CRAZY CAKES

Things got kind of crazy in Becky Bruce's Culinary Arts classes at Malta High School on Tuesday, April 10. There was a war; one of the cupcake variety.

"A lot of the kids watch Food Network and they like the show Cupcake Wars and so they thought it would be fun for them to try," Mrs. Bruce told the PCN. "It has been great. They get creative ideas."

Thirteen teams throughout Mrs. Bruce's two Culinary Arts periods wowed each other and students and staff members of the high school in the fourth annual event.

In the third period class, Magnus Franzen and Michael Pugh took first place, Adam Mummey and Payton Clausen took second place and Shelby Jones took third place.

From the fifth period class, Ben Costin and Tori Siewing, Turk Salsbery and Kendrick Wright, and TaChante Cole and Monicha Williamson tied for first place from the judges, while Kailey Crowder and Brenda Roozendaal won the People's Choice Award.

This year, Mrs. Bruce upped the challenge for the entries.

"This year they had to pick a theme for their cupcakes and then they had to pick a special ingredient that they focused on when they made the cupcake, like strawberries or chocolate," Bruce said.

Each team was given a week to plan out their approach to the battle.

The cupcakes were judged by a few Malta High School teachers and faculty.

"The judges have a rubric that they follow," Bruce said. "There are five judges that judge the appearance and taste of their cupcake, their professional appearance and how hey presented their cupcakes."

A large number of Malta High students voted for People's Choice.

The PCN caught up with a few contestants and past winners before the judging began in the fifth period.

Tyler Arnold was paired with Rya Soul last year and they won the event with their Chocolate Cherry Coke themed cupcake in 2017.

"We were talking about doing something pop related and we found cherry flavoring and combined the flavors," Soul said.

Through the process, the duo found that trial and error paid off, having attempted the recipe five times before getting the product they wanted.

"I think the frosting was the best part," Soul said.

"It was almost like a cherry whipped creme filled, a chocolate butter creme on a chocolate cupcake, " Arnold added.

This year Arnold did not compete, while Soul was paired with Cormac Benn.

"We did a cookie dough filling with white cupcake mix and we did a cookie buttercream frosting," Soul said.

They also made cookies with extra cookie dough.

A bystander this year, Arnold felt Cole and Williamson would win the event with their Creamsicle themed cupcake.

Though she was not a winner this year, first-time cupcake maker, Vicktoria Adams and her partner Shelby Ferrell made Chocolate and peanut butter Reese's themed cupcakes in a whimsical approach that reminded viewers of a beach.

"I have octopuses, crabs, and beach towels," Adams said. "This is my first time doing Cupcake Wars and I think they look pretty good."

Co-First place winners Salsbery and Wright went with a Tres Leches Cupcake.

"It has condensed milk, evaporated milk and we used heavy whipping cream," Salsbery said.

Co-First Place Winners Costin and Siewing face a dilemma with their fresh take on Folie Du Chocolat.

"Chocolate craze was our theme," Costin said. "We just have chocolate on chocolate on chocolate."

The issue was that during the sample building process, the strawberry topped cupcake quarters would not stay together. Despite the issue, Costin was confident they weren't going to lose points.

"They are going to taste really good, so I hope not," Costin said. "They should just judge the ones that are still intact."