Tasty Tigers claim 3rd straight win in Cupcake Wars

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jarrod Grammel
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga., --  Amid the smell of tropical fruit and cake batter, Tasty Tigers baked their way to their third straight victory during Cupcake Wars 3 at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., July 23.

As the teams baked against the clock, their efforts were streamed live to an audience in the dining area, while a host offered commentary and interviewed the teams on their progress.

Team Shake-N-Bake, made up of  U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Brittany Serrano and Capt. Melissa Garcia, took second place in Cupcake Wars 3.

"This is the third time, and because we won both previous times, we felt like we had to uphold our name and compete again," said Staff Sgt. Vanessa Thomas, Tasty Tigers.

The theme for Cupcake Wars 3 was tropical, and at least one of three cupcakes had to contain one of the secret tropical fruits of mango, kiwi, pineapple, papaya, banana or oranges.

"We had kind of assumed it would be something dealing with either back to school or summer," said Rachael Holder, Team Tasty Tigers. "So we had contemplated different fruit cupcakes and things that go along with this time of year."

Along with tropical fruit in their recipes, Tasty Tigers used toasted coconut as sand, and fitted one of their cupcakes with a decorative umbrella to further represent the tropical theme.

"Our whole inspiration was just keeping up with that theme," said Holder. "We came up with the Hawaii idea to make it look like a beach party, so that's where we came up with plating. Then we threw in the campfire one just to be a little different from a total fruit thing."

Staff Sgt. Phillip Burns II of Firehouse Cupcakes was impressed with Tasty Tigers presentation but hoped his cupcakes would be superior in taste.

"I'm very competitive, so if I was to say I had some type of fear, it would've been ahead of time," he said. "When I saw them plate their stuff, I thought we had a great chance of winning. I really did like what the winning team had. Their cupcakes followed the theme well, they were very festive, and they presented them really well.

"Yes, I still thought we had a great chance of winning (after seeing the competitor's cupcakes)," he added. "You can make a meal look pretty, but it's still a meal. So, I figured ours tasted better, and that's what I was banking on the entire time."

Senior Airman Tanica Case, 23d Force Support Squadron services journeyman and event organizer, said she was very impressed with the cupcakes each team made. Case had previously competed on the dining facility team during the competition in January of 2012.

"It's a morale booster, and it gives those who work outside of the dining facility a chance to see what we do," said Case. "This is an opportunity for people to go back into the kitchen and compete against us, who do this every day.

"I think they were all amazing," she added. "They all looked really amazing. I actually thought the firefighters, the only males there, did a really good job."

As the only male team to ever compete, Burns said he was excited but felt a certain type of pressure to do well.

"Well, I've been cooking for the last 14 years for the fire department, so it's only right that I share my culinary expertise with the rest of the base and see how well we do," said Burns. "There were only women in the competition, so we wanted to show what us guys can do.

"I felt excited," he added. "I had my fellow firefighter with me, supporting me and me supporting him. I really felt like we had a great chance of coming in first place."

However, Firehouse Cupcakes' confidence wasn't enough to beat the defending champions, Tasty Tigers, who came back to win despite have technical difficulties with their oven.

"We had some technical difficulties," said Thomas of Tasty Tigers. "The cupcakes weren't baking properly. When we went back to double check everything, the oven had actually been turned down 75 degrees."

Tasty Tigers was given a few extra minutes to compensate for the technical difficulties, but the setback left them frustrated and losing confidence.

"Also, I think the competition this year was a little more intimidating than in previous years," said Holder of Tasty Tigers. "All the teams seemed to be cohesive and working together. Then watching them decorate, I noticed they really decorated quite well. Since most of them were beating us on time, we pretty much thought we had lost it."

Holder said that after their third straight win, Tasty Tigers is planning to come back and defend their title. Burns said he will also likely compete again next time.