Comics, cartoons come to life at San Diego Cake Show

Del Mar — From the Batmobile to the sculpted bust of Beetlejuice, these comic-themed cakes are confection perfection.

And they were popular among the hundreds of professional bakers and dedicated cake eaters at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, on hand Saturday for the first day of the San Diego Cake Show. It continues Sunday.

Until he walked through the doors, Spencer Casady had no idea this world of sculptured sugar existed. The Chula Vista 18-year-old was especially blown away with the roughly 2-foot-tall Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake that featured the foursome fighting foes around skyscrapers.

“This is really cool,” Casady said after snapping a photo of it. “I never knew people had this crazy imagination for cakes.”

He has good taste in elaborate cake. The Ninja Turtle piece was a replica of the cake that Encinitas resident Monika Stout and assistant Louise Pass whipped up during a Ninja Turtle-themed episode of “Cake Wars,” a competition show on the Food Network.

The show aired Jan. 2. They won.

The two women also run the San Diego Cake Show, which this year boasts a cartoon theme.

“Comic cake is just so typically San Diego,” Stout said. “And who doesn’t love cake?”

The event marks the 34th year of the show, which last year moved from the La Jolla Village Square shopping center to an exhibition hall at the fairgrounds. The change drew higher quality entries.

Stout said this year’s show — which also features demonstrations and classes — is 30 percent larger than last year, in terms of contest entries and vendors.

San Diego Cake Show

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Exhibit hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar.

Cost: $12 at the door

Info: sandiegocakeshow.com

The show is put on by the San Diego Cake Club, and all the proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego. Last year the event — dubbed “confections for a cause”— raised $10,000.

Pass said competitions such as this one encourage people to “really push the boundaries.”

“It’s amazing what people can do basically with sugar,” Pass said.

Among the dozens of cake-making contestants was Tiffany Peterson, who fell into it by chance when she got a job in the bakery of a Walmart seven years ago, and one day was asked to try her hand at decorating.

“It came naturally,” the Fullerton woman said.

It led her to pursue her associate’s degree in baking and pastry. Now a full-time pastry specialist at Susie Cakes, she’s entered about five contests in the last year. This is her second time at the San Diego show.

“It’s amazing to see all the talent,” Peterson said.

Recently retired nurse Joan Rettinger learned of the show through a weekend class for seniors at San Diego City College.

“The decorating is amazing. How much work they must have put into it — and the colors are so vivid,” she said of a Hagar the Horrible cake.

The 69-year-old came away so inspired she said she is “totally” going to join the San Diego Cake Club.

One big crowd favorite — takes the cake? — was the intricate Christmas-themed piece, with a design that included store windows filled with tiny toys.

“It’s clean, it’s perfect,” said Kathy Leyba. “Every single little animal, toy, gift box is perfectly made. So much detail.”

Leyba, a professional cake maker, drove up from Tijuana to get some ideas and inspiration as she explores a move into crafting 3-D sculpted cakes. She came away “very impressed.”

And oddly enough, even though the show features cake after cake after cake, folks who go shouldn’t worry about temptation to binge. Take it from a teenager.

“I don’t see it as actual cake — I see it as art,” Casady said. “When you look at it, your mind doesn’t see it as food, so you don’t get hungry.”

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT