Winner Bakes All

by Sheryl Berk

  “That’s the tricky part,” Sadie said. “They really don’t go together—but I think we can pull it off.” She whispered in Kylie’s ear.

  “Oh, no. Really?” Kylie sighed. “Okay, let’s put it to a quick vote: all in favor of a chili and cheesecake cupcake, raise your hand.”

  Jenna gasped. “Chili and cheesecake? Un momento, por favor! How spicy are we talking?”

  “Hot. My dad likes his chili very, very hot. Like three-alarm-blaze hot.”

  “Ouch!” said Delaney. “We want to wow the judges…not set them on fire.”

  “I think we can do it,” Kylie interrupted. “A sweet, light, cream cheese frosting would balance out the heat of the cupcake.”

  Jenna nodded. “We could blend some chili spices into a dark chocolate batter. My abuela made a delicious ‘hot chocolate’ cake once. I think I remember how…some cayenne, a little ground chili pepper…”

  “And I can make a realistic chili pepper out of fondant and put it on top of the cupcake,” Lexi offered.

  Sadie cheered. “I knew we could pull it off!”

  “Not so fast,” Kylie reminded them. “We haven’t pulled it off yet. And the clock is down to forty-five minutes.”

  “Cupcake bakers, opposites attract…but will you repel the judges?” Jerry teased. “Forty-five minutes left!”

  “Team PLC,” Sadie said, pulling them all into a huddle, just like she’d seen her coach do. “Two-four-six-eight, let’s get baking something great!”

  As the cupcake club scrambled to figure out their recipe, the rest of the bakers in the battle were also struggling.

  “I said I wanted fresh mozzarella,” Benny shouted, throwing shredded cheese at one of his assistants as the cameraman zoomed in for a close-up. “How many times do I have to tell you?”

  “Is he making a pizza or a cupcake?” Jenna asked.

  “And those sisters do nothing but fight!” Lexi pointed out.

  Cece and Chloe were having a tug-of-war in the middle of their kitchen as Mr. Goldberg, the associate producer, instructed the sound technicians to make sure they were catching every word.

  “I’m making the frosting,” Cece yelled, grabbing a pink bowl out of Chloe’s hands. “Mommy says I make the best frosting!”

  “Mommy always likes your cupcakes better than mine!” whined Chloe. “But this time I’m doing the frosting!”

  “OMG, did you say these people were professionals?” Delaney asked. “They sound more like little kids in the school yard!”

  “It doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing,” Kylie said, trying to focus her team. Then she spotted Dina whipping up her signature tofu frosting…and pouring in pickle juice! “Did you guys see that? What is she doing?”

  Sadie stepped in and took charge. “Guys, Kylie’s right. We have to concentrate on our cupcake!”

  “We want this dark chocolate cupcake to have some fire to it,” Jenna said. She carefully measured one-eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and gently mixed it into the batter. “This should do it.”

  “Are you sure?” Kylie asked. “I mean, are you positive it’s not going to set the judges mouths on fire?”

  “Remember what Benny told me,” Sadie cautioned. “It has to have a little zip and zing…or was it zing and zip? I can’t remember!”

  “I tasted it three times…it’s great,” Jenna insisted.

  “But does it need to be hotter?” Lexi chimed in. “Sometimes the judges complain they can’t taste the heat.”

  Jenna stepped back from the bowl. “A little faith, please?” she said. “I am the official PLC taster, sí?”

  “Jenna’s right,” Kylie said. “We have to get these cupcakes into the oven. We can’t second-guess everything.”

  “Maybe just a pinch more cinnamon?” Sadie pleaded. “My dad’s chili is really spicy.”

  Jenna nodded, sprinkled in a pinch more cinnamon, a dash more cayenne, and took a final taste. “Vámanos!” she said. “To the oven!”

  While they waited for the cupcakes to bake, Lexi and Delaney sculpted tiny fondant chili peppers, and Kylie and Sadie mixed the cinnamon cream-cheese frosting.

  “Do we want creamy or whippy?” Kylie pondered, turning on the mixer.

  “Definitely whippy,” Jenna called. “The lighter and airier, the more it will balance out the richness of the cake.”

