After a nationwide contest to determine the Ultimate Cakes Recipe, a dessert inspired by Janice Kollar, a 57-year-old singer/songwriter from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey will be featured at over 600 US T.G.I. Friday's® restaurants beginning today.

Kollar's cake recipe was judged to be best in class by a panel of food experts on Food Network's "Ultimate Recipe Showdown," a six-week series featuring America's greatest home cooks battling head-to-head for $25,000, culinary supremacy and a spot on T.G.I. Friday's menu.

"This is a chocolate lover's dream dessert," said Scott Randolph, senior director of culinary, R&D for T.G.I. Friday's. "It's so tempting, you may order it first."

Randolph and his R&D team were challenged to transition Kollar's Classic Chocolate Layer Cake recipe into a dish that would fit a strategic need for the Friday's menu without sacrificing the spirit of the original recipe.

Friday's "ultimate" result: Dark Chocolate Cupcake Duo, two rich dark chocolate cupcakes topped with layers of creamy chocolate frosting and sprinkled with dark chocolate chips.

"We took a brilliant and flavorful recipe for a cake and captured the essence of it in a smaller package," continued Randolph. "Cupcakes are something we've been researching for a long time and this recipe proved to be the ideal fit. We updated a childhood favorite with an ultimate recipe and by converting the cake into a cupcake our guests can now experience all of the powerful, tongue-tingling flavors of a cake in a perfectly portioned dessert."

"For forty-three years, we've been fanatical about bringing the best tasting food and drink to our guests," said Mike Archer, president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday's USA. "Now, we're featuring the best recipes from America's greatest home cooks on our menu: powerfully memorable flavors, from burgers to cupcakes, you can experience only at Friday's."