As soon as the Virginia Gold Cup announced that Chef Duff Goldman, the Food Network's Ace of Cakes, would judge a 'Cake Walk' contest at the organization's anniversary celebration, Lisa Patterson and Megan Hubbard of Middleburg's Mello Out, were planning what they would bake to enter. When Chef Duff announced that they had won, resounding applause and great merriment greeted their coup.

"Wow," exclaimed the Chef as he judged the entries…. It's a steaming bucket of horse_ _ _ _!"

That was exactly what Megan and Lisa had hoped to convey with their creation, a shiny, red bucket sitting on a bowl of dry ice that was filled with pieces of cake that had been frosted all around with rich butter cream icing and then rolled in roasted, round almonds.

"All the cakes were beautiful and some were stunning," the chef said. "But this idea takes the cake and definitely takes the prize!"

The entire contest was filmed and will be included in Chef Duff 's "Ace of Cake" series next season.