  “Fiero always likes it when frosting melts on his tongue,” Sadie recalled. “He said so in at least six episodes.”

  “Whippy it is!” said Kylie, cranking the mixer to its highest setting.

  •••

  “Bakers…twenty minutes is all you’ve got! Will your cupcakes be cool or not so hot?” Jerry called.

  “Okay, now that guy is getting on my nerves!” Jenna exclaimed. She stood at the oven door, watching the cupcakes rise. “They have to be the perfect, spongy, moist consistency. Not too dense…not too gooshy.”

  “What’s ‘gooshy’?” Delaney asked. “Is that a baking term?”

  “It’s a Jenna term,” Sadie explained. “It means the cake is too lumpy and uncooked in the center.”

  “I think ‘gooshy’ sounds better,” Jenna insisted. She opened the oven door and stuck a toothpick in the center of a cupcake. When it came out clean, she announced, “Perfecto!” and headed for the freezer to cool them down in a flash.

  “Ten minutes!” Jerry’s voice rang through the studio.

  Kylie started to panic. “Oh, no! We need to get them frosted now!”

  “Keep calm, girls!” Juliette called from the audience.

  Lexi had her pastry bag loaded and ready to fire. “Bring ’em out!” she called.

  “A few more minutes! They’re not cool enough!” Jenna shouted.

  “We don’t have a few more minutes!” Sadie pleaded. “We need them now! Hurry!”

  Jenna raced with the baking tray toward the counter. But just as she was about to place the cupcakes down, she stepped on Sadie’s skateboard and went sprawling backward. The cupcakes flew out of the tray and into the air.

  “Oh, no!” screamed Kylie. “They’re going to fall on the floor!”

  “I got it! I got it!” Sadie screamed, jumping as high as she could and grabbing two cupcakes in each hand.

  “Put them on the plate!” Lexi shouted, as the rest of the cupcakes—and Jenna—landed with a splat on the kitchen tiles. Sadie set the cupcakes in front of Lexi, who perfectly swirled the frosting on each of them, sprinkled them with cinnamon, and topped them off with the fondant chili peppers.

  “Time’s up! Step away from your cupcakes!” Jerry called.

  The girls stepped away from the counter, panting and sweating.

  “Yow!” yelped Jenna. “Don’t step on me! Girl on the floor, remember?”

  “That was close…too close!” Sadie tried to catch her breath. She helped Jenna to her feet. “You okay?”

  “Lucky for me I had some nice soft cupcakes to break my fall,” Jenna joked. She was covered in dark chocolate cupcake crumbs. “Pretty tasty, if I do say so myself!”

  “Ladies and gentleman,” Jerry called. “Please present your cupcakes to the judges!”

  PLC was up first. “What do I say?” Sadie shook Kylie by the shoulders. “I don’t know what to say!”

  “Just say what you told us. Explain why this cupcake is The Perfect Pair, just like your parents.”

  Sadie took a deep breath and approached the judges’ table. She knew her parents and her brothers, not to mention everyone at Blakely Elementary, would be home watching them on live TV. Mrs. Vanderwall’s lips were tightly pursed, as if she was ready to take a bite out of both Sadie and the cupcake.

  “This cupcake is The Perfect Pair because it’s inspired by two people who belong together,” she said into the camera. “My parents, Bria and Gabriel Harris.”

 
“That’s so sweet!” Carly cooed. “Tell us more, Sadie.”

  “Well, my mom and dad are really opposites. He likes hip-hop music and she likes opera. He watches sports and she loves old romantic movies. Sometimes they fight because they don’t see eye to eye, but I know that deep down, they really love each other. This cupcake combines two of their favorite foods that don’t really sound like they would go together: spicy chili and cheesecake. But when you combine them in a cupcake…well, they’re the perfect pair. Just like my parents.”

  Sadie held her breath, stared straight ahead, and braced herself for the judges’ critiques.

  “Zees coopcake…it eez rich…it eez moist…it eez magnifique!” Fiero said.

  “Did he just say he liked it? I can’t understand his French accent!” Delaney whispered.

  Carly nodded. “I think the hot chocolaty cake and the light cheese frosting blend together beautifully. I was licking my plate. It was yummy.”

