Norwin Lions Club hosts 10th annual 'Cubcake Wars' to benefit food-insecure students

Norwin High School cafeteria was transformed into a sugar lover’s dream March 9.

The Norwin Lions Club hosted its 10th annual “Cubcake Wars,” where 19 neighborhood and professional bakers volunteered their best recipes for a good cause. Bakers sold their goods individually with all proceeds going toward the Lions’ Kitty Sack Project, said club President Aaron Szymanski.

The Kitty Sack Project helps assist food-insecure elementary students in the school district.

Bakers were able to compete for titles such as Best Tasting Cupcake, Best Visual Performance and People’s Choice. The stand that collects the most money is labeled as the Cash Champion. The competition is all in good fun, with some people donating extra cash to win the biggest seller title.

“If they want to pad their own pots, we don’t care. It’s all going to the club and our Kitty Sack Project,” Szymanski said.

Kandee Lojas, a returning baker, ran the Spoonful of Sugar cupcake booth with her daughter Brittney. The mother and daughter came to the Cubcake Wars for the third time this year.

“We’ve always baked together,” Lojas said.

The duo took home awards for their strawberry crunch cupcake and their blueberry lemon drop cupcake in the past two years.

“It was a lot of fun and we decided to go for the hat trick,” Lojas said.

They introduced a new blackberry dream cupcake that has a blackberry drizzle and a crumble on top, and a blackberry compote inside.

“We would love to (win) again, but ultimately, the goal is to raise the money for the kids,” Lojas said. “As long as we sell the cupcakes and they get the money, that’s the biggest win.”

The mother and daughter weren’t the only family duo at the event. Cousin-in-laws Emily and Katie McGrail started a Cubcake War family tradition last year when the two decided to revisit their mutual love for the world of Harry Potter. They run a stand called McGrail’s Wizarding World.

The McGrails’ cupcakes were each themed a different aspect of the Harry Potter world. The Golden Snitch, the famous Sorting Hat and brooms made appearances.

Katie’s cousin — McGrail’s husband — ran through a list of themes while brainstorming the theme of the women’s bake stand last year. They all realized Harry Potter has remained a staple of pop culture amongst every generation since its creation.

“I grew up on Harry Potter,” said McGrail, 34. Katie, 18, said she entered a “huge Harry Potter” phase in elementary and middle school. She watched all the movies while baking the cupcakes.

Both women hope to keep up the tradition and work around Katie’s schedule when she heads to the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg next year.

Through the Kitty Sack Project, Szymanski said, the club is assisting about 70 students. The project usually costs the club about $25,000.

“We are giving them grocery store gift cards,” he said.

The Cubcake Wars is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the project, Szymanski said. The Club hoped to earn around $15,000 from the event.