Crazy For Cakes Event Winners Announcement

Sorry if I have not visited your blogs with comments! This has been a tragic week for me with my beloved Guru and God, Sri Satya Sai Baba's passing. Nothing can remedy this huge loss to our world. But he remains well ensconced in my heart to kingdom come. 
This has been a fantastic ride for me! Not only did I host a fabulous guest, Anita Gupta, I also got a myriad of incredible cake recipes from a whole bunch of talented people for my Crazy For Cakes Event held in March . I have most fortunate in both the guests I've had, in that not only are the masters at their craft, but they are as diligent about the judging process. I will let Anita explain in her own wonderfully written words how she picked the winners. Congrats all and as Anita said, you are all winners. Since the entries were so varied, recipe-wise and decoration-wise, our judge, using sound judgement decided to make 2 categories of winners so I got 6 awards to disburse
But first I would like to give this participation award to all the wonderful participants - Please accept and display with pride on your blogs :) (To see all entries please click here)

Category 1 - Best Cake Recipe
Premalatha of Prema's Thaligai has swept two of those awards, my friends with her winning entries Mocha Cake and Cotton Cheese Cake recipes - A round of SOUND applause to you Prema :)
The third award in the category goes to our very own Saraswathi or Sara's Corner for her Incredible Eggless Chocolate Cake reciipe - Congrats Prema and Saraswathi :)
Please accept this award and display proudly on your blog :)

Category 2 - Best Cake Decoration
Ruffle My Feathers from Recipe Taster Congrats Allesio :)
Jungle Theme cake from Sailaja's Recipes Congrats Sailaja! :)
Cricket Cake from Finger-Licking Good Congrats, Namratha :)
Please accept this award and display proudly on your blog :)

Now that the anticipation has been quelled, I would like you to take a few moments to read Anita's own announcement of these to me :)
ANITA IN HER OWN WORDS
First off, thank you, Priya for giving me this opportunity to judge cakes in the contest.    I was completely blown away by all of the wonderful submissions.  I only wish I was able to try them all, but unfortunately due to time constraints, I picked 12 recipes to be judged…this is not to say that the rest of the recipes were not worthy of taste testing though!  I chose recipes that were unique to me…recipes or techniques that I have never tried.  For example, the thought of making an eggless cake was foreign to me…of course, I know that some people do not eat eggs, or are allergic to eggs, but in my wedding cakes, eggs are so important to the structure of a cake, that I would have never had the nerve to try an eggless cake.  Or using grape juice in a cake…I have used countless fruits, juices, and other flavorings in my baking, but never grape juice…what a novel idea!  In the end, I have learned so much from all of your submissions.  With that said, I could not judge all of these beautiful entries without also creating a category for decorated cakes…since most of my cakes not only have to be delicious on the inside, but beautifully decorated on the outside, I felt that awards definitely needed to be given to the painstaking decorations on the outside!

So without further ado, my favorites in terms of recipes were:

Mocha Cake by Prema’s Thalagai – One word for this cake…GOR-GE-OUS!  When I saw the picture, I knew it had to be in my list of recipes to try.  Then I got to the part about the cherries, and I had my doubts…you see, while I love fresh cherries, I am not a big fan of cherries in syrup or cherry flavored things.  My husband, though, urged me to continue forward and boy, am I glad I did.  I did not have coffee essence and am not too sure what that is, but I did use espresso powder in its place.  The mocha flavored cream is delightful and I can see it being used in oh so many ways!  I also love this cake because of the flavor layering…as you know I feel that layering is what takes an ordinary dessert from delicious to divine.   I am sure that the cherries can be subbed with another filling if you so desire.    And lastly, it was so beautifully decorated!

Eggless Chocolate Cake by Sara’s Corner – I really liked the use of butter and milk in this recipe.  I am not sure if that is what made the cake for me, but for those of you who know me, I am a huge believer in using butter instead of oil.  Nice rich chocolate flavor and a very simple recipe to boot.  I like recipes like this for when you have unexpected company and need to come up with something quickly.  All the ingredients are usually on hand!  Loved being able to try an eggless cake…now I have something to serve when guests come and are allergic to eggs…and those who do eat eggs will not even miss them!

Cotton Cheesecake also by Prema’s Thalagai…I honestly have to say that I did not know that the same person made and entered both of these cakes, but she really wowed me with her completely unique recipes.  So I have never even heard of a “cotton cheesecake”, I mean I have had cheesecake and I love chiffon cakes, but this was like a combination of these two!  Almost like a baked custard, but still has the “bite” of cake from the small amount of flours.  This is perfect for a Springtime brunch…light, with a hint of citrus, and a lovely pale yellow.

My top three winners for decorating are:

Jungle theme cake by Sailaja’s Recipes – Perfect fondant animals!  My favorite is the giraffe, but you did an amazing job with all of the animals!

Cricket Cake by Finger Licking Good – Again, perfect execution in fondant.  I love all of the little details…the shirt, the flag…great job all around!

And last, but certainly not least – Ruffle my feathers by Recipe Taster.  What can I say, her feathers are perfectly elegant.  I love the texture and movement of the feathers…and I love that she showed how she got them to curve just so by drying them on cotton puffs.  The cake inside looks delightful and I love it when decorators place a surprise like such a beautifully two tone interior!

Again, thank you so much…your entries were all amazing and I am bookmarking a ton of them to get to as soon as possible!  I especially cannot wait to try the Kueh Lapis cake (Hot from my Oven)!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's it from me folks until the next guest event - The quest for another stellar guest is on... will keep you posted!!!