Judges - Cake Fiesta Manila

Know more about our official

Judges & CFM Ambassadors

our judges

We bring you the TOP Cake Decorating Artists from around the world!

These cake idols are well respected around the world in their chosen field. We have invited the best of the best to judge the Cake Display Competition entries and they are all excited to see your amazing entries.

We have a number of Categories to choose from so make sure to register now, take the challenge and showcase your talent to the world!

THE BEST OF THE BEST

Meet our International Judges

United States

Liz Marek started her cake decorating career in 2007 as a simple hobby to take her mind off of her stressful graphic design career. She really enjoyed the creativity involved in creating custom cakes and the joy that it brought to her friends and family. She soon got requests from friends of friends and then strangers. Before she knew it, she had accidentally started a cake career.

In 2009, Liz opened Artisan Cake Company in Portland, Oregon. Because of her strong art background and talent for drawing/sculpting, she marketed herself as a cake artist and soon became known for her unique wedding cakes and creative sculpted cakes.

Liz enjoys teaching and sharing knowledge and became known on social media for her free tutorials. Soon she was asked to start teaching at cake shows and classes all over the world. Travel became a big part of her schedule and it became harder and harder to commit time to client orders.

Liz released her first cake decorating book, Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating in 2014 and was very successful. At the same time she decided to fully commit to teaching and closed her public bakery.

In 2015, Liz and her husband Dan officially opened her online school Sugar Geek Show where she continues to teach new techniques, push the boundaries of cake decorating and share her love of sugar art with the community. Liz continues to teach in-person classes as well and is so grateful for the opportunity to travel and meet new people and experience inspiring art and cultures all over the world.

United Kingdom

Multi award-winning Cake Artist, Rosie Dummer, AKA Rosie Cake Diva, is currently starring in Channel 4’s Extreme Cake Makers. She has been featured in numerous magazines and was the winner of the Cake Masters Wedding Cake of the Year Award in 2012.

She has since gone on to present the Cake Masters Magazine Awards at the star-studded event held at the NEC Birmingham for the past four years.

Now a regular on TV and Radio, Rosie presents on BBC Radio Lancashire, has presented her own TV show on The Craft Channel and works closely with the UK’s major trade shows including Cake International and The Cake and Bake Show.

United States

Karen Portaleo is a cake and chocolate artist living in Atlanta, GA.

Before jumping in to the culinary world, she created props and sets for advertising, with a client list that includes Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Target, Maybelline, and Nestle Chocolate. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art, and was represented by Ferrin Gallery, where she was able to show her clay work amongst her idols in the art world.

She grew up in bakeries in south Florida, where her grandfather was a pastry chef. Combining this history with her background in art has been a seamless although unexpected evolution.

She has appeared on Food Network’s Cake Challenge 4 times, Halloween Wars and Cake wars, winning all but one, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, as well as designing set pieces for “Sugar Dome” . She has also appeared on her own show, called “Caketastrophe” on Food Network. Her work can be seen in National Geographic’s “Strange But True”, Wild Art by Phaedon Press, as well as various publications and websites worldwide. Her client list includes Sir Elton John, Jane Fonda, Usher, Jane Lynch, T-Pain, Demi Moore, Andrew Young, Kasim Reed, Kate’s Club, AMC’s The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, P Valley, The Avengers Movie, Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Cartoon Network, Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, Turner Broadcasting, CNN, The Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, The Atlanta Opera, The Los Angeles Opera, Georgia Public Broadcasting, The Center for Puppetry Arts, The W Hotel, and Westin Hotels.

Karen spends much of her time teaching Cake Art internationally, and has taught in more than 23 countries, with new locations added every year. Teaching has become a passion, and she travels quite frequently to give classes, demonstrations, or to make appearances at events.

United Kingdom

Zoe is the creative force behind Zoe’s Fancy Cakes (UK). Zoe has a love of all things arty and likes to bring this out in her passion for decorating and teaching all things cake. Zoe’s journey into the world of cakes began by accident late 2013 when out of the blue she was asked to make a little cake topper, Zoe still doesn’t know why she was asked but she has never looked back since. Zoe is based in Leeds, England where she works from her Shop alongside the rest of her team (Richard, Ste and Jeanette).

Zoe’s passion is teaching and through her YouTube channel; Zoe’s Fancy Cakes she manages to break down the most complicated of cake designs into easy to follow step by step tutorials. Her videos are great for beginners, intermediates and professionals alike. As well as teaching online Zoe also travels the world showcasing her skills and passing on her knowledge through face to face classes.

Zoe has won several gold awards at Cake International and has been featured in a number of Cake publications around the world offering advice / hints and tips to readers.

Thailand

A cake designer since 2012, Opal Lippakorn was a make up artist in the fashion and beauty industry. Passionate and masterful at color manipulation and design, this designer from Bangkok uses his creations to communicate with his audience, sometimes convey a message too. A nationally acclaimed artist, he has done elaborate cakes for big events serving thousands of customers including top Thai celebrities. His participation in the Birmingham cake international for two consecutive years has attracted and amazed audiences across the globe.

Philippines

She started baking while in high school but only discovered her immense talent after she retreated from the corporate world. Bored from retirement, Penk started baking cakes for her friends, often giving it away as gifts. Word-of-mouth became her best form of marketing and soon after, she was among the most-sought cake makers.

Penk has been crafting masterpieces since 1986. And whether it was a wedding or a huge birthday party, a Penk Ching cake became a staple in A-list celebrations.

In the elite circles, the name Penk has become synonymous to grandeur and perfection. She’s been hired to do cakes for those in power, and for events that mark history.

Among her works was the breathtaking bird’s nest gum paste and fruitcake in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. After making it, the world took notice of the “Filipino” who intricately crafted such a hard project.

She also created President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s inaugural cake, lovingly crafted UST’s 400th anniversary cake, and made a detailed Cirque de Soleil cake.

Among her celebrity clientele includes Sharon Cuneta; Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez, Ryan Agoncillo and Judy Ann Santos, and Dato and Kakai Arroyo.

Penk Ching is also one of the Founders of Cake Fiesta Manila.

South Africa

ot Klerck is an International multi award winning cake artist, she honed her skills in art school, but taught herself the basics (and more!) of cake decoration. She lives in Wellington in the wine region of the Cape, South Africa and is married to Tobie, together they have 4 children. Each year Dot is invited to teach at International Sugar Shows and Sugar Schools all around the world. She has traveled to more than 30 different countries teaching her unique skills in sculpture and design and continues to create her sugar sculptures in between teaching.

United States