Sweet Discovery: Trenary Toast from Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Image: Trenary Toast website

Have you ever heard of Trenary Toast?

It's sort of like a cross between biscotti and cinnamon toast, and it's a specialty of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I learned of it on The Splendid Table and nearly broke everything in my path to google the stuff.

To learn a little more about the sweet itself, I'll give you the description from the Trenary House Bakery website:

Our toast is made from a sweet white bread, baked fresh daily. To create our cinnamon toast, we paint the bread with a wash and hand coat each piece with a tantalizing cinnamon and sugar mixture. It is then baked again to acheive that delicious crispy crunch for dunking into your favorite beverage.

As Jane and Michael Stern echo, "Like biscotti and zwieback, Trenary Toast is a brittle breadstuff eminently suitable for dunking."

Seems that this has been a specialty of the area since the 1930s, when the bakery was built; even through the time the bakery (with living quarters) was changed to a boarding house, and then back to a bakery (which it is now), the toast has been a mainstay. 

You can order online, or as they urge on the site,

Come and visit us in Trenary in the heart of Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula and try some of our delicious Trenary Toast in the familiar brown bag, have a cup of coffee and freshly baked Cinnamon Roll. Take yourself back in time when everything was fresh and sweet to the taste. A simplier time, hand crafted by people who care.

Sounds good to me. Find out more at the Trenary Home Bakery website!

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links

The Starbucks Effect: interesting to see the effect of Starbucks canceling a contract with a commercial bakery.

...and another account, different bakery, similar story.

Jubilee! Cherries Jubilee from Whipped the Blog.

Sweet history: Many interesting stories about sweets in History on a Plate by Eric Stanway

Why I bake my own birthday cake: a sweet recipe and essay on The Kitchn.

Dessert Wontons? I can dig it.

Watch your cupcake! TSA Cupcake Crackdown.

Slow but steady: Turtle Cake worth waiting for.

Whoopie! Whoopie pies find a sweet spot in Arizona.

Bread with chocolate and olive oil. Yum!

OMG! Sparkly rainbow Unicorn Poop cookies. Funny!

Bakery I wanna visit: Oh So Sweet Sugar Boutique in Surrey, BC

Interesting: The importance of Salt in sweets.

Trompe l'oeil cakes for the ages - thanks to Maggie of Serious Eats for sharing!

So You Wanna Be a CakeSpy? Contest Finalists

All I have to say is: O.M.G.

The entries (hundreds!!) for the "So You Wanna Be a CakeSpy?" contest were simply out of this world insane!

To narrow it down to a winner is going to be nearly impossible. Even with a crew of cake experts, who judged entries based on creativity, cuteness, OM NOM NOM factor and overall awesomeness, thus far we have only been able to narrow it down to these thirty entries. 

The winners stand to win some fantastic prizes: The Grand Prize, provided in partnership with Sasquatch Books, is a trip for two to CakeSpy headquarters in Seattle and a visit to one of MY favorite bakeries for an afternoon of sweet treats. Other prizes include original signed CakeSpy artwork, CakeSpy goodies such as unicorn socks, and signed copies of CakeSpy Presents.

Want to participate? Weigh in, either in the comments section, on Flickr, or on Facebook, and let us know which is your favorite! We will take your comments, flickr and facebook "likes" on each photo into account! Help us deliberate! Here are the finalists, listed in the order that they were received:

Finalist 1: Neapolitan Blondie Bars by Molly A.

By combining three sweet flavors, Neapolitan Blondie Bars were born. A bar consisting of three layers: Strawberry Blondie, Vanilla Blondie, and Chocolate Brownie.  Here you have my recipe, topped with Hundreds and Thousands (sprinkles) for a nice Ice Cream Shop feel. These treats do have to be made in steps, as they consist of three layers, but it is more than worth it. The strawberry layer provides moisture for the whole treat, and the mixture of flavors actually makes it taste like the ever popular creamy Neapolitan ice cream we all know and love. Link to the recipe here on cakefyi.com

Finalist 2: Funfetti Truffle Chocolate Cupcakes by Erin V.

Funfetti truffle chocolate cupcakes are the ultimate cupcakes! These chocolate cupcakes are stuffed with funfetti cake batter truffles, which are baked right into them. But it didn’t stop there with the cake batter/funfetti-ness, oh no sir, I just HAD to top it all off with green cake batter cream cheese frosting! I didn’t think it got any better than cream cheese frosting. Of course that was then followed by sprinkles. Cannot have a funfetti cupcake without sprinkles now can we? Link here.

