Anyone Enter Local County Fairs W/ Your Cakes?

Decorating By melodyscakes Updated 14 Jul 2005 , 7:20pm by thecakemaker

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melodyscakes Posted 12 Jul 2005 , 4:37pm
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just wondering. i am going to enter my county fair at the end of the month...never did anything like that before! a little nervous, and excited.
what do they look for? i've got so many questions....so many ideas, not sure i'll get everything done. i was going to do dummy cakes, but tried that and didnt like it, so i will use real cake and be a bakin' fool the week before. i was hoping this would be a great way to advertise that i do cakes....only people probably wont see anything but my name on the fair tag or label. so how can i let people know who i am and how they could contact me if they so desired? i thought about doing a cake in the misc. cat. that said melody and phone # kinda cheesy?
your input would be greatly appreciated!
melody

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eve Posted 12 Jul 2005 , 5:09pm
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icon_biggrin.gif I am entering the California State Fair next month in the Cake Show. I did enter my city's Pumpkin Harvest Festival Baking Contest last October for the very first time, and I won First Place. Photo of my entry in the gallery. The one with the Harvest leaves and tiny pumpkins and Gourds etc.... I try not to get emotionally involved, just in case I don't win, then I won't be upset, but I still give it my best because it is what I enjoy the most.

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eve Posted 12 Jul 2005 , 6:17pm
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Sorry I didn't really answered any of your questions..
anyway, it really depends on the category you are entering. Find a category then get all the rules. For Cake Decorating, you can use dummy cakes. If it's the cake itself, then the decoration won't matter to the judges . They would be more concerned on Flavor, texture, crumb and taste. And it must be from scratch.
Good luck

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thecakemaker Posted 12 Jul 2005 , 6:34pm
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Last year I entered two cakes in my county fair and took 1st in both divisions. One cake took best of show and got me my first wedding cake order (they are in the gallery - cowboy hat and pink gift cake). I was so excited that I entered two in the state fair and took 1st with both of them also (both in the gallery - bushel of crabs cake and molded roses cake). The bushel of crabs cake got me a visit with the Governor or MD. It was very cool! I'm still trying to decide what to enter this year.

There should be a rule book on the classes telling you what the requirements are and/or the divisions. Our local fair only stipulates that everything must be edible and the classes are only novelty and special occasion which bunches up wedding, shower, birthday, etc. I wish they would break them up into more categories.

Anyway ~ good luck! I'll post mine if I ever decide what I want to make!

Debbie

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missjane Posted 12 Jul 2005 , 6:48pm
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I entered Melody and I got disqualified..

The rules were not clear at all and we were not allowed to use any decorations made out opf fondant/gumpaste. ( I was told this after I picked up my cake) We had to use royal icing only thumbsdown.gif But the rules had a category for fondant so I wasnt the only one that got disqualified. 80% of participants did!

The cake that won best in show and best wedding cake category was the Wiltons course 2 cake stacked. I think that should have been disqualified for not being orginal!

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melodyscakes Posted 13 Jul 2005 , 4:01am
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the rules this year are a bit different at my county fair.....there arent any! there are divisions, but no rules so any thing goes. i just need to hurry up and decide what i want to decorate, the due date is end of this month and i have to take a week off and travel with kids to go see relatives, so when i get back i will be crazy busy!
usually, do judges like perfection or creativity????? cant do both, haha
thanks for input!
melody

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thecakemaker Posted 13 Jul 2005 , 12:45pm
post #7 of 11

Perfection or creativity? That's a good question. They don't let us know at our fair either. Just do something that will "wow" them and get their attention! If you find any sites that show the cakes from a fair let me know. I've been looking.

Debbie

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empress Posted 14 Jul 2005 , 7:11pm
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Hi,

I have entered several county fairs in Michigan in the past. I entered and won with cakes. Not decorated cakes. For regular cakes, they like old fashioned triple layer chocolate fudge cake with Grandma's chocoalate fudge frosting. Not into smooth frosting--into lots of richly flavored frosting. The cake drecorating in our fair can be done on a dummy cake and is all one category. There aren't many entries. By the way, I have won Grand Champion Cakes twice. Then I quit. Lots of work in the hottest month od the year!!

Lera Cavanaugh
Brighton, Michigan icon_biggrin.gif

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thecakemaker Posted 14 Jul 2005 , 7:13pm
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Your triple layer chocolate fudge cake sounds yummy! Would you be interested in sharing your recipe?

Debbie

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empress Posted 14 Jul 2005 , 7:18pm
post #10 of 11

Sure! I'll try to post it later tonight when I get home. It is my recipe box. Thanks for asking. cowboy.gif

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thecakemaker Posted 14 Jul 2005 , 7:20pm
post #11 of 11

Thank you! The chocolatier the better! icon_biggrin.gif

Debbie

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