January 2016 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Cake Design

I'm pretty sure that this month's Daring Bakers' challenge was created with me in mind. We were challenged to decorate a cake or cupcakes with fondant or gum paste. When I read the challenge brief, I'm pretty sure I smiled from ear to ear and did a little happy dance. Talk about something being right up your alley!! I was so excited about the challenge that I had a hard time falling asleep that night because cake ideas and visions were zooming around in my brain. 

Eventually, after considering many designs (including a beach scene, a person soaking in a bubble-filled bathtub, a Lego-theme, and a baking theme), I opted to try a book cake: A William Shakespeare anthology, to be exact. (Yes, I really am THAT big of a literature geek!)

Once again, my artistic director (aka Eric) was a huge help and gets a lot of credit for how this cake turned out. His engineer skills were incredibly beneficial when it came to figuring out how to approach the cake (linear thinking at its best!!) and when it was time to rough out the templates for cutting the cake and bookmark.

My two favorite Shakespearean plays are "Taming of the Shrew" and "Much Ado About Nothing", so we showcased both plays by having the finale of "Shrew" on the left-hand page and he beginning of "Much Ado" on the right page.

This cake makes me smile so very much. It represents my love of literature and how some of my loved ones had a hand in creating it. Can't beat that!!!

Eric putting his knife and sculpting skills to work

Conor helping me smooth the fondant

A book you can REALLY sink your teeth into

Much Ado About Nothing page