The Top Moments of the Cupcake Wars: Celebrity Battles

Relive the star-studded bake-offs featuring your favorite celebs, and check out the winning cupcakes.

Episode 3: Risky Baking

Though the contestants were given options like cinnamon and ginger to incorporate into their Round 1 cupcakes, Tamera Mowry and her baking partner chose to work with jalapeno. And the risk paid off. Not only did they infuse their cornbread-inspired cupcakes with chopped jalapeno, but they also adorned each finished product with a sugar-coated sliced jalapeno. "Amazing, out-of-this-world creativity," judge Waylynn Lucas told her. "It all just works very, very well together."

Beginners' Unluck

For actor AJ Michalka and her partner, Round 1 proved to be the last in which they'd compete, after they struggled with the consistency of the horchata-inspired frosting atop their cupcakes. The panel couldn't look past the grit in the frosting, which, according to judge Florian Bellanger, happened "because it's broken."

Friendly Competition

Maria Menounos and her baking partner were quick to lob all-in-good-fun jabs at the rival teams, teasing the other competitors about the supposed inferiority of their cupcakes.

Highs and Lows

Though Greer Grammer didn't make it past Round 2 on account of a flopped pumpkin cupcake, she indeed wowed the judges with her take on a cookies-and-cream frosting, which she piped atop a chocolate cupcake. "This cookies and cream was my favorite. It was delicious," judge Florian praised her.

Mission: Judging

Judges Florian and Waylynn weren't shy about showing their spirit for all things space as they oversaw this NASA-inspired battle.

Count 'Em

No fewer than a whopping 1,000 cupcakes lined the Round 3 competitors' tables, and for Tamera, that meant more of her jalapeno-cornbread creations, plus chocolate and vanilla varieties. Though her team had to rework a failed first attempt at Swiss buttercream for the vanilla cupcakes, she and her partner managed to finish the contest just in time.

Working with Wasabi

After judge Florian told Maria in Round 1 that her wasabi-based cupcakes lacked all semblance of flavor, Maria was determined to re-create that cupcake in Round 3 with a made-over approach. It was all about the balance of heat with careful additions of wasabi, as Maria explained, "If we can't get that right, I'm going to, like, lose my mind."

Out-of-Bounds Excitement

Tamera could hardly contain herself upon learning that her cupcake offering and corresponding rocket display earned her the win. "I like that she took it a step further and gave us the backdrop with the stars," judge Waylynn said of Tamera's design.

Episode 2: Celebrity Baking for the W-I-N Win

Who better to help judge the cupcakes for a Scripps National Spelling Bee party than the 2015 champs of the bee, Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam. But the host had other plans for the guests: on-the-spot spelling, of course.

Finishing Touches

"I am an aesthetic control freak," Dita Von Teese admitted, and it's no surprise that she made sure her mint-cardamom cupcakes were presented to the judges with the utmost care. "One of the things I love about baking is presentation. I just think that every experience can be made more beautiful," she said.

Remember the Bee

Round 1 was all about the bee — the bumblebee, that is — as bakers were tasked with incorporating two flavors to which bees are thought to be drawn. Joey Lawrence and his baking partner wowed the panel with his treat, featuring cardamom and fresh mint. "I'm at a loss for words," judge Waylynn told Joey. "I should just quit and go home, and you can sit here 'cause that was amazing."

Saved, Barely

By the time Holly Madison realized that she'd forgotten to use thyme, one of her two chosen ingredients in Round 1's Taste challenge, her only option was to stick the leaves of the herb into her already baked cupcakes. But she managed to make it to Round 2, while Dita was sent home on account of flops in both texture and overwhelming flavor in her cupcake.

Fondant Fixation

Because the bakers were asked to focus on presentation just as much as taste in Round 2, they looked to fondant to create extra-special decor atop their cupcakes. For Joey, that meant a miniature book, bee antlers and an apple adorning his treats.

Actor vs. Actor

Matthew Moy and Joey made it to the third round, and each used the feedback they received on their Round 2 cupcakes to improve in the final heat. This time, though, they had to prep 1,000 cupcakes and create a spelling bee-inspired design to house their treats at the party, should they win.

Meet the C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N

"I love the big, bright colors," Waylynn noted of Matthew's display, which earned him the win this week. And the judge was pleased with the risks he took with his cupcakes. "He gave us some really adventurous flavors," she said. "I was really impressed and blown away with the work he did and how much better he got each round."

Episode 1: But First, a Selfie

Before the competition could get underway, host Jonathan Bennett had one very important manner of business to attend to: Snap a selfie with the cast.

Working Under Pressure

Actress Mayim Bialik is a vegan, and in Round 1, she stayed true to those roots by making a vegan cupcake with chocolate sandwich cookies. For the filling she looked to a common vegetarian-friendly ingredient — tofu — to pair with melted white chocolate.

When Savory Meets Sweet

The Round 1 bakers were challenged to utilize a common gamer-friendly ingredient in their cupcakes, and Jennie Garth opted for cheesy tortilla chips. By coating them with honeycomb, she managed to balance the salty flavor of the chips. "The honey combined with the cheesy, spicy chip worked really, really well," judge Waylynn told Jennie. Unfortunately, though, the success of that topping couldn't compensate for a too-tough cupcake filling, and Jennie was ultimately sent home.

A Is for "Atari" (and "Andy")

Andy Dick and his daughter brought a literal representation of Atari to their maple-bacon cupcakes when they topped them with red fondant A's. "It also happens to be for 'Andy,'" the actor noted of the cutout decoration.

Strawberry 2.0

After heeding the judges' feedback on her Round 2 strawberry cupcake, Mel B. tried to boost the taste of strawberry in her Round 3 cupcake by incorporating plenty of fresh fruit — and it worked. "That strawberry flavor really came through," judge Waylynn noted.

A Colorful Display Worthy of the Win

While Andy's 1,000-cupcake display indeed featured his joystick cupcakes, which judge Waylynn deemed "genius," atop a life-size joystick, his offering wasn't enough to wow the panel as Mel wowed the judges with her bright design. "I think that the fans of Atari — the team, the community — they would love to have a gigantic centipede like this one," explained Fred Chesnais, the CEO of Atari.

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