A former Sycamore woman recently won $10,000 on an episode of the Food Network show “Cupcake Wars.”
Eileen Kerbel, executive pastry chef at Molly’s Cupcakes in Chicago, grew up in Sycamore and graduated from Sycamore High School; her parents Mary Kay and Barry have spent their lives in Sycamore.
Kerbel said the network contacted Molly’s Cupcakes and asked if she’d be interested in auditioning for the show. She was chosen and the episode was filmed in March in Los Angeles.
“Cupcake Wars” pits four cupcake chefs against each other to bake the best cupcakes. After each round testing flavors, appearance and creativity, one cupcake chef is eliminated. The winner gets $10,000.
“I’m very happy for her. It was fun to watch,” said mom Mary Kay, adding that Kerbel has been interested in baking “since she was a child. We used to bake together a lot.”
Kerbel said she remembers baking cookies with her mom to sell at Duck Soup Coop in DeKalb.
“I’ve never really wanted to do anything else but pastry,” Kerbel said. She gained experience at five or six other bakeries in Chicago and has worked at Molly’s Cupcakes for two years. She said she enjoys the creativity that comes with making cupcakes.
The experience on “Cupcake Wars” was “probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Kerbel said, because each round has a time limit and requires certain ingredients be used.
“It was pretty intense, just the whole process,” she said. “I was pretty confident, actually.”
Kerbel and her assistant Michelle Hittenmiller made cupcakes with flavors such as lemon and kiwi, chocolate and peanut butter and vanilla and peach.
“It’s fun, you can get really creative with it,” she said.
The episode’s theme related to a fashion show, Kerbel said, and the display she created for the final round incorporated dresses and cities such as Paris and London.
Kerbel said the experience was nerve-wracking, but she remained confident in her product. When the panel of judges commented on her cupcakes, “I took their feedback into consideration,” she said.
“It was cool. It was a lot of fun,” Kerbel said.
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Tune in
Eilleen Kerbel's episode of "Cupcake Wars" on the Food Network can be seen at the following times:
4 p.m. Sunday
10 p.m. Sunday
1 a.m. Monday
7 p.m. Aug. 21
Online
Eileen Kerbel's recipe for Lemon Kiwi Cupcakes can be found at www.foodnetwork.com/cupcake-wars/index.html.