The Blanton Announces Bake-Off Winners

The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin has announced the winners of its annual Bake-Off.

Earlier this year the museum opened a call for submissions for its fifth annual culinary competition. As in previous years, participants were invited to draw inspiration from the Blanton’s permanent collection. Submissions were accepted in three categories: Under 18 (for young bakers), Adult Amateur, and Adult Professional (people who make baked goods and pastries for a living).

Beginning on May 17, World Baking Day, the public voted online for the best entries in each category. Winners were announced via social media; they are: Tiffanie Huang, Karen Saenz, and Mitzi Avila.

In the Under 18 category, Tiffanie Huang’s layer cake inspired by Lygia Clark’s Planes on Modulated Surface (study) was selected as the winner. When sliced, the chocolate peppermint cake layered with vanilla sponge cake reveals the same composition as Ms. Clark’s study. On CBS Austin, Maggie Fucile, a museum educator at the Blanton, noted, “I love seeing that Tiffanie pulled from the Clark piece; our Latin American collection is well-known at the Blanton and it’s very cool to see a young baker pulling from such an important artist.”

Karen Saenz’s three-layer carrot cake with a food color-painted fondant won the Adult Amateur category. Ms. Saenz drew inspiration from Peter Paul Rubens’ Head of a Young Man, a study that is currently on view at the Blanton. In the Adult Professional category, Mitzi Avila won with her blueberry daisy cake roll with cream cheese and a perforated white chocolate sculpture. This is the second time in a row Ms. Avila has won the competition. Her creation this year was inspired by outdoor elements at the Blanton, including Kay Rosen’s HI mural and “Petals,” the outdoor canopies, which serve as sunshades and rain collectors, by Snøhetta.

Learn more about the Blanton’s annual event via its website.