It was a Humber sweep as Baking and Pastry Arts Management students cleaned up at a recent cake competition.

The students took home first, second and third place along with the People’s Choice Award at the Bakery Showcase My Canada Student Cake Competition organized by the Bakers Journal and the Baking Association of Canada.

The competition was open to students enrolled in accredited college or trade school programs in Baking and Pastry. The aim of the competition was to showcase the skills of the students, giving them experience competing in front of an audience of professional bakers and providing them with constructive feedback from judges while allowing them to make connections within the baking industry in Canada.

Students were instructed to illustrate what Canada means to them by presenting a themed, tiered cake as well as a plated cake. They were to highlight any aspects of Canadian regional foods, ingredients or culture and were judged by experts on presentation, technique, creativity and taste.

Roula Kadimi finished in first place, winning $2,000. Kadimi is no stranger to having success in competitions having won last year’s Humber Pastry Cup with a gravity cake designed to look like a barbecued steak served with Caesar salad and corn-on-the-cob.

Finishing in second place, and winning $750, was Kelsea Pacson, who also received the People’s Choice Award for Best Tiered Cake and its $250 prize. Finishing in third place and winning $500 was Vanessa Levesque. All the winners will also be featured in the Bakers Journal magazine.

“The students put their all into making these cakes and worked countless hours to make this an experience that they could learn from and certainly never forget,” said Josie Bancheri, a Baking and Pastry Arts Management professor at Humber who coached the students. “They used the knowledge learned both in my cake decorating classes along with techniques learned in their advanced confectionary class to make their cakes into beautiful showpieces that represent what Canada means to them.”

Bancheri said various techniques were employed by the students on the cakes including hand piping, fondant sculpting, gum paste, wafer florals, edible painting, tempered chocolate work and sugar work. They also used the knowledge and skills gained from the program to create a plated cake that highlighted Canadian flavours.

Find out more about baking and culinary education by visiting Humber’s baking and culinary programs website.