Katie Rousonelos won the first Duncan Hines Red Carpet Cupcake Challenge. Rousonelos won the glamorous trip to the 62nd Emmy awards. According to Madison.com, she and her husband attended the Emmys on August 29th in the “Fans in the Stands” bleachers. How exciting!
What was made even more exciting is that her cupcakes were eaten at a special red carpet party for celebrities celebrating the Emmys. We are sure it was stiff – and sweet – competition for Rousonelos and that her cupcakes had to be extra yummy to come out first in this exciting contest!
Ms. Rousonelos competed against 200 other cupcakers for the fabulous prize. She discovered the contest reading about it on Twitter over the summer.
Her cupcakes featured chocolate and raspberries – to remind everyone of red carpets and glamour. She enlisted her co-workers at NBC Channel 15 to sample her cupcakes, yummy red velvet cupcakes with sweet butter cream frosting topped with Ghirardelli chocolate ganache and a fresh raspberry. Of course, her co-workers loved them – so she entered them in the contest. For some reason (we wonder why….) her co-workers have started to ask her to bring cupcakes in to work more and more. We have a feeling this trend will continue.
Ms. Rousonelos started baking when she was young with her mother and grandmother. This is the first time she’s won a contest. With a delicious red velvet cupcake – we are sure she’ll do well in other competitions!
Thinking of entering a contest? Try some of our favorite entry tips to guarantee success:
Read and re-read the rules. It’s easy to get excited about entering a contest. Remember that some contests want you to achieve certain goals. Read the entry directions slowly to be sure your cupcake idea meets their guidelines – or see how you can adapt your cupcake so it will meet them.
Remember to use the right ingredients. Just like Rousonelos used Duncan Hines cake mix to make her red velvet cupcakes, if you are entering a contest you want to use their products. Not every contest will have ingredients you should use – but some have ingredients you’ll want to try to use.
Practice makes perfect. It can be easy to think your first idea is best. But sometimes making a cupcake and seeing how you can make it even better is the best way to win. Make a batch of those cupcakes and get people to taste them – just as Ms. Rousonelos did. If they say they are winners then you’ve probably got a great entry on your hands. Otherwise be prepared to tinker with your ingredients to come up with a successful recipe. You can do it!
(c) photo Luis Lopez
