Sisters salutes...

Amy Bennette, owner of Cake Lab in Sisters, won the first-ever "Claw-some" Crab Cake Bake-Off, a cake-baking contest hosted by the Coos Bay-North Bend-Charleston Visitor & Convention Bureau, also known as Oregon's Adventure Coast. The organization invited amateur and professional bakers to bake and decorate a crab-inspired cake for a chance to win a complimentary two-night stay in the region, complete with lodging, activities, and dining options.

Bakers were asked to craft a Dungeness crab-themed cake and document the process and the finished product. Dungeness crabs have a long historical significance with Oregon's fishing industry and are the current symbol of Oregon's Adventure Coast. Bennette's cake, which won the top spot in the professional category, depicted a wizened octopus whose Dungeness crab dinner has escaped him.

"This is our first time organizing and overseeing a cake-baking competition, so we were not sure how successful this would be," said Janice Langlinais, executive director of the Coos Bay-North Bend-Charleston Visitor & Convention Bureau. "Turns out, the response was incredible. We could not believe how many wonderful and creative cake submissions we received! Choosing the winners of each category was not an easy task."

Many entrants hailed from Oregon, though bakers from Virginia, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Washington entered as well.

A panel of six judges scored each submission by its creativity, ability to incorporate the theme, crab imagery, and coastal style, before selecting the winners in the three categories: Professional, Amateur Adults, and Amateur Kids.