Cooking & Baking
Related: About this forumVery disheartened about the Illinois State Fair's decision to change the awarding of culinary championships.
Both of my decorated cakes won blue ribbons (1st. place) in their respective classes. However, I was shocked to see there was no champion in the division when we went to the fair yesterday. The fair has decided to merge 'decorated cakes' with another division competing for championship.
I came home and dug out the premium book and saw that it was true and that I had overlooked the information when I sent in my entry fees. Others might have noticed, as there were only about 50% of the usual number of entries this year.
Based on this change, I may not be entering any cakes again. I view it as not exactly unfair, but not worthwhile. Decorating a dummy cake is rather expensive compared to baking a batch of cookies. The cake forms run $5 to $20 each. The fondant covering is around $25 and I have probably invested $200 in decorating tools.
Thanks for letting me rant.
WA-03 Democrat
(3,265 posts)I enjoyed seeing pictures of them. I know it long and hard work but you have a gift and talent and am sure others get joy from seeing your creation as well. Rules change but your cakes will always be gorgeous!
flying_wahini
(7,974 posts)efhmc
(15,000 posts)displacedvermoter
(2,992 posts)I am sure they taste as good as the look!
CrispyQ
(38,138 posts)As for the competition, yeah, putting decorated cakes with plain baked goods doesn't seem fair at all. Even fancy baked goods aren't the same. Can you petition the fair, hopefully with other decorators? Maybe they'll see how it affected the number of competitors.
Phentex
(16,472 posts)Not sure why they think combining them makes sense.
Marthe48
(18,868 posts)That is a great accomplishment
I'd talk to the state fair board when you can and find out why they changed the divisions.