Ayda Hussein of Glenview joined more than 100 hungry customers at The Hungry Monkey Baking Company's "Customers Choose the Next Cake Party" at Prairie Grass Cafe on Tuesday, January 31st.

Cindy Kienzle, 52, started The Hungry Monkey Baking Company a year and a half ago, after losing her long-term management position with the Chicago Transit Authority during an administration change—all while 7 months pregnant. In only a few months, with a two year old in tow, she went from selling her cakes at local farmers markets to supermarkets! Her "crazy-good" line of all-natural cakes, triple chocolate brownies and chocolate chip macaroons are in all Sunset Foods stores, select Mariano's Fresh Markets and she has an online business (www.hungrymonkeybaking.com) as well.
Recently, she asked her most loyal customers via Facebook to help her decide her next cake; her only criterion was that it had to be chocolate and had to fit in her fruit & vegetable theme (her other cakes include their signature banana chocolate chip, a carrot cake with a buttermilk glaze, and a lemon vanilla bean cake). The suggestions rolled in via her Facebook page and yesterday her customers voted on their favorite NEW cake.

Hussein loved the Candied Orange Peel Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze. But her vote wasn't enough to win; the Raspberry Ribbon edged it out and will be on store shelves late March.

"It's our last cake for the foreseeable future; but who knows...the Candied Orange Peel Chocolate Cake was a very close second!" Kienzle added.