The cake that started it all!

So, I thought I start off with the cake that launched me into cake decorating! No, this is not my very first cake, but rather the first cake that I realized I might actually be able to make this dream work.

It all started, back two years ago in September of 2008, when I decided to enter the OSSAS (Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show). Actually, my husband (boyfriend, at the time convinced me that I should enter. I had never entered a competition before and this was certainly setting my expectations high. Nevertheless, I decided to go for it, since I had nothing to lose. I entered a cake in the beginner's category under sculpted cakes. Now all I had to do was come up with a design. After much thought, I finally decided on a pirate ship being attacked by a Kraken, mostly because I love the "Pirate of the Caribbean" movies.

I started about one week before the competition and baked and sculpted the cake. Then, I began to add the layers of details that would put this cake over the top. When it was time to pack up and leave for the competition, the cake was nowhere near being done, but regardless, we had to get on the road to make it in time. So we packed up both of us, and a suitcase and one cake to make the 24-hour drive to Oklahoma.

When we finally arrived in Tulsa (after one of the most boring/stressful rides of all time), I set up shop in our hotel room and went to work finishing the cake. I finished the night before the competition and we dropped it off that night.

The rest of the weekend went by in a blur of pretty cakes and lots of demos. On Sunday, when they announced the awards, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had won best in category, best in division, and best in show (non-professional). I was over the moon and had my first real taste of competition. I was hooked, and from then on, I have challenged myself  to make it each cake bigger and better.

On a totally separate note, this same weekend my fiancé proposed to me making it the best trip ever.