  Finally, Mrs. Vanderwall raised her fork and took a bite. “Hmmmm…” she mumbled. “Mmmm.….mmmmm.…mmmmm!”

  Sadie looked puzzled—was that an “I like it” or an “I hate it”?

  “Do you have something to add, Mrs. V?” Jerry asked.

  “From an artistic standpoint, the decoration was quite realistic.”

  Lexi jumped up and down. “Yes! She liked my pepper!”

  “But the flavor…it’s a mistake.” She said the last word so loudly that Sadie flinched.

  “She will never get over it,” Kylie cried. “She’s not going to even give us a chance!”

  “Why is it a mistake?” Jerry asked.

  “I simply don’t appreciate spiciness and creaminess together,” Mrs. Vanderwall replied. “That’s my opinion.”

  When it was the other contestants’ turns, the judges were also divided.

  “I think your pickle and parsnip cupcake is clever,” Carly told Dina. “But I’m missing some sweetness. I wanted more of a treat.”

  “Your marinara and marshmallow coopcake…it was a miss for me,” Fiero told Benny. “You go too far out of zee box.”

  Mrs. Vanderwall commended Cece and Chloe for their Pretty in Pink cupcake. “I love the way you created a cloud of cotton candy over the red beet buttercream,” she cooed. “Such brilliant use of color.”

  “Beets,” Jenna fumed. “I hate beets!”

  But Fiero pointed out that the frosting overpowered their rose-petal-infused cake. “I cannot taste zee flowers,” he complained. “Where are zay? Did zay disappear?”

  Sadie went back to her team. “I think it’s anyone’s game,” she said. “I’m not sure who will go home first.”

  “I hope it’s not us,” said Lexi. “That would be really embarrassing!”

  “You did an awesome job presenting, Sadie,” Kylie said. “You did your best.”

  “I hope my parents liked it,” she replied. “Do you think they did?”

  Kylie shrugged. “They left right after the judging.”

  “They left?” Sadie gasped. “Why? Are they mad at me?”

  “I’m not sure,” Kylie said, trying to calm her. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Maybe your dad had a work emergency. Or your brother Ty set fire to the toaster again. They just probably had to go and didn’t want to distract you.”

  Sadie hated feeling helpless. She wished she could go back and redo the entire first round—rewind the morning in instant replay mode and change everything. She had probably upset her parents and they were mad or embarrassed. But the judges were already huddled at their table, deciding who would stay and who would go.

  “Bakers, please face the judges,” Jerry commanded.

  “No matter what happens, we’re right behind you,” Kylie said, patting Sadie on the back.

  Jerry held a card in his hands. “I have here the results of Round 1,” he began. “One of you is cake royalty…but you failed to make a cupcake that could wow our judges. Benny…I’m sorry. You’re done at Battle of the Bakers.”

  Benny’s eyes grew wide. “But I’m the Cake King…”

  “Yes, yes you are.” Jerry shook his hand. “But for now…it’s ciao!”

  “I don’t believe it!” Kylie exclaimed. “We made Round 2!”

  “It was totally my skateboard wipeout that did it…I’m great on TV,” Jenna teased.

  “Whatever it was, we really have to bring it in the next round!” said Kylie.

  Their cheering section went wild: Kylie’s mom and dad waved a big poster that read, “Peace, Love, and Cupcakes is sweet!” and Lexi’s big sister, Ava, high-fived Jenna’s big sis Gabriella.

  “Go, PLC!” Juliette shouted from the audience. Her boyfriend, Mr. Higgins, was also there, giving them a thumbs-up.

  “Look! Jeremy came!” Lexi said. “That is sooooo nice!” He and his parents waved from the third row and were seated with Delaney’s mom and dad.

  Sadie combed the audience for her parents, but there was no sign of them. She didn’t have much time to worry, though. Jerry summoned her back to the stage for the next round’s instructions. And like Coach always told her, she needed to get her head in the game.

  “This round calls for the opposite of your Round 1 creation. For this baking battle, turn your cupcakes upside down. You have ninety minutes! Go!”

  Sadie raced back to the kitchen. “I don’t get it. Is that some kind of riddle?”

  “I don’t know,” said Kylie. “They’ve never done this on Battle of the Bakers before!”

