The Sweet Lobby Premieres The MacTop on Food Network's Cupcake Champions!

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sweet Lobby owner and Cupcake Wars winner Winnette McIntosh Ambrose made a bold move when she decided to combine her signature macaron and gourmet cupcake during Food Network's Cupcake Champions. Especially considering that judge Florian Bellanger, owns MadMac, an acclaimed French pastry company.

Cupcake Champions pits the best previous Cupcake Wars' winners against each other in a tournament to name the ultimate champ. The Sweet Lobby, the only Washington, DC bakery in the competition, had 45 minutes to create a cupcake inspired by the new movie, "Madagascar 3." The result? A clove-scented, fried plantain cupcake filled with tamarind mousse, frosted with coffee buttercream and topped with a crisp-rice-coated, coffee-plantain French macaron. "Good job on the macaron," said Bellanger. "Overall it's a very good cupcake," he added. Judge Candace Nelson, founder of the world's first cupcake bakery Sprinkles commented, "It was an ambitious cupcake and you absolutely nailed it!

"It was a real risk," said McIntosh Ambrose, of creating such a technically complex and temperamental pastry within the constraints of the competition. "However, I relied on my scientific background and experience to create the best macaron under the conditions, and I think Florian was gracious to acknowledge it." While The Sweet Lobby didn't win the $50,000 prize, the show inspired them to create a new desert line offering the best of both worlds: macaron topped cupcakes, MacTops. "Now, when customers can't decide between a cupcake or a macaron, I say, 'you don't have to choose,'" added McIntosh Ambrose.

The MacTop debuts this week at The Sweet Lobby in over 15 thoughtfully crafted incarnations, including the one featured on Cupcake Champions: The Madagascar. Additional new menu items include eclairs and French caneles. The Sweet Lobby offers nationwide shipping beginning July. For high-resolution images, visit www.sweetlobby.com.

About Winnette McIntosh Ambrose

McIntosh Ambrose is an accomplished scientist, an award winning pastry chef, and owner of The Sweet Lobby, a Washington, DC bakery. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, McIntosh Ambrose holds Bachelors degrees in Chemical Engineering and French from MIT, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins. McIntosh Ambrose and brother, Timothy McIntosh, also an MIT Chemical Engineer, opened The Sweet Lobby in 2011.

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SOURCE The Sweet Lobby