This year was my first year submitting a cake entry to the Orange County Fair. I had no idea what to expect, I've never decorated a "dummy" cake before... I've never had anyone "judge" my cakes before... So many things ran through my head, most of it was nerves but I set a goal to enter a cake so I did.
I got 3rd place! I cannot believe it! Especially after everything the cake and I went through....
What can a cake and cake decorator go through together? A lot.
I started on the "cake" [styrofoam] 4 days before the turn in day... I stayed up late coloring then covering the cake in fondant, only to wake up and take all of it off the next morning to start over. I had a vision of what the cake should look like and the first attempt just wasn't working for me.
Thankfully that was the only time I started over.
Thankfully that was the only time I started over.
I spent the whole next day [nap time & after bed] working on this logo... it took me FOREVER!!! It was all done by hand with gum paste.... Talk about a time consuming task, but I was really happy about the way it turned out.
This was the fair's actual logo:
The fun part was creating all of the fair food characters, I was inspired by the logo and the red farm house that is located on the fair grounds.
The Grass? I LOVE the way it turned out. I rolled out fondant just a little bit taller than the base then cut the grass with my kitchen shears. It's a technique I'd never done before but will definitely do again.
And the worst part of my whole experience... the cake delivery/drop off.
This cake make it through the 30 min car ride to the fair [usually the worst part] and the walk through the parking lot. Everything was looking great until a fair volunteer went to move my cake from the entry table to another table. They grabbed the "cake" by the sides not the bottom. The front side slid off!!! I was crushed. They let me "glue" it back together with frosting but I knew the next time it was moved that same thing could happen and I wasn't going to be there to fix it.
I took a deep breath and walked away. It was a lesson I learned the hard way. Do not decorate the base of a cake entry. Leave it some plain foiled or felt covered cardboard.... Next year.
After that drop off fiasco I told myself this year's entry was a learning experience and I was happy with just that. I had no expectations to place at all.
360 View of the Cake
I actually didn't even want to go to the fair to see my cake. The thought of seeing close to 24 hours of my time and hard work destroyed didn't sound like fun... but every year [for the last 2 years anyway] Grandma Renee and I take the twins to the fair so we had plans to go almost a week after the fair opened.
Once we got in I knew I had to see it...
It was destroyed, I mean completely and utterly destroyed.
I was so sad when I saw the damage I didn't even notice that it placed 3rd!!! Grandma Renee had to point out to me that it placed! What a complete shock. I'm more than happy about placing and will submit an entry next year taking what I learned from this year and make next years cake even better.
:)
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