Sunday, April 10, 2011

Cake Decorating Corner Topsy Turvy Contest!

My Cakes We Bake contest entry
I am entering an online cake contest!  Over at Cake Decorating Corner they are holding a Topsy Turvy cake contest.  It just so happens that I have a topsy turvy cake in my portfolio.  And, it happens to be a very special cake to me that I am very proud of!  It is my Animal Friends 1st Birthday cake and it was for my son’s birthday last year!  It was the first time I had attempted a topsy turvy cake and I love, love, love it!

The only other cake contest I have entered was the Connecticut Cake Competition 2011, and I ended up winning 1st Place in my category and the Trophy for my division!  After that I am somewhat hooked on cake competitions, although, they don’t happen with much frequency in my area.  So I was really excited to get an email from Cakes We Bake about this contest!

CCC Winning Cake!
Why am I entering?  Well, I’m actually not entering with the expectation of winning!  There are so many great cake decorators out there that would really be an unrealistic expectation anyway.  But, I find it fun to see my work up against all the others.  For myself, I like to see how I compare and it helps me push myself to be better.  Also, like any artist, I just like my work to be “seen”.  Cake is such an impermanent medium that usually the only people who have the chance to see my work are the party goers, for about 10 minutes before they dig in and eat it (OK, maybe longer than 10 minutes… and really I like people to enjoy eating my cakes, please don’t feel bad if you get one of my cakes and are ready to chow down, that’s is it’s purpose!).

For this online contest I am not making a new cake, but generally part of the fun of cake competition is coming up with a design that you think can compete with whatever else may be presented!  So, whether you are an experienced cake decorator, or a novice, check out the contest.  If you don’t have a topsy turvy cake in your portfolio, maybe now is the time to make one!  Have fun!  You can enter here!

(If you do enter, post a comment and let me know the title of your cake, I love to check out other people’s work!)

Happy Caking :)

3 comments:

  1. I love your "Jungle" cake!! I am making one for my son's 1st birthday as well. Any tips on making the animals?? They look wonderful!!

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  2. @Jessica Thank you! For the animals I just looked at TONS of pictures of the animals, models, cartoons, real-life... to decide on the look I wanted. I definitely want more cartoon-y animals. Just break it down to the basic shapes you will need. EX. The monkey- a ball for his body, a ball fro his head, tapered logs for his limbs, etc... As far as tips, make the head larger than you think you need. I tried doing it "to scale" but its tough to get all the details on. For fingers and toes, score the marks with a blade tool... and 5 fingers are hard to make look good, so use 4(I learned from drawing class, look at most cartoons, the characters only have 4 fingers!) I hope that helps you!

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  3. The animal cake and the CCC winner cakes are my favorites! The 'new born baby' cake is by far one of the prettiest cakes I've ever seen.
    And you have self-taught yourself..hats off to you!! :)

    Can you sometime have a tutorial on how to make those fantastic drapes & curtain effect you got on 'baby cake'. Also I'd like to see a tutorial on how you make those animals so cute.

    Baking is my hobby. I could never really give it enough time. Have spent zillion of hours browsing the cake sites and youtube. I have lately started buying all the tools I may need to decorate cakes.

    You truely are an inspiration! :)

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