Hi all

I posted this in another spot but thought the contest area might be a better spot. Anyhow...I am new here as of today...yeah...a real newbie! I have talked about cake decorating on another forum & a friend there told me about this site. I am sooooooooooo excited to be here. Okay, so here's my dilemma... I am entering a decorated cake in the NYS fair this year and am having some difficulties getting inspired. The theme is the wonders of NYS. I have had a few ideas but nothing that really wowed me to where I knew it was right. Any suggestions or ideas?

Since it's about NYS as a whole, and not just the City, I would go with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving.

Theresa

looked up all the symbols of NYS and was thinking about trying to do something with one or more of them, but I am still not sure. ere are some symbols: apple, trout, beaver, maple leaves, rose, apple muffin. Does that inspire any ideas. Is there a good cake recipe that is similar to an apple muffin? I am soooooooo torn on this! I thought about doing maple leaves & saw a gorgeous one here with the leaves made out of gumpaste, but I have never used gumpaste before. Is it really hard?

Does this contest involve real cake, or a tasting?

Many people use styrofoam dummies for their cakes instead. They're lighter, a bit more difficult to work with, because of their lack of weight, but they eliminate the spoilage factor.

What classes have you taken? The number of classes you have taken will determine the skill level you will enter.

If you are in the beginner category, you should go with the roses. They would be the easiest.

Another idea which comes to mind is the Belmont Stakes horserace. You could use the horseshoe pan, some red roses. Or better yet, a big crown with two little crowns surrounding it, a 3, since it's the third leg of horseracing's Triple Crown, red roses around the bottom.

Theresa

Thank you! I have taken Wilton course I, II, and III. My instructor fussed over me a lot & told me I have a natural gift for this. She believes I can do any type of cake I want. That's embarrassing for me to say, but I am trying to give you an idea of my skill. I have posted several pictures of cakes (although not all the cakes I have done). Looking at those might give you a better idea of my skill. I think three of my best cakes are the ones I posted in graduation cakes, birthday cakes, and Communion cakes.

The cake will not be tasted, but I am not sure if you could use a dummy cake since it said everything on the cake must be edible. I guess I could call & check on that.

There are not different categories to enter that I noticed. You could choose cakes or cake decorating, but I saw no other categories.

new york has lots of things going on.
NYC--the big apple
NYC--central park
NYC--broadway and times square
cooperstown--baseball hall of fame
albany--state capitol
belmont--race track
niagra falls
lake ontario
hudson river

you could incorperate many of these things on to a cake. the bigger the cake the more you could add..........

You could draw on Baseball and the closing of Shea Stadium if you are into Baseball. When you are done with the NYS Fair you should check out the National Capital Area Cake Show at www.cakeshow.org Good Luck

Thanks everyone! Keep the ideas coming. The more the merrier!