Check out the original post #Cakes and #Sugarcraft – my little #hobby and a little surprise on Bewildered Bug
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the International Cake Show in Manchester.
This is one of the advantages of moving to England I think, the fact that I can develop my cake decorating much faster because everything surrounding sugarcraft seems to be so much more readily available and accessible.
Luv Luv came with me, and I’m really glad he did because it took us 2 hours (!!) to travel from Huddersfield to Event City in Manchester where it was being held – and yes, it’s only a 40 minute train ride to Manchester. It is on the outskirts of Manchester, and the way we were told to go by the show, it was REALLY inconvenient. We could have been there much faster, for much cheaper if we had known the transport routes a bit better…but, I guess that is all a part of living somewhere new, right?
So I loved the show as a whole – it was a little weird to be there with Luv Luv cause he was completely bored and complaining that no one was giving out cake samples – he got two brownies which he loved, but everywhere else seemed to only be selling spice cakes :S He was very good, though and fairly patient while I ooohed and aaahed…and he enjoyed the competition cake display so I guess it was not all a loss for him!
I took some of the tutorials (which I paid extra for), but they did not teach me anything new. In fact, the main thing that stood out was that just because you know your stuff, does NOT mean you can teach it! Maybe it was just the tutorials I went to….? I zoomed through the display area, because Luv Luv would have completely been bored, and I bought a fondant mat to try out! If it works, clean up will be a lot simpler and a lot easier.
The area I enjoyed most was the competition area – I was amazed at what I saw – such amazing cakes and some of them from home bakers or even kids! I took lots of photos for you to see – so here goes:
So I’ll start with the cupcakes….
someone say cupcakes?!?!
Yes, I said cupcakes
I like cupcakes too!
Yes, most people like cupcakes. Anyways, as I was saying…
..but he’s not a people…
…true, but neither are you…you’re a monkey…
I’m a monkey!!!
*siggggghhh*
Morons – can we please get to the cupcakes?!
OKAY, the cupcakes!
I love the idea of a cupcake per month calendar, don’t you?
They’re so cute!
…they may be “cute” dah-ling, but I’m gorgeous and elegant!
Okay, maybe I should give up on cupcakes…perhaps give up on cakes completely?
sushi!! pick me, pick me! (Clever Little Cupcake Company)
…but…you’re cake too!!.
…um…sorry to disappoint, but we’re all cake….
So I can’t give up on cake then?
nope, sorry – you’re stuck with us…
But…you guys are affecting my waistline and thunder thighs negatively.
nope. It’s tradition. You’re stuck with cake. (Maid With Cake)
but..but…
…just fly with it….
FINE. So anyways, as I wanted to do before I was rudely interrupted *ahem* …here are some of the cakes from the International Cake Show competition.
…would you believe KIDS made these cakes? Amazing!….
Kids? Really? I’m a kid!
No, you’re a monkey – a pretty cute baby monkey…but let’s all be quiet shall we? I need to show these cakes .. people are waiting….
yeah, you guys are really rude! Keep quiet, I wanna see these cakes!
Um…thank you….anyways, here are the fantastic cakes I saw at the show – I love all of them!
May I please jump in?
No.
dunanunanunanuna BATMAAAAAANNNN
Wow. Just Wow. And here I thought they got the idea to be quiet…
there was an old lady who lived in a shoe….
Hello…is anyone paying attention to me?!
I am
Well I guess that’s appropriate, we are in the year of the snake….
I hate snakes…
Wow, that was sorta rude Ms. Mermaid…
Oh forget them, just revel in our love… (Little Cherry Cake Company – T Cakes)
People, can I PLEASE get to the cakes?!
…mumble grumble, you woke me up so no cake for you…
*sigh* FINE. I give up. I give up. I’m just gonna show you the winner then – maybe I can fit that in without interruption. I’m happy this won because I love….
TURTLES!
Yes, I love turtles. I am in love with this cake – so happy it won first place overall in the show! They’re amazingly realistic!
