Calvin and Hobbes top Tammy Jo Gleckler’s award-winning cake, What Will You Do With Your Imagination?
Imagine this: You walk into the Tennessee Terrace concourse at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville greeted by long tables filled with children’s books and colorful, creative companion cakes! And then you know: Reading really is in a sweet spot!
Cassie Pruitt’s cake Reading Is Fundamental: 2nd Place for All-Occasion Fondant, Intermediate Division
It’s all part of a major fundraiser for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that provides new books to children under the age of six in Knox County, Tennessee. And with over 3,000 people in attendance, the net estimate of $25,000 by Mary Pom Claiborne (marketing director for Knox County Public Library) may be low since cakes, donated baked goods, and t-shirts were on sale, too. (Click here: News-Sentinel: Cake Bake a sweet event to benefit Imagination Library.)
Detail from Skyla Shealy’s cake Ladybug which took 2nd Place in All-Occasion Fondant, Junior Division
The main goal, of course, is to encourage reading at a young age, and, judging from the kids and grown-ups we saw, children (of all ages) were eager to dig into books as well as cupcakes, cookies, and cakes.
Year Shah’s Dr. Seuss: 3rd Place in All-Occasion Fondant, Beginner Division
We were also anxious to see what this year’s competition would bring since our blog post Books and Buttercream at The Great Cake Bake (Click here) nabbed the highest views of any post in 2013. And, this year, we were definitely not disappointed. In fact, if you had followed us around, you would have heard How’d they do that? multiple times since the mysteries of fondant, frosting, and flourishes escape us. Here are our favorites, but who’s to say, right? Thank goodness we weren’t asked to judge.
Haley McManigal’s train loaded with books took 2nd Place in the All-Occasion Fondant category, Professional Division
Wedding Cakes
Ranging from average size to toweringly tall, wedding cakes were judged in two categories: buttercream and fondant.
Chocolate on Amaretto Wedding Cake by Melissa Pendleton
Tammy Owenby, 1st Place Wedding Cake
Close-up, Tammy Owenby’s Wedding Cake
Fleur de lis base supports the tallest entry in the Wedding Cake category
All-Occasion Cakes
Cakes could be submitted in four categories: Professional, Intermediate, Beginner, and Junior.
Detailed storybook characters populate the entry “Dr. Seuss” by Maria Pannala
Sarah Hicks’ entry The Hobbit took First Place in the Junior division.
Robin Middlebrook’s floral creation came in 1st in the Junior Division of All-Occasion Buttercream
Stacey Kolopus’s detail on her steam-punk themed cake merited 1st Place in the Beginner division of Fondant All-Occasion cakes.
We loved the characters on this Wonka cake by Whitney Roberson who was awarded 3rd Place in the Beginner Division for All-Occasion Fondant.
With so many people voting for Tammy Jo Geckler’s Calvin & Hobbes cake, we knew it would win, and it did: 1st Place, Intermediate Division, All-Occasion – Fondant.
Close-up of melting snowmen on Tammy Jo Geckler’s cake, What Will You Do With Your Imagination?
A dark background contrasts nicely with the figures on Julia Hammer’s entry “Granny’s Dragon”
Another popular cake was this UT Cornhole look-alike by Kathy Macourek!
Cupcakes
The tiniest creations in the show were submitted in the Cupcake category with these divisions: Cake Pops, Intermediate, Beginner, and Junior
Hannah Southall’s entry entitled “Starbucks”
Winning 1st Place in the Junior Division was Rachel Hicks’ elephant cupcake
Donovan Scott created an almost look-alike llama to win 2nd Place, Junior Division for Cupcakes
Donovan Scott, proud winner of 2nd Place, Junior Division for his Llama Llama Red Pajama cupcake!
Debra Correa’s Catching Fire cupcake won 3rd Place, Intermediate Division
Diaper Cakes
A new category this year, Diaper Cakes, first involved supporters who donated $150.00 so that volunteers could create “cakes” out of diapers. Yes, diapers. After being carefully rolled and stacked to form “layer cakes,” diaper cakes were decorated based upon the theme of a beloved children’s book.
Little Owl’s Night
Zinnia’s Flower Garden
Good Night, Gorilla
Ladybug Girl and Bingo
All of Baby Nose to Toes
T-shirts were everywhere — on volunteers, Cake Bake attendees, etc. Parker Foppiano manned the table full of t-shirts (royal purple this year!) emblazoned with the Great Cake Bake logo.
Great t-shirts for a Great Cake Bake!
And baked goods were on sale for grown-ups who couldn’t pass up a bargain at the end of the day. Like husband Bert who toted home cookies, oatmeal bread and a carrot cake at the insistence of long-time supporter of Friends of the Library, Bonnie Naugher.
Bert was easily persuaded by volunteer Bonnie Naugher to take home the goods at the end of the day!
