The Cookie Wars of 24’
East Coast Breakfast’s Darren, Sky, and Carmen get into a
Cookie War – and it’s no joke.
The East Coast Breakfast squad is getting into the festive mood. Well, Sky and Carmen are. Darren is a bit harder to convince, but they came up with the perfect plan: The Christmas Cookie Wars.
EPISODE 1: Hijacked
The first episode of Cookie Wars took place on East Coast Breakfast on November 20, when Carmen introduced the idea to the team. The idea was to design one East Coast Breakfast Christmas cookie that represents each member of the team. Sadly, that didn’t go as planned.
Darren completely hijacked the show and made it his own. Instead of one cookie, now it’s a serious competition amongst the team to see who can come up with the best Christmas cookie.
We had some kid experts suggest which flavour best describes Darren – and boy were there some weird ones.
The flavour suggestions went from Soetkoekies (sweet cookies) to Double-dip flip-flop fudge cookies, Brownie-cupcake-fudge-berry-ice-cream cookies, and even concept cookies – like blue rush...something.
Yeah - it got really weird.
Follow the action LIVE on East Coast Breakfast this week to find out what cookie flavour Darren chose, and to see whether Sky and Carmen can beat his flavour. You might even get a chance to taste their exclusive, limited edition Christmas cookies.
What started off as an innocent way to usher Darren into a festive mood is now a WAR – a Cookie War.
And may the best cookie win...
EPISODE 2: Carmen's Revenge
The second instalment of Cookie Wars was live on East Coast Breakfast on Thursday, November 21, 2024; and boy did it get crazy.
After Darren hijacked the entire show on Wednesday and made it all about himself, Carmen had to get her revenge. It’s safe to say that she proved her point by inviting SugardInc to come into studio with tons of cookies to taste. Not just any cookies though, Carmen requested special cookies because – she can. BOSS MOVE! I mean, they had so many different kinds of cookies. From the Dubai Pistashio Kunafehs, Hot Chocolate Smore Cookies, Milktart Cookies, Pink Velvet Cookies, New York Chunky Cookies, Salted Caramel Cookies, and even Triple Chocolate Cookies. Wow, that's a lot of sugar!!
Yet, that was only phase 1. For phase 2 of her plan, Carmen invited real MasterChefs to help the team figure out the best cookie flavours. The 2024 top 3 MasterChef finalists joined the team to share other ways of baking cookies, and they also indulged in the baked goodness of SugardInc.
Did you know you can make the best cookies in an Air fryer? I know right. Unbelievable.
The second instalment ended up with the team having a better idea of all the possible flavours that their Christmas cookies could be. Darren absolutely fell in love with the Dubai Chocolate Cookie. Sky couldn’t get enough of the Milktart.
Carmen – well, she already knew what she wanted. After all, she was in charge.
EPISODE 3: Sky's Super Surprise
After Carmen’s revenge, Sky Tshabalala came up with a few surprises for Episode 3 of Cookie Wars. While Darren invited kid experts, and Carmen inviting MasterChefs; Sky had a different idea.
Sky invited a few experts, but his experts were not randoes. He requested the help of some of our favourite South African athletes. Who better to help muscleman than more musclemen?
Yep. He used his connection with the rugby owes to side with him. The brave Beast joined the team on-air to suggest a flavour for Sky. And nope, it wasn’t Milktart. It was Chocolate Fudge. Still better that Vanilla and Granadilla or Protein Peanut Butter though.
One thing was clear though; Sky couldn’t get enough of that Milktart Crumble from Episode 2, and he was praying to get it as his Christmas cookie. However, KZN said no. However, Sky is smarter than that.
What flavour did he get though? Well, that’s a story for Episode 4
ALSO READ: BUY NOW: Are we buying too much?
EPISODE 4: The Votes Are In...
It’s a new week, which came with new possibilities and a whole lot of surprises. After episode 3, East Coast Breakfast put out a poll for KZN to vote for the flavour that best describes Darren, Sky & Carmen.
Darren was down to four flavourful options:- Strawberry Cheesecake & Popping Candy
- Orange Chocolate & Ginger
- Caramel Smarties
- Vanilla Jelly Tots and Sprinkles
- Vanilla & Granadilla
- Protein Peanut Butter & Sprinkles
- Milktart Muscle Crumble
- Chocolate & Chai
- Double Chocolate & Chilli
- Carmenello Bear Chocolate
Thankfully though, the results weren’t what they expected.
KZN spoke, and the Christmas Cookies that they want in their exclusive East Coast Breakfast Christmas Cookie Box were:
- Strawberry Cheesecake & Popping Candy for Darren
- Carmenello Bear Chocolate for Carmen
- Milktart Crumble for Sky
Yep. In a strange turn of events, Sky managed to get the one he wanted. Hmmm…suspicious, but all is fair in love and war as they say.
