On Wednesday, March 15, RJE + Allsteel had the opportunity to host the first Great Cake Off event in the Indianapolis showroom. Our inaugural event included 15 teams (first come, first served) from design firms in the local community to participate in the cake decorating contest. The idea for this event came from the very talented Asia Coffee (senior interior designer, Schmidt Associates), winner of the Food Network’s 2021 Holiday Wars, and a desire to tie back to our community (donations to Fair Haven Foundation). Teams were provided a theme (spring!) an inspiration item (Normann Copenhagen shore birds), and asked to bring teammates and a cheering squad to help benefit the community.
Over a series of weeks and office hours, teams were informed of the contest, expectations, and some of the fun twists in store for them that evening. For example, after 60 of their allotted 90 minutes of decorating time, a surprise element was introduced and required to be incorporated into their cake design.
Fair Haven Foundation
The Fair Haven Foundation is very near and dear to the Indianapolis community and a local designer, who lost her sister to cancer. During her ongoing battle, Fair Haven helped her sister (and countless others) by providing food and basic household needs. If you would like to learn more about Fair Haven, their mission and how to donate, make sure you visit their website.
Judges
Our judges for the evening included (from left to right): Amanda Milner, founder, Fair Haven Foundation, Asia Coffee, owner, Cakes by Coffee/senior interior designer, Schmidt Associates, and Eva Tomlinson, owner, Aspasia Bake and Coffee Shop. These ladies had the almost impossible task of naming the three winners of the evening. The scoresheet included incorporating techniques learned from Asia’s videos, inclusion of the surprise element, and attention to theme (just to name a few).
Winners
Best in Show
The Rolling Scones from arcDESIGN took home top prize of the evening, with their cake striking the perfect balance of spring and whimsical. The sunny beach scene was intricate and beautifully executed!
The prize for best in show is tickets to Zoobilation (for the winner plus a guest) and a limo ride to and from the event.
Second Position
The LumiNAUT Your Average Bakers (Luminaut) took home the title of second position with their fun take on a birdhouse and spring colors.
Second position was awarded baking classes with Asia Coffee, an exciting opportunity to increase their design skills.
Crowd Favorite
The Guidon Girls (inspired by the Golden Girls) and representing Guidon Design, were selected as the crowd favorite – with their cheering squad rooting them on, they were able to take home the prize for their bird bath inspired cake.
These ladies took home a gift card to the Aspasia Bake Shop for having the most crowd votes.
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend to and participate in first The Great Cake Off! We look forward to hosting this again in the future!
