Mount Olive Cake Boss competition heats up Sept. 12.
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on September 5, 2017 5:50 AM
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This is a photo of the award-winning cheesecake from last year's competition that was baked by Beth Painter.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
From left, 2015 winner and event organizer Julie Beck and 2016 winners Beth Painter and Theresa Weeks pose for a photo to promote this year's Mount Olive Cake Boss competition sponsored by the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce.
When trying to find just the right cake for last year's Mount Olive Cake Boss competition, Theresa Weeks decided on a chocolate Kit Kat basket to try and wow the bidders.
The cake consisted of a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting surrounded by Kit Kat candy bars and filled with miniature M&M candies with a ribbon tied around it to make it look like a basketful of candy.
"I got it off the Internet," Ms. Weeks said. "It was something different, something unique looking and something bright. And of course, the ultimate winner, chocolate."
As it turned out, the cake was a winner, and Ms. Weeks tied with Beth Painter for first place and bragging rites.
This will be the fourth year for the contest. The first winner was Cindy Ellis, who used her grandmother's poundcake recipe. The second year, the president of the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce won bragging rites with her Better Than Sex cake.
It was a devil's food cake with caramel, Heath candy bars, whipped topping and chocolate.
"It was really thick and gooey," Ms. Beck said. "I chose the cake just by the name of it."
She said it sold quickly -- probably because of its name.
"Sheriff Larry Pierce bought it for $100, and he raved about it," Ms. Beck said. "Then he asked me to bake another one. The sheriff's office has bought my cake two years in a row. I'm going to enter another one this year, but will not be up for competition."
Anybody can bake any kind of cake for the competition. It just needs to be homemade. All of the cakes that are entered are donated to the chamber.
The Cake Boss competition is held in conjunction with the Mount Olive reverse raffle.
"That night we have a professional auctioneer that comes and auctions off the cakes," Ms. Beck said. "Whichever cake brings in the most money is the winner. There's no eating first and no sampling. The cake sells either by the name of the baker because people know that so and so bakes a good cake, or it could be by the name of the cake or just the look of the cake."
Cakes are paraded through the audience prior to being auctioned off. There are usually between 10 and 12 cakes.
Proceeds from the Cake Boss event go to Mount Olive chamber projects.
Ms. Painter was originally going to enter her special strawberry amaretto cake, but it had an accident and was ruined.
She had just made a New York-style cheesecake and decided to decorate with with strawberries, almond slivers and chocolate and white chocolate shavers.
Both women are entering the Cake Boss competition again this year to help out their town.
"It's nice to do knowing you're not going to make anything off your cake," Ms. Weeks said. "It's going to the town."
"I want to do it again just to raise money for the chamber and be part of the community," Ms. Painter said. "It's a small town community and we've all got to support each other and help each other or we're not going to have anything around here."
Both also agreed that the cake contest was a lot of fun.
Anyone can enter. Ms. Beck said a 9-year-old entered one year, as did a woman in her 80s.
All you need to do is let the chamber know you want to enter a cake and fill out an entry form. Then you can take your cake to the Wayne Shrine Club or the chamber office by 3 p.m. that day. The Shrine Club has a refrigerator for any cake that needs refrigeration.
For more information, call 919-658-3113 or email to president@mountolivechamber.com.
The Cake Boss competition and reverse raffle event will be held Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Wayne Shrine Club in Dudley.