Fairytale Cake Competition

If you are a Food Network, specifically Cake Challenge and Ace of Cakes junkie like I am then you are definitely going to appreciate and enjoy this post! This weekend I had the opportunity to go to my first ever Cake Competition! No, I didn't compete in this competition myself...I think I need a little more experience first, but I did go to support one of my cake baking & decorating friends who entered a cake! The competition was in Pensacola, FL and was hosted by The Panhandle Cake CRUMBS. The theme for the competition was Fairytales and all levels of experience ranging from children, youth, novice, advanced and professional decorators could enter a cake.

My friend Evan entered a cake in the Professional division. She has been making and selling cakes for over a year now and she does some amazing work, so check out her blog Buttercakes. She has recently started working as a cake decorator at one of our local bakeries, The Pastry Shop. I will show you Evan's cake in just a few minutes...


As you entered into the competition this table of cakes was on display showcasing the the variety of styles and elements that can be obtained on cake using the new Cricut Cake. Basically if you are a scrapbooker and have used a Cricut before to cut out shapes and templates for your books, this is the same thing only for cake decorators....how cool is that? They had a lady demonstrating how to use the machine and selling instructional DVDs. They also had a raffle to give away the Cricut Cake and 4 DVDs valued at $600. So I bought some tickets and held my breath as they started the drawing. First of all they had white and blue tickets...I had a white ticket and that is the color that was pulled from the box...so I knew my chances were looking good...then they started to call the name of the winner..."Lar"...I was getting excited, it sounded like my name...but then all in a flash my dreams for the new Cricut Cake came crumbling down when the rest of the name was called "retta"..."Loretta" was the winner...not "Lauren"...darn I was so close to having a super fabulous cake decorating machine. I guess I'll have to save up to buy one on my own! Check out how super cute and detailed some of these cakes are that were made using the Cricut Cake templates.


I absolutely LOVE this animal themed cake. This would be perfect for a birthday party at the zoo!


And all of this intricate scroll work...wow!


Look how elegant and perfect this cake is!

Well after I ooeed and aaahhhed over the elaborate cakes then it was time to start scoping out the cakes for the competition. This is the cake that was the winner from last year. The Theme was "The Great Outdoors". This cake looked awesome in person, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Now let's move on to this years cakes and the different talent levels...

Here are the pictures of the Professional cakes:

And the WINNER is Shrek & Fiona! I just LOVE this cake and for oh so many reasons! I love how the cake has 2 distinct sides, one that tells the story of Shrek and the other of Fiona. The layering and the detail is just amazing! The color pallet is just perfect! This cake actually won 3 awards: winner in the Professional category, Best of Show and Decorator's Choice. WOW! I hope to be able to decorate a cake like this some day!


Here's a close up of the top of the cake...I mean check out all the details on the onions, flowers, leaves and scroll work. It is so clean and crisp, simply perfection.


This was my favorite side of the cake. I just love how elegant and simple it is with the different fondant techniques and embellishments. I think my favorite tier is the white ruffled layer with the green line of buttons. What an amazing cake!


This is the 2nd place winner in the Professional category...and it was done by the only male decorator to enter the competition. That fish looks so realistic and I love the colors.


And the 3rd place winner in the Professional category. This was one of the largest cakes and the fondant work is amazing creating all those basket weaves. Those oranges looked so real, like you could just grab one off and take a bite!

Now that you have seen the top 3 cake in the Professional category, here are the other entries:


Here is Evan with her cake, portraying the tale of Hansel and Gretel. I love the light green fondant color she chose and all of her attention to detail with the trees, crows and the characters. Here cake tells a story as you follow it around from one tier to the next.


According to the rules, Evan had to enter in the Professional division since she has sold her cakes for money before. She is still fairly new to the cake decorating industry though and feels like she probably would have done better entering in the Advanced competition instead just based on the skill levels of some of the other Professional cakes.


I still think she did an AMAZING job! Look at how intricate little Hansel and Gretel are.


And I love the technique she used for making trees by covering rods and wire in chocolate and then giving them texture with a tooth pick and then piping on every single leaf individually...now that takes some time and patience!

I loved this cake with the leaning affect...how does it even stand up is a mystery to me!

Now moving on to the Advanced category:

This was another one of my favorites, the Old Lady and the Shoe! I love all the colors and the boot sculpture with the scroll work and with the figures peaking out the winows.

Another favorite...Princess and the Pea. The rainbow colored bed was the centerpiece of the cake design.

Now moving on to the Novice category:

The 3 Little Pigs...so cute...I love the spaghetti and Chinese noodles representing the straw and hay...very clever!

Now here are some of the most adorable cakes you will ever see entered by children. It is so cool to see how they can portray some of their favorite fairytales through cake. Kids just have the greatest imagination.

Love the Little Mermaid in the clam shell with that long red hair.

Another take on the Little Mermaid...this cake was done by a little boy...I think he even got 3rd place! Maybe we have a future Duff Goldman from Ace of Cakes here, what do you think?

Look how cute this Cinderella cake is. I even got to meet the little girl who decorated this cake and she was so excited when I told her I liked her cake!

WOW! What a fun day of CAKES of all shapes, sizes, colors and decorations from all ages! I think next year I may just have to think about entering the competition myself. Are you ready for next years theme...drum roll please.....The 60's! Evan has already started doing some research on ideas she is thinking about for her cake next year...I can't wait to see what she comes up with. She sent me a long list of all kinds of events, tv shows, books, music, toys that were popular in the 60's and immediately I had an idea pop in my head that involved some of the tv shows I remember watching as a kid...the Jetsons, Flinstons and Alvin and the Chipmunks...how fun would it be to incorporate all of those characters into one large cake!

Doesn't this post just make you want to go decorate a cake now? Well, luckily for me, I'll be getting some practice coming up starting in March. I have signed up for Wilton's Fondant and Gum paste class so stay tuned and I'm sure you will get to see my next adventures in cake decorating real soon!

Happy Decorating!