The title of best cupcake in Chilton County will be on the line during the inaugural 2017 Chilton County Cupcake Competition hosted by Senior Connection in Clanton on June 10.

Professional, amateur and junior bakers will square off in a battle to win over the judges and the public with their cupcake creations.

A $25 entry fee is required to enter into the contest and admission for spectators of the event is $5, which includes the ability to taste each cupcake entered.

Entry packets can be picked up by stopping by Senior Connection, or emailing chiltonseniorconnection@gmail.com.

Contestants will be separated into three age groups with youth (7-12 years old), teens (13-17 years old) and adults (18 and older) all competing.

The adult and teen divisions will be judged on their use of “flavors of Chilton County,” such as strawberry, peaches, pecan, blackberry, blueberry, bacon and nectarine, while the youth category must use chocolate, vanilla or caramel in their recipes.

According to Shelley Jones, who is helping oversee the event, any flavors can be used by the bakers. However, they must include at least one of the designated flavors in their category somewhere within the recipe.

“For the older groups, it’s about representing your county in your cupcake,” Jones said.

Jones owns and operates Cake Addiction in Clanton, and is fully involved in the cupcake business. She will not be competing, but instead helping direct behind the scenes.

She hopes to draw interest from the culinary students at the schools within the county and grab hold of that growing passion of food preparation.

“I have talked about doing something like this, and when she [Senior Connection director Vanessa McKinney] came to me I already had a plan,” Jones said.

It is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The winner in each category will receive $100, a trophy and also a $25 gift certificate from Cake Addiction.

The winner of the public vote will receive a $50 gift certificate to Cake Addiction, as well as a trophy.

All proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward funding activities for Senior Connection and the continuing effort to purchase a bus for the center to use.

All entered desserts must be 100 percent edible and participants are required to bring at least six decorated regular size cupcakes and no less than 30 miniatures that are not decorated, but for tasting purposes only.

There will be no baking on site, as all the cupcakes will be baked at home and brought to the competition.

An exact step-by-step recipe is not needed, but two copies listing the ingredients used must be submitted on index cards.

One index card will be given to the judges, while the other will be on display to the public.

Judges will grade each cupcake on a scale of 1-10 and will score the desserts according to their texture, taste, artistic expression, originality and overall appearance.