A non-edible cake created by April Decker of Alva at last year’s Sugar Show earned a top honor in the contest. This year, a theme will be used for the cake and cookie categories – “Milestones.” The early deadline to enter is May 3 before registration fees double in price.
Plans are set for the 3rd annual Sugar Show in conjunction with the 53rd Nescatunga Arts Festival May 31-June 1 at the Alva Recreation Complex in Alva, Oklahoma.
This year’s show has a few changes.
A “Bake” section has been added allowing even more people to enter the event and show off their baking skills. Categories include Fruit Pie, Homemade Bread, Sweet Breads (i.e. muffins, cupcakes, loaves, cinnamon rolls, etc.) and Fudge/Candies. This section of the contest will take place on Friday from 4-7 p.m. and all ages and skill levels are welcome. After the judging is completed at about 6 p.m., the public may pay a $1 admission fee to sample the entries. Bakers are asked to provide enough of their entries to provide small samples to the paying public. Recipes for all entries also must be displayed on the table.
Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon will be the “Cake” section for professionals and aspiring sugar artists to decorate cakes and cookies and create sugar art, only this year their decorations must be based on the theme “Milestones.” Decorations will be left up to the decorator’s imagination, but ideas could range from weddings, birthdays, graduation, babies and more. The decorations also should be family-friendly as the public will be welcomed in to vote for their favorite at about 10:30 a.m.
Decorated cakes may be edible or non-edible dummy cakes and must have at least two tiers, and bakers should prepare at least a dozen decorated cookies for the contest. Sugar Art consists of anything that is not cake. It may involve creating decorative and often intricate designs using sugar-based materials such as fondant, gum paste and royal icing. It encompasses various techniques like sculpting, molding and piping to craft edible masterpieces for cakes, pastries and confections. Sugar art may be a piece from the overall cake entered or on a separate display.
Entries will be accepted from:
Professionals -- those who sell their items or have won the Aspiring Sugar Artist category at a previous Sugar Show
Aspiring Sugar Artists – those with intermediate skills who are still perfecting their craft
Professionals will compete against professionals and aspiring artists against aspiring artists for first place, respectively, in the cake and sugar art categories. Professionals and aspiring artists will compete head-to-head for first place in cookies and in the “Bake” section categories.
The entry fee for professionals and aspiring artists is $25 for the first category and $15 for each additional category. Any students entering the various contests will pay $10 for one category and $5 for each additional category.
Entry fees for the first category will double after the May 3 early registration deadline.
The first-place winners in the “Bake” section will receive $25 for each category. The first-place awards for Cakes and Sugar Art in the professional and aspiring divisions are $50 for each. A first-place prize of $50 also will be given to the winner of the best overall cookies.
All Sugar Show contestants also are encouraged to create and donate something for the festival’s Gourmet Food Booth and include a business card/note.
Workshops dealing with Sugar Show-related topics also are being planned again this year for Saturday afternoon.
Questions about the Sugar Show should be directed to April Ridgway at (580) 748-4880 or maxandapril@hotmail.com. More information and a registration form for both the Sugar Show and the arts festival may be found at www.nescatunga.org.
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