Cake Competitions: A Great Learning Tool
I am an avid supporter of competitions for the sugar arts. Competitions encourage excellence, helping individuals develop skills to a higher level than what otherwise might be obtained. In my own experience, I saved and used judging sheets from cakes that I entered in various competitions as coaches to help guide my work on future entries.
While at the shows, I always took time to carefully study all of the other competitors’ cakes, often making it a point to ask other decorators questions about how they achieved a certain design element. Careful attention to others’ work helped to internalize important details to consider when working on my own pieces. Participating in a competition became for me a distance learning program of sorts. I found that by devoting so much energy to improving my show-quality work my routine work improved, both in efficiency and in appearance.
Over the past three years, I have shifted into the role of a judge, an equally tenuous feat that requires critical attention to minute details on high-caliber cakes. I now judge cake and gingerbread house shows around the country, providing demonstrations and hands-on classes before and/or after the show.
So, regardless of your own current skill level, consider participating in a competition. It may prove to be just the nudge you need to take your work to the next level.
If you are interested in cake competitions, here are some that are coming up in the near future:
- New York Cake Convention (New York, NY): January 2-4, 2010 http://www.cakeconvention.com/
- That Takes the Cake (Austin, TX): February 27-28, 2010 http://thattakesthecake.org/
- National Capital Area Cake Show (Fairfax, VA): March 20-21, 2010 http://www.cakeshow.org/
The following images show my own progression from bronze to silver to gold medal awards at the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show.
Gold Medal, 2007 (Feathered Fantasy). This six-tiered, Hollywood-themed cake pays homage to Lucille Ball, featuring over 80 sugar orchids and 500 handmade fondant feathers, 400 of which enrobed a feathered pedestal. This work is featured in the 2008 book "Decadent Details, Perspectives of the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition" published by American Cake Decorating and Grace McNamara Inc.
Silver Medal, 2005 (Beaded Fantasy)This four-tiered oval cake is decorated with classic string work and a topper of life-like gum paste lilies. Its design is based on a wedding gown.
Bronze Medal, 2003 (Butterfly Garden)This four-tiered fondant-covered cake is styled after Versace's Butterfly Garden china pattern.