Designers take the cake at annual Hy-Vee decorating finals

DES MOINES – Kassie Mather wasn't anxious at the finals of the 2013 Hy-Vee Cake Designer Challenge Wednesday.

The same couldn't be said of her family.

Standing near Mather's work table, watching as she transformed cupcakes, sheet cakes and sugar cookies into popcorn, hot dogs and a rotating carousel, they whispered amongst themselves about her progress, keeping an eye on the time as time ticked away.

Mather, a cake designer at the Edgewood Road Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids, was oblivious.

“I'm not nervous,” she says. “I feel like I should be, but I'm not.”

It could be because she had a scare the day before the competition.

Mather had used crushed green maraschino cherries as relish for her hot dog cake at the northwest regional competition, which took place in Cedar Rapids last month. Mather won first place at that contest, receiving a trip to the finals at Jordan Creek Town Center in Des Moines.

However, when she went to get the cherries Tuesday, she couldn't find them.

“I was told they're a seasonal item,” she said.

She panicked, just for a minute, before devising a backup plan: Crushed pineapple, which she dyed green.

“I actually think it looks better,” Mather said.

Mather was one of 18 Hy-Vee cake designers in Wednesday's competition. The annual contest, now in its eighth year, features the top three winners from six regional events.

“We have about 500 cake designers employed in our entire company,” said Tony Byington, Hy-Vee's assistant vice president of bakery operations. “These 18 are the best of the best.”

The designers had four hours to transform a half-sheet cake, a quarter-sheet cake, 24 cupcakes, a dozen cookies, and a tiered cake to fit their theme. As such, fondant became potato chips, a sheet cake a unicorn head and sugar cookies poker chips.

“This is just too fun,” said Janine Schwendinger of Rochester, Minn. “I absolutely love cake decorating. I can't believe they pay me to do this.”

Her enthusiasm was echoed by Jessica Foster at the work station to her left.

It was Foster's first year competing in the finals. A cake designer from Prairie Village, Kan., she said advancing to the Des Moines competition was all she wanted.

“It's the honor of being here, the experience – it's incredible,” Foster said.

Many of the designers know of each other from previous competitions or interactions on the Hy-Vee cake designer Facebook page. Wednesday's event allowed for many of them to finally meet face-to-face, which resulted in hugs, praise and the exchange of knowledge as everyone took pictures of each other's cakes.

“What better training is there then being surrounded by the best designers in the company?” Byington asked.

But that's just one aspect of the contest. The cake designer challenge also serves as an employee appreciation event for the designers, giving them the opportunity to showcase their skills at the highest level, while providing visual proof of their talent to potential customers.

“As customers walk through the bakery of any Hy-Vee store, they see the cupcakes and sheet cakes, but they don't realize what our designers are capable of,” Byington said. “This contest shows we can do the cakes you see on TV.”

First, second and third-place awards were given to three designers, as well as a Designer's Choice prize, which is voted on by contestants.

Katie O'Connor of Lincoln, Neb., was awarded first place for her “I Love Cake Decorating” theme. She will either choose between a $1,750 cash prize or a paid trip to Baltimore, Md., to visit Chef Duff Goldman of "Ace of Cakes."

Schwendinger won second place,  and a and a $750 cash prize, for her Enchanted Forest theme, while Rhoda Schultz of Mankato, Minn., was awarded third place – and $500 – for her harlequin theme. Schultz also won the Designer's Choice award, which came with an additional $500.

Each of the 18 designers also received a plaque and a $100 Hy-Vee card.