Sugarcraft Guild takes the cake

With their trophies are (from left) Christine Budge, Bev Gibson and Betty Simpson. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS

The New Zealand Cake Decorators Guild recently had their annual conference in Nelson.
The conference involves competition and Wanganui Sugarcraft Guild came home victorious with three trophies.

Their winning "plaque", an English woodland scene in bas-relief and fine detail, was created by eight members.

"There are lots of competitions for individuals, but there is only one competition for a group," says Christine Budge, guild president. "It's a club entry. It's usually a plaque of some sort and this year's theme was

Winter Wonderland

.

"We had a huge brainstorm one night and got lots of ideas and had to reduce those down to a few ideas which would be our focus. We took nine months to construct it."

The winning plaque, all fashioned from icing. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS

Everyone was involved and each played to their strengths. The entire plaque, including the background, is made of icing, including the snow, grated by Betty Simpson.

They were up against scenes from

Frozen

, pretty pristine villages, a humorous one with a man in a hot tub in the snow, tobogganing scenes.

"A few I saw reminded me of English scenes on Christmas cards," says Bev Gibson, who created the hedgehogs, bottom right, among other things.

The plaques were displayed semi-upright on perspex stands at conference.

"We are one of the smaller clubs, so to actually get something like this with our small number of members was quite an accolade. We were buzzing all weekend," says Christine.
They picked up the Open Trophy (Branch Plaque) and the Novice Trophy (Novice Branch Plaque) for their work. The latter is for clubs who haven't had a win in a number of years.
"The only time we won one was in 1991," says Betty. She has the newspaper clipping to prove it.

Their plaque also received the public vote, gaining another prize, the Tauranga Trophy.

Christine, Betty and Bev feel they have a strong club.
"Even though we have a small number of members we are all active," says Christine.
"We could do with some new members," says Betty.
New members do not have to be skilled in the art of icing as current members can teach them and there are workshops held every month.
"We also get invited to other groups around the country for workshops," says Christine.
She says if anyone is working on a one-off cake and needs advice, the group is happy to help.

Bev Gibson was one of the demonstrators at the Nelson Conference this year. A cake top featuring realistic icing vegetables is on the table.

"That was my subject: I was asked to demonstrate vegetables," she says. "I did six one-hour sessions."

There were four demonstrators: two from overseas and two from New Zealand. It is the second time the local club has provided a demonstrator.

Bev's icing vegetables, used for demonstrating at conference. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS

It was Betty who taught Christine and Bev how to decorate cakes. Betty says she has been doing it for more than 50 years, really starting when she decorated a cake for her niece's wedding. At the time Betty was doing a postgraduate diploma in Wellington, living in the Health Dept hostel. Trying to find a table on which to work led her to a house in Island Bay where a woman showed her new icing techniques.

"So I learned from her at the same time," says Betty. She transported the three-tier cake to her niece in Hawke's Bay by booking two seats on a bus: one for her, one for the cake. "I got it there safely, but that's when I really got into cake decorating."

Betty is an original member of the club, as is Jill Raymond, who helped with the winning plaque.

"When they set up a judging school I was asked to go along to that, so I became one of the first group of judges in New Zealand. That was 25 years ago," says Betty.

Bev says one of the greatest rewards is the reaction you get when you've made someone a cake for their special occasion.

"In the group it's comradeship: people who are interested in the same thing. It is an outlet for your form of art — you can do all sorts of different techniques with icing, from painting to sculpture," says Christine.
"And you never stop learning," says Betty.