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Capital Confectioners,

I have loved being a Capital Confectioner (almost) from the very beginning! I’ve been decorating, teaching Wilton, and a club member for 8 years now, and I owe so much to the club and the WONDERFUL and incredibly (unbelievably, really) talented and generous people I’ve met through the club.

Alas, it’s time for me to leave Austin where I’ve called home for 20 years. If you haven’t heard, we’re expecting our third boy(!) in August, and we’ll be moving to Andrews, TX (near Midland) this summer. That means…

I have to part with much of my cooking, baking, decorating, serving, displaying, etc. tools before we move. We will have a series of yard sales, eventually selling almost everything, but this wkd., I’ll be clearing out most of my extra cake stuff at good prices. Many Wilton and other brand products, cake dummies, some stands, NICE kitchen stuff (crystal), some appliances. The Yard Sale is Sat., 4/21 8:00am-Noon, but you are invited to a special Open House “Pre-Sale” this Fri., 4/20 11:30am-1:30pm & 6:00-8:00pm South Austin (off William Cannon near Manchaca).

It will be like a fun party where you can shop, too… I want my stuff to go to good homes! I’ll have tea, coffee & dessert ready. Kids are welcome. Hope to see many of you there so we can catch up… rsvp for the address & so I have enough sweets. Thank you, and I’ll miss you very much!

Theresa Pipes
text or call (512) 293-7476
theresapipes@hotmail.com

 

Looking for more photos from our recent show? We collect visitor photos in our Flickr pool each year. This year’s link is here:

2012 – Cake-a-lot

Pools from previous years:

2011 – Superheroes and Super villains

2010 – Cake Odyssey

General Capital Confectioners Pool

 

The 8th Annual “That Takes The Cake”
Sugar Art Show & Cake Competition
February 25th – 26th, 2012
Austin, Texas

The 2012 Show Theme:
Cake-a-lot: Knights of the Turn Table
All things Renaissance!

I think most people would agree that 2012 was our best show yet!  Capital Confectioners would like to thank all our guests, vendors, sponsors, instructors, judges and volunteers for making that happen.  We’ve heard so many positive comments from our attendees, we’re all still glowing!  Now that we’ve had a few days to recover, we’d love to share our experiences.

Volunteers

This event could not be a success without our small army of dedicated volunteers who put in so much time, love, and care into making this one of the best cake shows in the nation.  Club and non-club members, local and not-so-local people … we love you all!  Thank you so much for giving your time and talents.

 

Vendors

We are very fortunate to have such a variety of cake-related vendors attend our show.  We hope our attendees loaded up on goodies and toys!


Raffles

Speaking of goodies, who went home with all the raffle prizes I wanted?!?  There were so many wonderful items this year, I’m sure everyone had a hard time choosing which to put their tickets in.

Classes

If a meteor hit Austin, the cake world would be devastated!  We had so many talented instructors bring their tips and tricks to our show.  We hope you enjoyed the many available mini and celebrity classes with world-famous sugar art instructors.


On-site Events

2012 featured our first Texas Cake Club Challenge!  We invited teams of 2 from Texan cake clubs to compete in a Royal Wedding themed on-site event.  This year showcased the Dallas Cake Club, Friendly Frosters (Lubbock), and our own Capital Confectioners.  Each team had 3 hours to create a wedding cake fit for a king!  The special twist was that each team got the assistance of a local Connally High School student with remarkable experience in cake decorating.


The Celebrity Panel Demonstration on Sunday featured Mike McCarey, Lauren Kitchens, Marina Sousa, Jay Qualls, James Rosselle, Roland and Marsha Winbeckler.  The Panel theme this year was “Cake Wrecks to Sunday Sweets”.  Each demonstrator was challenged to take a popular cake from Cake Wrecks and show the audience how to turn it into a fabulous looking cake.

Tasting Competition

Our special sponsor for 2012 was King Arthur Flour.  Winners of our tasting competition enjoyed several prizes including gift certificates to purchase King Arthur Flour products.  Competition categories included: birthday cakes, cupcakes, Renaissance cakes, and cookie.

Best of Tasting Competition
Angela Pineda

Divisional Competition

We had over 300 competition entries this year!  Here are the “Best of Division” winners:

Best of Division: Teen
Evelyn Santos

Best of Division: Culinary Student
Shana Newell

Best of Division: Adult Beginner
Natalie Elliott

Best of Division: Adult Intermediate AND
Best of Divisional Competition (overall)
Palma Felicias Iacobellis

Best of Division: Adult Advanced
Diana Parrish

Best of Division: Professional
Joy Iverson

Best of Division: Masters
Michelle Foster

Show Cakes

There were so many exciting Show Cakes this year.

Show Cakes: 3rd Place
Sylvia Wilson

Show Cakes: 2nd Place
Burton Farnsworth

Show Cakes: 1st Place
Elizabeth Rowe

 You can view all of this year’s winners on our slide show here:

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddfwq3tp_7gw7hgxf8

Hope you had a great time!  We’re excited to announce next year’s theme:

Cake to the Air

All Clear for Cake Off!

 

I happened to be looking for something else on CraftGossip and accidentally lingered looking at some lovelies. So even though I rarely have time to post Quick Bites anymore (since they turned out not to be very quick on my end!), here are a few gems:

 

We got a note from Photofrost to let us know about their cake decorating contest, so if any of you are interested, the details are here:

http://photofrost.com/contest/

And of course don’t forget to register to enter a cake in our cake show! You can also enroll for classes online or buy general admission tickets now, all at http://thattakesthecake.org. Our deadline for competition registration is February 19 with no unregistered entries accepted at the door this year, so sign up soon!

