Ithaca Cupcakes 2018: Special Awards

Contestants in the 3rd Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest on Saturday offered up some gorgeous and tasty entries—congratulations to these winners of Special Awards!

Most Masterful Musical Melody Award

Natalie McCaskill-Myers

Most Creatively Crafty Cupcake

Sally Brenner

Most Fabulously Floral Cupcake

Aušra Milano

Most Awesome Autumn

Robyn Schmitt

Most Magnificent Marvelous Moose Masterpiece

Claire Litwin

Most Sensationally Cinnamony Cupcake

Isabella Jones and Navia Marshall

Most Must Eat the Whole Chocolatey-Minty Thing Award

Rhonda Williamsee

The Everything Fun about Fall Cupcake

Sean Vickroy

Most Caramel Crave-Quenching Confection

Alana Craib

Chilliest Coconut Cake Confection

Matilde Portnoy

Best Cupcake to Take on the Trail

Ella Corson

Best Campfire Cupcake

Maggie Chutter

Most Likely to Make the Judges Go Coco for Coconut Award

Cierra Howard

Best Flavorful Fall Frosting

Jessara Thomas

Most Luxuriously Luscious Lavender Cupcake

Oluademi James-Daniel

Best Birthday cupCake

Ella Kain

Pretty in Pink Award

Ibtisaam Ahmed

Novel Neopolitan

Jenna Kain

Harvest Cupcake

Lianna White

Chocolate Chili

Sadie Hays

Best Carrot Top

Sul Jordan

Most Luscious Lemon

Talon Jordan

Tastiest Toastiest Pumpkin

Cristin McLaughin and Searra Lindhurst

Ultimate Chocolate Tower

Sonia and Ella Carr

Classic Superstar

Matt Jirsa for Cornell Minds Matter

 

mccaskill-myers

Natalie McCaskill-Myers’s entry:  Pumpkin apple spice cupcakes with cream cheese cardamom frosting, decorated with violins, soccer balls… and black cats representing Sophie’s cat Bagel and Natalie’s cat Curry Burger.

 

brenner

Sally Brenner’s entry: Chocolate cupcakes with Key lime and kiwi-flavored frosting

 

milano

Aušra Milano’s entry: Amaretto chocolate cupcakes decorated with a flower arrangement

 

schmitt

Robyn Schmitt’s entry: Cinnamon and apple cupcakes

 

litwin

Claire Litwin’s entry: Passion fruit curd, passion fruit mousse, and chocolate mousse in a joconde sponge cake, decorated with moose antlers in homage to the mousse layers

 

jones-marshall

Isabella Jones and Navia Marshall’s entry: Pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple frosting and a cinnamon stick

 

williamee

Rhonda Williamsee’s entry: Mint chocolate “cocoa coma” cupcakes

 

vickroy

Sean Vickroy’s entry: Apple butter cupcakes with red winter frosting in the holiday spirit

 

craib

Alana Craib’s entry: Yellow cupcakes with maple frosting and candied walnuts

 

portnoy

Matilde Portnoy’s entry: “Tropicupcakes” with roasted almonds and cinnamon cream cheese frosting

 

corson

Ella Corson’s entry: Granola chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting

 

chutter

Maggie Chutter’s entry: “Banana Boat Cupcakes,” with chocolate ganache core and meringue frosting

 

howard

Cierra Howard’s entry: “Macadamia Coconut Cupcakes,” frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream and topped with a coconut macaroon ball

 

thomas

Jessara Thomas’s entry: Pumpkin and spice cupcakes with a pumpkin decoration on top

 

james-daniel

Oluademi James-Daniel’s entry: Yellow lemon cupcake with a purple Earl Grey and lavender frosting

 

Version 2

Ella Kain’s entry: Lemon cupcakes with buttercream frosting

 

ahmed

Ibtisaam Ahmed: entry: “Rose Cupcakes, a Fusion of East and West.” American-style vanilla cupcakes with crème patisserie of European bakeries and delicate rose flavor common in North Africa, Middle East, Persia and the Indian subcontinent.

 

jenna-kain

Jenna Kain’s entry: Neapolitan cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting

 

white

Lianna White’s entry: Gluten-free carrot, raisin, and walnut cupcakes with cashew buttercream frosting

 

hays

Sadie Hays’s entry: “Noche Buena,” a coffee and chili-infused New Mexican chocolate cupcake topped with whipped cream and a biscochito

 

sul-jordan

Sul Jordan’s entry: Pumpkin spice cupcakes with buttercream frosting

 

talon-jordan

Talon Jordan’s entry: Lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting

 

mclaughlin-lindhurst

Cristin McLaughin and Searra Lindhurst’s entry: Vegan Pumpin S’more Vegan Cupcakes with marshmallow filling and chocolate frosting

 

carr

Sonia and Ella Carr’s entry: “The Chocolate Tower” triple-chocolate fudge cupcakes with strawberry-flavored fudge frosting

 

jirsa

Matt Jirsa for Cornell Minds Matter’s entry: Classic cupcakes with star-shaped sprinkles