Pauline's victory at the Ekka
WHEN it comes to decorating cakes there is none better than Pauline Herrmann.
And she's got the awards to prove it.
Ms Herrmann has won the dual awards of champion of the open section for cake decorating and most successful exhibitor in the open section at the Ekka.
The cake decorator extraordinaire had a sensational Ekka with her eight entries hauling in three first placings, two seconds and three thirds.
The Churchill resident said her hobby of cake decorating had turned into "more of an obsession".
"It all started when my girls got married about 17 years ago," she said.
"I did make my first daughter a very large cake because my mother had made a very large one for me. Mine was nine tiers and my daughter had 10. I do it as a hobby now."
Tiered cakes are complex affairs with measurements the key.
"It has got to be mathematically correct to go up in tiers," she said.
"Incredibly it took 400 hours to do the 10-tiers."
Looking around a selection of cakes in her 'cake room', Ms Herrmann said they all took "many, many hours".
When the QT visited Ms Herrmann we could tell straight away that she was a passionate cake cook. The smell of two no doubt delicious chocolate cakes in the oven was ample proof of that.
Dozens of awards and ribbons adorn the walls in Ms Herrmann's home and she has a track record of winning the majors at the Ekka. This year's effort was the sixth time she has won the open champion.
This year's winning entry was a two-tiered traditional wedding cake.
"It has lots of lace and lots of fine extension work, with yellow magnolias and red winterberries," she said." I just love doing it."
