World-Renowned Cake Decorator to Sponsor Contest for Students

A world-renowned cake decorator will sponsor the first "CalJava Wedding Cake Contest" at Pennsylvania College of Technology on May 1.

Daniel Budiman, CEO of CalJava International the contest's sponsor and editor of Here Comes the Cake magazine, has earned fame for his unique wedding-cake designs. CalJava International, based in Northridge, Calif., distributes cake-decorating supplies to bakeries, caterers, distributors and cake- and candy-supply stores worldwide.

The contest, to be held in the Thompson Professional Development Center at Penn College, is open to students in a second-level cake-decorating course offered by the college?s School of Hospitality. Each three-tier cake will be decorated based on a wrapping-paper design chosen by the student. A package wrapped in the paper will accompany each display to demonstrate how well students followed their themes.

"After twice coming to Penn College as a guest chef, I saw a lot of potential students who have the talent, innovation and eagerness to learn," Budiman said. "Therefore, it made me want to support and provide better prospects to the students and the school. Penn College has one of the finest programs, where corporations could participate with some kind of competition to push and take the students to the next level. Our company has put together classes for store owners, cake decorators and cake enthusiasts; from there, we realized that many people in this industry still wanted to learn more. The art of making cakes is becoming a fine art itself. It has its own uniqueness."

Judging for the contest will take place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 1, with an awards ceremony scheduled at 1 p.m.

Among the judges for the event is Kim Morrison, owner of Cakes for Occasions in Spring Mills, whose cake designs have won the Sugar Arts Championship in Tulsa, Okla., for the past two years. The 2006 competition and her winning entry were recently featured on the Food Network's "Food Network Challenge" series.

Also judging the student entries will be Julie Bashore, master confectioner, who also has an award-winning background and owns House of Clarendon in Lancaster. Bashore has taught courses and demonstrated at expositions in England, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Zimbabwe and the United States.

"The grand champion will receive a free, hands-on class with the teacher of his/her choice at our school, a free round-trip ticket from Pennsylvania to California and accommodations, worth a minimum $2,000," Budiman said.

In addition to the grand-prize trip to CalJava International School of Cake Decorating and Sugar Craft, CalJava will sponsor the following prizes: first place: $500 and a trophy; second place: $250 and a trophy; third place: $100 and a trophy.

Photos of the winning cakes may also be published in Budiman's Here Comes the Cake magazine.

"We really appreciate the support that Mr. Budiman has given to our baking and pastry arts program to help make this event happen," said Frederick W. Becker, dean of hospitality at Penn College. "Our students are excited about the challenge presented by the competition."

The event will be open for public viewing from 2 to 7 p.m. on May 1 and again from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 2. Guests will be able to cast cash votes for their favorite cake for a People's Choice Award. Money raised through the People's Choice contest will be donated to the Williamsport YWCA's Liberty House, which provides rooms for homeless women and women with children, as well as assistance for them to become self-sufficient.

Also on display for the public will be cakes decorated by students in the college's introductory Cakes and Decorations course.

More information about CalJava International or Here Comes the Cake is available here.

For more information about the academic programs offered by the School of Hospitality at Penn College, call (570) 327-4505, send e-mail o r visit online.