Eleni’s Famous Oscar Cookies

Every Best Actor and Best Actress Oscar nominee knows that his or her on-screen performance is now not only a part of movie history, but a part of a distinguished and select group of movie history. It’s inevitable the characters these actors played will be immortalized and studied in classrooms and living rooms across the country. As if that weren’t enough, the Best Actor and Actress nominees have also been immortalized in edible form.

“As an avid fan of the Hollywood film industry, I always look forward to hosting my Oscars party for family and friends,” says Eleni Gianopulos, the woman behind the famous confections. So, in 2003, as part of the yearly celebration, she created “a line of desserts to make everyone feel like they’re in the audience, to honor themselves as a nominee.”

From their home base at Chelsea Market, Eleni’s New York has begun a Hollywood tradition. “Our flagship store in New York City is a prime attraction around Oscar time. The store is completely decorated with gold stars, cupcakes and oversized cookies of the nominees and even a red carpet!” says Gianopulos, whose cookies have garnered nationwide interest as well. “We have worked with major motion picture companies to cater cookies for their Oscar parties in New York and Los Angeles, celebrity clientele will send boxes to friends and our loyal customers order boxes and boxes to serve at their own at-home Oscar parties!”

Both cookie boxes featuring Best Acting nominees include 16 cookies, three each representing Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page, as well as George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones, Daniel Day-Lewis and Viggo Mortensen. “As actors and actresses move from project to project, their public appearances alter frequently. When illustrating the nominees, we base the portrait off of recent photos in the press,” Gianopulos says. “We are fortunate each year to use the Screen Actors Guild red carpet photos as the most recent shots of our stars.”

This year’s Best Picture cookies take a little different approach, illustrating key objects from each of the nominated films. From Atonement‘s emerald green dress to Juno‘s hamburger phone and Javier Bardem’s custom weapon in No Country for Old Men, the cookies will inevitably help remind you of the best parts of these movies and why they were nominated in the first place.

For more information about Eleni’s New York visit www.elenis.com.

To enter to win a box of the Oscar cookies for yourself, visit MovieMaker‘s contests page.