The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA) has announced the three contestants chosen to participate in the 20th annual Cake Decorating Challenge to be held at Dairy-Deli-Bake Seminar & Expo in Atlanta, GA, June 7-9. There were 63 entrants from 22 supermarket chains.

The decorators receiving an all-expense paid trip to compete are:

Donna Barley, Publix Super Markets Inc., Cape Coral, FL. Donna, a 30-year decorating veteran, has a real passion for cake art. She loves being creative with a wide variety of icings and ingredients, but has also honed her skills in consistency and efficiency through working at a supermarket bakery.

Katherine Dean, Dorothy Lane Market Inc., Dayton, OH. Katherine has worked at Dorothy Lane Market for 11 years. She is a quick learner who explored a few different areas of the store, including management of the store’s Killer Brownie line, before finding her niche in the cake department two years ago.

Stephanie Dillon, Hy-Vee Inc., Lee’s Summit, MO. A life-long artist, Stephanie started in the bakery with an appetite to learn a new medium. Sixteen years later, she has a deep love for cake decorating. She feels that her customers can see her passion in her cakes which brings them back year after year for her custom creations.   

There are three phases to the challenge. On Sunday, June 7, each contestant will decorate enough cakes to fill one multi-tiered, eight-foot bakery case. On Monday, June 8, each contestant will decorate a wedding cake. On Tuesday, June 9, each contestant decorates three cakes, one from each category: special occasion, show theme, and decorator’s choice.

The judges for the event will be: Luke Bender, Manager of Technical Service, Maplehurst Bakeries, LLC, and Jim Caliendo, Dessert Training Specialist, Rich Products Corporation.