Thanks to sponsors Sugarbakers and Food City and the many volunteers and Friends of the Library, the fifth annual Great Cake Bake is history — and a profitable one for a good cause, too.
Melissa Pendleton’s Green Eggs and Ham
If you missed this year’s Cake Bake, make a note for next year. After all, who doesn’t like to have their cake and reading, too?
Close-up from Cassie Pruitt’s Reading Is Fundamental
For more information and pictures:
Check out my Pinterest Board: Fancy Cakes for pictures from The Great Cake Bake as well as other creative cakes I’ve found on the Web: http://www.pinterest.com/rushasams/fancy-cakes/
For the News-Sentinel article by Mike Blackerby “Cake Bake a sweet event to benefit Imagination Library,” click here.
For more on Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, click here.
For more on Friends of the Knox County Library, click here.
Bronwyn Joy @ Journeys Of The Fabulist
Wow! Those are some pretty detailed cakes! The Calvin and Hobbes one is definitely deserving.
Rusha Sams
Thanks for taking a look. I loved the cakes, too! And I really didn’t have a favorite this time — many good features on several of the cakes. You’ve mentioned one of them!
Su Leslie
These are just wonderful – and I’m with the majority on the Calvin and Hobbes cake. My favourite too. 🙂
Rusha Sams
So glad you commented on the Calvin and Hobbes cake — one of my favorites. But so many cakes, so little time!! I loved a lot of them. Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
Su Leslie
Thanks Rusha. I was thinking about your post the other day when I baked a cake for my partner’s birthday. It tasted pretty good (banana cake with salted caramel frosting and walnut praline), but looked pretty lame – especially alongside those wonderful, whimsical masterpieces you photographed. 🙂
Rusha Sams
I only wish I could roll a flat square of fondant out on a table just so I could say I did! I don’t make fancy cakes, but really love looking at them. So much creativity. But now that you mention it, I think I’d rather eat a banana cake with salted caramel frosting!!! Happy baking!
Su Leslie
I know what you mean; I’ve only once managed to ice a Christmas cake with marzipan and fondant in such a way that it didn’t look like I’d dropped it in gravel first. And according to my boys, the banana cake was pretty good (though my son pointed out that those from the cafe it was modelled on are waaay better). Hope you have a great weekend. 🙂
Piggletino
They look so good that I wouldn’t bear to see them eaten! Guess if Piggletino had seen these, he would’ve taken so many photos!
Rusha Sams
I’ve never even eaten a cake adorned with fondant, but I’d like to try! It was a great event, and I’m glad you stopped by to take a look!
annetbell
What fun . . . .and those yummy cakes.. . . .
Rusha Sams
It was a fun event — lots of great children’s books featured with all those yummy cakes! I wanted something sweet to eat at the end!
Mayra Rivera
I enjoyed looking through all your images of the event. So many wonderful entries! I have pinned to our Great Cake Bake board on pinterest! http://www.pinterest.com/greatcakebake/great-cake-bake/
Rusha Sams
Thanks so much for looking through the pictures and then adding them to the Great Cake Bake board! It was a wonderful show, and a great event to promote reading. Thanks for all you do!
Wandering Iris
WOW!! So many beautiful cakes and cupcakes. I think it’s cool that diaper cakes were also represented. Looks like it was a very fun day. You took great photos. Thanks for sharing.
Rusha Sams
And thank you for reading! It was a fun event, but more importantly, I think it raised a good bit of money for a good cause.
Rusha Sams
It really was a wonderful day, and I wish I could make just one cake as cute as the ones we saw. So glad that so many young people are getting into reading and cake baking! Thanks for reading!
Amy
Beautiful cakes! So very creative. Love the idea of reading.
The first one is really cute! Thank you for sharing, Rusha!
Rusha Sams
I hope we continue this tradition in Knoxville for a long time. I love these cakes, too! Thanks for reading!
ddominikwickles
Beautiful cakes! I really love the connection to reading. I’m an author and I work in a library 🙂
Rusha Sams
I’m an English teacher, so I love the tie-in, too! So fun to see what people can concoct. The creativity was amazing! Thanks for reading!
lesleycarter
I love that last wedding cake. Makes me want to get married again, to my husband, just to celebrate like this 🙂
Rusha Sams
Well, you don’t have to have a fancy wedding cake to get married all over again to the man who makes you happy. But this would be a nice cake to share with everyone! I loved it, too!
FreeRangeCow
Oh, Rusha! Amazing! You photographed them so very well!
Rusha Sams
Thanks, but it wasn’t easy. So many cakes line the tables that it’s hard to focus on just one. Plus, the light was streaming in through big windows causing shadows or washing out the colors. Oh, well. It was fun getting up close to these cute cakes. Thanks for reading!
Pride in Photos Photography
too cute♥
Rusha Sams
Thanks for reading. Wish I could say I could make cakes like these. But just taking pics of them is about all I can do! Glad you enjoyed!