Takes the Cake

SWEET SATURDAY: We had a whirlwind day here at MPA on Saturday. Everyone was up early to ready for a full docket. First and foremost on the 'to do' list was loading the car with a couple of huge, heavy cakes and all sorts of decorations.

We left home about 9:30, destination Shoreline/Lake Forest Park. It usually a half hour drive from our place, but as bad luck would have it, a semi-driver fell asleep and rolled his truck on Interstate 5, just north or our place. The wreck managed to close multiple lanes of both north and south bound on the freeway. That slowed us down CONSIDERABLY.

Fortunately, we still made it to the cake show on time. After taking mega back roads and work-arounds there, the kids got their cakes on the table post haste and started adding their decorations. They had trees to build, bushes to 'plant,' a stage backdrop to erect, speakers to stack, a band to put on the stage, and Horton to place in a field of clover.

They'd been working on the elements for days ahead of time, building tree trunks from gum paste, tree tops from gum paste mixed with fondant, bushes of a gumpaste blend, building the speakers out of Rice Krispies treats covered in fondant and decorative details. 

Annabelle can tell you a bit more about the event. ...

This year for the annual Edible Book Festival in Shoreline, my brother and I spent days working on a cake to present. The theme of the event is book puns, and the one we had selected was "Horton Hears the Who!", as opposed to the original "Horton Hears a Who!" We sculpted the titular Horton and rock band The Who out of modelling chocolate and fondant, placing them on banana peanut and chocolate toffee cakes respectively. We sculpted and decorated cartoonish trees, speakers, and even a drum kit to decorate the empty spaces on the cakes.

Once we finally got to the event, we set up everything in a corner spot on one of the tables so everyone attending could view from multiple angles. My brother and I stood nearby the cake to answer any questions, and we got many compliments on our hard work. The most common questions were what the figures were made of and how much time it took. By the end of the judging, CJ and I were called up on stage to receive our rewards from the youth category - "Most PUNderful" and "People's Choice."

The Edible Book Festival is held at Lake Forest Park Town Center Commons yearly, and more information can be found on their info page at http://www.shorelinearts.net/edible-book-festival/.

A few more photos from the event ...  

The little pink 'clover' in the photo below are actually cute little Japanese cookies. We found them at a local grocer, Uwajimaya. Annabelle used her food grade airbrush to turn them pink.

Horton was sculpted out of modeling "chocolate" (candy melts and Karo syrup, home made). He had to then be covered in fondant (also home made), because you can't really paint modeling chocolate very well because it's oily/has a high fat content.  I think he's so cute. :) She did a great job.

And then there was the band. They are meant to be cartoony versions of the guys, in keeping with the simple illustrated style of "Horton Hears a Who!" But still, she wanted to capture the individuals' personalities.

Roger Daltry is front and center, arms outstretched and eyes closed, as he often does.

 Stage left is Pete Townsend, of the windmill guitar playing and notable nose. :)

John Enwhistle is up against a Marshall stack playing bass, and Keith Moon had to settle for a small drum kit, cause that's all the cake would allow. 

CJ has this to say about the experience. ... 

On April 6, 2019, I brought a cake (technically two cakes, but more on that later) to the Shoreline Arts Council's Edible Book Festival, held at the Lake Forest Park Town Center Commons in Shoreline, WA. Participants in the Edible Book Festival had to bake and decorate cakes, with the cakes themed around books. The cakes were either submitted to the Youth Category, or the Adult Category, depending on the age of the bakers.

For this year, my family decided to make a cake titled "Horton Hears The Who." Perhaps needless to say, "Horton Hears The Who" is a pun based on the Dr. Seuss book "Horton Hears a Who," as well as the famous British rock band The Who. The cake, technically split into two cakes (one for the field that Horton sat in, the other for The Who's stage,) was submitted to the Youth Category.
At the event, the judges took a look at every cake, and took photographs. Visitors were given ballots to vote for Youth and Adult cakes in those categories' respective "People's Choice Award." After some judging and voting took place, Horton Hears The Who was awarded the "Most Punderful Award" in the Youth Category, as well as the People's Choice Award in the Youth Category.

Right after the awards ceremony, we had to rip off to Annabelle's ultimate (Frisbee) game. Fortunately, G&G from Mukilteo were able to swoop in and serve up the cake to the crowd. (The cake eating is a much-anticipated part of the event.

I'm here to tell you, the banana bread cake with salty/crunchy peanut butter filling is delicious (and I don't even like cake).  

Overall, the entries this year were a cut above last year's event. Some really stellar work on display!

Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next year!