Cake Challenge

Yesterday was the Cake Challenge at Michael’s here in Colorado Springs.  I’ve never competed in a cake decorating contest before and it was just amazing.  The cakes had to consist of at least two tiers.  They could be iced or covered in fondant prior to the contest but not decorated.  Up to 50% of the decorations could be made prior to the contest too.

First I will tell you about my cake.  I made a half sheet chocolate cake and iced it with chocolate buttercream.  I also made an 8 inch round of chocolate cake covered with chocolate buttercream.  I made pumpkin chip muffins in the shape of pumpkins for the top.  I covered them with orange tinted vanilla buttercream.

Prior to the competition, I made the pumpkins and gourds with different shades of orange fondant.  I used green tinted fondant for the tops with some moss green coloring to enhance the “real” life look of the pumpkins.  I also dusted the pumpkins with green shimmer dust and the gourds with gold dust.  I also made our family ahead of time.  I just rolled out fondant in different shades depending on who I was making.  I decided to personalized the peeps with our favorites colors.  Mazie is wearing blue jeans with pink shoes and a pink shirt.  Jamie is wearing purple and brown.  Jacob is wearing green and blue jeans.  Jeremiah is wearing a brown shirt with blue jeans and I am wearing red and brown.  I didn’t have molds to make my peeps so everything was by hand!  Oh, and I made a rake for Jeremiah to have.  I was happy with how they turned out…

At the contest, I “starred” the pumpkins and added the stems and vines…

I put a shell border around the bottom of the half sheet and round cakes.  Then I placed my family around the round cake.  I placed the gourds and pumpkins.  I also rolled out red, yellow, and orange tinted fondant and used small leave cutters for the leaves.  I placed them around the gourds and pumpkins and filled in around the top pumpkin cakes.

I ended my decorating 90 minutes with writing “Be Thankful” on the cake because that’s how I feel.  I am very thankful for my family!

Now on to my competition!  This is my friend and classmate’s cake.  She did an amazing job on her cake.  With a mummy, spiderweb, and skull for her cakes, she paid amazing attention to detail.  The spider, bats, Frankensteins, and finger pillars are all fondant.  I was very surprised she did not win!  It is a very spooky cake.

This one is amazing too.  I love the marbling of her fondant on the lower two tiers and the fire flames.  In the cauldron was a green swirly fondant that looked like some kind of crazy brew.  This is a great Halloween party cake.

And this one was the winner.  It’s a cute cake with a fun Halloween theme.  It was very well done!

It was fun to see what competing felt like.  I was nervous but not crazy.  It’s nice to know I can work under pressure and still turn out a nicely decorated cake!  So what are your thoughts?