TIPS FOR ENTERING SUGAR ART COMPETITIONS
by Maxine Boyington, co-founder of the OSSAS
The items listed below are based on personal opinion and experience gained over several years of judging and entering competitions. All judges are different and will have expertise in different areas but should be knowledgeable enough in all areas of the sugar arts to be able to judge them adequately.
Every competition should be treated as a learning experience and a challenge to push yourself to prefect new techniques.
Hopefully, some of the thoughts below will help turn you from an entrant to a winner.
1. READ THE RULES AND REGULATIONS COMPLETELY AND CAREFULLY. This is probably THE most important rule you can follow. Every show is different and even the same show can change rules from year to year. You, as the entrant, will be responsible for following the rules of that particular show for that year. Do not assume if you have entered that show before that the rules have not changed. If you are unclear about any of the rules, don’t hesitate to contact the show sponsors for clarification.
2. There are basically three ways to judge a competition:
a. Points only—usually a base of 100 points; 10 different criteria with 10 points each. The entry with the highest total points wins. Usually the judges do not confer at all with each other
b. Points plus conference. The basic point system above is used but the judges will also confer among themselves at some point, either while the judging is going on or once the points are tallied, they will be advised which are the highest placing cakes. It is then the consensus of the judges if the placement is correct. It is extremely difficult, if there are several cakes entered in a particular category, to remember at the end of the line exactly what points you awarded to the first cake you judged. Points alone can allow a cake to win first when even the judges don’t think that is correct.
c. Conference only. The judges, as a group, view and discuss each cake within a category and determine first, second and third. With this type of judging, you will usually receive a critique sheet from the judges with what was good about your entry and areas where you can improve the next time. This will be a very important tool for you to use in the future. If the show is very large, the judges will have a limited amount of time to write each critique and may choose to write only constructive criticism in order to help you improve for future shows. This criticism should never be taken personally. The judges don’t know who did the cakes at the time they are written. They are written with the idea that you can use them for improvement.
3. The cake itself: If you are using a real cake, make sure it is level and smooth. The same goes for Styrofoam dummies. Even professionally made dummies can at times be unlevel and most will have a seam where the cutter starts and stops. Be sure to check for level and use fine sandpaper on any areas that need it. Any holes or dings should be filled in with royal icing, allowed to dry and sanded smooth.
4. The cake board: Even though this might seem an insignificant part of the display, it can make or break an otherwise beautifully decorated cake. Many of the details of the board will be dictated by the design of the cake but here are a few “rules of thumb” to guide you. For a single tiered cake, the board should generally be at least 2” larger than the cake (1” margin all around). 3” or 4” larger would be preferable. For a tiered cake, if the cake is not stacked, the board for the top tiers should be 2” larger than the cake and the bottom tier should be at least 4”, if not more.
Thickness of the board is also important. For most small cakes, a single thickness cake board will work but for larger cakes or the base of tiered cakes, a thicker board is needed, up to about ½”. Keep proportion in mind when preparing the board, the larger the cake, the thicker the board needed. Even if these displays are Styrofoam, they must be able to be done as real cake and a large real cake would be quite heavy.
If the cake has an unusual shape, the board should follow that shape.
Never, EVER cover your boards with aluminum foil! I’ve seen many creative coverings for cake boards but the most popular is decorative foil. This can be used in gold or silver or in a color that coordinates with your display. Be sure the edges on a round board are smooth and the corners on a square/rectangular board are neatly done. For an entry in a competition, I would not recommend using white foil. It may look white on the roll but with your white icing against it, it will appear gray. Large cakes or the base of a tiered cake would benefit from have ½” cleats added to the bottom of the board.
5. Cake Covering. Whatever you choose to use for your cake covering—fondant, royal, buttercream, etc.—be sure it is as smooth as possible. Fondant should have no cracks or pleats. Unless it goes against the design of your cake, you may want to round the top edge of your cake or sand the sharp edge off of the dummy to help prevent cracking at the edge. Use a fondant smoother to remove any possible imprints from your hands or fingers. Buttercream or royal should be completely without air bubbles. If your base icing is colored, be sure to color enough for the entire cake at one time. It is nearly impossible to exactly match the color if another batch is needed
6. Precision and neatness is extremely important for competition. String work or garlands on the side of the cake should be exactly the same size and depth. Measuring the design on your cake is a must but whatever method you use to do the marking should never show. Shells, beads, etc., in any piped borders should be exactly the same size. Watch carefully where the borders end. The judges WILL look at this. If possible, cover it with some design feature of your cake. If not, just be very careful. That last shell can be very hard to hide. Any “points” on dots, etc., should be knocked off with a slightly damp brush. Even though it may take more time, it is best to do all piped work with small bags. This will keep the heat of your hands from softening the icing and creating air bubbles in your borders. Buttercream can usually be mixed smoothly without air bubbles. Royal can be strained through clean nylon hose to remove air bubbles.