  “Wait, maybe Jenna can fall again and the cupcakes will land upside down on the judges’ laps?” Delaney suggested.

  “Maybe Jerry means we should reverse what we did with the first cupcake?” Sadie questioned. “Like instead of a hot chocolate cake, make a cold one…”

  “And instead of cool frosting, make it hot?” Kylie followed her train of thought.

  Jenna shook her head. “No way…it can’t be done! In ninety minutes? Not a chance!”

  “What? What can’t be done?” Delaney asked anxiously.

  Sadie shrugged. “It’s worth a try. If we pull it off, we’ll be the first team to ever do a hot fudge sundae cupcake on Battle of the Bakers!”

  “Go through that pantry and find us some ice cream!” Sadie said, shoving Delaney toward the freezer.

  “We’ll need to melt Belgian chocolate on the stove slowly,” said Jenna. “It has to pour smooth and thick over the top of the cupcake.”

  “The ice-cream scoop needs to sit on a cupcake,” Kylie added. “What’s the best flavor we make?”

  “Vanilla bean!” the girls shouted in unison.

  “Then vanilla bean it is! Let’s get baking!”

  Sadie knew the recipe by heart: 2 ¼ cups of flour, 1 ½ cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup of whole milk, 4 eggs, 1 stick of butter, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, and of course, the seeds from one vanilla bean.

  “See, you’re pretty good with memorizing numbers,” Kylie told her. “Ms. Erikka would be proud!”

  While the cupcake base baked, Delaney and Jenna worked at the stove, creating the perfect hot fudge sauce. In a pan, they mixed condensed milk, semi-sweet chocolate, and two tablespoons of butter until the mixture took on a smooth, glossy texture.

  Once the cupcakes cooled, Sadie placed a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, and Lexi drizzled the chocolate over it, making a delicate web. “Should we put a cherry on top?” Delaney asked.

  “No cherries! No cherries!” Sadie shouted. “Fiero hates cherries.” A cameraman shoved a camera in her face, trying to catch her in a moment of panic.

  “Yes, thank you, we’ve got it all under control.” Kylie smiled and waved into the lens. Then she whispered to Sadie, “We can’t freak out on TV. These cameras are recording everything we do and say.”

  Instead of cherries, Lexi made
a white chocolate peace sign and perched it on top of the fudge and ice cream.

  They had only seconds remaining before Jerry called time. “PLC…you presented first last time, so this time you’ll be last.”

  “Oh, no!” Sadie panicked. “The ice cream will melt!”

  “Let’s hope the other bakers talk really fast,” Kylie said, crossing her fingers. “Or we’re going to be serving the judges hot fudge soup!”

  Cece and Chloe went first. “Since Carly said our last cupcake needed to be more of a treat, we filled this one with candy!” Cece explained.

  Fiero took a bite. “What is zees? I think I cracked my tooth on it!” he cried.

  “Oh, that’s a gum ball,” Cece replied.

  “It is like a rock. Zees is bad. Very bad!” he grumbled.

  Dina’s cupcake was exactly what Jerry asked for: upside down. “I put the frosting in the wrapper, then placed the cake on top,” she grinned. “Like a little hat! I call it Topsy Turvy.”

  “Well, you definitely kept to the theme,” Carly said. “But I don’t think you gave us anything fresh or new from the last round. I wanted to taste something different. I’m a little over the pickles and parsnips. You didn’t work very hard to impress us.”

  Finally, it was Sadie’s turn.

  “Well, we decided to make our cupcake the opposite of our first one. The cake is cold—it’s ice cream—and the topping is hot—it’s fudge.”

  Fiero looked down at his plate. “And zees? What is zees white thing on top?”

  “Oh, that was supposed to be a white chocolate peace sign—for Peace, Love, and Cupcakes,” Sadie answered. “I guess it melted.”

  “My coopcake…it eez soggy. I like the cake part, but the ice cream, it eez how you say…”

  “Gooshy!” Jenna shouted from the wings. “I call it gooshy!”

  “Oui, like the girl says. It eez gooshy!”

  Carly put down her fork and used a spoon to taste it. “I have to agree with Fiero. I like the flavor of your vanilla bean cupcake, and the chocolate fudge is divine, but the ice cream made this sad little puddle on my plate.”