Hailey Ayres won 1st Place and the Grand Prize with her “Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice Cupcakes” in the 10th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest organized by The Sophie Fund on October 18.
Hailey Ayres’s award-winning “Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice Cupcakes”
Her pumpkin cakes were filled with fluffy pumpkin mousse topped by a cream cheese frosting, caramel drizzle, and cinnamon flakes for a “baker’s touch.” Ayres said her goal was to create a “refreshing and nostalgic Fall treat.”
“When I think of baking, I think of cooler Fall temps and that leads me to the Fall flavors all around,” Ayres said, adding, “I find baking as a release to my anxiety.” She said she volunteers with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to “fight for mental health for my community, my family, and myself.”
1st Place Awardee Hailey Ayres
Kyra O’Toole took 2nd Place with her “Fall Forest Cupcakes,” an entremets-style dessert with a pumpkin-spice financier base, filled with layers of milk chocolate feuilletine, dark chocolate maple/bourbon ganache, pumpkin/ginger gelee, praline mousse, topped with maple Chantilly cream. Her magical forest was created with modeling chocolate, crumbled chocolate cookies (soil), honey sponge cake (green moss), and gelatin (fairy wings).
“Baking is my safe space,” O’Toole said. “I enjoy the creativity and artistry that goes into it. At first, I didn’t have an idea for these. It kind of just came to me. The design is representative of things that make me happy.”
Kyra O’Toole’s “Fall Forest Cupcakes.”
The judges awarded Kate Bagnell 3rd Place for her “Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes,” vanilla cake with a cinnamon swirl, a brown sugar cinnamon buttercream center, and a tangy cream cheese frosting topped with a miniature cinnamon roll “as an added bonus.”
Bagnell certainly takes the cake when it comes to her cupcake inspiration. She fondly describes cinnamon rolls as an “ooey gooey center burning with molten sugar and warm spice… Christmas morning breakfast table with sweet music and warm laughter… a calm, soft cinna-sanctuary within a loud, bustling airport.”
Kate Bagnell’s “Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes”
Josie Bower received the Youth Award for their “Pumpkin Spice Ghost Cupcakes,” a moist pumpkin spice cake with sweet cream cheese frosting fashioned into ghosts. Just in time for Halloween!
Josie Bower’s “Pumpkin Spice Ghost Cupcakes”
The Sophie Fund announced a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for Aušra Milano in recognition of her outstanding contest submissions since the contest began in 2016. Said contest Emcee Gabriella da Silva Carr: “One year, Aušra submitted brown butter carrot cupcakes—her favorite—with a message that reflects the true spirit of the Ithaca cupcake baking contest: ‘Simple, humble cupcakes, nothing too fancy, pure comfort and love.’”
Full List of 2025 Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest Winners
Twenty-five bakers entered the contest this year bringing a range of themes including: grandmothers; fathers; Taughannock Falls; Hispanic heritage; Harry Potter; volcanic Mount Merapi; U.S. Marines; sticky rice; apple pie; Almond Joy; S’mores; Champagne bubbly; Mexican and indigenous flavors; Dubai Chocolate; diversity, love, and acceptance; and (of course, since it’s late October) Halloween.
Judging the finalists were professionals from Ithaca’s culinary community, Via Carpenter, of Via’s Cookies, Yuko Jingu, of Akemi Food, Melissa Kenny, of Sweet Melissa’s Ice Cream Shop, Ashley Case, of Case Sera Sera, and Ania Grodzinski of Ania’s Confections.
The Awards Ceremony was hosted by Carr and Ben Sandberg, and the event featured live musical performances by Joe Gibson and Rachel Beverly.
This year’s contest also featured a Cupcake Decorating Workshop with pastry chefs from Wegmans, and “10 Years of Ithaca Cupcakes!,” a photo exhibition of entries to the annual cupcake contest from 2016 to 2024.
The 10th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest at the Bernie Milton Pavilion in the Ithaca Commons was sponsored by Visions Federal Credit Union, Cayuga Health, Wegmans, Well Said Media, and Maguire. All awardees received Downtown Ithaca Alliance gift cards accepted by more than 100 local shops and restaurants.
The contest was produced by Cara Nichols of CRN Events.
Volunteers from student organizations at Cornell University supported the contest: Alpha Phi Omega, Cornell Circle K, PATCH (Pre-Professional Association Toward Careers in Health), RISEUP Cornell, and Hotel Graduate Student Organization.
Numerous mental health organizations staged a Wellness Fair on the sidelines of the contest. They included: Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service; American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Greater Central New York; Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; National Alliance on Mental Illness Finger Lakes; Advocacy Center of Tompkins County, Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force, Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services, Ithaca Welcomes Refugees, and Be Kind Ithaca and Free Hugs Ithaca.
The contest is organized every year by The Sophie Fund, which was established in 2016 in memory of Cornell University fine arts student Sophie Hack MacLeod to support mental health initiatives aiding young people. Sophie’s passion for baking cupcakes inspired the launch of the first Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest in 2016. At the time of her death by suicide at age 23, Sophie was on a health leave of absence from Cornell and active in Ithaca’s culinary scene.
1st Place and Grand Prize ($250): Hailey Ayres
2nd Place ($150): Kyra O’Toole
3rd Place ($100): Kate Bagnell
Youth Award ($100): Josie Bower
Lifetime Achievement Award ($250): Aušra Milano
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