However, just when they thought it was over, the team got the fabulous Fathima on the phone to share the exciting news. Fathima loved the flavours and agreed to create them, but there was still something missing.
Our chefs at SugardInc can’t go ahead without authentic, personalised cookie designs from each team member. After they designed what they thought was the perfect cookie, it was up to KZN to approve or disapprove.
What happened next was the ultimate twist.
ALSO READ: Zayn's not-so-lookalike contest
EPISODE 5: KZN Has Spoken
The team was super excited to share their designs with KZN, because they truly believed in their artistic talents. Shame. They should stick to radio.
The designs were absolutely horrendous. It would be embarrassing to share those Christmas Cookies with KZN. They would be crucified; and they were. One brave caller couldn’t bare those designs. So, she came up with a genius plan.
The school holidays are here, and the kids are annoying everyone at home. So why not give them something to keep them occupied, and a chance to share their creativity with the team. So – they called on KZN kids to be in charge of design and development.
Yep. The kid of KZN (between 6 and 12 years old) now have the chance to design a cookie for either Darren, Sky or Carmen – because even 12-year-old can come up with a better design that them. Did you see those cookies? Ewww.
All the kids have to do is draw what they think is the perfect cookie for the East Coast Breakfast Christmas Cookie Box and send it through to the team on WhatsApp or Facebook. The best designs win, and the winning designers get first dibs on their exclusive cookies. Much better, right?
Well. Only time will tell. We’ll find out in Episode 6.
EPISODE 6: Delicious Designer Cookies
We have our final three designer Christmas cookies!
The kids of KZN sent in hundreds of creative designs for the team to choose from, and our ultimate cookie designers are 9-year-old Diara Pillay and 10-year-old Carah Phagoo.
Diara Pillay designed Darren’s Strawberry Cheesecake and Popping Candy Christmas Cookie, and Carmen’s Carmenello Bear Chocolate Christmas Cookie!!
Meanwhile, Carah Phagoo designed muscleman Sky’s Milktart Muscle Crumble Christmas Cookie!
Now that we have these incredible designs, it’s time to bring them to life. Our team at SugardInc is already hard at work crafting these delicious crumble cookies for our exclusive East Coast Breakfast Christmas Cookie Box.
Darren, Sky and Carmen can’t wait to see these creations come to life and taste the deliciousness that awaits them.
Tune in to East Coast Breakfast this week for the exciting reveal of our delicious designer Christmas Cookies, and you might stand a chance to win your very own exclusive East Coast Breakfast Christmas Cookie Box!
ALSO READ: ‘Demure’ and other weird Gen Z slang
EPISODE 7: Cookieees
The Cookie Wars reached their summit and SugardInc finally unveiled the final cookies to Darren, Sky & Carmen on air. The verdict? The East Coast breakfast Christmas cookies were nothing short of mouthwatering goodness!
Darren’s Strawberry Cheesecake and Popping Candy was exactly
that, a mouthwatering strawberry cheesecake cookie with actual popping candies.
You probably heard them popping in his mouth as he took his first bite.
Carmen’s Carmenello Bear Chocolate had the cutest little
bear on it, making it so hard for Carmen to take a bite. When she did though,
she couldn’t get enough of the sweet caramel that filled her palette, bringing
out the sweetest smile in her – and it takes a lot to get Carmen to smile.
Unfortunately, Sky wasn’t in studio to taste his Milktart
Muscle Cookie, but Ndabe took his place. Let’s just say, he took one bite after
the other until the cookie disappeared. Does this mean the Milktart wins? Maybe…or
Ndabe just really loves a good cookie.
You’re probably reading this wishing you could taste them, right? Well, you can. The East Coast Breakfast Christmas Cookie Box is already available for you to buy and immerse yourself in the Christmas goodness; and it’s not just the 3 cookies designed by Darren, Sky and Carmen.
When you order your box, you get the 3 ECR Breakfast Christmas Cookies by the team, and an additional 3 SugardInc cookies of your choice.
Visit sugardinc.co.za to order your Christmas Cookie Box, with a variety of other options to choose from to make it a total of 6 delicious crumble cookies. All of this for only R230.00.
Remember – all profits go towards the Big Favour’s Season of Sharing, to help East Coast Radio feed more families this festive season, while putting a sweet smile on your face.
ALSO READ: Private School Ice: It can only be Woolies
HOW TO LISTEN TO EAST COAST RADIO
1. Listen to East Coast Radio on the FM (frequency modulation) spectrum between 94 and 95 FM on your radio.
2. Listen live to ECR by clicking here or download the ECR App (iOS/Android).
3. Listen to East Coast Radio on the DStv audio bouquet, channel 836.
4. Switch to the audio bouquet on your OpenView decoder and browse to channel 606.
5. Listen to us on Amazon Alexa.
Follow us on social media:
· TikTok