Christmas is here and Bengaluru will be hosting the World's Biggest Annual Cake Show from December 13, 2019, to January 1, 2020 at the
St Joseph's Indian High School Ground. The theme for this 45th annual cake show is the Environment and staying true to this theme, the bakers have not used any plastic. There are over 22 large cake models on display — from Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow to Chandrayaan-2, so go check it out.
All these beautiful models have been created by the Institute of Baking and Cake Art (IBCA) students and staff with great intricacy and detailing. Understandably, the IBCA team is proud of the work they have been doing these past eight years. Manish Gaur, Director of IBCA says, "The cake shows have been a great experience for us every year. This year, there were around five to six students, trainers and skilled bakers who created these large cake models. While the students are in the process of learning, the trained bakers have been with us for five years. They play a key role in this project."
For Manish and his students, Christmas cake prep begins in January. He says, "In order to make these 22 models, we start working in the month of January. After the cake show ends, we study people's choices and what they prefer. Then, we literally draw these sketches of the cakes. Our students take a look at these sketches and create them. Social media also plays a great role here as we get to know people's opinion of our art and our cakes."
This year, they decided to make cakes avoiding the use of plastic even in the moulds, busts, etc. They have developed a concept where they use jelly to create the moulds. He explains, "Jelly is transparent and it looks like transparent glass. When it comes to making a face or a bust, we use jelly dough instead of plastic. This helped us avoid pollution without killing the creativity."
Each cake comes with a unique set of challenges. Manish explains, "The most challenging piece this year was the replica of St Basil's Cathedral. Initially, we thought it would be easy to work on this cake. However, when we looked at the pictures, we knew it would be time-consuming and difficult. We did not want to back out from this challenge. We pulled out a cardboard sheet and cut it in the form of the church model and decided to redesign it using sugar art. We made sugar bricks and laid one above the other to make this church look similar to the real model. It took time to set and dry as sugar becomes sticky during rainy season and humidity. But we managed it in the end."
They are all praise for C R Ramachandra, who conceptualised this cake show. Manish narrates a story from his childhood to drive home this point, "As a kid, when I went to watch this exhibition, we saw how unique these large cake models were. Now that he is over 80-years-old, he cannot manage to make as many cakes. Therefore, we continue to run the show. Whenever we need any guidance, we contact him."
Different models and the time consumed to make them
Fox Family
It has a female fox with its four cubs. This family is here to celebrate the new year. It took 45 days to make and six people were involved
Krishna and his Flute
Krishna is belived to be a symbol of compassion, kind and love. It took 30 days and four people were involved
Jelly Geode cake
These cakes get a ton of likes on social media. It took 20 days and three people were involved in making these cakes
Elephant baby shower
It took 15 days and three people to make this model. It shows a group of baby elephants along with a huge female elephant
Chandrayaan-2
A special model dedicated to the mission taken up by ISRO to reach the south pole of the Moon. It took seven days and three people to make this cake
Gorilla and roses
Gorillas love colour and flowers. This model looks like the real Gorilla and it took 20 days and four people to design it
