Cy-Fair High School sophomore Noah Jasik, pictured with Culinary Academy East Instructor Kara Palermo, won first place in the Culinary I division of the second annual CFISD Cupcake Battle for his chocolate cupcake with peppermint buttercream frosting.

Jan. 21, 2018—Students from Cypress Woods and Cy-Fair high schools won first place in their respective competition groups at the second annual Cy-Fair ISD Cupcake Battle, held Jan. 19 at the Berry Center.

The competition featured 40 entries from 12 CFISD high schools. Industry professionals from Johnson & Wales University’s College of Culinary Arts, as well as retired culinary teachers and CFISD staff members served as judges. The judges graded the cupcakes for overall taste and design, as well as subcategories including Best Cake, Best Frosting, Unique Flavor, Most Technical Technique and Presentation.

Cypress Woods High School senior Haley Hixson won first place and a KitchenAid mixer in the Advanced Culinary division of the CFISD Cupcake Battle for her crème de la crème cupcake.

Culinary students prepared the cupcakes this week at their home campuses and brought them to the Berry Center to be judged. First through third place awards were given in both the Advanced Culinary Arts (second-year students) and Culinary I categories. Winners received prizes including KitchenAid mixers, cupcake pans, cake decorating kits and other seasonal items donated by partners H-E-B and Randall’s.

Cypress Woods High School senior Haley Hixson placed first in the Advanced Culinary division with her crème de la crème cupcake. Cypress Creek High School senior Vy Le won second place for his caramel pecan carrot cupcake and Cypress Ranch High School senior Drew Puckett placed third for his peach crumble cupcake.

Cypress Lakes High School junior Komani Smith displays her orange cupcakes, which earned the Most Technical Technique award in the Advanced Culinary division of the CFISD Cupcake Battle.

The following Advanced Culinary students won subcategory awards:

• Most Unique Flavor - Alexandra Parra, Cypress Woods junior (banana split cupcake);
• Most Technical Technique – Komani Smith, Cypress Lakes High School junior (orange cupcake); and
• Best Presentation – Sara Mendez, Cy-Fair junior (lemon blueberry cupcake).

Cy-Fair High School sophomore Noah Jasik placed first in the Culinary I division with his chocolate cupcake with peppermint buttercream frosting and ganache. Cypress Woods senior Demond Cockrell placed second with his peanut butter cup cupcake. Cy-Fair senior Emily Pich placed third with her chai latte cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

Cypress Ridge High School senior Patrick Billette displays his dark chocolate bacon cupcake, which won the Best Frosting award in the Culinary I division of the CFISD Cupcake Battle. 

The following Culinary I students won subcategory awards:

• Best Cake – Nikhil Tawari, Cypress Ranch senior (baklava cupcake);
• Best Frosting – Patrick Billette, Cypress Ridge senior (dark chocolate bacon cupcake);
• Unique Flavor – Emily Quiroga, Cypress Ranch junior (chocolate raspberry cupcake);
• Most Technical Technique – Olivia Scott, Cy-Fair sophomore (vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting); and
• Best Presentation – Zoe Temple, Cypress Ranch junior (butterbeer cupcake).

“I’m really proud of these students. They did an amazing job,” said Mark Williams, career and technical education (CTE) coordinator. “They were so excited and nervous this morning and they wanted to make sure everything was perfect. They take this very seriously and that showed in the finished products.”