ICCA cake competition 2011

A brief analysis and comparison of the cakes in the annual wedding cake competition by ICCA in 2010 and 2011. Enjoy the visual feast. The creativity of the contestants were astounding.

By Norashikin 2010

A beautiful peacock compostion. She spent the night in a budget hotel with her cake and she said the the journey from Melaka and then through narrow corridors of the hotel was harrowing. The tail and feathers were very artistically done.

By Norashikin 2011

This time her birds were even more intricate. I spent a long time admiring her delicate work of art. She said she spent long afternoons snapping photos of lotus flowers in her kampung before creating her masterpiece. I can imagine her painstakingly piping each and every feather and the care she must have taken transporting it from Melaka. A very inspiring creation.

Birds and feathers will always remind me of Norashikin.

Mama Min 2010

I love her figurines. the bride and groom look so happy

Mama Min 2011

Yet again she impresses with her figurines. This time she managed to inject humour into her wedding cake.

Louis 2010 - 2 entries

This is the first time I have seen the airbrush technique on a cake and it made his cakes very eyecatching. He is obviously a whiz at it. His jellyfish is brilliant! And take a look at the phoenix and dragon - a work of art indeed.

However, the judges were looking for string work and other finer techniques that were lacking in his creations.

Louis 2011

This year he totally abandoned his air brush for string work, some piping and a flower! I was utterly disappointed. I had gone around trying to identify his work and when JY pointed at this cake, I couldn't believe it.

His creative genius can only be unleashed when airbrushing.

JY could see for herself what happens when you abandon your forte - you get something ordinary instead.

Pauline 2010

Her stringwork is amazing

Pauline 2011

Her beauty and the beast figurines were superb.

3rd place 2011

I can't remember the name of the topsy-turvy stuff but it requires turning the cake upside down.

Kevin 2010

Wonderful painted pixies.

Kevin 2011 -2nd prize

Even more delicate stringwork. Every tier had stringwork, at times 2 layers of it with angels parting the strings.

It was so fine and close together. His hands are really steady to have done such a feat.

His little angels were beautifully done.

It took him a month to complete the cake.

2010 1st by Shahril

He deserved it. Beautiful everything! Composition was perfect.

2011 winner from Bangkok.

A surprise win.

JY's entry 2010

Indian wedding inspired. She started her henna piping since then.

JY 2011

This year her henna piping has improved by leaps - it is finer and at parts she tried to make it look 3D.

All was done freehand.

No sketching or templates were used. And she was astounded when someone would even suggest she used a template. The judges told her that they wanted to see a whole cake with just her henna piping as that was her strong point.

Her roses were the best. Paper thin petals, perfectly dusted and simply gorgeous.

She had gone in expecting a placing and was sorely disappointed when she was awarded "Highly Commendable" in a rather controversial judging.

Thanks to the situation we found ourselves in, we could cover a range of issues..

• The best one does not necessarily a winner make. Example given by Pohpoh was American Idol winners who were not our favourites
• An unfair judging system
• I had wanted to ingrain the value of integrity on JY and told her that she had to do all the caking herself. The contest rules stated 'Individual work only'. At the event, JY discovered that a few contestants had submitted cakes done by their team. This was an interesting topic.
• Learning from her competitors. Each and every cake entry had their strong points and JY should make an effort to learn from them.
• Disappointments only lead to breakthroughs...JY was disappointed for 24hours... she moaned that "she was already 13!! And there was still so much she has not done! She is getting OLD" ...... after a night of heart-to-heart, she regained herself..... and then the breakthrough came...

JY's talent was spotted by a 'Fairy Godmother' who said it would be such a waste to see it go unattended. Fairy Godmother only wanted assurance that JY was serious in caking and if she were she would show her the path to take. And it starts NOW!

Before we could catch our breath, JY was whisked away. JY was one ecstatic girl!

A new chapter in JY's life has begun.