mbulelo smpofu
Sipepisiwe Moyo, moyosipepisiwe@gmail.com
THE Zimbabwe Cake Artist Awards is an esteemed annual event that celebrates and commends the remarkable talent and artistry of culinary professionals.
Now in its third year, the event aims to acknowledge and pay tribute to exceptional cake artists who elevate celebrations and spread joy throughout the country.
With their expert craftsmanship, these artists transform ordinary cakes into extraordinary masterpieces adorned with intricate designs and stunning sugar flowers.
The awards ceremony, hosted at a local hotel last weekend, provided an incredible opportunity for gifted individuals to showcase their work and receive well-deserved recognition for their craft.
Kathy Mwanza, the president of the Zim Cake Artist Foundation, emphasised how significant these awards are for inspiring and encouraging cake artists to continue to push the limits of their expertise.
“We realised that we have many cake makers in Zimbabwe who are not recognised, so we came up with these awards to appreciate them and show them that we recognise their talent. As a businessperson, I have received many business awards, but nothing really speaks to the cakes we make. That is the reason we came up with the Zim Cake Artist Awards.
“We had over 200 nominations, and it was the public who nominated their cake artists in their provinces. We had provincial and national awards. The nominees were nominated using a chart board, and the voting was also done through the chart board. We had 160 awards prepared for the nominees and close to 70 platinum winners.
“During the awards, we also had a live cake competition running where we held provincial and individual competitions. We have a lady called Lisa Upton who won the cake of the show as well as the wedding cake of the show.
“Harare won the provincial championship, although the Bulawayo province piece made by popular names like Cake Guru was also outstanding. We saw that Zimbabwe has talent through the varying cake designs we had during the competition and the work showcased by all the bakers who participated in this year’s awards,” said Mwanza.
Commenting on behalf of the provincial winners, Nelia Mabaya, known by her brand name Nelly’s Plate, said winning was a grace factor.
“For D’bung standing as Harare Province, winning was a grace factor, hence the use of our theme song, Mai Tanaka for the people — Nyasha dzenyu during the competition. Getting into the competition, we didn’t know who we were up against, and seeing the gurus in A-team didn’t stop or scare us. We worked as a team throughout and agreed we would put up our best fight and let God do the rest, and we eventually came out victorious,” said Nelly.
During the awards, there was a showcase of out-of-this-world cake designs which left many gushing at the creativity and talent. Cake designs came in all forms, such as hut designs, tree designs, three-legged pot designs, and many other designs beyond one’s imagination.
