The Journey Begins-4th Runner Up

The cake that I entered for the 2009 Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show was entitled, “The Journey begins”. My mother was born and raised in Bermuda. So, when they announced the theme “Of Sea and Shore”, I knew I wanted to make a Bermuda themed cake. The challenge was in coming up with a cake that was wedding cake appropriate but not cliche.

I thought it might be cool to make an old world map of Bermuda, so I started looking. On one of the many maps I looked at, it had written on it the phrase, “The Journey Begins”. That phrase made so much sense to me. I decided to play off of that title by making my cake represent both a physical journey as well as the journey that a couple begins on their wedding day.

In my research, I found a beautiful tall sail ship called the Spirit of Bermuda; an absolutely stunning vessel. I had to have that as part of the symbolism of the journey.

Then to incorporate Bermuda, I added tiers that had blue on half of the cake to represent water and a coral pink on the other side to tie in the beautiful pink sandy beaches of Bermuda.

I researched native flowers and decided on the Poinciana flower as my main flower. The Poinciana is a beautiful flower that grows on a tree. The entire tree is covered with these huge stunning flowers. The challenge with this flower was the extremely thin petals. I actually made several dozen flowers to ensure that I had enough that would make it safely all the way to Tulsa. I ended up with just enough to decorate my cake. They were so fragile. The other flowers I chose were the Oleander and the Bermudiana flowers.

I loved the way all of the colors of the cake came together. It reminded me so much of pictures of Bermuda that my mom had. To top it all off, I made a round stone archway known in Bermuda as a Moongate. The Moongate represents the eternal nature of marriage. I repeated the stone effect on the base of the cake.

And there you have it. My cake entry for The Oklahoma Sugar Art Show and 4th runner up.