Cake specialists to judge The Wedding Expo Cake Challenge

"Partnering with sponsors Clover and Sasko Flour, has provided the competition with judges who are all specialists in their field. The cakes will be submitted to a blind judging by the panel of judges which includes Prof Elain Vlok from Clover, Richard Kreuzhuber from Sasko Flour, Franco Lambaise, the SA Cake Decorating Guild, Jenny Kay, editor of the Angela Day column in The Star and Nicole Allen, editor for Wedding Inspirations magazine and trends commentator for The Wedding Group™," says Amanda Cunningham, managing director of The Wedding Expo®.

The competition, which is open to all cake makers, will require that entrants submit a dummy wedding cake and piece of real cake for tasting, together with a comprehensive description their cake and the motivation for their design.

Competition Entry Form

Terms and Conditions


Introducing the Judges

Professor Elain Vlok, Clover SA
Prof Elain was a member of the SA Sugar Guild for many years, being taught how to decorate cakes by Gladiola Botha who started the SA Sugar Guild in SA. Prof fondly remembers how Gladiola always said Prof baked the best fruit cake. She studied Domestic Science and has published more than 15 recipe books. She is presently a member of the South African Icing Guild and PRISA.

Prof Elain lectured at Potchefstroom University for 14 years, spent five years at Trust Bank as Advertising Manager and has been with Clover for the past 21 years. Initially appointed as Advertising Manager, she currently holds the position of Manager: Corporate Services and Clover Mama Afrika Trust.

For many years she was a member of the RAU Development Committee, the Advertising Standards Authority and the Society of Marketers, where she received a Millennium Merit Certificate for 15 years of exceptional service to the Society.

Richard Kreuzhuber, Technical Representative, Sasko Flour
Richard Kreuzhuber is currently a Technical Representative, based at Krugersdorp Mill, one of only a few highly skilled technical bakery advisors in the country.

He trained in Austria as a Confectioner in subjects such as cake decorating, novelty cakes, wedding cakes, praline making and sugar working etc. He went onto work in various upmarket confectionaries in and around Austria. After a short stint on a passenger liner as Chief de Patissery, Richard came to South Africa and worked as Chief de Patissery in two top hotels.

Richard has for the last 20 years worked as technical product specialist for Sasko, involving training of aspirant bakers/confectioners, product development, assisting bakeries/confectionaries in various aspects such as cake decorating techniques, new ideas, new and or improvement of various products, acts as an advisor, demonstrator and trainer to confectionaries and assists regularly with various confectionaries to improve and develop product range.

Franco, The South African Cake Decorators Guild (SACDG)
Franco started cake decorating as a hobby 20 odd years ago and became very involved with The South African Cake Decorators Guild (SACDG). He has completed the SACDG internal exams for teaching and demonstrating and has performed demonstrations on different techniques both locally, in Zimbabwe and the UK. Franco is now a qualified SACDG judge, able to judge cakes and cake decorating.

In 1993, Franco started The Cakeman fulfilling orders for birthday cakes, special occasion cakes and wedding cakes. He has provided cakes for celebrities, statesmen and royalty. His cakes have travelled near and far accompanied by Franco on planes, trains and in cars.

Franco is a great cook, loves entertaining and is a collector of cook books, old and new.

Jenny Kay, Angela Day, The Star Newspaper
Jenny has been the food editor of The Star's Angela Day column for five years, producing a bi-weekly recipe column appearing in the Verve section of The Star Newspaper. Jenny also produces a recipe column which appears in The Saturday Star.

Before that Jenny ran the Angela Day Cookery School where she taught cooking and did demonstrations where she showed her love of baking and sharing her knowledge with the readers who attend the classes and demonstration.

Nicole Allen, Wedding Inspirations magazine
Nicole Allen is the editor of Wedding Inspirations, one of SA's leading bridal magazines and Trend Specialist for The Wedding Group™. A journalist for 16 years (and a confectionery fan for far longer!), she has spent the past two years engrossed in the wedding industry, her eyes keenly focused on local talent and international wedding trends.

Prior to this, Nicole worked as the managing editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine, and so has an understanding of what makes a dish - or in this case, a cake - memorable, from technical skill and texture to taste and of course presentation.

Wedding Inspirations regularly features fresh cake and confectionery ideas, which ensures that Nicole is up to date with the latest styles, flavour combinations and themes. It's no wonder then that she is often asked to comment on wedding trends and provide advice for couples on all aspects of wedding planning. Nicole is delighted to once again be part of The Wedding Expo® Cake Challenge judging team.

The Wedding Expo®, is the must attend bridal event for any bride to be planning a dream wedding. Dresses, shoes, accessories, music, invitations, table decor, flowers, photographers, cakes, honeymoons, The Wedding Expo® has it all!

The who's who of the wedding industry will showcase everything a bride could ever dream of wanting to find for her special day and more! Brides-to-be will be able to plan their day down to the finest of details at The Wedding Expo®.


Date: 6 and 7 April 2013
Venue: Coca-Cola dome, Northgate
Time: 09h00 to 17h00
Cost: R100 per person at the door or online at www.wedding-expo.co.za