641.3513 (Carrots)

So the post isn't really about carrots, but carrot cake (with cream cheese frosting, of course). I'm sorry about the bad photography that follows - it was night and I was using my phone camera.

The above photos are of my first attempt at a sheet-style cake (12x18), which I made for a retirement party at my husband's workplace. He didn't have a design in mind, nor did his supervisor (who requested the cake), so they got something simple with a little bit of "whimsy". Anything 'white' on the cake is cream cheese frosting; anything colored is a simple buttercream - I wasn't sure how well cream cheese frosting would pipe or hold up.

Next time, I'll make more batter for a taller cake or stack two on top of each other. This time? It is what it is.

421.1 (Alphabets -- English language)

Edible book festival time has come and gone and there were some really fantastic entries this year, and quite a few more than last year, too. My entry this year was based on Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Billy Martin Jr., John Archambult and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. I thought my entry looked pretty stunning when I put it together in the morning...

But the room was SUPER warm (a warm spring days plus a still running heating system 'cuz we don't turn those off until summer in Wisconsin) and everything started melting. By the time the photographers and social media people for the library got there, it looked something more like this...

Photo from the Library News coverage of the event

See the not so hot top? The leaves kept falling out because the cake and frosting were too warm to hold them. One of my fellow librarians texted me each time a leaf fell and I did some emergency surgery a FEW times throughout the course of the day. I was bummed, I tell you! Thankfully, it didn't stop me from being one of the winners for Best Visual Presentation. The judges understood that cake disasters happen.

More coverage of the event and photos of ALL the entries can be found at the UW-Madison Libraries News & Events website. My personal favorite? The entry based on The Book Theif done by a co-worker at the library. I did quite a bit of giggling.

The head of my department at the library forced the winners to have their pictures taken with their entries before they were destroyed (mine fed the "boys" at my husband's weekly guy night and other parts ended up in the trash). So here I am smiling with my entry to end the post. Not to shabby if I do say so myself. Next year? I'm feeling a little Seuss-y. You'll just have to wait and see!

523.8 (Stars)

Last class of the Wilton III course is covering a cake with fondant and decorating it. Here's mine!

Fondant balls and star cutouts

I went with a simple yellow base with purple and white fondant cutouts and rolled balls. The technique is fairly simple - cover the cake with buttercream (enough to have a fairly smooth surface), roll enough 1/8" fondant to completely cover the cake plus an inch or two on each side. I played with the pearl powder to make the cake very shiny. You can see the effects of pearl power in the photo below.

Fondant ball border with pearl powder

Gum paste glue holds the stars on the cake and the balls on the base. It's a fantastic technique, but I HATE the taste of fondant. Blech. I'd prefer buttercream alone anyday.

641.86539071 (Cake Decoration, Education)

I started the Wilton III course this Friday. While most of class was pretty boring (rehashing gum paste and fondant use and doing a LOT of prep work for gum paste flowers), I did learn one useful skill that I immediately put to use: bow making.

50/50 Fondant and Gum Paste Bow on Buttercream Ruffle Cake

This was also my first attempt at the ruffle technique for frosting a cake and I have to say that I'm pretty happy. Much like the rosette technique though, it takes about 1-1/2 recipes of butter cream to complete it. This cake is HEAVY. The bow I made isn't the typical bow for a Wilton class, either. It's thinner, one less layer of loops, and is wavy edged. I hated the bow I made in class, so I decided that I'd try again to make something I liked. I'm happy with this one.

793.2 (Parties and entertainments)

I just hosted a bridal shower for my best friend and her future hubby, and with the help of my mother and the bride and groom's mothers, we turned a basement room of a local art museum into a cheery, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" themed shower space.

 I bought vases, beads, and tiny square mirrors at our local Dollar Tree to create 10 small centerpieces to decorate the tables using dyed daisies, carnations, and baby's breath.

I purchased "high quality" plastic silver ware and plates from Party City. I then baked and decorated sugar cookies, which I packaged in paper CD sleeves and tied with black and white bakers twine. Silver chargers (left over my my own wedding almost 3 years ago) were used to complete the place settings.

When we arrived at the museum, my moms (my actual mother and my "other mother", the bride's mother) discovered that the tables weren't the size we thought they were - we were expecting tables that sat 8 and these tables sat 6. We had to go out and buy some tablecloths last minute... and since Manitowoc (where we hosted the shower) doesn't have a Party City, we couldn't match the Tiffany's blue of the other tablecloths I purchased). It wasn't as pretty as I would have liked, but it worked.

And of course I made a cake and cupcakes for the party! How could I not!?! The cupcake tower is made out of aluminum covered soup cans and foam core board covered with craft paper and ribbon. It was cheap and easy and could hold almost 40 cupcakes.

The small orange and white cake had a blue ombre interior, which I didn't get a picture of before the cake was eaten and destroyed, and the cupcakes were chocolate with simple vanilla buttercream. I had a mixture of paper and foil liners on the cupcakes, as I was using the leftovers from other projects.

I made three floral "puffs" that I placed on chargers and mirrors at the center of the buffet table. They're a little hard to see in this photo (it's white against a white background) but they were very effective at making the buffet table look pretty. My black and white damask tablecloth that I usually use for summer picnics came in handy to cover the extra long buffet table.

All in all, it was a successful shower with delicious food and good company! One less activity to cross off my list before the wedding in June... now if only the table runners and bridesmaid clutches would sew themselves...

741.642 (Children's Books)

UW-Madison hosts an annual Edible Book Festival where groups or individuals make representations of books out of edible materials. A few of my colleagues at Memorial were directly responsible for putting the festival together and I decided that I should probably create an entry for the festival.

I had a tricky time choosing a book to work with - I was torn between two different books - but my students at the elementary schools where I work and my fellow SLIS grads helped me decide to go with my favorite picture book of all time: "We Are In a Book!" by Mo Willems.

I decided to go a little punny with my cake and change the phrase "We Are In a Book" that is shouted by Elephant and Piggie to "We Are On a Cake" and my little punny turn-o'-phrase ended up winning me a prize! I won the "Funniest/Punniest Cake" award and took 2nd place in the People's Choice vote!

My cake also became famous, getting coverage on Eating in Madison A to Z and I was quoted in a UW Library News & Events article written by a fellow SLISer! Oooh, and a Flickr set of all the entries! Without further ado, the cake!

641.568 (Cooking for special occasions)

A SUPER special occasion just happened - and that would be my husband's 30th birthday! My parents stopped down to celebrate with us and in order to better celebrate his birthday, I baked a cake and decorated it with my FAVORITE, SUPER SIMPLE type of decoration - the rosette!

6" layer cake (white) with buttercream icing

Having seen the technique a thousand and a half times on Pinterest, I decided it was time to try the all rosette cake cover for myself.

Ombre technique inside and out the cake

To stack, frost, and completely cover the 6" cake in rosettes took about 10-15 minutes and produces a BEAUTIFUL cake. I used the ombre technique in green (since it's my husband's favorite color) to make the inside just as pretty as the out. There's a thin layer of buttercream between each of the cake layers as well.

Green ombre using buttercream

I am completely in love with this cake technique and will DEFINITELY be using it again in the future!