Notwithstanding the intensity of the spotlights and an ever-growing crowd of spectators, ten teams from colleges across the nation went head-to-head for the 10th Goldilocks Intercollegiate Cake Decorating Challenge (ICDC). The competition was fierce, and as the clock wound down with around one minute left, the audience roared with applause, cheering on the teams to add the finishing touches to their cakes. Emerging victorious from this dazzling display of creativity and teamwork was St. Anne’s College of Lucena; first by taking the category prizes for the 50th Wedding Anniversary cake and the Number 50-themed cake, before being awarded as the overall champion. With this feat, the proud students from Lucena not only won considerable prizes for their school, but earned the right to take the newly-redesigned trophy back with them.
This is the 10th time that the ICDC has been held, and every year the stakes are raised higher. The skill-level of the participants has consistently increased, thus elevating the contest into one of the most anticipated events for culinary arts programs. Styled after the television show “Iron Chef” and its American counterpart, all contestants are on stage simultaneously, given only 5 hours to design, build, and decorate cakes for judging. The teams this year vied for not only the trophy and prestige, but a baking lab worth Php 250,000 for their school and Php 20,000 worth of Goldilocks gift certificates. More importantly, members of the winning team were automatically offered employment contracts with Goldilocks as soon as they are qualified.
Because the 10th ICDC ramped up the difficulty levels – thus earning the moniker “ICDC Xtreme – Goldilocks enlisted the help of ten of the country’s top pastry chefs to guide a randomly chosen finalist in the lead up to competition day. Chefs Jackie Ang Po (Calayan Educational Foundation), James Antolin (Saint Anne College of Lucena), Joan Dela Cruz (Pangasinan State University), Bryan Dimayuga (Lyceum of the Philippine Laguna), Tristan Encarnacion (Trinity University of Asia), Jackie Laudico (Western Institute of Technology Iloilo), Rizalino Manas (DMCI College Foundation Dipolog), Amador Mendoza (Lyceum Subic Bay), Pixie Sevilla (Far Eastern University), and Buddy Trinidad (Colegio de San Lorenzo) were tapped to provide high-level, hands-on mentorship to the participating students.
While the students were busy creating their masterpieces, loads of fun and educational activites ocurred throughout the day. There were booths featuring Avoset products, Decorate-Your-Cake (DYC) activities, and cake demos. An area was likewise dedicated to “Baker’s Rush”, Goldilocks’ highly engaging strategy and time management game that is now available for download on Android devices.
As evidenced by the overall growth of the industry, cake decorating and the pastry arts are gaining more and more traction in the psyche of the general public. Indeed, Goldilocks Marketing Director Cherry Caluya punctuated this point by saying: “The growing success of the Goldilocks Intercollegiate Cake Decorating Challenge is so inspiring. As cake and pastry arts gain more acceptance and prominence in the country, you can be sure that Goldilocks will continue to do its part in promoting these disciplines at the student-level”
