Valley Student Successful at Cake Decorating Competition

Eleven South Texas College Culinary Arts Program students battled their way through butter cream, fondant, crystallized sugar, chocolate bark and a variety of other weapons of mass deliciousness. But only one stood out above the rest as Joseph Moore was named the STC Culinary Arts Cake Decorator of the Year.

Moore and his fellow newbie chefs recently participated in the college’s first Cake Decorating Competition, through which contestants brought their homemade cakes and took one hour to give the cakes one extreme icing makeover.

“I literally spent weeks meticulously planning out my design,” said STC student Karla Flores, whose farm scene cake was a top contender in the contest. “My husband loves chickens and so I think the inspiration came from him and my children. It’s very geared at children. I really loved the idea of this competition because it keeps up active outside the classroom, keeps us on our toes and helps us stay at the top of our game. It was a cool experience.”

Students submitted cakes ranging from a mushroom inspired by the popular TV series “The Smurfs”, to a Day of the Dead altar, fairy, present and football party cake, just to name a few. The competition was certainly stiff and the judging, which took more than one hour to complete, was no piece of cake.

“The level of talent for this being the first time for many of these students to create pieces on this level was really incredible,” said Cynthia Ebrom, owner of world-renowned Cynthia’s Cakes and a judge for the event.”The designs were very creative and the techniques used were pretty impressive. Of course there is room for improvement and I think the students will learn from some of their mistakes. You can strive for perfection, but there is really no such thing. It’s all about practice, practice, practice and creativity. But overall, I am really impressed.”

Ebrom was joined by fellow professionals Jennifer Guerra, pastry chef for Sante Fe Steakhouse, and Tiffany Anders, pastry chef for Bistro M.

“These are all first year students and we wanted to give them a reason to work hard, that is to impress these amazing professionals with their work,” said Chef Emma Creps, STC Culinary Arts Program chair. “Although Joseph was selected the winner, I am so proud of each of our participating students. They showed some real ingenuity beyond the skills they have learned so far. This contest reaffirms my belief that we have some of the most talented young chefs starting at STC. The Valley can look forward to some amazing eating for generations to come.”

Entries were rated on three factors including overall appearance, creativity of the design and the level of complexity of the decoration. Participating students including Yabeli Banda, Elaine Cercas, Raphael DeLeon, Jennifer Flores, Karla Flores, Yermaine Garza, Jodi Guerra, Kristina Lopez, Joseph Moore, Andrea Ramirez and Krystal Santos.

Photo caption:
Moore putting the finishing touches on his winning entry for STC’s first Culinary Arts Program Cake Decorating Competition.