Last spring, State College saw two cupcake shops open for business downtown. Moving past the fact that it took more than a decade for the cupcake craze of the late 1990s to hit our little borough, the introduction of these gastronomic delights into the culinary milieu of our community was met with enthusiasm.

The two cupcake shops took very different approaches as they built their bakeries and perfected their recipes for the classic childhood indulgences. *ndulge, located at 206 W. College Ave, is a boutique in the spirit of the famous Magnolia Bakery, with a modern-looking storefront and scrumptious cupcakes (I especially love the column of frosting they have at the center).

Sugar on Top, located at 121 1/2 E. Beaver Ave, is a different kind of store though. Sugar on Top is the creative and economic manifestation of its proprietor’s story, not to mention the fact that its cupcakes are indeed delectable. I met owner Shaunda Lohse last year when Sugar on Top sponsored Onward State’s spring tweet up. At that time, she was still operating out of her house… but the baked goods! Oh, joy! Oh, rapture! If you haven’t had one of her Pancakes and Bacon Cupcakes, stop reading, drive on over to the shop, and pick one up immediately. The storefront feels like a hang-out, and the Webster’s coffee they serve doesn’t hurt either.

Those are just some of the reasons why I was thrilled to see that Sugar on Top is going to be featured in an upcoming episode of Cupcake Wars. Cupcake Wars is a Food Network reality show that pits four pairs of chefs and sous chefs against each other as they compete for a $10,000 prize. The teams are eliminated one-by-one over three rounds. The first round is based on taste alone; the second is judged according to taste and presentation; and the final round is a composite of the first two but at a much larger scale (contestants must create a 1,000 cupcake display).

The Food Network will air the show on February 1 at 9:00 pm. The Food Network is channel 54 on campus; channel 53 for local Comcast subscribers; and channel 59 for local Windstream subscribers. There’s also a Facebook event that will be used to promote a watch party closer to the date.

Check out the audition tape Shaunda submitted below. If it’s any indication, this is a TV show I, for one, don’t want to miss.