Finalist 3: Oreo Brownies with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl by Emily S.

My name is Emily and I am the writer/dessert enthusiast for EmLoves. My entry for the "So You Wanna Be A Cakespy?" contest is my Oreo Brownies with a Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl. I eat A LOT of dessert, but these brownies (oh these brownies) are easily one of my favorite creations. It's THE BEST brownie you will ever have, topped and swirled with peanut butter cheesecake, and then covered with copious amounts of Oreo chunks. It really cannot get any better. Here is my blog post for the entry!

Finalist 4: Batter Belly Dough Cake by Lauren E.

Batters’ Up! This mile high mini cake is sure to please any batter-licking soul. The hip hugging delight starts with a chocolate chip cookie layer, and then is topped with cookie dough filling. Bring on the brownie with a chocolate fudge variety which is blanketed under a plump layer of brownie batter filling. Lastly, a moist funfetti layer sends this cake into doughy harmony. Laced with a cake batter frosting and topped with mini baked treats, this dessert is no dream, it’s an unbaked ecstasy. Dough you want to try it?

Finalist 5: S'moretroopers by Jenn F.

I love Star Wars and it especially influences my dessert making! I wanted to do a riff on a traditional smores, but in cupcake form. A chocolate cupcake filled with marshmallow fluff, topped with a decadent chocolate buttercream - topped with a Stormtrooper shaped graham cracker, which of course would be called a SMOREStrooper! Link here.

Finalist 6: Cake Fried Whoopie Pie Sundae by Jared S.

Sundays used to be for family, church, and long drives through the countryside (at a slow pace, of course).  Then, something happened…the “y” got replaced with an “e”, and sundaes were never the same again.  They became something of indulgence and lust.  Picture a creamy frozen treat mounted atop a sizzling ball of cake batter fried goodness with a luscious whoopie pie tucked inside all warm and snuggly (like your favorite childhood blanky). This bad boy, weighing in at a hefty 25 pounds, (give or take 24 pounds), will change your life in more ways than imaginable.  

Finalist 7: Whack and Unwrap Chocolate Orange Bars by Becca T.

Whack! Biting into the chocolate-orange I had just smashed on the table—the kind I find at the bottom of my stocking every year— Icrave to have this flavor combo more often.  Whack again! An idea smashes into my brain.  Taking my favorite lemon-bar recipe, I addGhirardelli cocoa powder to the shortbread crust, top it with a layer of chopped chocolate-orange pieces, and substitute into the filling fresh-squeezed OJ, orange zest, and a spoonful of orange marmalade (for that extra orangey oomph).  The result… citrusy tang mingles blissfully with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate decadence to form anunbreakable flavor combo.

Finalist 8: Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Covered Mint Oreos inside by Andrea B.

Chocolate brownie cupcakes with chocolate-covered mint Oreos inside, and mint buttercream or mint
chocolate buttercream frosting. Link here.

Finalist 9: Chocolate Crunch Confetti Cake by Jency W.

I designed this Chocolate Crunch Confetti Cake for my dad's 65th birthday. Since he's a New Year's baby I created a cake that embodied novelty, exuberance and extravagance. I baked a chocolate cake and added a crunch layer from an orange crunch cake for textural pizazz. For the icing I borrowed my mom's cream cheese frosting recipe and I dyed the coconut with food dye in individual batches. The combination of flavors and colors made for dramatic presentation. Cutting through the three dark layers hiding beneath the snowy frosting and rainbow coconut was like ripping into another birthday surprise altogether!

Finalist 10: Donut Pies by Jory S.

I followed the recipe using buttercream filling. After removing the donuts from the fryer, they were dipped in a mixture of cinnamon-sugar. Lastly, they were frosted with whipped chocolate and embellished with more cinnamon-sugar and rainbow sprinkles. This book is inspiring and fantastic! Grilled cheesecake and birthday cake French toast are next! 

Finalist 11: Valhalla Bars by Carrie F.

Valhalla bars, otherwise known as "heaven in your mouth"are delicate, nutty, just ever so slightly salty and sweet brown butter, pretzel shortbread, smothered in gooey, creamy, buttery caramel then topped with a thin blanket of rich dark chocolate ganache. See? SERIOUSLY heaven in your mouth!! Link here.

Entry 12: Peanut Butter/Toffee Cupcakes by David S.

