All is Fair in Love and Cupcakes

It was standing-room only Sunday night as crowds gathered around multiple TVs cheering for their favorite team and trash-talking the opponents. The suspense was palatable. Bets were being made.

But this wasn't the Steelers vs Broncos game, or Hawks vs Red Wings. No, it was a huge screening party for … wait for it … "CUPCAKE WARS"!

The drinks flowed and cupcakes were passed all night to partiers at Flight 112 Wine House in Elmhurst as they watched the newest episode of the Food Network show. Why were scores of people cheering on their favorite baker? Because their favorite baker is Cupcakes for Courage owner Laura Pekarik, and Laura wasn't going down without a fight.

Laura and her baking partner on the show, Katie Larsen, didn't tell anyone—not even Laura's mom—the outcome of the show, which was filmed last year in California.

"I was on 720 AM on Friday with John Brandmeier, and he really put me through the ringer about it," Laura said. "But I didn't want to ruin it."

Laura, sporting a green Cupcakes for Courage T-shirt, explained the business after she and Katie were introduced on the show. She told of how her sister, Kathryn, got non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2010 and how she and Kathryn started the company to raise money for Kathryn's medical bills and, ultimately, for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

"When my sister got cancer, my whole life changed," she said.

Kathryn has since gone back to her day job to help pay her medical bills, their mom, Andrea Pekarik, said. That's why she wasn't on the show with Laura. But she still helps out with the business.

"Katie (Larsen) is my assistant baker," Laura said on the show. "She can think on her feet. I'm confident that I'm going to win."

On "Cupcake Wars," four pairs of bakers compete in a single-elimination format for the best cupcake. Contestants in Sunday's episode were charged with making soccer-themed cupcakes for the Major League Soccer Cup Final held in Carson, Calif. The winner also takes home a $10,000 prize.

Round 1

The first round was all about taste. Contestants had 45 minutes to make the most delicious cupcake possible, but they had to choose a couple of unusual ingredients. Laura chose to make a mesquite chocolate cake with mesquite smoked caramel, spicy pecans, and a caramel fudge hot sauce topping—a turtle cupcake with a kick.

"I don't think I could be any more worried because we have so much going on," Laura said right before they started the clock."

She was up against a pepperoni pizza cupcake; a zucchini cupcake with banana peppers, cream cheese frosting and pineapple; and a spicy tomato soup cupcake with banana pepper cream cheese icing.

Laura survived the first round, despite being told her first attempt tasted like "brisket" (another judge loved it, however). The pizza cupcake girls were sent home.

Round 2

Judging this time was based on taste and presentation; the soccer theme was still all-important. Each team had to make three different cupcakes in 75 minutes, so Laura chose to make a maple bacon cupcake with maple glaze and a candy sugar net, a sweet potato cupcake with whipped cream cheese frosting and a pie crust star on top, and a peanut butter banana cupcake with peanut butter buttercream and a peanut butter ball rolled in nuts on top.

All three judges said they were disappointed she didn't incorporate more of a soccer design.

"You're making my job very difficult because I love your cupcakes," Judge Florian Bellanger told Laura.

"Never has the debate between the judges been this intense and this razor close," the show's host, Justin Wilman, said.

You could hear a pin drop at Flight 112 as patrons held their breath waiting for the judges' decision.

When they said Laura would go on to fight another round, cheers rocked the bar.

After each round, Laura and her family passed out her TV cupcakes.

Luke Pennings and his wife, Judy, of the Ride Janie Ride Foundation, loved the cupcakes, as did a table of their friends.

"These are amazing," Luke said.

"Our daughter chases the (Cupcakes for Courage) truck around Chicago and tweets where they are," Judy Pennings said.

Ride Janie Ride raises money to support families that are affected by cancer. They selected Kathryn as a Ride Janie Ride recipient for 2011, and Kathryn promotes their cause and pays it forward.

Round 3

Laura's team and her sole remaining rival had to make a 1,000-cupcake display honoring soccer and the national championship game. Each team received a master carpenter to build the display to the bakers' specifications, and four assistants to help with the baking. The clock was set at two hours.

"Get going! What are you still standing here for?" Laura ordered her carpenter after giving him final instructions.

She learned a few things from the previous rounds: The cupcakes have to scream "soccer." Each would have a tiny, hand-painted fondant soccer ball on top. But that decision cost her way too much time. Would that be her demise?

The final creation by both teams was big. Enormous, even. Again, the bar crowd held their breath.

The judges praised both displays, but ultimately, Laura didn't win Cupcake Wars. Everybody agreed that she was robbed. Thankfully, a riot did not ensue, and the drinks and cupcakes kept flowing.

"I don't know what the hell just happened there," she said, laughing. "We are totally going back (for) redemption."

She thanked everybody and invited them to stay. But Laura had to get up to make the cupcakes on Monday, and 4 a.m. comes really quickly.

In the end, it isn't really about winning on a TV show. Kathryn and Laura have already won so much, especially Kathryn's cancer remission.

"Thank you for coming," Laura told the adoring crowd. "It means so much to me and my family that everybody is here. It's a really good feeling."