There was flour dusting the air in the State Fair Center at the North Dakota State Fair Sunday afternoon during the amateur cake decorating contest, an event that's been held in past years.
Six contestants, all women, put their cake decorating skills to the test during the two-hour timeframe for the contest, following the theme "Great. Big. Fun," the theme of the 2012 State Fair. A panel of four judges, all in the cake decorating business, tasted the decorated cakes and followed the various contest judging rules.
The contestants did some of the work ahead of time, particularly the detailing on the cakes that would have taken longer than the two hours to create, said Shanda Cool, chef and owner of Sweet & Flour Patisserie in Minot, a judge for the contest.
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Jill Hambek/MDN • A young contestant in the cake decorating contest displays her abilities for Linda Wu, not shown, sous chef at Sweet & Flour Patisserie in Minot and a judge for the amateur cake decorating contest at the State Fair. The contest was held Sunday afternoon in the State Fair Center.
One of the contestants who used popped popcorn kernels as part of her detail work on some of her cake, did that part the night before, explained Cool, while all of the contestants brought in the skeleton shape of their cake so all they had to do was decorate it.
The list of rules for the contest spanned two pages. One of the rules said that 90 percent of the cake needed to be edible with only 10 percent being non-edible, and, of course, contestants had to be finished decorating by 3:45 p.m.
The winner of the contest won a monetary prize as well as a cake platter for making future cakes. There were also medals for first, second, and third places. Fair-goers could vote for their favorite cake for the viewer's choice category.
The next event similar to the cake decorating contest will be the kids' cupcake decorating contest Saturday at 1 p.m. in the State Fair Center.