Three baking contest winners standing side by side.Each fall and spring semester, the Division of Finance & Administration holds a staff picnic for our departments.

In Fall 2024, we added a baking contest to highlight the dessert -making skills of our staff. Our inaugural winners were:

  • First Place, Director of Communications Margarita Venegas for the Rocky Road Cake Pops
  • Second Place, Cpl. Lahoma Vaughn for the Assorted Cake Bites
  • Third Place, Accountant Madelyn Schwartz for the Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie

Below, we have shared the recipes for the Fall 2024 Baking Contest winners.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Jump to a recipe: Rocky Road Cake Pops  Assorted Cake Bites  Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie

First place: Rocky Road Cake Pops

Ingredients
1 box cake (gluten free or regular), baked   
10 oz chocolate frosting (pre-made, canned)
7 oz marshmallow creme                              
 8 oz roasted, finely chopped hazelnuts
15 oz good quality melting chocolates        
30-50 lollipop sticks
 
Directions
  • Once the cake has fully cooled, crumble it up in a very large bowl.
  • Add in the chocolate frosting, marshmallow creme and hazelnuts, mix thoroughly with your hands - it will be sticky!
  • Roll into balls and put in a freezer-safe container lined with parchment paper.
  • Put in freezer for 24 hours (up to 1 week). When ready to coat, you’ll pull them out of the freezer about 20 minutes before coating with chocolate.
  • Put the melting chocolates in a double broiler as the cake balls defrost - be sure to keep the chocolate at a low, steady temperature.
  • Work the lollipop sticks midway into the cake balls then swirl them in the chocolate and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Refrigerate overnight.
  • Take out at least 30 minutes prior to serving.
 

Second Place: Assorted Cake Bites

Ingredients
For the basic cake bites
2 cake mixes, baked; see below for flavorings and use the following cake mixes: yellow cake for caramel apple & pumpkin spice, butter pecan for that flavoring and devil’s food cake for the chocolate flavoring)
8 eggs
2 sticks butter (softened)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk
vanilla candy coating
 
For the flavorings
Caramel apple: 1 can cinnamon apples in sauce (chopped) and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pumpkin Spice: 1 can of pumpkin and 1/2 tsp each of pumpkin spice and cinnamon
Butter Pecan: No additional ingredients except for the garnish
Chocolate: No additional ingredients except for the garnish
 
For the flavorings garnish
Caramel apple: 30 caramel candy melts
Pumpkin Spice: 30 pumpkin spice candy melts
Butter Pecan: 30 or more pecan halves
Chocolate: 30 to 50 chocolate candy melts
Directions
To make the cake bites
  • Mix all basic ingredients, except for the vanilla candy coating and the garnish ingredients. Don't forget to add the ingredients for the caramel apple and pumpkin spice bites.
  • Spread mixture (separately for caramel apple and pumpkin spice) on 1-2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees. Then, allow cakes time to cool.
  • Scoop out bite-sized portions, then form into cake bites. Place on cookie sheet.
  • Once all bites have been formed, place cookie sheet in freezer for at least 3 hours.

To garnish

  • When you’re ready to dip the cake bites, melt the vanilla candy coating in a medium microwave safe bowl at 45 second increments and stirring until it is fully melted.
  • Dip the cake bites one at a time, then place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet to harden
  • For the caramel apple: melt the candy melts and scoop the saucse into a plastic sandwich baggie, snip one corner end with scissors and drizzle the cake bites with caramel
  • For the pumpkin spice: melt the melt the candy melts and scoop the saucse into a plastic sandwich baggie, snip one corner end with scissors and drizzle the cake bites with pumpkin spice
  • For the butter pecan: place half a pecan on the top of the vanilla coating while still fresh so that the pecan dries into the coating
  • For the chocolate: after dipping in the vanilla candy coating, let that harden, then melt the chocolate candy melts and re-dip the bites with that coating
 

Third Place: Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
For the Grandma's pie crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening or lard
6 Tbsp ice cold water
 
For the pumpkin pie filling
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs
15 oz can pure pumpkin
12 oz evaporated milk
 
For the pecan streusel topping
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp unsalted cold butter (diced)
Directions
For the Grandma's pie crust
  • Mix dry ingredients together.
  • Add in shortening/lard and cut in with a pastry cutter or fork until you have pea-sized crumbles.
  • Add in cold water and stir gently until dough just comes together; do not knead (if dry/crumbly add in 1-2 extra Tbsp cold water).
  • Form the dough into a disc, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20-60 minutes.
  • Then, flour a flat surface and roll out the dough to fit your 9” pie pan.
  • Roll it 2-3” larger than the pan to drape the dough over the edges rather than stretching it. Trim the edges.
  • Place in the freezer, uncovered, for 10-20 minutes while you mix the filling.
For the pumpkin pie filling
  • Preheat oven to 425F.
  • Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg in small bowl.
  • Beat eggs in large bowl, then stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mix. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
  • Pour into pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. If desired, you can cover your crust with tin foil before next step so that it doesn’t brown too much.
  • Reduce temperature to 350F and bake another 25 minutes.
For the pecan streusel topping
  • While the pie is baking, add all of the topping ingredients except pecans to a food processor and chop until crumble is pea-sized.
  • Add pecans to the mixture and place the topping in a bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • Remove pie from oven and distribute the topping across the top. Bake another 10-15 minutes (at 350F) or until topping is browned slightly.
  • Cool on wire rack for 2 hours.
  • Serve immediately or refrigerate. Works well with whipped cream topping.