American Cake Awards Nomination!
The American Cake Awards 2020 is a new event that is coming up in April that I’m sure most of you may not have heard about. I mentioned it briefly in my blog last week, but I wanted to dedicate this week’s blog to this event and what it means to our industry.
This is the first year for this annual event that brings together bakers, cake artists and businesses from across North America. The ACA ceremony will take place on April 25, 202 at the Double Tree by Hilton Miami Airport Hotel. These awards will recognize talent across many different categories covering the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Islands.
Before you can understand the significance of this event, I have to take you back…. way back…. to the old days when cake decorating was nothing but buttercream and a bunch of women who baked cakes. I have been decorating for over 30 years (yes I’m that old) and I remember a time when doing cakes was looked at as a ‘nice hobby’ to have and you typically only did cakes for family and friends and that was it. Now, don’t get me wrong, the people who did cakes back in the day were very talented with what they had to work with, but what I mean is that the cake industry just wasn’t getting the recognition and respect that it deserved. Then along came the innovators, designers and talented people that blazed the trail to create new and different materials, methods and techniques that took our Sugar industry to a higher level. These people went out and developed tools, products, techniques, lessons and so much more that allowed the homemaker to become the Superstar! These people gave of their time and talents unselfishly. They would travel to far away places to share these things with people who were hungry to learn more just like you and me! These are the people that we need to show our appreciation to and thank them for what they have done over the many years.
One person that comes to mind when thinking about all of that is Chef Nicholas Lodge. Now, you may think…. Well of course she is going to talk about Chef Nicholas, she writes this blog for his company. Well, yes, but I also want to add that I have known Chef Nicholas for over 20 years, and he is the same talented, sharing, caring and humble guy back then as he is today. He spends a lot of time on the road, as you can see on his Facebook page, teaching, judging, sharing, guiding and coaching so many people all over the world. People will also come to his Studio to learn directly from Chef, which is a real special treat! I have personally taken many classes from him and I learn so much each time! He packs his classes full of information and projects and you come away from the class happily exhausted!!
So, with all that said, I will be voting for Chef Nicholas as the Industry Icon of the Year!! I can’t think of anyone better qualified to receive this award! There are other awards too. Maybe you think Chef Nicholas should be nominated as the Hero Award? I think he deserves all of these!The website is now open to receive your nominations. Plus, there are several other categories that you can nominate other people for like, Cookie Award, Modelling Excellence Award, Sculpted Cake Award, Sugar Flowers, Wedding Cake award and so much more. You can see all the categories here. https://www.americancakeawards.com/categories
The Nomination form can be found at this link: https://www.americancakeawards.com/nominate?mc_cid=4a6f567182&mc_eid=d8ee890d4d
You have until February 27th to put in your nomination, so don’t delay.
Stay Sweet and Keep Learning!
