Westport
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EverythingWestport.com
Wednesday,
March 20, 2013
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SkillsUSA Cake Show brought competition and inspiration to
novice and professional pastry chefs alike. The cake show gave competitors the chance to
create amazing works of art, and baking admirers the opportunity to see the best
pastry art in the area. EverythingWestport.com Saturday, March 23,
2013 photos/EverythingWestport.com You have to
admire the magical skills of specialty cake decorators in whipping up their confectionery masterpieces. How
they can learn to decorate these unbelievable, jaw-dropping cakes almost overnight
and getting the perfect results, well you can only imagine.
But local area
pastry chefs and Bristol Community College’s Culinary Arts Program students
were the big winners at this year’s sixth annual SkillsUSA
Cake Show at the BCC campus because they not only raised eyebrows but a
lot dough for the Skills Build America fundraising campaign. The show is a SkillsUSA
fundraiser. Now in its sixth
year, the cake show is a fundraiser for SkillsUSA,
a nonprofit organization that helps college and high school students train
for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. Bristol students have won a variety of
regional and national honors through SkillsUSA. Visit their website Cake artists,
novice bakers, students, and professional chefs all competed for top honors
as attendees got a first-hand look at their skills in crafting culinary
creations throughout the day. This year’s themed cakes included wedding cakes
and Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired creations from the contestants in the
annual Cake Design competition. “Shows give me the
opportunity to do what I want to do and not have to do what a client wants me
to do.” - Professional division winner Carrianne Allen
Allen has been baking
and decorating cakes since 1996. She has studied with international and local
industry leaders such as Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island, and continues
to take courses to learn new techniques. Allen took home
top honors in the Professional Division with her small cluster of cakes. “I had limited
space so I wanted to do something a little smaller,” Allen said. “So I did a cluster of smaller cakes
because that seems to be the trend: shabby chic, vintage style. I love
delicate, fine, pretty, dainty, girly work, so that’s where my work lies.” “Shows give me
the opportunity to do what I want to do and not have to do what a client
wants me to do,” Allen said. Visit the BCC website. This year’s contest included the following
categories: Specialty Category Cakes are to be
Rodgers and Hammerstein songs/musicals theme. The cake is to be expressive
and creative way that would make a sellable display for a client’s venue.
This category is for professional, novice, high school students and LIVE
competition. Open Wedding Design Create a wedding
cake in a romantic, expressive and creative way that would make a sellable
display for a client’s venue. This category is for professional, novice and
postsecondary students. Novice decorator A novice
decorator is someone whose business is done from home, part-time, or is just
getting into the cake business and has not won any decorating competitions. Professional decorator A professional
decorator is a participant whose job is making and decorating cakes for
bakeries, private business, or has competed in professional competitions. Postsecondary Postsecondary is
open to any student in a college Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry Arts
program. High School The High School
category is open to any HS student or team. The cakes were 3-5
tiers high with the bottom layer no smaller than 14 inches. The cakes were
elaborately decorated, especially considering that no silk or real
flowers could be used on a cake, and absolutely no bought ribbons,
bling or man-made fabricated items.
Above, left: The team of Erin Stark and
Marlene Souza of Molly B's Cakes of Distinction and Design in Berkley took
home first place in the great Cake Bake-Off (Specialty Category.) The Johnson and Wales-educated pastry chefs picked
a Rodgers and Hammerstein themed design because it was a “lesser known
musical set in Chinatown, San Francisco.” “We chose “Flower Drum Song”
as our Rodgers and Hammerstein musical because it is a lesser known musical and
is set in Chinatown, San Francisco. We derived inspiration from the costumes,
location and architecture shown in the musical. Our cake was decorated with
yellow and orange poppies from a prominent dress, images of Chinatown and the
Golden Gate Bridge, and a top tier reminiscent of a Chinese house. The cake
topper, a rotating poured-sugar hand-piped fan, was pulled from the musical’s
theater posters.” - Erin Stark and Marlene Souza
of Molly B's Cakes of Distinction and Design
Cakes were judged
on professionalism, type and number of techniques used (piping, fondant, gum
paste, sugar, chocolate, etc.) cleanliness of cake and fondant work, and
execution of theme design. World renowned master cake artist, author
and pastry chef, Nicholas Lodge makes a guest teaching appearance.
Lodge taught the
class on Friday, March 22, and Sunday, March 24, in conjunction with the
annual BCC SkillsUSA Cake Show. Lodge taught an
assortment of popular flower ideas for wedding and celebration cakes
including the ultimate rose, cymbidium orchid, dendrobium
orchid, hydrangea, gerbera daisy and the stargazer lily, all with appropriate
buds and leaves. The author of
over one dozen books, Nicholas teaches and demonstrates his unique skills
around the world. Over the years his teaching tours have taken him to twenty-six
different countries, and he has introduced sugar art into unlikely places
such as India, China and Fiji. He is internationally known, not only for his
unique skills in sugar art, but also for the quality of his demonstrations
and classes, at which he inspires enthusiasm in everyone who attends. This
reputation has also involved him in judging sugar art events around the
globe.
Concerts
at the Point ended their 2012/2013 season with a remarkable opera seria in two acts by the Boston
University Opera Institute. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, March 24,
2013. photos/EverythingWestport.com Concerts at the
Point ended their 2012/2013 season with a remarkable opera seria in two acts by the Boston University Opera
Institute on Sunday, March 24, 2013.
Above: Celeste Fraser,
soprano (left) with Laura Ashley Lyles, mezzo-soprano, playing a male lead. “A love triangle, murder
conspiracy, betrayal and redemption were all ordered up in Mozart’s
La Clemenza di Tito. A credible and certainly
spirited performance by the Institute’s students.” - EverythingWestport.com This season ending performance under the direction of conductor
William Lumpkin offered its students an opportunity to perform once again at
Concerts at the Point. The Institute performs at the Westport venue every other year. The Institute presented four of its best students performing solos
and ensemble pieces from Mozart: La Clemenza di
Tito; Britten: Owen Wingrave; and Verdi: La Traviata. The singers included: Celeste
Fraser, soprano; Christopher Hutchinson, tenor; Laura Ashley Lyles,
mezzo-soprano; and Nickoli Strommer,
baritone.
Left: Laura Ashley Lyles,
mezzo-soprano. Right:
Christopher Hutchinson, tenor.
Left: conductor and pianist
William Lumpkin. Right: Celeste
Fraser, soprano. The Opera Institute is an intensive, highly selective two-year
performance-based training program for emerging operatic artists. Up to 12 individuals are accepted into the program each year through
a process of national audition and recruitment. Each Institute member
receives full tuition and stipend. The
Institute also serves as the Center of Opera Training for Vocal Performance
degree candidates where students share training and casting opportunities. www.bu.edu/cfa/music/opera. The complete CAP
schedule is now available for 2013/2014 season, beginning with the Adaskin String Trio with Tom Gallant, Oboe
on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 3:00 pm.
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