Friday Favorites: Fire and Ice Cake Contest

After having such a fun Saturday afternoon with the family at the Fire and Ice festival, I decided to postpone the original Friday Favorites I had typed up for today and do a quick re-cap of the Fire and Ice festival with a real focus on the cake contest.

Alec decided to enter this year at the urging of his culinary teacher and had spent a whole week working on his cake(s).  He first drew up a plan having been told that everything had to be edible on the cake. 


This was the first year the event was going to have 3 categories: Home or novice baker/ a culinary student (that was the new category for this year)/ and professional.   

Just before starting the actual cake he got an email from the event coordinator stating that this year the cakes on display did not have to be all edible due to the cost of eggs and grocery products so Alec's teacher encouraged him to use a dummy cake (basically a cake form made from Styrofoam).  While he sill had to frost and make edible decorations he now only had to make one small tasting cake made out of actual cake. 

This year's theme was "sugar and spice and everything nice" so each cake had to have some sort of spice used.  Alec decided to make a spicy hot cocoa cake using a chocolate cake base mixed with cayenne pepper.  He used cream cheese frosting for between the layers and covered the whole cake in a cinnamon buttercream topped with chocolate ganache.   He was told it didn't have to look nice and it only needed to feed 5 people... but while Alec wasn't thrilled with the look of his cake he did try to make it look nice and appetizing anyway. 



He worked hard all week and by Friday (February 10th) he had his cakes all ready for drop off.  I picked him up from school and drove like a little old lady to the church not wanting to mess up his cakes on the way there.  We were told where to set up and he set about fixing his display cake in place while I took a few photos of some of the competition (of course we had zero idea what category any of the cakes were entered in so we didn't really know which ones where HIS competition).






Now I didn't get a photo of each of the cakes that were on display (there were 48 in total being entered and at least a dozen already there when we dropped off Alec's cake), but I did try to take photos of the ones I was most drawn to.  The photos aren't fabulous as the lighting was quite dim and most of them were backlit from the window but you get the idea. 





We decided to actually go to the festival for the first time ever. I felt so bad for the ice carvers as it was a sunny warm-ish day with temps in the 40's.  While the ice sculptures didn't completely melt they lost so many of the details I know they usually  have.  

The festival ran from noon-9pm but we knew the cake winners were announced around 5:45 and Alec could pick up his cakes between 5 & 6 so we planned to get there around 3:30/4:00 and walk around, go through the church and see ALL the cakes (and vote on best in show!), and check out the other exhibits. 


As the sun started to set we were really thankful for the fire pits and heating torches. 



We waited in line a good 30 minutes or so to walk through the church and see all the cakes.  Each category gets a winner picked by the 5 professional taste testers who grade the tasting cake and the actual decorated cake as well.  Then the public all gets to vote on their favorite cake for a best in show.  


It was really crowded in the church and with all the cakes/ signs/voting bins it was hard to get photos of all the cakes I liked. Though I did snap a few more quick photos. 


This is the one that ended up winning "best in show"



All of the local restaurants and businesses are decorated and open and see an increase in sales (mostly!) for the event as well. 


We waited around until just after 5 then grabbed the cake boxes from the car and went to pick up Alec's cakes.  We waited out near the stage at 5:45 to hear the winners.... There were 10 entries into the culinary student category  and Alec's cake won for his category!



Not sure if you can really see him much over the crowd but he was called up on stage to receive a certificate and some prize money.  After that we decided to head home and warm up.  

Alec was thrilled and I spent the whole ride home texting everyone I could think of to let them know that Alec had won! 

Linking up with: Spread the Kindness,






Comments

  1. Wow! Alec is so amazingly talented- you should be proud- his cakes are beautiful and I am sure they are delicious too!

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  2. Yay and what an awesome cake and a fun event to attend! Happy Friday!

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    1. It was fun and while I felt so bad for the ice carvers, I was so thankful for the nice weather.

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  3. What a cool event and how cool is it that Alec won his category? Though not surprising given how great his cake looked. He must have been so proud to win and even to get prize money?? What fun! Many congrats to him.

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  4. Oh wow! What a fun event and well done Alec with his cakes. That was a really sensible idea using a dummy cake and just decorate it. They really do look amazing! I love the one with the cup on the top. x

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    1. He did make the mug on top of his cake using rice krispie treats and fondant and chocolate ganache.

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  5. That was a well deserved win!!! My mouth watered at the description of the flavors and it was so dang cute!!

