He's a winner! Kevin VanDeraa, owner of Cupcake (3338 University Av. SE., Mpls., 612-378-4818, www.cup-cake.com), took top honors in Sunday night's broadcast of the Food Network's "Cupcake Champions," beating out three other all-star bakers from the network's popular "Cupcake Wars" series. The prize: A cool $50,000. Minnesota's newly minted TV reality star and his award-winning baked goods will also make an appearance in the rotunda at the Mall of America on Saturday, meeting-and-greeting and selling the cupcakes featured on the championship episode. They're also available at VanDeraa's Prospect Park bakery/cafe. "If we can keep them in stock," he said with a laugh. "We've already run out several times today." Read our interview with him last week at startribune.com/taste or the blog post at startribune.com/tabletalk.
RICK NELSON
