I was just wondering if anyone has any words of wisdom about decorating for a cake contest. I'm kinda thinking about entering one of the fairs' cake contest next month but don't know if I'm up to that level or not. I would have to enter the professional division since I do make money decorating cakes.

Is there anything the the judges tend to look for or are they all different? Is elaborate usually better or just doing something simple well? I've heard someone before say to never ignore the cake board...would that be true in a fair contest also?

Thanks alot for any and all advice. It'll be appreciated

Hard to tell WHAT some of them look for! I have seen a gaudy Wilton character pan with not so great drop stars 'win' over a very pretty layer cake with smooth icing, nicely made roses and pleasing color combinations. Bet the person who made that pretty cake is still wondering....WHAT?????
You never know...do your best and hope that who ever is judging knows something about the art of cake decorating!

well I can't tell you exactly what judges look for when judging a cake, but if you are like me and this is your first time entering a cake don't be surprised if you have to leave the building completely when the judges are judging .. I had no idea they did this and I went there thinking how great it would be to walk away a winner .. well we all had to leave the building and it was closed from three o'clock that afternoon until ten o'clock the next day and that was when we could go find out who won what ... I was REALLY disappointed that I wouldn't find out until the next day ... that was a very very long night!!

I was reading the rules for this contest and it said that after the contest, the recipe is the property of the fair...does that mean I can't call it my recipe anymore and it won't be secret?? I was thinking to use my chocolate cake recipe but I don't know...it's my own special family recipe and it's one thing to show them my recipe, quite another for them to keep it. I suppose I could make a different one...

I have no idea about the recipe, and I actually have no idea what the judges look for either! I'm entering 3 decorated cakes in the fair, and this is my first competition. I chose designs that I'm hoping will WOW them, and none of them are what I would call traditional! I'm hoping they aren't looking for buttercream swags, because my cakes are not that!