Sorry I didn’t get the names of all the bakers that produced these cakes – but if you are one of them, please let me know and I will add your name to the respective photo.
Oh, and because I didn’t get a chance to investigate products fully, I decided to go to a second cake show in April, the Cake & Bake Show. It is located in Manchester Central, so it looks a lot closer and easier to get to than Event Center (which is actually in Trafford just outside of Manchester). I was so inspired by the cakes I saw at the International Cake Show, and by chatting with a few of the entrants on a Facebook group I am a part of, that I played with the idea of entering a cake myself.
I was playing with the idea one night when I was wide awake with insomnia (which has been torturing me for the last two weeks because I ran out of my melatonin and I’m *bling* wide awake although I am exhausted), and I looked at the entry form. Next thing I knew, I had hit “send”. My fashion inspired “pitch” to the cake competition was “A 20′s inspired flapper cake – fringe galore topped by pincurl heaven”. I even giggled at the absurdity of that statement on an application and figured the judges would think it was some type of joke. They would read it and think “this person is not serious about entering a cake” and discard it.
The day after I freaked out a bit, but with all my friends behind me I figured, heeeeey I can do this. Then as the days passed by and I had no reply, I thought I had gotten off easy and had not gotten into the competition. I said I was going to make the cake anyway for my portfolio, but really, why would I sit down for days sticking strings to a cake when I am not getting anything but a photo from it? Plus – a dummy cake of this proportion is NOT cheap to make….I sorta pushed the idea to the back of my mind and tried to get on with my life.
That is, until last night when I got an email in my recently empty inbox.
THEY ACCEPTED MY CAKE INTO THE COMPETITION!
I did not realize how excited I was just to enter a competition! I completely went wild happy (picture almost screaming and jumping up and down – but I didn’t cause I’m sorta sick…). I never realized exactly how much I wanted to do this – it was so exciting! It was so spectacular! It was so….scary!!!! I have never done this much work on a cake as is required by this cake, EVER. Can I do it? Will I finish on time? Will it be up to par?! Some of those cakes at the last show were SO spectacular!!!!! I cannot imagine EVER doing something to that level!
So I put that on Facebook as my status on my personal page. I texted my Mom. I spoke with some very good friends. I discussed it with the hubby. You know what? They were all as excited and had so much confidence in me that I am now at ease. I bought everything I need for the cake (ouch my pocketbook hurts but it’s a one time buy for many items so I just sucked it up and did it!), and sat all night trying to figure out how to do the different components. I managed to get 4 hours sleep but woke up bright eyed but not bushy tailed and could not get back to sleep because I had pin curl worries in my brain.
An ENTIRE tier of pincurls?!?! What was I thinking?! An entire cake of fringe? Am I crazy?! Gems? I’m entering a cake into a competition that will require so many techniques that I’ve never done before! In fact, I believe the only technique I have done for this cake before, is actually cover a base cake in fondant…..that is it. Everything else is an experiment that I will be trying with my fingers and toes crossed…hopefully it will come out at least looking decent enough for display.
So here I sit at 7:17 am after being up for 2 hours thinking about how to do pincurls and fringe. And I got to say, I need my stuff to be delivered yesterday to get this cake done on time! I completely do not believe I chose this pattern. My Mom always said I like to choose the hard way for some reason.
But, I am excited and keen to see what will happen. I know I’ll be cursing the high heavens for the next few weeks as I put this cake together, but man, I cannot wait to see the finished product and get some reactions from you lovely people! I know you’re all behind me.
I will try to keep you updated as I can – probably a variety of Quickie Posts consisting of complaints, whining and lots and lots of photos of me looking like a haggard mess (as is the life of a cake decorator), but I hope you enjoy it and I hope you follow along!
Has any of your hobbies ever excited or scared you this much? What do you love to do?
Bewildered Bug - ...just trying to navigate through this obstacle course called life...