Let Them Sculpt Cake

By
Appears in the January 2023 issue.

By Peter Gianopulos

These Naperville bakers proved to be top tier

 

Julie Thompson and Alexa Abaroa’s first-prize winning cake in the fondant category.
Julie Thompson and Alexa Abaroa’s first-prize winning cake in the fondant category.

Every three years, the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) stages what might be considered the Olympics of the cake-decorating world. It’s a global competition, which invites a small number of talented pastry artists to sculpt the most jaw-dropping edible art this side of a holiday baking marathon on the Food Network.

The IBIE is quite discriminating regarding whom it invites to compete, so when Alexa Abaroa and Julie Thompson, of DeEtta’s Bakery in Naperville, mailed in an application last spring, they didn’t exactly start packing for Vegas. They typed up short bios, sent in photos from their personal portfolios, and returned to their daily routine of creating customized treats for their customers.

Julie Thompson and Alexa Abaroa
Julie Thompson (left) and Alexa Abaroa

But a funny thing happened on the way to getting a rejection notice: They not only were accepted as a two-person team—they flew out to the IBIE in September and earned four awards.

Prior to the competition, Abaroa and Thompson were mailed short prompts outlining hypothetical requests from fictional clients. One of the challenges required competitors to create a hyperrealistic cake, at least 12 inches tall, for a chef who was about to get married to someone who loved organic food. Their resulting masterpiece—a giant bubbling pot of vegetable soup, set on an induction burner, next to incredibly lifelike faux veggies—was made with nothing more than cake, fondant, and other sugary treats, including gelatinized water to give the soup a burbling look. Their clever kitchen scene won top honors in the sculpted/hyperrealistic category.

Abaroa and Thompson’s creation that took top spot in the sculpted/hyperrealistic category.
Abaroa and Thompson’s creation that took top spot in the sculpted/hyperrealistic category.

They scored another first-place win for an impromptu challenge in the fondant category to create a cake to honor Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of King Charles. Their design, conceived and executed on the spot, was beautiful enough to have been served in Buckingham Palace itself: a tiered wonder that included faux medals and a white rose at its base. “We assumed everyone else would focus on creating a crown, so we decided to go in an unexpected direction,” Abaroa says. “And it worked.”

Abaroa and Thompson (center)
Abaroa and Thompson (center)

By the close of the competition, the dynamic duo also collected a silver medal in the wedding category as well as a second-place finish overall. Not bad for a pair of local artists whose previous competition experience amounted to little more than a few online challenges and a baking competition in college. Needless to say, their creations couldn’t be shipped back to Naperville, but the pair is ready and excited to create equally impressive crowning glories for customers closer to home.

 

Photos courtesy of DeEtta’s Bakery (cakes) and narrative images (kitchen and awards)