 

A week from today, Capital Confectioners will be hosting our monthly meeting. This time we’ll be focusing on organizing volunteers for our colossal cake show at the end of February.

So if you’re in the Austin area and want to help at the show – which can earn you some spiffy perks if you put in enough hours – come to this meeting and let us know who you are and what you want to do.

We will also have volunteer sign-up forms on the website soon, but what’s really important about next Tuesday’s meeting is getting more people involved in leadership roles. We want to meet you, discuss your strengths and expertise, and help you find the best and most fun ways you can help us. (Update: The web link for the volunteer form is here, so please fill in your available times asap even if you’re going to discuss specifics at the meeting).

What sort of things need to be done? Lots, including but certainly not limited to: set up and break down, competitor registration and management, hospitality, vendor care, supply management, event/class management and assistance, kids table help, general public management (including guarding cakes against poking fingers), and more. It takes a small army of volunteers to run one of the nation’s largest sugar arts shows!

If you’ve volunteered before, you still should come if you can, because we’re making changes to how perks are earned and other details.

Remember: the coolest volunteer jobs go to the most dedicated, long-term volunteers! For instance, getting to be the assistant at a celebrity class is something we reserve for someone who has also put in tons of hours doing other stuff. So come on out and join our team to not only put on the best cake show ever, but get your own fun slice too!

The meeting is 7 pm, Tuesday January 10, in the conference room at the back of the IHOP by Zilker Park (1101 S Mo Pac Expy, Austin, TX). Further details and RSVP are here. If you’re not already a member of the club, you may need to create an account here first.

We don’t require dues for the first meeting or two. You can definitely check us out for free first! So if you’re keen to volunteer for the show but not necessarily commit to being a club member all year, that’s fine. Come to the Tuesday meeting anyway. We’re happy to have you for what time you can share!

 

Early Contestant Registration for That Takes The Cake 2012 is now open online!

http://thattakesthecake.org/index.php/competition/registration/


Registration before February 19, 2012 is now required (except for Child & Junior division entries) to help us plan space needs. One registration fee includes all general competition entries for each participant. Competition registration includes General Admission to the show for the weekend for the competitor. Competition registration for entrants under 18 includes General Admission for the competitor and one accompanying adult. There will be no refunds of entry or registration fees. Entry fees for Child and Junior are waived, but registration prior to the show is encouraged.

Divisional Competition

Early Registration (ends January 15, 2012): $20
General Registration (ends February 19, 2012): $25
Child (12 & under) Registration (ends February 19, 2012) or at the door (February 25, 2012): FREE

Showcake Competition

For each 48″w x 29″h round table (ends February 19, 2012): $25

Tasting Competition

Any number of entries * (ends February 19, 2012): $15

*Entry fee is waived when combined with a Divisional or Showcake Competition entry.

 

The team behind the Austin cake and sugar arts show (That Takes the Cake!), one of the nation’s largest confections shows, knows that cookie decorating is a hot topic these days and we’d like to include more cookie stuff in the 2012 and future shows (our show is the last weekend of February every year).

However, in the past our cookie categories within the competition have attracted hardly any competitors. We folded cookies in with other general non-cake confections because there seemed to be a lack of interest.

We have cookiers in our club, we know great area cookie folks, and we recognize cookies as a burgeoning art form. But in order to include it in the show, we need to know that our effort and funds are being put to good use.

So if you want to see more cookie stuff at the 2012 or future shows, or possibly even a separate cookie event, speak up!

Leave your comments on this post telling us what you want. Competitions? Classes? Vendors? What would get you to come to the show as a cookier? If you’re in the Austin area and want to volunteer let us know that as well, specifying what you can do to help.

Then spread the word and send your cookie friends here to comment as well!

We’re happy to serve, but we need cookiers to tell us what they want and help make it a success!

Update August 28: Over a week and not one comment. A couple people have mentioned on Twitter that they don’t want to create a WordPress login to comment, but if folks aren’t willing to take a few seconds to do that, how can Capital Confectioners be sure any of them will participate in the show?

If for some technical reason you can’t comment, you can send your message to me at press at capitalconfectioners.com and I will post it for you.

Seriously, last call: if you want a cookie component in one of the nation’s largest sugar arts shows, speak now or forever hold your peace. Or piece of cake, as it may be!

 

The Central Texas College is holding their Geekfest 2011 at the Mayborn Planetarium and Space Theater in Killeen, TX on August 19th – 20th.  If you’re into gaming, science fiction, zombies, cosplay, and other geeky things, you won’t want to miss out.  This year they’ll be sporting their very own cake competition!

“The Cake is a Lie” contest has 3 categories: cookies, cupcakes, and tiered cakes.  Entries must be “geek” themed.  Get your registration in by August 12th!

http://www.starsatnight.org/geekfest/decoratingcontest.html

 

Roxanne Moore, the fabulous artist who taught all about making stilettos at our Day of Sharing and for classes afterward, has just posted her summary of the DoS on her blog:

http://www.cakesbyroxanne.com/2011/07/austin-day-of-sharing.html

Thanks Roxanne! We’re all so glad you joined us and had fun. We loved having you here and hope you’ll join us again in the future!

 
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