Contest Trial Runs

My pal Gabi forwarded me a link to a Apple Pie contest to be held next week. I grabbed one of the last spots to enter. My first culinary contest! There will be some heavy hitting judges. So this morning I decided to put my 'concepts ' into reality. I researched and researched via books and the Internet . Seems not much is original( as I googled my original ideas to see if they have done) but a a lots of variations on a theme. I never realized so many pie crusts combos existed, but with experimentation I've found a good base crust, that I added to to compliment each of my concepts. I wont post my ingredients yet, as the the contest is next week. I made mini pies to test on my friend Vicky, Auntie Mame,and Certain Someone. I slightly over cooked the first one ( but lesson learned on how to adjust temps, etc.) to accommodate my various components. The pies will be judged on taste, appearance, fillings, etc. I can not add any other fruits so I'm limited to spices, juices, etc. I couldn't wait to post as I figured out how to start photographing better. I still need some work in that area, but I will get there some day.

Birthday Cake Challenge

My Aunt is having a surprise birthday party tomorrow. Her Boyfriend put me in charge of the cake and bar tending. As usual,I'm overly ambitious. I was inspired by a Libra Cake in Colette Peters book on Birthday Cakes.A cake featuring the scales of justice is perfectly fitting, as shes a Libra and attorney. I chose a variation of the blues and teals from my inspiration. I'm just a beginner and had to take the idea and turn it into a full sheet cake feeding around 75 people. And I had no airbrush equipment, so I was totally reliant on piping, dragges,colors, and shimmer gels. I searched high and low for affordable sheet cake pans. I lucked out a hotel"going out of business sale". They ended up costing $2 a pop. I baked the 2 pineapple flavored butter cakes on Sunday to be frozen. That took all day. Tonight I prepped my board and piped butter cream on the first layer to 'damn" the pineapple filling.

Then I added the top layers,and crumb coated the entire sheet cake.Now the tricky part....
I'm a total novice with fondant . And to cover a entire full sheet cake was daunting. Needless to say I had some tears, and decided to roll it out in halves. I figured my piping and ornate design would cover most of the flaws..
I etched my design with a toothpick and went to town piping and overlaying the designs. The silver dragges made the design much brighter. I fear the cake is a little over the top for my staid aunt. The cake looks better in person than in my picture. I plan to use those tall thin candles from the new Martha Stewart collection at Macy's. I hope the friends and family enjoy it. Its not perfect, but I learned so much in the process.