2011 Colorado State Fair-Themed Cake Decorating Contest

The final contest at this year's Colorado State Fair was the Themed Cake Decorating Contest held on Monday, September 5th. The theme...the Fabulous Fifties.

This is always an interesting competition. I've found that the judges take the theme very literally and this isn't the place to think outside the box. They have also been very vocal in the past about their preference for buttercream over fondant.  Despite the fact that the rules clearly state that dummies are permissable, last year I noticed the judges subtlely lifting the cakes to determine the medium used. Hmmm....

I used the form cake that I posted about here so, while it wasn't "real" as in, we're going to take it home and have it for dessert tonight, it wasn't a styrofoam dummy, either. As for the cake decoration, what could be more fabulously "Fifties" than a bobby sockser in a poodle skirt? I've never made a doll cake before so I was really looking forward to it.

I started with a skirt baked in a bowl and then carved to attain the small waisted a-line shape I wanted. No well-dressed, well-brought up young woman in the fifties would have dreamed of going out without a slip under her skirt.

To make the lace trim. I used this mold I made in the class I took with James Roselle.

I gave her a pink skirt with a black poodle.

A white strapless blouse and a few accessories completed her ensemble.

A black and white checkerboard dance floor and a few details like a pair of gumpaste saddle shoes, tiny icing earrings, a belt, a bow in the poodle's fur, music notes, and little records (45 rpms, of course) and there she is..."Peggy Sue, all tarted up to go to the hop". Win or lose, I am thrilled with this cake and would love to do another doll cake.

This brings us to delivery. Thanks to some well-placed royal icing and great "cake driving" by BCHE (best cake husband ever) she arrives at the fair in pristine condition. There were just eight entries this year, a lot less than last year. The judges did their thing, and yes, once again, that little lift looking for dummies. Time to announce the winners...

In third place...

In second place...

Peggy Sue!

And in first place...

I have to tell you, the jukebox really played music!

All in all, my whole experience at the fair this year was fun and rewarding. A second place win in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship and a second place in the Cake Decorating contest left me feeling very happy. And even though my Peachy Keen Cupcakes didn't place, I now have a great recipe of my own creation.