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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Cake competition so thick you can taste it

Ron Ben-Israel, Sylvia Weinstock and Colette Peters – any of these individuals sound familiar to you? For Michelle Quier and Melissa Miller, their answer would definitely be yes. Ben-Israel, Weinstock and Peters are the 'who's who' in the cake, baking and wedding world.

Quier has owned Granny Schmidt's Custom Cakes and Bakery in Whitehall since September of 2006. Miller has been its executive pastry chef for three years.

Luckily for these two women, they will meet all three famous pastry chefs on April 7, at the "Let Them Eat Cake" 2014 competition at the DoubleTree Hotel in Center City Philadelphia.

Each year there is a different theme for the contestants to incorporate in their edible works of art. This year's theme is "Fantasy Weddings." But Quier and Miller have no plans to reveal the look of the cake the bakery will create until the day of the event.

"I've met all three of them [pastry chefs] already, but to have all three of them judge at the same time is special because this is the 10-year anniversary. So it's kind of a big deal," Quier said.

At last year's event, there were 40 or more bakeries taking part in the event and over 700 brides in attendance.

"It's quite the event," Quier added.

Granny Schmidt's has been participating in the competition for six years and has won a previous year in the category of best in theme.

One amazing part of this event is its charity benefit. The money from registrations from each bakery and tickets purchased to attend the event are donated to City of Hope, a charity organization which helps children fighting cancer.

After the event is over, the samples and small cakes are then donated to a children's hospital in Philadelphia.

"It's nice to win contests, sure it really is, but for me it's about the charity," Quier told The Press. "And it's like I said to someone yesterday – you don't have to win contests to be the best at something. That's just my own personal view.

"My biggest reward, and I think Melissa is the same way, is when people walk through the door and tell us how great our stuff is. That, to me, speaks volumes."

Putting together the display cake can take much time and effort.

"You're looking at anywhere from 25 to 30 hours combined," Miller said. "And that's just for the cake. That doesn't include the baking and prepping of the samples."

Miller will be the only pastry chef working on the Granny Schmidt items for the event, compared to other businesses that have multiple employees prepping and baking.

"That's what some people don't realize," Miller said. "With a lot of these TV shows, there's five-plus people working on a cake at any given time. Some people say, 'Oh, they got that cake done in a 30-minute TV show,' but that TV show was taped over five days."

Awards will be presented for best in show, most artistic, best tasting, best in theme and people's choice winners.

Both Quier and Miller are excited for the competition in April.

"I definitely go into this very humble," Miller said. "I never go into this competition thinking, 'I have it in the bag.'

"Like [Quier] said, this is for the kids. It has nothing to do with me. At the end of the day, that's what matters."