East Texas bakery wins national 'Food Network' competition

MINEOLA, TX (KLTV) - An East Texas bakery made their national debut Sunday night, as two owners competed for a $10,000 prize on the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars."

Dawn Trammell and Rachel Pantusa flew out to Los Angeles in October and have been tight-lipped about the results until tonight.

They hosted a watching party with hundreds of Mineola residents at the Lake Country Playhouse Select Theatre, all eagerly anticipating watching the show for the first time.

The Luscious Crumb is a family business, run by Trammell and her two daughters who said they have been dying to compete.

"We did the happy dance there in the bakery," Trammell said about finding out they were invited onto the show. "We were so excited. We've been waiting for two years to get on the show, and once we found out that we were going to be on it, it was just total chaos."

"We just went in with the attitude that we are going to win no matter what, defeat was not an option," Trammell said. "We are pretty good at working together and good at coming up with flavors on the fly, which is one thing you have to do."

The owner of Luscious Crumb said her store sells all kinds of baked goods, but they put special emphasis on their gourmet cupcakes.

"We use all fresh ingredients," Trammell said. "Real butter, real cream, real chocolate. We don't use any shortening in the frosting, just quality, quality ingredients. And of course a lot of love into everything we do."

The mother-daughter duo came out on top, bringing the prize back home to East Texas.

"It was very hard," Trammell said. "It was crazy, it was hectic, it was chaotic, it was the craziest thing and the hardest thing I think we've ever done."

"Our experience was crazy," Trammell's daughter, Rachel Pantusa, added. "But it was a whole lot of fun and I'm really glad I got to do it with my mom."

The two bakers said they're not sure what they're next big stunt is, but said they have only the community in Mineola to thank for their success.

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