NSSC First Annual Cake Off

A few weeks ago, some of my co-workers were talking about the good cakes they make. This small group included a surgeon, nurses and a nurse anesthetist.  I was not in the room, but knowing this group, they were probably trying to one-up each other. The gloves were off and they decided to have a Cake Off!

A date was set, a sign up sheet for participants was made and prizes were determined. Several names went on the sign up sheet within the first day.  Our supervisor, who was not working that day, is an amazing baker so we added her name to the list.  I decided to add my name, then kidded with everyone that I was going to Lower The Bar!

Lowering the bar was not too far fetched. One time I made chocolate chip cookies and brought them into work.  Kelly, a fellow nurse, was eating a cookie and found a piece of the butter wrapper in the cookies. Yes, I have not been known for my culinary skills!

Soon after I signed up for the contest,  I was reading Go Ahead Take a Bite,  written by my friend Mrs. B. She had just posted a cake recipe for a delicious looking Orange Cake with a whip cream frosting.  It looked fantastic and her directions were so easy to follow, I decided then, and there, to make the cake.

I had a trial run two weeks ago, which did not go as well as I hoped. I knew the taste was there but the execution leaved a bit to be desired. I decided at that moment, no matter how the cake turned out, I was going to enter that recipe in the contest.

I don't know if you read my cupcake post, but that is when my confidence soared. Yesterday I made the cake and it actually looked, and smelled, fantastic. The subtle aroma of orange filled my kitchen while it was baking. When I took the cake out of the oven it was raised beautifully and done to perfection. I frosted it and put it in the a sealed cake pan, then in the fridge it went.

This morning  after driving to work, I  noticed the inside of the carrier lid was wet with condensation. I wiped out the lid, but the frosting looked somewhat wet. Luckily, I had leftover frosting and just touched it up, but the entire morning I worried if the cake was a soggy mess.  By 9:30 , all the cakes had arrived and the contest began.

Everyone was given a ballot and the tasting began! All of our Surgery Center employees, the surgeons working today and some family members came to taste the goods! Also, some employees of the hospital heard about our contest and came over for the tasting, and to cast their vote.  All the cakes were fantastic,  each one I tasted was better than the last. I had a hard time casting my ballot..I had to keep tasting each cake to make sure I made the right decision. I must have gained five pounds.

Seven wonderful cakes!

This cake won Best Overall Cake
I thought the Tulips were a nice touch!

Great Tres Leche Cake
This one tied for Best Taste with....

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you believe it??   I can't!
Thanks Mrs. B

And this cake won Most Original
I loved the drizzled chocolate, so classy!

Enjoying the tasting!

Grandma is feeding this cutie, she liked the chocolate!

Everyone had a great time today. My Administrator was having the best time of all. She assigned a number to each cake, made sure the cakes were displayed on an OR table covered with a nice white sheet, printed the ballots, took pictures and tallied the scores.

The prizes were amazing.
Best Over All Cake-   $50 Williams Sonoma gift certificate, mini spatulas and bottle of Prosecco!

Best Tasting Cake-     $ 25 Williams Sonoma gift certificate and Spatula

Most Original              $25 WS certificate and Spatula!

Today was amazing. Some of the bakers were already talking about what they would make next year and the Administrator had so much fun, she announced an Appetizer Cook Off for next quarter.

Anyone have a good recipe?