7. Molded work should be sharp and without holes or cracks and should show no ridges where the sides of the mold stop. If pieces are to be joined together to form a 3-D piece, the seams should be invisible. Try using the same material that the molded piece is made from to join them together such as melted chocolate for chocolate pieces. For fondant/gumpaste pieces, try mixing some of that same material with water to form a soft, sticky “gumk” to join the pieces together. It will hold much better than royal and when it dries, it will look exactly the same as the molded pieces. If any of it does show, it can be sanded smooth making the seam invisible. Whenever working with molded chocolate, wear special cotton gloves to avoid fingerprints on the chocolate.
8. Plastic should be kept to an absolute minimum. Separator plates and pillars are really the only acceptable forms of plastic and these would be better if they can be disguised some way to cover the plastic. Plastic items will be more acceptable in the lower divisions but try to think of a way to make each element out of an edible product. It will increase your chances of winning considerably.
9. Color is probably the most subjective element. The design itself may dictate the color. If not, keep in mind this is intended to be an edible product and choose colors accordingly. Some colors will fade quite easily and others will change colors in different lighting. Blues are especially bad about changing colors in different lighting. If at all possible, take a sample of your proposed colors to the show venue. Since this is not always possible, check with the show sponsors to see if the lighting in a particular venue has posed problems in the past and adjust colors as needed. The judges can often tell if lighting is causing a problem with colors and they may also be informed by the show sponsors to disregard small mismatches in colors because of the type of lighting in the room.
Store your display out of direct sunlight while you are working on it to avoid fading. A dry cleaner’s plastic bag can be laid over most types of displays to protect them from dust while working on them.
10. Originality is important for any entry. Certainly, take ideas from pictures you’ve seen in books, etc., but make changes in it to make it your own. Keep in mind, the judges have many of the same sources as you and can easily pick up on a cake that has been copied and they often judge the cake you did in comparison to the perfect picture in the book or magazine.
11. Number of techniques. This is sometime one of the criteria used, especially in a show judged on the point system. However, this does not mean use every technique you know on one display. I would much rather see two or three very well done techniques than many poorly done ones added simply to increase the number of techniques used. Hopefully, many shows are moving away from counting the number of techniques except as a possible tiebreaker for equally well done cakes.
12. Difficulty of techniques is an important factor. The higher the division you enter, the more difficult the techniques should be.
13. Overall appearance. This is extremely important as it is the judge’s first impression of your entry. This often involves personal opinion but the judges should be able to set aside personal opinion if the display is not exactly “their style” and look at it as a whole. Does it look “finished”? Is it well proportioned or are the proportions in line with the design? In most cases, you will not be able to decorate the table where your display is placed but consider using some fabric that coordinates with your design or perhaps a decorative tray of some sort that will set your display apart. Detailed scrutiny of any design can result in lower placement, but if the display does not make a good first impression, chances are it will not place high.
14. Gumpaste flowers. Petals should be as thin and delicate. All wires should be covered with floral tape and should be inserted into petals or leaves so that they do not show. Competition is not the time to ignore the calyx on the back of flowers even if you think it won’t show. The judges WILL look for it. Artificial stamens are acceptable but higher points will be awarded if everything possible is made of an edible product. Study real flowers or floral books to see what the flowers look like in nature and duplicate it as closely as possible. Flower arrangement should never be stiff or straight. There are no straight lines in nature. Even a slight bend to a flower or leaf stem can bring your arrangement to life.
15. The judges WILL look at every detail of your display. Make sure YOU have looked at every detail first and made them as perfect as you can. Quite often it comes down to two or three cakes that are equally well done. It then becomes the judge’s job to look for any errors they can find. They will look at each of the top displays with a magnifying glass (sometimes literally). Any small imperfection—a crack in the icing, a shell border not quite straight, etc.—can mean the difference in first, second or third place.
All of this being said, taking part in a competition should be FUN! Winning is great, but it is not the most important part of a show. Sharing ideas, expanding your horizons, trying new techniques and encouraging new decorators is. If you only attend shows to see what everyone else is doing, there will soon be nothing for you or anyone else to see. No show can survive with out the support of everyone in the area. Also, never be afraid to ask a judge for his/her comments on your entry. You may not always agree with their assessment but you will learn a lot seeing your work through someone else’s eyes.