The artists are incognito among us.

By day, they work away in offices, at desks and in classrooms.

In the evenings and on weekends, they slave away forming fondant and buttercream masterpieces for friends and family.

They are cake decorators.

Take Michelle Tarantino of Oakwood. Baking cakes is just something she does for fun, and one day she realized that she wanted to try fondant. So she took a class at Michael's craft store in Buford, learned a bit more about the art of cake decorating and before she knew it, her cakes were looking professional.

Tarantino was one of several amateur bakers gathered for a cake decorating contest last weekend as part of Art in the Square. Her creation was inspired by a candle adorned with a bumble bee, with three small layers decorated with fondant bees and honey-colored gel dripping from each layer.

"I do it for family and friends, on the side," she said. Some of her creations have gotten pretty involved.

"I've done a Gucci purse," she said. "I've done two wedding cakes."

Thinking of taking your cake decorating to the next level? Many of the cake artists had advice.

Look for information where you can get it

"The Internet is a great tool," said Tiffany Anglin of Gainesville, who created a park-themed cake for Saturday's competition. It was decorated with green grass, blue sky and fondant balloons.

Put a plan in action

Amanda Dunn of Gainesville created a whimsical fairy tale castle for the competition, and started out with a drawing of how the finished product should look.

Her four nieces — and their wishes for princess-themed cakes - were the inspiration.

"I went with this because I thought it showed more imagination," she said. "I thought it is something kooky for fall."

Don't just rely on cake

Dunn's castle had a secret weapon under the fondant: Rice Krispie treats.

The puffed rice dessert is a cake decorator's secret weapon, she said, allowing you to sculpt pieces without adding a lot of extra weight. Plus, they're still edible.

"It's light. It's a lot easier to form shapes, to sculpt," she said.

Fellow decorator Kelli O'Clare of Pendergrass agreed.

"That's something I heard about," she said of the Rice Krispie treat bear on the side of her cake. "Fondant is so heavy; you can't really do it in fondant."

Dunn's flowers were cut from gum paste, which she said is better for things that require definition, like little people, because it's a little stickier than fondant.

O'Clare's sister, Nicole O'Clare, said it is important to her to create a cake that is entirely edible. So, when she decided to construct a scarecrow holding a pumpkin, she used all the resources in her kitchen she could find.

The scarecrow's hat, for example, was made out of a waffle cone bowl. And its straw sticking out of its arms and legs was dry spaghetti.

"It's a big deal to me," she said. "I don't like to use anything that's not edible."

But sometimes, said cake contest judge Lois Stapp, you have to craft your cake out of whatever you can in order to get the desired effect.

Now an employee at The Party Shop in Gainesville, Stapp said she spent years in Tampa, Fla., making cakes out of all sorts of materials.

"I did an entire wedding cake out of icing and Styrofoam," she said. "It doesn't have to be cake, but when you're doing a contest, it has to be cake."

Have extra of everything

Many bakers recommended lowering your expectations for the first few tries. Often, the image in your head ends up a lot different once it's created in icing.

"You see it in your mind one way, and it doesn't execute out how you expect," said Morrell Johnson of Toccoa. Johnson, who just started culinary school, created a circus-themed cake for Saturday's competition.

She noted that her extra fondant helped pull her out of a pinch when her first design didn't work out. "I didn't refrigerate my cake," she said of her crucial mistake.

Practice makes perfect

Dunn, whose fairy tale cake won the decorating contest, said you can never get too much practice.

"And test on your family, because they will eat anything," she said.

When you're ready to kick your cakes up a notch, sign up for a cake decorating class like Tarantino did.

"That's the best way," said Braselton resident Monica Harvell, who created an elaborate fall scene complete with bales of hay and a pumpkin all out of cake and icing.

Stapp agreed.

"Take classes. There's always things that can be learned taking classes," she said. "Sometimes you need that help from an instructor to make it more perfect."