Submission (#524) Approved

AND THE HEAT WAS ON! The smell of carbon dioxide filled the air as fire roared. It was the Great Terrah Bake Off, and stakes were high; it was the penultimate round and Sable was currently second place behind Clippy whose mocha truffles just surpassed his black forest truffles. Ding! The eclairs flew out of the oven and onto the countertop. Sable glanced up to see 0:12:46 on the clock; they had to be decorated now! He carefully added the raspberry and passion fruit icing, garnishing with white chocolate shavings and pomegranate zest. He didn’t have time to applaud himself for the éclair’s perfect golden-brown colour as time was up! His gaze shot to Clippy’s eclairs with pistachio icing and dark chocolate chunks. Damn, they looked good! Staying sat in second place was looking inevitable. Still, he had to hold onto hope.
“AWAY FROM YOUR TABLES, TIME IS UP!” called Claramay, “BRING YOUR ECLAIRS TO THE FRONT.”
Taste testing began. Sable’s sensors began to ring, everything fading from existence. He didn’t know how long he sat there for, lost from the world but eventually, he was brought back by the words: “All round some of the best eclairs I’ve ever seen, thank you Sable.” What?
“I can’t believe I didn’t fully cook them the whole way through.” sighed Clippy, head hung. What just happened? Claramay re-emerged from the back “For this round: first place Sable, Second place Clippy…”
He had done it, they were neck and neck for a sudden death final round. Time seemed to flash before his eyes, a blur of baking. When he could finally understand what was happening again, in front of him stood a huge cake, fitting of royalty: A tiered gilded red velvet cake, commanding attention. Its layers, a luscious scarlet hue, whisper tales of indulgence. Wrapped in decadent cream cheese frosting, it gleamed like fresh-fallen snow. Adorned with golden accents, it shimmered with regal opulence. Each tier, a masterpiece of elegance, invites a symphony of flavours to dance upon the palate, a sumptuous celebration in crimson and gold. Sable stood in awe of his own work. Clippy’s cake was next to his; carved to be spherical with a flat base with icing precisely placed to present it as a disco ball.
“Incredibly impressive hyper-realism" noted Claramay as she sliced into Clippy’s work. “Perfectly moist, very smooth on the palate.”
Then she came to Sable’s, expression showing intrigue. The world span. Round and round it went, round and rou- “It’s perfect. OUR WINNER IS SABLE!”