Florida I.C.E.D Cake Competition

This past weekend I was so excited to attend the Florida I.C.E.D Cake Competition in Ocala, Florida. The show is a sugar arts competition that not only showcased some very talented cake artists, but also raised money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation! Beautiful cakes & a fabulous charity...can't get any better than that!

I made the 2 1/2 hour trek with my beautiful 4 (almost 5) year old daughter, who also happens to be my cake buddy. She loves watching shows like TLC's Cake Challenge and Cupcake Wars. She was so thrilled to spend the day alone with mommy and check out some cakes!

There was quite a crowd at the show and by the time we got to the prize raffle and awards ceremony, it was standing room only! It was a great turnout for this 1st time event and I can't wait to go back next year. I might even get brave and enter a cake myself! 

The theme of this year's show was Romantic Wedding Dresses. All the cakes were wedding cakes designed to look like a particular wedding dress and each cake displayed a photo of the wedding dress that inspired it. There were some very beautiful & creative entries!

Of course I had to take some photos of my favorites. I wasn't able to stay through the awards ceremony (a 4 year old can only be expected to last so long), but I can't wait to read who won! But here are some of my (& my daughter's) favorites...

This one caught my eye for the unusual soft blue...so pretty!

 

And how about this peacock? Beautiful!

 I love how both of these cakes are shaped to mimic a woman's form...gorgeous!

 

LOVE all the ruffling on this one!

And check out this amazing work of art! Beautiful colors and amazing detail!

My overall favorite was this one. I love the touch of black on the bottom tier and the 4th tier and just the completely elegant and clean look of this cake!

My daughter's favorite was the following cake...

 

Would you like to know why? Because of the topper, which my puppy obsessed girl spotted from across the room! How adorable is this?

One of my daughter's favorite parts of the show was the free Kid's Corner. Kids were able to hang out in this room and try their hand at decorating techniques. Each child was given a cookie and decorating supplies along with some simple guidance. This activity was sponsored by Cakes, Etc of West Palm Beach, FL and was huge hit with the kids. Can you tell?

Of course it would have been a bummer to look at all those beautiful cakes and not get to taste some cake, right? And lucky for me, there were samples to be tried since my daughter kept asking me when they were going to start cutting the cakes!

We were able to try a few samples of Cakes By Lisa, whose cakes were delicious. Even our samples were decorated with some beautiful rice paper flowers!

Do you notice how happy my girl is when she has something sweet to eat???

There was a huge raffle with some a-m-a-z-i-n-g prizes to win...KitchenAid Mixer or Cricut Cake machine anyone??? I didn't win a thing, but that's ok since the money all went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

And I have to add a big THANK YOU to a very kind person who was in attendance. I left my BRAND NEW camera on a chair and didn't realize it. An announcement was made that a camera was found and to come identify it. I don't know what made me check my purse, but I did, and was shocked to find out it was ME who lost that camera!!!

I never would have realized I'd lost my camera until I'd made it home...2 1/2 hours later...when it would have been too late!! So a big hug to whoever turned it in as this post wouldn't have happened without you. And "Lucy would have had some 'splaining to do when she got home"!!!

I had a FABULOUS time at the Florida I.C.E.D Cake Competition and can't wait for next year!

**UPDATE: To view photos of all the entries, along with the winners, please see the show's picasa album here.