Sweet Tooth Fairy Wins Food Network's "Cupcake Wars"

Victory is sweet, especially when there's frosting on top. Just ask Megan Faulkner Brown, founder of Sweet Tooth Fairy bake shops, fresh from winning the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars." In a recent  episode called "Rock of Ages," she and her lead baker, Hilary Cavanaugh, bested the other competing bakers to take home the $10,000 grand prize.

The episode, called "Rock of Ages," aired last week, and again on April 21. (Check Foodnetwork.com for the next air date.) 

 "It was a lot of work, but well worth it," said Brown in a telephone interview.

The American Fork-based company will  have its winning cupcake creations featured at the cast party following the Los Angeles premiere of the "Rock of Ages" national tour. Here is Utah, the winning cupcake flavors will be sold at the Sweet Tooth Fairy stores through the end of May.

Brown calls herself "home schooled," because she never had any professional culinary training. She learned how to bake from her mother, Emelyn Faulkner, as well as her grandmother, Emelyn Castleton.

"I used to bake for fun in my basement kitchen in my home," she said.

In 2009, she opened her first store in Provo. Now she has ten stores from Scottsdale, Ariz. to Layton. Another store is planned for Southlake, Texas.

"I have built a really incredible team," she said. "I've surrounded myself with people a lot smarter than I am, who have the skill sets that I don't."

Customers often suggested that she audition for "Cupcake Wars," but Brown was wary.

"It looked so intense, and I am not a competitive person," she said. "But after so many customers prodded us, we thought, what the heck, why not?"

She did an initial interview and was then asked to send in an audition video. When she was called with news that she was going to be competing, she was ecstatic. The only problem was, she couldn't share the news with anyone except for Hilary Cavanaugh, who would be assisting her during the competition. And while the competition actually took place in March, they had to keep their win a secret until the episode aired.

"I don't like to keep secrets, so it was really hard not to tell anyone," Brown said.

In the initial round, contestants had to create a cupcake from a table of ingredients that rock stars might request for their dressing rooms before a show. The Sweet Tooth Fairy team came up with a Cranberry Wine and Brie Cheesecake cupcake made with dark chocolate, cranberry juice, red wine, brie and cashews.

"The table included a lot of other items like pizza, potato chips, and gummy bears," she said. "I chose the wine and and cheese because I know they pair well together naturally." 

She made a cheesecake with cream cheese and the brie, and a garnish of cashew and cranberry brittle.

Other cupcakes they made during the contest were Sweet Potato Pie, Crème Brulee and Nutella Crepe.

"The most challenging this is working against the clock," she said.

Did she have a feeling they would come out on top?

"I felt it could have gone either way in the final round, but we had done the best we could," Brown said. "Anyone can win, it's just who makes the least amount of mistakes."

She said the $10,000 prize money will be put "right back into the business.Our goal is to build a lasting brand and become a household name, and take it nationally. This takes us one step closer to let people know about our brand and who we are."

The winning Cranberry Wine and Brie Cheesecake and Sweet Potato Pie  cupcakes will be featured in Sweet Tooth Fairy stores throughout April, and the Creme Brulee and Nutella Crepe treats will debuting in May. Brown will also be visiting different Sweet Tooth Fairy locations where customers can meet her. Her schedule is posted on The Sweet Tooth Fairy Facebook page.

As part of The Sweet Tooth Fairy's "Bake a Difference" initiative, 25 cents from the sale of each cupcake will be donated to the Safe to Talk Foundation, an organization dedicated to help stop bullying. The money will fund an anonymous texting tip line in schools, so that students can report dangerous behavior.

"It may sound cheesey, but I feel gratitude for the good grace and kindnesses of other people," she said. "So much of who I am today is due to other people. I have four young kids, and you hear so much about tragedies with kids taking their own lives from bullying.  It's so awful and so preventable. I thought the school tip line is the most simple concept and so easy. If kids can anonymously text and say when someone is talking about suicide, they can really help their classmates."

