If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives): cake baking competion

above: The Grand Prize winning entry in the National Gingerbread Competition featured Christmas-themed Russian Nesting Dolls by Heather Lewis.

Many gingerbread competitions feature some very amateur creations - unimpressive gumdrop laden homes with leaning chimneys, doghouses and lighthouses with lame landscaping and the like. But not the National Gingerbread Competition, which celebrated its 18th annual competition this year at the Grove Park Inn.

The impressive event garnered entries from 20 states and is not limited to "houses" but instead any gingerbread creation that falls within their guidelines. The competition is broken down into Adult, Teen, Youth and Child categories, all of which had several drool-worthy entries. These aren't for Gingerbread House kit-types, we're talking some serious gingerbread baking enthusiasts and fondant masters. Take a look at the winners in each category as well as the top ten adult entries.

ADULT CATEGORY

ADULT, Grand Prize Winner - Heather Lewis of Austell, Georgia (image at the beginning of the post)

ADULT, 1st Place Winner - Angel Adkins of Kodak, Tennessee:

ADULT, 2nd Place Winner -Barbara Evans of Edelstein, Illinois:

ADULT, 3rd Place Winner - Linda Carney of Asheville, North Carolina:

ADULT, TOP TEN - Ashley Howard of Winter Springs, Florida:

ADULT, TOP TEN - Tracy Navin of Franklin, Tennessee:

ADULT, TOP TEN - Suzanne Kanaly of Liberty Township, Ohio:

ADULT, TOP TEN - Ann Bailey of Cary, North Carolina:

ADULT, TOP TEN - Cathy Christiansen of Gainesville, Virginia:

ADULT, TOP TEN - Michael Billella of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:

TEEN CATEGORY

TEEN, 1ST PLACE WINNER - Skyla Delerme of Asheville, North Carolina:

Teen 2nd Place - Carly Owens of Swannanoa, North Carolina:

Teen 3rd Place - Laura Malanowski of Newton, North Carolina:

YOUTH CATEGORY

YOUTH, 1ST PLACE WINNER - Lydia Gentry of Hendersonville, North Carolina:

Youth 2nd Place - Gabriella Arthur of Easley, South Carolina:

Youth 3rd Place - Emily Spafford of Maryville, Tennesee:

CHILD CATEGORY

CHILD, 1ST PLACE WINNER - Christian Ray of Charlotte, North Carolina

Child 2nd Place - Shan Patel of Asheville, North Carolina:

Child 3rd Place - Grace Lebo of Nashville, Tennessee:

above photos courtesy of Wright Creative

Each year there are several Gingerbread House competitions that take place in various countries and cities. One of the more popular, but not quite as professional, is the one sponsored by This Old House. 2010 was their third annual competition and you can view those 84 entries here

above top: Darkside of The Garden T-shirt at Threadless; bottom: A cake baked on the design

Everyone likes t-shirts. And cake. So what a great idea it was for Chris Cardinal to start Threadcakes in 2007, an online cake competition in conjunction with the user generated design t-shirt site, Threadless.com.

The contest turns art into edible art. The premise is straightforward, interpret (not replicate, per se) the image on any of the PRINTED t-shirts at Threadless into an actual baked and edible cake.

No contest was run in 2008, but they've brought it back with a vengeance this year. The contest began on June 15th and runs through August 3rd. It's not too late to enter. You can read more about the competition and the rules here.

The contest has two categories, 2D and 3D and there are already many drool-worthy entries into each. The contest runs for a few more weeks, so you cake bakers still have plenty of time to give it a try.

There are already so many incredible and impressive cakes entered, it was very hard to narrow it down to just a few to inspire you (or to light a flambé under your butt). But here are some incredible entries side by side with the t-shirt art that inspired the cakes.

T-shirt Art on the left, Cakes on the right: