For Holley Berry, winning a cake competition became a way to commemorate her late father.
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It isn’t easy to place first out of 180 sugar displays from across the Southwest United States.
But Holley Berry, administrative assistant for the Office of University Communications, did just that with her 200-pound cake at the Santa Fe Bridal Expo April 11-14, a qualifier competition for the National Sugar Art Show.
Holley, along with her two sisters, assisted her mother working 15 hours a day for four days to prepare the cake, which was primarily covered in fondant, melted chocolate and sugar flowers. The theme of this year’s competition was “cakes from around the world,” and Holley and her team crafted a cake to represent Ireland, in honor of her father, Gary McGiven, who passed away last August.
“To be able to represent Ireland was a big thing for us and a tribute to my dad,” Berry says. “My great grandfather immigrated during the potato famine, and we have a pretty rich Irish family background.”
Berry’s mother, Sue, trained as a chef in France before marrying and starting a family. From the time she was a young teen, Berry helped her mother with her catering business and worked at her parent’s bed and breakfast, picking up culinary skills along the way.
“I’ve been baking and working with her since I was little,” Berry says. “I waited tables at their events from when I was 10 or 11 years old.” Today, Berry has a small catering operation of her own, making primarily wedding cakes.
Berry’s mother and her team had participated in the competition four times before, placing sixth and seventh — but never first. For taking home the grand prize, they’ve been invited to attend the National Sugar Art show, sponsored by the Food Network, July 13-16 in Las Vegas.
“We knew we had a shot at winning because we’ve done fairly well before,” Berry says. “But we didn’t know we would actually win. It was more about just being able to spend time with my mom and sisters and do something that represented my dad. The fact that it did win was sort of magical.”
By Natalie Allison ’13