Chef Jeff Henderson: From Prison to the Food Network

Chef Jeff Henderson with Valerie Phillips

ORLANDO--It's a long road from prison for dealing drugs, to a cooking show on the Food Network. Chef Jeff Henderson did it the hard way, and he credits the "power of food," with helping to turn his life around.  He shared some of his experiences and his cooking expertise during a media seminar at the Pillsbury Bake-off in Orlando. 

Chef Jeff Henderson's cooking demo.

"My life is built on second chances," he told his audience of food writers. "I grew up in poverty in Los Angeles.  My father left when I was young, I got involved with the wrong crowd, and I ended up serving nearly ten years in prison. That's where I found redemption."

That's where he read his first book and earned a high school diploma. When he got put on "pots and pans" duty, he discovered a passion for cooking.

When he got out of prison, he started at the bottom, learning from chefs along the way. He worked his way up to become the first African-American chef de cuisine at Caesar's Palace,  and later executive chef of Café Bellagio, both in Las Vegas.

He wrote about his experiences in an autobiography, "Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras."

He was invited to talk about his book on "Oprah" — "And you know what happens when someone goes on Oprah," he added.  Right after the show, he received two phone calls. One was from film star Will Smith, with an offer to buy the rights to turn Henderson's story into a motion picture.

The other call was from the Food Network.

On the Food Network's "The Chef Jeff Project," Henderson takes six at-risk people to work in his catering company, teach them cooking and life skills, "to allow them to go out and compete and pursue the American dream," he said.

The foreword in his new cookbook, "Chef Jeff Cooks," Henderson names and thanks the many chefs he worked under, "who gave me the skills and the opportunity to fed my family. I will never forget the impact you have had on my life."

 With Henderson's upbeat personality, the father of four was the perfect representative for General Electric, which is focusing more of its marketing strategy on male cooks these days. Henderson showed how to cook pan-roasted New York strip steak and barbecued shrimp scampi on General Electric's new Café appliance line.

Julie Meunnich, GE product manager, said more men are getting into the kitchen because of the role models such as Henderson on the Food Network and other popular TV cooking shows. Also, the economy brought layoffs in construction and financial jobs traditionally occupied by men. The female became the main breadwinner in some households, "and the male is at home doing the cooking."

A recent General Electric  ad was obviously geared toward men, using terms such as  "turbo-charged," and "culinary power house."

General Electric is also focusing on the "aspirer" cook who wants to be a great cook, and wants to buy the latest in appliances to help them accomplish it.

As expected, there are more bells and whistles in GE's appliances, such as a 20,000 BTU tri-ring burner (offering three rings of flame), double ovens, and a refrigerator that dispenses both hot and cold water.

I could be wrong, but for some reason I can't see an out-of work guy complaining to his wife that he needs a new fancy oven. But I do think there are a lot of  "aspirers" people out there who have fun improving their cooking skills, and would enjoy using some of the snazzy new features.

In addition to "aspirers," GE identified three other consumer types:

- the "laborer," who cooks but doesn't enjoy it and just wants their appliances to be reliable

- the  "reluctant," person who doesn't enjoy cooking and considers their kitchen appliances as pieces of furniture

- the "enthusiast," who loves cooking and already had the skills and abilities to do it.

Here's the recipe Barbecued Shrimp Scampi that Henderson cooked for us, from his cookbook,  "Chef Jeff Cooks:"

BARBECUED SHRIMP SCAMPI

6-8 tablespoons unsalted butter

12 jumbo shrimp

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 tablespoons finely minced garlic

1/4 cup white wine (or chicken stock)

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup diced and seeded tomatoes

2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

1/4 cup Smoked Molasses Barbecue Sauce (see recipe below)

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp, onion and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes. The shrimp will begin to plump up a bit.

Add the wine or stock, lemon zest and juice, and 4 tablespoons more butter. Reduce the heat and gently sauté the shrimp until the sauce thickens. If the sauce is too thin, add 1-2 tablespoons more butter.

Add the tomatoes and parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the barbecue sauce and toss well. To serve, remove the shrimp from the pan with a fork, place on plates, and drizzle the sauce over the shrimp with a spoon.

