Annandale’s NOVA transformed into frosting fantasyland
The Ernst Center at the Annandale campus of Northern Virginia Community College was transformed into a fantasyland of cakes and frosting as thousands of bakers, cake artists, purveyors of cake supplies, and cake lovers came to the National Capital Area Cake Show.
There were exhibits, classes, demonstrations, and competitions, along with a daylong, live cake challenge on the theme “Castles from the Silver Screen” carried out live on stage before an audience of several hundred people. That event was emceed by Annandale’s own TV cake star, Norman Davis, who runs The Sweet Life with Zane Beg.
Mike Elder and teammate Michelle Boyd won the challenge with a cake based on the “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” movie (photo on right). Other teams were led by Bob Brougham (“Edward Scissorhands”), Dana Herbert (“Troy”), and Kathy Scott (“The Wizard of Oz”). All have won or competed in challenges on TLC’s “Ultimate Cake Off,” and Herbert also won the first competition on TLC’s “The Next Great Baker.”
Among the products on display were a special printer that can print photos on edible sheets of icing, stencils for making lacy decorations, and Styrofoam “cake dummies.” You didn’t think there was real cake under all those frosting fantasies, did you? Actually, while some of the cakes on display are edible, many are not. Vendor Bob Knaper was selling Styrofoam shapes (squares, round pieces, stars, hearts, etc.) for assembling and decorating fake cakes. He also does custom designs; among his past orders for “cake dummies” are Yankee Stadium, the Eiffel Tower, and a toilet.
And even if they were edible, some of the cakes on display weren’t very appetizing. Amid the flowers, elves, and holiday fantasies, there was one depicting a bloody zombie coming out of the ground, and another featured a giant insect. For more photos, click here.
