Katrina Carrillo’s award winning cake was almost a messy disaster.
On the flight to Los Angeles for the annual California Community College Culinary Arts competition the French buttercream and the banana fondant melted. With her teammate, Logan Curtis, the Hidden Valley Lake native and Yuba College Clear Lake student scraped off the dripping remains in a hotel room and raced out to buy more ingredients — then missed the bus back to the Marriott.
Carrillo and Curtis, a Clearlake resident, patched up the cake just in time for judging. They took second place in the state.
Before the frantic finale, Carrillo spent weeks researching flavors that would fit within the contest’s criteria. The two sketched out dozens of designs before settling on a simple yet colorful African sunset motif. The pair finished two practice cakes before boarding the flight, all without incident.
Their only miscalculation was the cabin temperature.
“We didn’t think it would melt quite that fast,” Carrillo said with a relieved smile.
The cake is a masterpiece, one they will prepare again for the Yuba College Clear Lake culinary program’s final exam on Friday, adding two more tiers. The Black Onyx Cocoa Cake features green cardamom and Saigon cassia cinnamon, a chocolate-banana mousse filling, a vanilla bean-laced buttercream frosting and that sensitive fondant.
“I was research North African flavors and I decided that cardamom and cinnamon would work well,” Carrillo recalled. The contest’s criteria included an African theme and plenty of chocolate. “I think the flavor is what helped us win second.”
Although decorating was a part of the judging, Carrillo and Curtis decided to keep it relatively simple, especially compared to some of the other entries.
“They didn’t want it to be busy,” observed Ann-Marie Pleskaczewski, baking instructor at Yuba. “It thought it was understated elegance.”
Carrillo’s interest in baking began when she was a sophomore at Middletown High School. For her senior project she held a series of bake sales — eight in all — for the No Kid Hungry campaign, raising over $1,000.
Now she is in the advanced baking program at Yuba. In her spare time she works at Chic Le Chef in Hidden Valley Lake and has plans to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America.
The cake contest was her first such competition. Classmate Andy Vieira of Clearlake also made the trip south, participating in the hot foods event.
“It was fun,” she said. “I was nervous at first.”
And why not, after their cake nearly ended up in a puddle of buttercream and fondant. But that may have also been a defining moment.
“We got to the room and I said ‘You guys, what should we do?’” Pleskaczewski recalled. “They said ‘Start over.’” That was the coolest part — they didn’t give up.”
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