* * *

SMOKED MOLASSES BARBECUE SAUCE

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 1/3 cups ketchup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 cup, packed, dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

1/4 cup molasses

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, 6-8 minutes.  

Add the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke and brown sugar. Stir until fully incorporated and bring to a simmer. Add the Tabasco and molasses. Simmer 25-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The barbecue sauce should be medium thick. 

Let the sauce cool about 1 hour. Then pour into a blender and puree until smooth. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

NEXT IRON CHEF: Chefs With Utah Ties

While flipping channels a few nights ago, I happened upon "The Next Iron Chef" competition, where some high-level chefs are cooking for the next chance to be a regular with Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Cat Cora and other on the Food Network's popular "Iron Chef" series. 
The contestants aren't unknown chefs; most of them have some fame at their restaurant, have published cookbooks or have done food TV. 
I enjoyed seeing some familiar faces who have cooked here in Utah.


Marcus Samuelsson came to Utah in 2001 to help cook for a Salt Lake Olympic Committee "one-year-out" party at Park City Mountain Resort,.  At the time, he owned Aquavit restaurant in New York City, had won the James Beard Foundation's "Best Rising Star Chef" award in 1999, and was profiled by People magazine in 2000 as one of America's top five eligible bachelors.
 I interviewed him as he was preparing for the Olympics event, which also had ties to the James Beard Foundation. "How often does an Ethiopian kid from Sweden get to cook for the Olympics?" said Samuelsson, who was orphaned as a child in Ethiopia, then adopted by a Swedish couple. "This is a real privilege, and when an organization like James Beard Foundation asks you, you don't turn it down."
His star has continued to rise, as he oversaw President Barack Obama's first state dinner. 


Beau Macmillan was one of the cooks in 2010 at Chefdance in Park City. One of the traditions that has evolved around the Sundance Film Festival, a different "celebrity" chef is brought in to cook each night for about 250 of the entertainment industry's movers, shakers, and their friends.  MacMillan, chef at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, was also one of the "boot camp" instructors on the Food Network's "Worst Cook in America"

At his Chefdance gig, MacMillan served seared scallops with creamed Anson Mill grits, chorizo and tomato jam; chilled lump crab salad, passion fruit and avocado; braised short ribs with salsify fondue and garlic cherry glaze; and salted caramel panna cotta with caramel corn and chocolate peanuts.

As far as I know, Michael Chiarello hasn't done any cooking in Utah; but I did meet him during a Pillsbury Bake-off in San Francisco in 1998. He cooked a spring asparagus risotto for the food editors and admonished us to eat foods in season, noting that  asparagus always tastes better in the spring.

Current "Iron Chefs" who have visited Utah:

Bobby Flay did a segment of his "Food Nation" series in 2003 where he took part in a Dutch Oven Gathering (known by Dutch oven enthusiasts as a DOG). He also helped cook sourdough scones, chicken 'n' dumplings and lamb at the Lion House Pantry,  sampled venison sausage and elk jerky and visited some Utah ski resorts.

Cat Cora has cooked several times at Sundance dinner parties, including one for the Humane Society of the United States in 2009 that included Paris Hilton, Nigel Barker of "America's Next Top Model," actor Alan Cumming, and Slash of the rock groups Velvet Revolver and Guns N'Roses. The vegan menu featured a silky roasted winter squash and saffron soup, herbed potato risotto spiked with chanterelle mushrooms, and a rich chocolate ganache tartlet with a salted caramel gelato accented with peanut brittle.For appetizers, there were pretty little chickpea fritters and polenta squares topped with Swiss chard, candied pumpkin seeds and a sliver of sun-dried tomato.

Alton Brown - "Iron Chef" announcer, came through Southern Utah in 2006 as a biker dude for his series "Feasting On Asphalt." In a later interview, he told me that one of his favorite places was the Mexican Hat Motor Lodge. "They have a grill that swings back and forth over the fire, and it was a cool place. We ended up eating there one night with a German Harley- Davidson club."