Photos! Who won Malverne's Irish soda bread competition?

The competition was steeper than ever before for this year’s Irish soda bread contest. The friendly — and delicious — contest is held annually by Evelyn Heredia at Phoenix Chiropractic Wellness, and this year saw 14 different homemade breads compete for the first place prize.

Local celebrity judges Ed Hassel, Gerry Hughes and Mayor Tim Sullivan tasted each of the soda breads and scored them based on categories like flavor, crumble and shape. The judging process was rigorous — no Kerrygold Irish butter allowed until after.

Each loaf had its own merits — some were beautifully decorated; others had the perfect amount of crumble; still others replaced had cranberries instead of raisins or a flavor that would linger. Ultimately, Marilyn Schwartz took home the first place title and accompanying Irish-themed gift basket.