Fifth Annual Amateur Haunted Cupcake Competition
PASTRY CHICAGO'S HAUNTED CUPCAKE COMPETITION A SCREAM FOR ALL Scary Sweets Charm Shoppers at Westfield Old Orchard Mall's Harvest Fest
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Chicago, Illinois (November 2, 2011) – The cupcake craze continued last weekend at what is quickly becoming Pastry Chicago’s most popular event of the year: the annual amateur Haunted Cupcake Competition. Over forty contestants came to present their spookily-decorated creations to be displayed for the shoppers at Westfield Old Orchard’s Harvest Fest and watch a pastry demonstration by Chef Jonathan Dendauw of The French Pastry School. The cupcakes were judged by a panel composed of an Old Orchard representative and five professional pastry chefs, all graduates of The French Pastry School of Kennedy-King College at City Colleges of Chicago.
Another representative from the school, Chef Dendauw, Master Baker, entertained and educated all the participants while he demonstrated how to make Apple Brioche, a delicious roll with layers of buttery pastry and sweet, sautéed apples. He explained that the quality of the final product always depends on the ingredients used; this is why Pastry Chicago requires all of the contestants to use King Arthur Flour, Plugrá butter and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas in their recipes.
The cupcakes, some classic and some elaborately decorated, were tasted by all of the judges and given points based on their taste, decoration, texture, and the contestant’s punctuality and professionalism. The panel included Nicole Bujewski of Le Flour Bakery; Jessica Ellington of EPIC Restaurant; Tim Geiges of Westfield Old Orchard; Dana Kruger of Sweety Pies; Mamata Reddy of Pomegranate Sweets and Savories; and Javier Trujillo of Kaufman’s Delicatessen and Bakery.
Another representative from the school, Chef Dendauw, Master Baker, entertained and educated all the participants while he demonstrated how to make Apple Brioche, a delicious roll with layers of buttery pastry and sweet, sautéed apples. He explained that the quality of the final product always depends on the ingredients used; this is why Pastry Chicago requires all of the contestants to use King Arthur Flour, Plugrá butter and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas in their recipes.
At the end of the deliberation they awarded first prize, a brick red KitchenAid Stand Mixer, to Michael Reinhart, who placed third in last year’s Haunted Cupcake competition. Reinhart was thrilled to take home first place for his exceptional Coconut Pound Cake with Pineapple Compote and Vanilla Bean Buttercream decorated with sugar tombstones. The second place winner, Charity Bektesi, decorated her Haunted Caramel Apple Cupcakes with a similar theme but had a frosting ghost emerging from a shortbread headstone. Nora Mulvey’s Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, topped with an orange fondant jack-o’-lantern won third place. Fourth place was awarded to current student of The French Pastry School’s L’Art de la Pâtisserie program, Chelsea Doyle and her Bewitching Caramel Apple Cider Cupcakes, decorated with an adorable green apple pâte de fruit witch. Fifth place went to Arlington Heights resident, Lisa Edwards, who submitted her Sour Patch Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes covered in piped, cream cheese frosting vines.
Pastry Chicago’s next competition will be hosted at Esperanza Community Services’ Holiday Art and Gift Festival on Sunday, November 6th. Amateur contestants will get a chance to see a demonstration by Chef Scott Green of The French Pastry School and to submit their recipes for Chocolate and Coffee Brownies for the first ever Annual Brownie competition. For recipes from this month’s winners and more information on future Pastry Chicago events, please visit www.pastrychicago.org.
Download the press release in PDF format here.
Rules and Regulations:
- Decoration theme: Haunted
- Taste component: Poundcake*
- Contestants must submit a total of 12 individual identical standalone
cupcakes: six decorated cupcakes for judging and six
decorated cupcakes for display. All cupcakes must be submitted
at the time of registration. - No additional display items may accompany your cupcakes.
- Cupcake recipes must be submitted with the cupcakes (if no recipe is submitted your cupcakes will not be judged).
- Cupcakes will be served cold or at room temperature. No baking or decorating is done on premises.
- All contestants must use the following ingredients, but are not limited to only these ingredients: Nielsen-Massey Vanilla, Plugrà European-Style Butter and King Arthur Flour. All of these items can be found at your local Whole Foods store.
- Each entry must be the sole work of the entrant.
- All cupcakes and decorations must be edible.
- All entries must be submitted for judging by 2:00 pm (begin to arrive at 1:30 pm).
- Pastry Chicago and Westfield Old Orchard are not responsible for any lost or stolen items or any items left behind. No trays or containers will be returned.
- Only the first 40 entries will be accepted for the competition.
*The original definition of a pound cake was one pound each of: butter, flour, eggs, and sugar. Many of today’s pound cake recipes no longer follow that rule exactly but still maintain approximate equal quantities of those main ingredients, and can have a variety of flavors. The texture is dense, with a tight crumb.
For information on becoming a participant of the competition or should you have any questions please contact Maggie Fahey at info@pastrychicago.org, 312.726.2419 ext.208.