Our Peanut Butter/Toffee cupcake is packed with power and passion, as all cupcakes should be! We created a delicious, moist peanut butter cake with toffee covered peanut baked inside and a light peanut butter buttercream on top with a single toffee peanut right smack in the middle! Our kitchen smelled so good and I have to admit, my wife and I licked the bowl, spoon and devoured two cupcakes each before taking pictures! I hope you like them!!!

Entry 13: Banana Caramel Coconut Cream Pie with Dark Rum by Joanna S.

I love desserts that call upon childhood memories, but have adult flavor. What is a better combination of that than animal crackers and dark rum? This Banana Caramel Coconut Cream Pie with Dark Rum makes people who don't like coconut want to eat it every day and makes everyone who has eaten it give into their baser urges (i.e. sugar and cream and sweet nom nom nom). I am a cake person, and this pie is the best competitor I've ever had for one of my cupcakes. And coming from me, that's a big deal. Link here.

Finalist 14: Frau Brownies by Linda H.

Named after its creator, a local high school German teacher, this recipe has been passed on by word of mouth across the community. Legend has it that the recipe has even appeared in a Purdue University dining court. Frau brownies consist of a triple layer of childhood flavors combined into a decadent treat. The base is a cakey brownie followed by a thick spread of marshmallow fluff which is topped by a crunchy mix of rice crispies with equal parts melted peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Best served warm and when feeling nostalgic about being a kid again. Here's a link.

Finalist 15: Cookie Time Cookies by Alexandra

If there's anything I've learned from years of following CakeSpy, it's to look for the whimsy and sweetness in life. And what could be sweeter than Cookie Monster on a cookie, eating a cookie, while chatting on CookieTime? Made from Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough, homemade buttercream frosting, food coloring and, of course, love, these treats are perfect for techie-philes and cookie-philes alike. For instructions how to make your own "CookieTime" cookies, click here.

Finalist 16: Cold Cookie Pie by Juliann L.

A cookie-lovers delight, this ice cream cake has layers of cookie-dough ice cream, hot fudge, peanut butter truffle, crumbled oreos and, of course, chocolate chip cookies on top. Did I mention it's delicious? Link here.

Finalist 17: Drug Cake by Becca S.

The sweetest dessert I have encountered is a cake I purchased from a lady out of her home in the sketchy part of town and paid for with a bundle of cash.  This made me feel like I was dealing drugs and inspired my name for it: Drug Cake (also, the feeling of chocolate comatose bliss after indulging).  Drug Cake is a decadent triple-layer chocolate buttermilk cake filled with assorted rich ganaches and frosted with silky mocha buttercream.  The top is piled precariously high with chocolate cake balls, Grand Marnier chocolate truffles, Guittard chocolate shavings and classic chocolate covered strawberries.

Finalist 18: Pie Tatin by Jessica T.

Tarte tatin is already amazing, with its decadent apples and caramel that can make you dream in butter. But I'm also a fan of pie, as pie is awesome, and cinnamon-sugar swirled pie crust just makes everything better. So, I put the two together and added in a whole vanilla bean. I now regret that I didn't triple the batch size. Links to recipes used here and here.

Finalist 19:  Tricked Out Funfetti Cake Balls

Agent Oink is part of the CakeSpy detective agency, disguised as an oven timer inside the kitchen of Allyson Dwyer. His mission is to help make delicious and adorable desserts to report back to the CakeSpy Agency. To test his discoveries, he shares them at parties among his kitchen friends who help him to come up with new baking ideas. This week he is investigating how to make these vanilla-frosting-filled, white-chocolate-drenched, Funfetti cake balls bigger, more festive, and ultra delicious by stuffing them with fresh chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter cups, and chocolate caramels. What will his verdict be?! 

Entry 20: Beach Dessert by Elizabeth M.

These are beach desserts, made of butterscotch pudding, crumbled graham crackers, chocolate-candy coated “sea shells,” blue Jell-o, Swedish fish, and whipped cream, garnished with drink umbrellas. Prepare both the pudding and Jell-o as directed and let it cool a bit before pouring them into plastic cocktail cups. Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs on top of the pudding, then add the “shells” and umbrella. Wait for the Jell-o to solidify, then put in the fish by sticking the end of a knife into the Jell-o and pushing them in. Lastly, add some whipped cream to the top for "whitecaps."

Entry 21: Chocolate "Salami" treats by Kati S.

