Success on an international scale! Oh wow!
For those of you who have never heard of Cake International this is not a small cake show...this is the biggest and most prestigious cake competition in the world! There were over 1900 entries from quite literally all over the globe, and the associated cake and sugarcraft trade show has oodles of stands bearing the latest tools and goodies to create the amazing cakes you can see on those competition tables.
And this relatively unknown Manx girl decided she 'fancied a go'....and the rest is history as they say!
With no expectations at all, I really wanted to experience the opportunity to compete on the international stage. The standards at CI are exceptional - this really is the best of the best, and this year was no different. In fact, with a new set of judges and a new judging schedule, it was even harder than ever to achieve success. The judges were looking for new techniques, original designs, and a good clean, neat finish (amongst many other things!).
I decided to take inspiration from my surroundings, the first cake being very reflective of living in Peel with the beach and the sea - golds and shades of turquoise galore! This beauty took a GOLD award to match it's gold detailing! (You'll have to excuse my questionable head...I was trying REALLY hard not to cry!)
This cake took close to 40 hours to complete!
The other cake being inspired by the fantastic stately homes and listed buildings the island has in abundance such as The Abbey. Milntown and Amisfield House. A muted colour palette of greys, mustards and matt white detailing in the style of Wedgwood were reminiscent of what you may find in these grand residences. And it took a SILVER award!
This one was considerably quicker than the other, taking a mere 15 hours!
So where to go from here now I can legitimately say I am an international multi award-winning cake artist (eeeeekkk!) - well honestly? It doesn't change me from day to day at all! My focus is still going to be creating the most amazing celebration cakes for all my wonderful clients, they just get a little bit of extra prestige in ordering a cake from Butterfingers! And for the future...well...there may be further competing opportunities that have presented themselves...but nothing can keep me from the island for too long...after all...where else would I find such award winning inspiration?!
Aimee xxx