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  6. Congrats Alec! His cake is amazing. I also love the other ones and the mailbox is so cool!

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  7. Congratulations to Alec! What a fun day!

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  8. What a great honor for Alec! Congratulations! He is so talented. This festival looks so fun and unique. Those cakes are impressive!

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    1. We were really impressed! We didn't even know they had a cake contest up until his teacher mentioned it to him. It was a fun festival.

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  9. Alec!!! So proud of you. Amazing. That polkadot cup on top so stinking cute! Happy Friday love.

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    1. Isn't that adorable?! He said it was super easy to make (though I have my doubts).

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  10. Congratulations Alec!! What an awesome experience.

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    1. It really was! I'm pretty sure he'll want to compete again next year.

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  11. This is just amazing! Alec is so talented...congratulations! That was some stiff competition too. Love his cake and the best in show too!

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    1. Aw, thank you! The competition was pretty fierce (though I do think the ones I photographed were probably in the professional category if I had to guess).

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  12. Congratulations to Alec that’s wonderful!! He is so talented. It looked like it was a great day at the festival.
    Ruth@playworkeatrepeat

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  13. That's so wonderful! Congratulations to Alec! I love small town festivals!

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  14. OMG, that's so exciting that he won. There are some talented people there. I can't believe the creativity!!
    XOOX
    Jodie

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    1. We were blown away by how many people competed and all the different styles/skills on display!

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  15. Congratulations to Alec! His cake looks beautiful. Well done! Thank you Joanne for your weekend coffee share and lovely photos.

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  16. The cake is awesome! Alec is so talented.
    Love the photos.

    Hugs and blessings, Joanne.

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  17. Joanne, that is absolutely wonderful! Congratulations to Alec! His cake is really cute and sounds delicious! I've never tried that flavor combination but hear of it a lot. I'd love to go to an ice carving event, but it's just not that cold around here for that long anymore!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. We've never actually seen them carve the ice but we have gone around a time or two in past years the day after the event to check out all the sculptures; they typically last several days.

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  18. Wow, art in cake decorating. Good one Alex. Loved the story. Denyse

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  19. Congrats to Alec, his cake looked great, and what wonderful displays were on offer, so many creative people out there! #wcs

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    1. Yes, we were really blown away by all the creativity- both in cake and in ice!

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  20. Wow! His cake is awesome! Cake decorating is truly a work of art, he did a great job! I love watching those bake challenges on Netflix, so fun to watch!

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    1. Thank you so much! We love watching those shows on Netflix too; in fact I sear he only got into baking after watching Cupcake Wars back in the day.

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  21. How wonderful!! Congratulations to Alec - I loved his cake! All the cakes you pictured are lovely, so he definitely had some strong competition, making the win a huge achievement!

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  22. WOW, those are some fancy cakes!! The one that won Best in Show is so adorable! Congrats to Alec for winning his category--his cake looked seriously impressive!

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  23. Joanne,
    OMG!! Your son is so talented!! What a work of art that cake is!! I am awestruck to say the least!!
    Thanks so much for stopping by!! Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  24. Congratulations to Alec! His cake looked amazing! Actually they all did!

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    1. Thank you! We thought they all looked pretty great too.

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  25. CONGRATULATIONS to Alec! That's AMAZING!!! And soooo exciting! This looks really fun!

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  26. Aw, well done Alec! What an awesome cake. He is very talented! Glad you had a great time. x

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    1. Aw, thank you! It was cold after the sun went down but we did have fun.

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  27. The winning cake is indeed adorable but Alec's is just as cute. That little cup on top!! I would buy that cutie if I saw it in a store. I know it is edible and not ceramic but it is just precious. And I don't know how the winning cake tasted but I can be sure Alec's was sinfully delicious. Congratulations to your son for winning best in his category. Great honor. What a fun outing and competition.

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    1. Aw, thank you! He did base his cup off one he had seen in real life so they do exist... I just don't know where.

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  28. Wow he did such a great job. Incredible.

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  29. That was quite a win on Alec's behalf because those cakes were all very well done. He must have been so proud of himself getting first place.

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    1. Aw, thank you! He is very proud and so are we.

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  30. Wow...Great job to Alec! Congrats. I loved the look of his and the flavor combo sounds good. I think I would've picked the same ones you did as favorites. So cool!

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  31. Congratulations to Alec! The cake looks so warm and cozy.

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    1. Thank you!! That's actually the vibe he was going for too.

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  32. Congratulations to Alec! His cake was AMAZING!! He is seriously so talented. And what a fun event, too!

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