See the salami-looking treats on top of the regular cookies? This is dark chocolate salami, my version of a common Portuguese treat. Instead of Maria cookies, I used animal crackers. Along with dark Hershey's cocoa, butter, eggs, sugar, and a splash of Kahlua, this treat is easy (if a tad messy) to make, requires no baking (so use fresh eggs), and is ridiculously delicious. The best part is that the odds of someone else making it in the U.S. is essentially nil, so no repeats! Unique and yummy, that's my fave.

Finalist 22: Turtle Tiramisu Cheesecake by Lori R.

I want to be a Cake Spy! Here is my dessert for your consideration. It doesn't get much sweeter than when a turtle cheesecake meets tiramisu. Sweet lady fingers firmly grounded in a chocolate graham cracker crust grasp a creamy cheesecake filling topped with melted chocolate and caramel. Link here.

Finalist 23: Coffee Hazelnut Gateau by Kim L.

For the Cake Spy Contest I decided to do a twist on the typical coffee sponge cake by creating a multi layered hazelnut coffee gâteau with a delicious creamy yet light white chocolate bavarois with spices and cocoa powder in between each layer. Then to top it all off I drizzled chocolate ganache made with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon.  As for garnishing, I added a magenta flower and white chocolate designs. The gâteau had rich subtle flavors and the multiple cake layers added a light airy texture but it was still smooth and creamy with the ganache topping. Link here.

Finalist 24: Strawberry Rice Krispie Cupcakes by Jeanee D.

This experiment I concocted was my husband's idea. We saw strawberry marshmallows in the grocery store and he thought it would be a good idea to make some rice krispie treats with them. I finally gave in, and at the last minute he grabbed strawberry icing to add. "What?," I thought. "Strawberries in my rice krispies and NOW icing?" I thought this man was mad!I took it up a notch and made the treats look like cupcakes. It was the most cute and delicious sugar high ever! See the tutorial here.

Finalist 25: Faux Chili by Jennifer B.

Savor the sweetness of summer with this delish dish: A trifle of cupcakes and strawberry puree decorated with candy beans, crumbled chocolate-hazlenut candies, sliced apple licorice and a dollop of fresh buttercream frosting. No Independence Day hero is complete without a sidekick. Close by its side is a mini cupcake smeared with more buttercream and topped with a butter mint.

Finalist 26: Lemon Drop bites by Shaina M.

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream Bites. This Ice cream recipe does not require an ice cream maker and the ice cream is frozen in  lemon rinds then cut into wedges for a super cute sweet snack! Link here.

Finalist 27: Unicorn Cake Pops by Heather M.

This is my Unicorn Cake Pop.  Inside she is delicious devil's food cake mixed with dark chocolate frosting.  Outside she is dipped in Guittard white chocolate coating.  Her ears are white chocolate chips (applied before dipping) and her mane is Guittard strawberry candy coating.  She is dusted with pink pearl dust (Wilton).  Her horn is made of candy clay (modeling chocolate) and dusted with silver sparkle dust (CK Products).  She has candy eyeballs and her eyelashes, smile and nostrils are drawn on with Americolor Gourmet Writers.

Finalist 28: The Veruca by Mary P.

A silky pumpkin pie baked (flaky crust and all!) into a white cake and layered with additional cakey goodness and gooey pecan pie deliciousness.  Frosted with a heavenly whipped cream frosting and garnished with pecan praline, this dessert medley is the answer to the ultimate Turkey Day dilemma… How to fit every personal favorite dessert perfectly on my fork.

What would you call such a concoction? The Veruca, of course!  Since it is everything a spoiled little girl could possibly ask for in a dessert.

Finalist 29: Choco-Fluffernutter Ice Cream Sandwich by Amy G.

Last summer I came home from work inspired to make oatmeal peanut butter cookies.  I made the cookies, and upon remembering a few sweet accompaniments in my cupboard and freezer, did not stop there.  I created a choco-fluffernutter ice cream sandwich: one scoop of double dark chocolate gelato and a generous dollop of marshmallow fluff sandwiched between two fresh peanut butter cookies! Link here.

Finalist 30: Beer Crispy Treats by Nom N.

Beer Crispy Treats are decadent upon decadent - sugar on sugar. First homemade beer marshmallow fluff gets whipped up. Then it is mixed with browned butter [oh so good!] and puffed rice cereal. Once the whole gooey mess sets up in a pan, the squares are dipped in dark chocolate and drizzled [or drowned] in homemade beer caramel sauce. 

With all the sweet flavors in each bite, the beer becomes a background player - adding some spice and depth, not really screaming beer. It's all about the sugars and textures playing together. Link here.