"Edible Book" Contest

Today I was a contestant in my first cake competition.  My university's library held an "edible book" contest in which there were five categories: Best Adult Book, Best Children's Book, Best Pun, Best Theme, and Best Overall.  The only rules were 1.) It had to be edible and 2.) it had to be based on a book.  My sister, a 3rd grade teacher, is currently reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with her gifted students and suggested that I use this theme.  I agreed being that there was so much I could do using this theme, but my biggest incentive was the fact that I could make little oompa loompas!  Sorry, the image is blurry, but they are so cute! I used gum paste to make them and white icing for the eyebrows.

Next, when I think of Willy Wonka, I think tons of color and candy.  So going off of this, I decided to use a tier cake with purple on the bottom and pink on top.  Learning from past mistakes (cakes caving in!), I used wooden dowels and cardboard to separate the tiers and give the top tier more support.  

My newest obsession is TLC's Ultimate Cakeoff.  After watching one episode talking about chocolate modeling clay, I became very interested in this phenomenon and went on a Google frenzy figuring out how to make it.  To make chocolate modeling clay you will need 10 oz of semi-sweet chocolate and 1/3 cup of light corn syrup. Simply melt the chocolate, stir in the syrup and then spread on wax paper about 1/2 inch thick for a few hours to dry.  Once it is ready, it is very easy to mold into any shape you need and can even be rolled out like fondant! And tastes much better than fondant! This is how I made the chocolate waterfall.  I added chocolate frosting on top of this to add dimension.  

Okay back to today's competition.  I competed in the Children's Book category and Best Overall category.  The competition was intense, with professional cake bakers in attendance and over 54 cakes!  The competition was held on campus and open to student voting.  I was runner up for the Best Overall category, receiving an "honorable mention" and a cook book.  Being that this was my first competition, I was ecstatic to even be mentioned.  The judges approached me after they announced all the winners and told me that my cake was phenomenal and there were only a handful of votes separating me from 1st place. Yay =)

I'm ready for my next competition!!