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Community Corner

Icing on the Cake Leads to National Prize

Cake decorator from the Des Peres Schnucks wins national decorating challenge, with inspiration from back home.

When third-generation baker Jodi Schweiss flew back to St. Louis after winning a major cake-decorating contest, she took her trophy straight to her mom.

“I said, ‘We did it!’ She cried. She was so happy,” Schweiss said.

The moment was bittersweet because Schweiss’ mom Mary Ann, who is 80 and dealing with Alzheimer’s, taught her everything she knows about cake decorating. Her father, Orville, taught her to always work hard, she said.

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"I couldn't wait to show them the trophy," she said. "I drove straight from the airport to their house in South County."

Schweiss and her parents had worked for decades at the same south St. Louis County bakery. Her grandparents also had been in the business.

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But Schweiss was let go from the bakery in 2009 after 30 years on the job. She was crushed.

“I had been there since age 16," she said. "I felt like part of the family.”

She soon landed on her feet when Schnucks offered her a position at their newly built Des Peres store. But winning the International Dairy, Deli and Bakery Association’s 16th annual Cake Decorating Challenge earlier this month helped her finally let go of the hurt.

“(Schnucks) just seemed like the perfect fit and now I know it was,” said Schweiss, 48, of Festus. “They urged me to do the competition and I won.

“It’s pretty cool because after what I’ve been through in the last 16 months, it kind of makes me feel better about myself,” she said.

It was the first time a Schnucks employee had entered the contest. Some 100 decorators from chain grocery stores across the country submitted more than 3,000 photos to the IDDBA; Schweiss and employees from Hy-Vee and Kroger were picked as semifinalists and flown out to Anaheim, CA, for the three-day hands-on competition.

“Everyone had faith in Jodi’s talents,” said Bill Mihu, vice president of bakery for Schnucks. “She truly does strive to provide our Des Peres bakery customers with a spectacular food experience every time they order a custom-decorated cake from her.”

During the competition, Schweiss had to decorate some 30 cakes and a couple of dozen cupcakes. Day 1 had each of the contestants racing to fill an 8-foot bakery case with round cakes, sheet cakes and cupcakes in five hours.

“It was 3,2,1 Go! Each one had to be unique, perfect and beautiful,” Schweiss said.

The second day was all about the multi-tiered wedding cake.

“It was just one wedding cake but it had to be perfect,” she said.

Schweiss had plenty of experience with wedding cakes, thanks to her previous job. She used fondant in tiffany blue and pearl white and hand made gum paste flowers, then sprayed on pearlized shimmer dust.

On the third day she knew she really had a chance to show off.

“I tried to use every technique and show how well rounded I was,” she said.

She created a rock-n-roll guitar out of gum paste to go with the theme of the contest, “Rock Star Food.” She also created a dragon-shaped cake.

She said she picked a dragon because to her it represented success and happiness. The message on the cake was directed to Schnucks: “Thank you for giving me the wings to fly.”

“That was a very symbolic cake for me,” she said.

Now Schweiss is feeling a bit like a rock star herself. She has been interviewed by reporters and featured on television. She got to keep the professionally produced photos of her work during the contest, as well as five boxes full of  the expensive decorators’ equipment she used in California.

But it’s all icing on the cake to her.

“The title – that’s all I needed,” she said.

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