For those of you following the ongoing cupcake saga (hey, Lost isn’t on this week), the results are in. After several days of tallying hundreds of ballots from the celebrity judges (moi) and the general public (ew), the winners in all three categories of the 2008 Cupcake Challenge have been announced:

Best Traditional
1st place: Vanilla Bake Shop Red Velvet (judges' choice)
2nd place: Yummy Cupcakes Red Velvet
3rd place: Hotcakes Red Velvet (public's choice)

Best Original:
1st place: Sugar Jones "Paradise" (judges' choice)
2nd place: The Oinkster Peanut Butter and Jelly
3rd place: Essential Chocolate Desserts "Blood Orange Fudge"

Best Overall:
1st place: Leyna's Kitchen "Strawberrilicious"(public's choice)
2nd place: Sugar Jones "Paradise" (judges' choice)
3rd place: The Oinkster Peanut Butter and Jelly

No major upsets as far as I can see. I called out the Sugar Jones “Paradise” and Lyena’s “Strawberrilicious” as especially scrumptious in my Monday post. The Oinkster’s Peanut Butter and Jelly wonder was pretty remarkable—just like the PBJ with the crusts cut off my mom put in my lunch in elementary school. Any oversights? Maybe the meyer lemon cupcake from BabyCakes—adorable, not too sweet, and perfectly tangy.

Ok, this is the last cupcake post, I swear. Until next year…