In my previous post, I’ve talked about how I joined the first ever cake festival in the Philippines, Cake Fiesta Manila 2019. I got so excited that I bit off more than I could chew and became overwhelmed in the process. I joined 4 categories and had to transport everything from Dumaguete City to Manila. It was just my husband and me who made the trip, and with all the things we had to bring with extreme caution and care, I unfortunately dropped my buttercream cake. It was a disaster.
Anyhow, the good part of the story was that I was able to create some good memories and I went on a new caking adventure just before the world closed up in March 2020 because of the pandemic. It has been years since I last went to Manila (last time I went was probably in 2006), so I took the opportunity to meet some grade school classmates. We also managed to sneak into a car show that was happening in the same venue as Cake Fiesta Manila, then we went to see a gun show at SM Megamall. My husband had the time of his life. Overall, we spent 3 days equally divided between our individual interests so we were both happy.
Back at Cake Fiesta, I got the chance to see world class cake decorators in the flesh! I didn’t enrol in any of the classes because I was too cheap (hahaha, the classes were expensive), but it was enough for me that I saw them. I also saw a lot of beautiful exhibits. There were also a lot of tools and ingredients on sale. One of the things I hoarded was sugarflowers made by Chef JP Acain, a Cagayan de Oro-based cake artist. I’ve met him previously when I attended his sugarflower making class in Dumaguete way back in 2014. I bought his flowers on the last day of the festival, and he gave them to me at super discounted rates. My husband and I had to buy plastic containers to place all my sugarflowers in so that we can hand carry them on the flight home.
My cupcake entry got a merit award, while my celebration cake did better and received a bronze. Considering all the challenges I had to overcome and that this was my first time, I believe that I did good. At that time, I was so excited to go back for Cake Fiesta Manila 2020. Unfortunately, the pandemic happened, and the festival was turned into an online event. There was still an exhibition competition, and I still signed up. I paid for my registration, but the pandemic brought my spirits down. I didn’t submit a single entry out of the four categories (yes, I did it again, I thought I could manage four categories better because I didn’t have to fly out) I signed up for. I just didn’t have the will to do it. But it gets even more exciting for me! In Cake Fiesta Manila 2021, I signed up for Cake Wars! That experience deserves its own blog post.
I love joining competitions and exhibitions. I just enjoy the hustle and the adrenaline rush. I want to push myself to my limits. I’ve joined other competitions and exhibitions prior to Cake Fiesta Manila 2019. I was fairly new then, but I just enjoyed the challenge. I even managed to win first prize for a cake decorating competition in our city. I’ll talk about that too, in another post.
If you just started out with cake decorating, I suggest that you plan joining Cake Fiesta Manila in the future. Join one of the competitions to boost your morale. It is also an opportunity to meet other people in the industry and a way to measure where you stand when it comes to your skill and expertise.
Pink Plate Meals and Cakes 